Handgun Advice

I’m looking to add another handgun to the arsenal. I currently own a S&W Shield in 9mm and a Ruger 1702 revolver in .357mag. the revolver was won and has been shot only a handful of times.

Now I’ve got a $550 giftcard from another gun raffle (won a door prize shotgun that was similar to a couple already collecting dust…so I traded in). My wife is semi-intrigued about shooting more, but I’m thinking it’s something that may fizzle out over time with her many interests.

I’m looking for something that’s semiautomatic, very user-friendly, and doesn’t pack a real wallop of recoil so that my wife stays interested in shooting it. From my experience, I’m guessing a .380acp or 9mm is going to be the caliber. I am also aware that pocket pistols can be extremely snappy even in .380 due to the physics of a small gun. The current leader is a S&W MP .380 EZ, but the 9mm Glocks are intriguing also. This will primarily be used to target shoot on occasion and not likely carried. Does anyone have any other ideas to look at? I’m not looking to break the bank.

I would go glock 9mm

Glock!
DT

Got my wife a .380 S&W bodyguard for Christmas. I like it more than she does but its nice that its so concealable compared to a 9mm. I have both and the .380 has the crimson trace laser which is way cool for many reasons, aside from the additional cost. The .380 will fit smaller hands better too. It’s almost too small at first but I really like it.

I have a glock 19 gen 5. Was never a glock fan until the changes in the grip for the gen 5.
That glock 43x looks awesome thats the route I would go if I had that giftcard. Great summer carry too 10 rounds.

Is she looking to shoot or carry?

If she just wants to shoot a .22 won’t scare her at all and is a great teaching tool. Cheap to shoot too.

I am a big Sig guy. Many of their offerings are pushing that $1000 mark so those are out but the P320 variants can hit the dollar mark you are looking for. I love mine. I find it far more comfortable than the Glock which in comparison is like holding a 2 x 4. Don’t give me wrong, Glock’s are good guns, I often carry a G26 but the P320 Compact 9mm shots soft and straight.

The other one I’d recommend looking at, you might have to tack a little bit onto your budget, but the Beretta 92 FS or one of the similar variants is a great gun. Super accurate, my wife loves shooting it and it’s an iconic piece of American history.

My last recommendation suffers from a lot of haters but I like it. The Walther CCP is designed to be a very soft shooting 9 mm and has a slide that is very easy to rack which is often a concern for the females of our species. Add just over $400 it should easily fit your budget leaving you a little bit of room for some quality ammo.

Gun porn – P320

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Ruger LCP .380 – $200 when fleet farm goes on sale . Great fun , great gun.

I’m a big fan of the Springfield XDM 9mm. Great gun for the price, easy shooting, 18 round capacity.

My wife likes shooting my SIG 938. Great feel and even better trigger. Great carry gun as well.

I think you’re definitely on point in regards to caliber. I’ve heard that that new Smith 380 is a pretty sweet shooter. You can never go wrong with a Glock, especially in 9mm, but some others I would consider as well are the FN FNS 9, the CZ P10c, and the Canik TP9 SA.

Go to Cabelas or somewhere with a lot of different brands and let you wife hold and feel the different options and get her input. If she doesn’t like something that you pick out she won’t stay with it. My wife and I both hate the feel of the glock and prefer the Sig and Kimber in .45.

Matt Moen wrote:

I’m a big fan of the Springfield XDM 9mm. Great gun for the price, easy shooting, 18 round capacity.

I will second this and it comes in right at your price point.

Deleted wrote:

Ruger LCP .380 – $200 when fleet farm goes on sale . Great fun , great gun.

Did they fix the trigger on this gun? I had once and didn’t like it so I traded it off.
DT

I would say a glock 9mm as well! either the 17 or 19. But the ruger mark IV is also a great gun and very fun to shoot. Its just a .22lr but it is always a favorite at the range.

