Thin gun for my wife

[46and2]

So after our intro to marksmanship class at USSA, we have come to a realization. The M&P with no backstrap at all is still too much for my wife. She is 5'1" on a good day, and her hands are tiny. So I think we will need to go single stack. This is for HD, she has no desire to carry at this point. I would prefer a longer barrel (sight radius) since she is a new shooter. She did not really care for the DAO P250 we borrowed from a friend. She says everything we have shot so far has been too big. That list is a Pro Carry I w/ Hogue grips, M&P 9mm & .40 compact, M&P 9mm full size, Springfield XD 9mm, and Glock 23. I'm open to suggestions as I really don't know what all is out there in this area. Budget is not set, I just want to get what works for her. Obviously the less we spend on the gun, the more we can spend on ammo to practice.

I know for HD I would prefer a 12 gauge or maybe an AR, but baby steps. She had never shot anything before about 4 weeks ago, and she was scared of guns. She's hooked on handguns now, so I think an AR will be an easy step given the recoil. A shotgun will be a bit more challenging, but we'll get there.

 

[Mr.357Sig]

Try a S&W M&P Shield9 or Kahr CM9. Both are single stack handguns, less than 1-inch in width. Very slim design and very good weapons. She may also like the Taurus 709 Slim, but the S&W and Kahr are better guns.

Swing by 2A Shooting Center or Sports World and see what she thinks.

 

[spamby]

My wife and I both have a Polish P-64. Single stack 9x18(9mm mak). You did say baby steps. The good thing is if she decides later to carry then its a nice carry pistol. You can pick one up for under $200 bucks.

 

[Honeybee]

Only way to go for a small hand is the LC9
I dont have any but someone I know who advertizes here and operates out of his house in BA has some.
Very hard to find so get her to try one asap.

 

[1fast8]

you may want to consider a smaller caliber such as .380 the really small 9mm get a little bit harsh on the recoil.take her to 2A let her shoot some guns to many ppl go too small for the caliber and with small narrow grip not much fun to shoot. one guy came in to shoot the M&P sheild in .40 cal brought 45 of the 50 rounds back to the counter and gave them to guy working there said "I dont want to shoot it any more you can have them". just think if he had bought the gun instead of renting it.

 

[piston10]

My wife won't touch anything but her Glock 26.

 

[Glocktogo]

Since it's for HD, Kahr K9, Springfield EMP, Walther PPS, S&W 3913(used market) would all be good choices.

 

[inactive]

The Walther PPS has a good, slim grip for the size and thinness.

I also think a Makarov would be a thinner pistol, but it also it a great weight for the 9x18 round. The one I shot was the possibly the easiest shooting I have ever fired.

 

[milsniper240]

the kahr also has 380 cal prolly the way to go is kahr. kel tec also has smaller pistols thin grip. pf9, pt 709. all very slim

 

[p238shooter]

There will most likely be as many opinions here as there are brands and models of firearms. It is usually hard for us guys to pick out a firearm for our wives, we have our preferences of make, size, bore, barrel length, etc, but they are the ones that have to feel comfortable with a particular gun even if it a .22 short revolver to start out with if they are really going to get into shooting. Sometimes we have to just let them get started with anything and then let them make a change later to what fits them. Just my opinion from experience.

I started wifey on a SW38 revolver for simplicity, then she shot my Sig P238 pocket carry, (which she later took away from me after shooting about 11 other pistols at a woman's range class.) To me, it is a baby Colt .45 1911 in all aspects, Sights, safety position (thumb push down while griping), hammer action, magazine release position, field striping, etc.

For a small size hand (might be too small for the other features you are looking for) but the Sig P238 .380 with a lot less recoil has some advantages. First it is the easiest to rack of any semi auto my wife has had hold of and of those you have mentioned. They have real sights and are pretty accurate for a short barrel at 7 to 15 yards with only a little practice even for a newbie. Did I mention a lot less recoil and easier to rack than most anything out there, seems to be a big factor for a lot of women. It would also be easy to purse carry if she might decide to think about doing that later.

Personally, I prefer a 1911 45 slug exiting my barrel for effectiveness, but my wife will most likely not pick one up to shoot again, much less think about carrying one in her purse. If your wife can get comfortable enough to put a .380 slug up a BG's nose, it will be better than her having a 9mm, .40 or .45 she does not feel comfortable practicing a lot with because of size, recoil and operation.

Sig P238's are a little pricy either new or used unless Academy Sports happen to have a shipment in, then they are about $100 less than absolutely anyone else anywhere for a new one. They were running $470 with a laser not long ago when I had to replace mine. If you can find one for her to test fire, it might be a worth while long term investment.

Good luck with helping her finding the right firearm she is comfortable with.