Seeking Suggestions for Wife-friendly .380 handgun

mctrinket

mctrinket

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Took the wife shooting this past weekend. She's a petite woman and did not care for the 9 mm. Too much for her, she said.

I'd like to get her something she can shoot and enjoy that's not a .22, so I thought I'd look into getting her a .38.

Can anyone recommend a smooth-shooting .380 that would fit her small hands? I will consider revolvers but I think she prefers semi-autos.

Thank you.
 
9mm is cheaper to feed than .380, and IIRC .380 ammo has been hard to get, and with the alphabet agencies buying up all the 9 they can get the .380 production runs that are done on the 9mm manufacturing line will be even fewer and farther between.

There are a couple of .380 guns out there that are smaller than a sub compact 9, but I guess my question is why .380?

Higher cost, less than full availability, doesn't stop as well as 9mm, especially in colder climates where it has to pass through layers of clothing to get to vital organs.... just taking the thread off topic to play devils advocate.

I had a .380 for about 48 hours before I sold it.
 
She was shooting a M&P9c and a Glock 19 and she just felt like the recoil was too much for her. I was looking into a .38 so she could have something fun to shoot at the range, but did not want to go all the way down to a .22.
 
If you don't own a 22LR plinker, you really should buy one, it is cheap to shoot, and it allows you to shoot more rounds and become more proficient.

If you are going to be shooting .380 at the range on a regular basis that is going to eat up a lot of money. You can pay for a nice used Ruger MK1,II, or III in ammo savings alone.
 
How about a baby browning or a Beretta 25. I have an old colt JR 25 all the woman I have had shoot it love it and they have good 25 acp people stoppers that are as good as a 380.
 
9mm 1911. Total pussycat.

Or if thats too much money Glock 34.

I'm telling you, there aren't any full sized .380s for sale anymore.

For what its worth, my I have my father's Beretta 84 for sale now. He didn't like the snappy recoil.

He's got a 92 now. He finds the 9mm in the 92 to recoil less than the blowback 84 in .380


This is my wife shooting my 34. She's not doing very well, but notice that she's got the recoil well controlled. She's 5'1" with proportionately sized hands.
[video=youtube_share;dOSJDJtK1TA]http://youtu.be/dOSJDJtK1TA[/video]

This is a friend/student of mine who started shooting this summer. She's shooting a Dan Wesson 1911 in 9mm. Notice the same thing. Good recoil control. Not great, but ok.
[video=youtube_share;WeYzWBVa0oc]http://youtu.be/WeYzWBVa0oc[/video]

If your wife had difficulty with 9mm in a full sized gun, I'd suggest she put in some more time with a .22, then every time you guys go shooting you have her shoot a few 9mms. Not a lot, or she'll develop a bad flinch, just a few. Then work your way up.

Don
 
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I don't understand why men insist on putting small, short, light handguns into the hands of women.

All of those factors work against them.

A recoil shy shooter will do much better with a gun that has a:

Full length grip - allows the whole hand to control recoil.
Longer bbl/slide - makes recoil more of a push back than a flip.
more weight - mitigates recoil overall.
 
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I'm a fan of the Sig 232. It is large for a .380 but there's minimal recoil and it is a natural shooter. It hits where I aim.

I'm in metrowest if you want to try one.

Best,

Rich
 
dcmdon said:
I don't understand why men insist on putting small, short, light handguns into the hands of women.

All of those factors work against them.

Full length grip - allows the whole hand to control recoil.
Longer bbl/slide - makes recoil more of a push back than a flip.
heavier weight - mitigates ricoil overall.
Click to expand...

All the while, agreeing with you I add this idea: A fullsize gun is awful hard to hide on a lady if she wears any kind of fitting clothes. You met my fiancee when we picked up the Howa, it was not easy in the slightest finding something to work for her. She is tall, slender and has no where to hide a gun.

Dom
 
The Saw,

I agree with you. But the OP didn't say a carry gun. He said something she could "shoot and enjoy" and that sounds like a range gun.