I’m glad to see at least one person mentioned KIMBER, and another the SIG.
My sister owns the SIG for the reason mentioned it is very easy to rack the slide, and shoots awesome.
For me it’s the KIMBER, based and the 1911 and has the nice thumb safety, and you can also get the Crimson Trace Laser grips which I’ll bet you & your wife will enjoy.
I bought the TCP Tarus when it first came out and is a nice littler shooter, with my big hand I’m not crazy for it! It’s ‘ok’ for her my wifes’ hand, and it’s much like the Ruger LCP. It does not have a safety, which I don’t like, because when we carry, ‘what good it is to not have a round in the chamber?’

Deleted wrote:

Ruger LCP .380 – $200 when fleet farm goes on sale . Great fun , great gun.

True, fun gun. But very snappy due to it’s size and weight and the OP is looking to avoid that.

deertracker wrote:

Did they fix the trigger on this gun? I had once and didn’t like it so I traded it off.
DT

They have the LCPII which has a MUCH better trigger, grip and slide design.

Glock.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. My 29 year old (next month) Gen2 19 shoots just as good as my Gen4 19.

I’d get her Ruger SR22. If its mostly for target it will be fun and cheap for her to shoot. My wife shot one a few weeks ago and I am now in the process of buying one for her. If your wife starts to enjoy it and decides she wants something a little bigger to carry you can always get her another gun later. My wife shoots my M&P shield 2.0 in 9MM. she does fine with it, but like you said it is a bit snappy – that is why I’m getting her the .22 to just shoot and have fun with.

tindall wrote:

Is she looking to shoot or carry?
If she just wants to shoot a .22 won’t scare her at all and is a great teaching tool. Cheap to shoot too.

fishthumper wrote:

I’d get her Ruger SR22. If its mostly for target it will be fun and cheap for her to shoot. My wife shot one a few weeks ago and I am now in the process of buying one for her. If your wife starts to enjoy it and decides she wants something a little bigger to carry you can always get her another gun later.

X3, but depends on the person.

when dating my now wife agreed to give this a try. Started her on 9mm even with private lessons from a female instructor. didn’t work out. Big loud bang and perception of significant recoil were two of the three biggest turn offs. She got nervous and scared. Now she won’t touch anything.

SR22 or equivalent 22 would be my choice if I could go back in time. There’s a couple bonus points for this choice. If her interest wanes, they’re cheaper. 2nd bonus – same basic manual of arms to your other semi-autos if she ever needs to handle them.

buckybadger wrote:

’m looking for something that’s semiautomatic, very user-friendly, and doesn’t pack a real wallop of recoil so that my wife stays interested in shooting it.

If the point is really to introduce your wife or anyone with limited experience to shooting AND have them enjoy it and want to shoot more than the cartridge choice is an absolute no brainer.

.22 rimfire. Don’t even consider anything else.

Low recoil. Low noise. Plenty of power for handgun range use. Cheap to shoot. Accurate guns are readily available. As a final bonus, there are many “little brother” models out there that would allow her to move up to a centerfire, but in a gun that had a very similar feel and layout.

A centerfire is basically everything you don’t want for a new shooter. Recoil, noise, flash, expensive ammo, etc, etc, etc. Can’t see why anyone would want to go there.

Grouse

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>buckybadger wrote:</div>
’m looking for something that’s semiautomatic, very user-friendly, and doesn’t pack a real wallop of recoil so that my wife stays interested in shooting it.

If the point is really to introduce your wife or anyone with limited experience to shooting AND have them enjoy it and want to shoot more than the cartridge choice is an absolute no brainer.

.22 rimfire. Don’t even consider anything else.

Low recoil. Low noise. Plenty of power for handgun range use. Cheap to shoot. Accurate guns are readily available. As a final bonus, there are many “little brother” models out there that would allow her to move up to a centerfire, but in a gun that had a very similar feel and layout.

A centerfire is basically everything you don’t want for a new shooter. Recoil, noise, flash, expensive ammo, etc, etc, etc. Can’t see why anyone would want to go there.

Grouse

This and others are all great points. Thank you for all the advice. Ultimately I will have her shoot a couple more options before helping her decide.

