Try to get her to try a bunch of different pistols and get her to tell you what she likes and doesn't. Give advice, but let her choose.

 

This. 100%, this.

 

Right, rental range or you and a friend with your Urban Arsenals to try.

 

First, when you say a G18 or G48, I assume you mean G19.

Second, my daughter started with a G26. She shot it but she didn't love it. She sold, bought a 365 and has not looked back.

 

I'd say go all out, and have her get a Glock 18.

 

Recently did this with my sister in law. Took her to cabelas and showed her good brands and sizes for an all in one pistol. She ended up choosing the Shield Plus. I think she made a good choice, was hard to not push Glock on her as she wanted a manual safety. But her having that gun is better than nothing. Good luck with your search.

 

... her first handgun. I supposed this will be the only handgun she owns for the rest of her life. ... mainly for home defense and it will be awhile if ever if she will get a carry permit ... I would also presume 9mm and not a wheel gun. ...

It's the last sentence where I would've gone in a different direction.

Why not a revolver?

Easier to load & unload. Simpler manipulation. Less potential for some types of shooter-induced (grasp and grip) problems under stress.

Ammunition loaded into cylinder charge holes doesn't involve the sort of potential feeding issues that may occur in pistols, and the cycle-of-operation is simpler. No ejected brass flying around, including not toward or near the shooter's face. The weight and length of a DA trigger pull may be advantageous under stressful handling of a gun.

The felt recoil of the .38SPL in a medium size steel revolver is as manageable, if not more so, than the average 9mm, and there's no cycling happening to startle the shooter.

Revolvers are less demanding when it comes to some aspects of owner cleaning and lubrication practices.

 

It's the last sentence where I would've gone in a different direction.

Why not a revolver?

Easier to load & unload. Simpler manipulation. Less potential for some types of shooter-induced (grasp and grip) problems under stress.

Ammunition loaded into cylinder charge holes doesn't involve the sort of potential feeding issues that may occur in pistols, and the cycle-of-operation is simpler. No ejected brass flying around, including not toward or near the shooter's face. The weight and length of a DA trigger pull may be advantageous under stressful handling of a gun.

The felt recoil of the .38SPL in a medium size steel revolver is as manageable, if not more so, than the average 9mm, and there's no cycling happening to startle the shooter.

Revolvers are less demanding when it comes to some aspects of owner cleaning and lubrication practices.

Why not a revolver?

#1 limited round capacity

#2 weight/ bulk

#3 most important (but still #3) double action pull is an average of 13-20 lbs (depending what gun)

#4 Pulling the hammer back into single action is 3-5 lbs. Sure it is.
HOWEVER. In a threat situation, or one where there's limited use of hands. One may not have the ability to bring that hammer back. So that relying on the support hand is not something i would suggest, or tell anyone.

#5 Have her shoot a few different guns.

REMEMBER He's buying a gun for someone else. I can't tell you how many times on the line i see people struggling to operate a gun. Their (insert) husband, boyfriend, partner, got for them. Using the "well i like this gun, mentality" isn't how people should buy guns, for someone else. Throw in the Oh honey look i got you this one, it's your favorite color 🤪 .


Local range does a Find Your Gun once a month. . People come in with an I was told to buy X. Or, i have no clue, where would you suggest i start? .

Women who were told THEY NEED A GLOCK !! don't. Gravitating to of all things. A commander sized 1911 in 9mm, or one of the 365 sized ambidextrous pistols. Such as a CZ, or Canik ,. 50/50 Optics ready, or not . Not taking away from Glock , outside the G48, it's surprisingly not one of their short list pistols.

 

If the woman is a shooter, Glock is the only choice I'd recommend for self-defense, for the same reasons it's the gun I carry for self-defense, over the many other options I own.

However, if she is not going to be trained and practice, I recommend something with a heavier stiffer frame, because poorly trained and new shooters often have a limpwristing problem with Glock that causes anything from brass bouncing off their forehead to malfunctions so bad they can't fire 2 consecutive shots. With other guns they still have the problem, but a heavier stiffer frame helps prevent it from causing malfunctions.

And, yes, I'm sure she would be good to go with a G18. I know I would be.

 

My youngest niece will be 21 soon and her dad was asking me this question. She is very enthusiastic about getting one which is rare in the family. The Springfield Hellcat seems to be her choice over everything else and I have to agree.

 

I heard most says the Hellcat is snappy. Has she shot it yet?

 

Honestly, almost any pistol from a reputable maker will do the job, try to get her into a 9, if not bigger.

 

Smith and Wesson M&P Shield 30 Super Carry.

Or Desert Eagle 50.

Either way she can't go wrong.

 

Wheel gun .
Simplicity ,Safety, Reliability. Especially since you are going to be held responsible for anything that goes wrong .

 

She needs to pick. One suggestion I have is to allow her to handle the P365 in its different grip sizes. 1 gun can provide you various sizes where she can see what feels best.