Fun comes from 2 things:
1) unintimidating recoil.
2) reasonable accuracy

Both things that big guns do well.

Finally, a good proportion of the women that I know who carry, do so off the body (against my best advice). i.e. purse carry. In that case big is fine. A glock 17 or 34 represents enormous, easily controlled firepower in a lightweight gun.

Don
 
Sig P238. No recoil, accurate, easy to carry, readily available ammo, inexpensive to buy used, and you can upgrade to something bigger later when she has a little more experience.
 
I just remembered one other thing.

A gun with a larger, heavier slide needs a relatively lighter recoil spring to control slide speed. Because of this, guns like a glock or full sized beretta can have relatively light recoil springs.
A 9mm 1911, because of the heavy slide has a spring like a limp noodle. I'd guess my 4 year old could rack the slide on mine.

In contrast, a gun with a small light slide, like a PM9 or shield has a comparatively heavy recoil spring.

Most 380s because of their blowback operation have even stiffer springs.

This is important, because many women have a difficult working the slide if the recoil spring is too stiff.
 
I'm with dcmdon on ALL counts. We're talking a range gun here, not a carry gun per the OP.

- Stick with 9mm
- Get a larger gun
- Preferably steel or alloy frame
 
Strong vote for the Sig p238.

I have a Kahr P380 which is the smallest, lightest item I would carry around. Double-recoil spring system like a subcompact Glock. I thought it was the lowest recoil unit around until I tried my friends P238. She also purchased it due to her desire for a low recoil factor. It was so light the first two times I shot it with 95gr loads, I thought the rounds were squibbs. See if you can test drive one to see if it is a good fit.
 
TBalls said:
You could also just drop the '0' and go with a nice, big revolver loaded with 38 special. My wife loves shooting my Model 19.
Click to expand...

My basic pistol students usually do very well shooting single action with my 4" model 66 with the low power wadcutters. DA they have trouble with the trigger.

They ALL love the 9mm 1911 and my .45 ACP vaquero shooting VERY low power loads. (3.6gr clays over 155gr lswc)
 
I don't get the "she is petite so she needs a small gun" take a road trip to Manchester firering line and check out some guns.
These small gripped hand guns remind me of cheap thin handled screw drivers. A b
Bugger to get a grip on.
Get your wife to a local gun club that has a ladies night/day
 
Highly agreed with P238 Blackwood see attached perhaps will encourage your thoughts! A smart looking, small handgun built with the same accuracy and reliability as large frame SIG SAUER pistols. With an overall length of just 5.5 inches a height of 3.96 inches, and weighing just 15.2 ounces my wife(s) carried many years past with possitive impressions!
P238-Blackwood-Detail-bty.jpg
P238-Blackwood-Detail-bty-Dwn.jpg
 
If its a range gun go with a larger, heavier 9mm like a 1911 style to reduce recoil.

If its for carry, I really don't think .380 is going to help. Most pocket carry .380's are going to be so light that recoil is going to be just as bad if not far worse than a 9mm.

The only reason a own a .380 is because of its size. It's miserable to shoot.
 
richc said:
I'm a fan of the Sig 232. It is large for a .380 but there's minimal recoil and it is a natural shooter.
Click to expand...

They are also nice looking.

P232


I also think the idea of a 9mm 1911 or S&W would be good. If just for the range, how about picking up a used Ruger P-89? The only tricky part there may be grip width, but the size should help alleviate the recoil.

Also, no matter which 9mm you might consider, don't forget that you can also buy lower recoil ammunition to tone it down a bit.
 
mac1911 said:
take a road trip to Manchester firing line and check out some guns...Get your wife to a local gun club that has a ladies night/day
Click to expand...
I've got to agree with mac on this. You need to get her into MFL or a ladies night where she can handle a variety of guns and then once SHE decides which ones feel good in her hands, then let her shoot them. Don't try to pick and choose for her. Everyone (male and female) is different and has different preferences. That's why I carry my S&W j-frame and my wife has her SR9c.

Aloha
 

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