I guess the only reason I was steering clear of the .22lr originally was for my own personal selfishness knowing that if she didn’t stick with it, I’d keep the gun for myself to use on occasion.

We did shoot a friend’s S&W MP .380 EZ last night and for those who have not…that thing is a soft shooter. The “EZ” follows true to its namesake. The slide was beyond easy to rack and it had a nice feel to it. The recoil was almost non-existent due to the smaller caliber in a still good-sized pistol. She liked it and we are leaning that direction, but I have a buddy with a couple SR22’s that she can try this weekend before we head to the local gun shop.

Not sure where you are located? Bills Gun Shop in Robindale is having a big shooters show April 5, 6,and 7th. Might be worth a look. Google for more info.

-J.

buckybadger wrote:

We did shoot a friend’s S&W MP .380 EZ last night and for those who have not…that thing is a soft shooter. The “EZ” follows true to its namesake. The slide was beyond easy to rack and it had a nice feel to it. The recoil was almost non-existent due to the smaller caliber in a still good-sized pistol. She liked it and we are leaning that direction, but I have a buddy with a couple SR22’s that she can try this weekend before we head to the local gun shop.

If my wife decides she likes the handgun shooting and decides she may want to get her carry permit- That M&P.380 EZ will be one we will check out for sure. Most of the .380’s I shot didn’t seem to have much less recoil than my 9MM

If she wants to target shoot much I would not get the Ruger LCP 380. Have one and it’s a punishment to shoot. On the other hand it’s very easy to carry. Another point, this does not have an external safety. I also have a Ruger LCP 9s and a Ruger EC9s. Both have the new double pull trigger, the EC9s has an external safety and I got it on sale for $195! Both are much more pleasurable to shoot than the 380

Id stick to .380! What about a .22? It goes band and throws a projectile. Have you considered a 38 Special revolver. Not as confusing as a semi to a newby and friendly on the recoil. Fairly light to hold also. And if you get a modern revolver you can shoot +P ammo for home or defense. The new ammo offerings are far superior to the older ones. Heck if that Ruger revolver in .357 fits her hands and isnt a snubby, why not just load it with .38???? That will be sofy shooting.

Go to bills and rent a bunch of different ones in 9mm and 380 a d maybe some other caliber and see what feels best. Try before you buy. And since someone threw out kimber already i will suggest something chambered in 500 s&w never know she might like the recoil.

fishthumper wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>buckybadger wrote:</div>

We did shoot a friend’s S&W MP .380 EZ last night and for those who have not…that thing is a soft shooter. The “EZ” follows true to its namesake. The slide was beyond easy to rack and it had a nice feel to it. The recoil was almost non-existent due to the smaller caliber in a still good-sized pistol. She liked it and we are leaning that direction, but I have a buddy with a couple SR22’s that she can try this weekend before we head to the local gun shop.

If my wife decides she likes the handgun shooting and decides she may want to get her carry permit- That M&P.380 EZ will be one we will check out for sure. Most of the .380’s I shot didn’t seem to have much less recoil than my 9MM

This has significantly less recoil than any 9mm or .380 I had shot before.

We will shoot some more this weekend and I’ll share what her ultimate decision is.

On a related note, those electronic muffs that let you hear the good sounds while muffling the loud sounds are great in general, but especially when people are learning. It is nice to be able to hear instructions/encouragement, and nice to not have to yell at your wife when she has a gun.

And if you are concerned about cost, reddit r/gundeals at the right time will save you tons above whatever big box store sales there are on guns or ammo. I found a FFA that operates out of his house near me that will do $20 transfers per sheet, which is up to 5 guns I think. I know you have a gift card though.

Glock 17

Kimber Micro in 380. Soft shooter, good sights, great trigger, and easily concealable. And did I say it is a Kimber. Seriously, the good trigger will make her a better shooter and feel more comfortable with the gun. The longer heavier trigger pull of even the striker fired guns make it more difficult for a novice shooter.