With that said, I love the G48

 

At the Range my wife likes shooting the Strikers, especially the Glock.
Would I feel good about her carrying a chambered Glock or VP9,, NO Way, Liking a gun at the range i half the story

 

At the Range my wife likes shooting the Strikers, especially the Glock.
Would I feel good about her carrying a chambered Glock or VP9,, NO Way, Liking a gun at the range i half the story

Exactly. Punching paper and the need of one in a high stress situation are worlds apart.

 

Best answer = let her try several varieties and make her choice.

But she can't try everything, so you need to give her representative & realistic samples and point her in helpful directions of what to consider.

I would agree with the voices above that one of those in the mix should be a P365 variant. It gives the options of a 17+1 set up when using it as a home defense gun, but with a mag change could be more easily carried if the need arose. (10+1 if the original model or 12+1 if the X or XL). And has a manual safety option if desired.

 

However some gun shops say that Glocks are the #1 brand of returns. I'm not sure or understand that.

I saw one YouTube video that claimed this and it seemed anecdotal, at best. Regardless, to have any meaning, you’d need to know the number of returns relative to the number of sales. GLOCKs are one of the most popular handguns, so without knowing the “return” metric as a percentage of sales it doesn’t mean much. I also think it’s a dubious claim.

GLOCKs are point and shoot simple, which among other things, makes them an ideal first gun. If she isn’t going to carry it, then the G19 might be the better option. It will have less recoil and probably be more enjoyable to shoot when she practices.

I wouldn’t be overly concerned about trigger feel, crisp break etc. As a new shooter, she won’t have a frame of reference for that nuance. Take her to a gun store and let her compare the G19 to the M&P, HK VP9, and Walther PDP. There are plenty of quality, reliable guns available now.

 

I saw one YouTube video that claimed this and it seemed anecdotal, at best. Regardless, to have any meaning, you’d need to know the number of returns relative to the number of sales. GLOCKs are one of the most popular handguns, so without viewing it the “return” metric as a percentage of sales it doesn’t mean much. I also think it’s a dubious claim.

GLOCKs are point and shoot simple, which among other things, makes them an ideal first gun. If she isn’t going to carry it, then the G19 might be the better option. It will have less recoil and probably be more enjoyable to shoot when she practices.

I wouldn’t be overly concerned about trigger feel, crisp break etc. As a new shooter, she won’t have a frame of reference for that nuance. Take her to a gun store and let her compare the G19 to the M&P, HK VP9, and Walther PDP. There are plenty of quality, reliable guns available now.

And put a revolver in her hands

 

Revolvers are perfect here. But if they aren't in the cards, I'd say a tx-22 would be a good choice. Cheap to buy, cheap to shoot. Maybe she'll actually practice with it.
If it has to be a 9, that's easy. Smith and Wesson shield EZ9mm.
Of course, she must try them out herself.

 

G-19

 

Screw it, G27

 

 

Make sure she tries a Sig P365.

 

Glock's a good choice since they're reliable, inexpensive, and easy to clean. I agree on a 9mm.

At the end of the day, what feels comfortable to her, and what will she go practice with.

 

Has she attended a two to five day defensive handgun class? If not, she should do that first and use what they hand her when she gets there. The reason is she doesn't know what attributes make a good handgun for her. She will find out in class, since eight contiguous hours teaches far more than eight single hour sessions. Running out and buying a gun for her is mostly useless except in the case where she needs a gun for defense. Then just about anything reasonable will do. She won't be good with it, but she had better be safe with it.

She should take the class and you should take it with her. It'll be a fun father/daughter activity that you will both remember for years to come. Once she takes that, she'll have an idea of what to look for in a gun. It's the little details, like how sharp the slide serrations are, the back edge of the tang digs into the hand under recoil, rough trigger face, etc. This is why I hate the CZ P10C -- it smashes my thumb knuckle with every shot. I wouldn't have known this had I not taken the time to do some training with it. It has a 100-150 round limit for me with a week of recovery.

So once she knows that she needs a slightly flared magazine well to facilitate reloads, good grip texture that her hand likes, sights she can see, a decent trigger with positive reset, dehorned frame and slide, smooth and easy to reach controls, and a few other little things, then she'll be ready to buy a gun.

 

Has she attended a two to five day defensive handgun class? If not, she should do that first and use what they hand her when she gets there. The reason is she doesn't know what attributes make a good handgun for her. She will find out in class, since eight contiguous hours teaches far more than eight single hour sessions. Running out and buying a gun for her is mostly useless except in the case where she needs a gun for defense. Then just about anything reasonable will do. She won't be good with it, but she had better be safe with it.

She should take the class and you should take it with her. It'll be a fun father/daughter activity that you will both remember for years to come. Once she takes that, she'll have an idea of what to look for in a gun. It's the little details, like how sharp the slide serrations are, the back edge of the tang digs into the hand under recoil, rough trigger face, etc. This is why I hate the CZ P10C -- it smashes my thumb knuckle with every shot. I wouldn't have known this had I not taken the time to do some training with it. It has a 100-150 round limit for me with a week of recovery.

So once she knows that she needs a slightly flared magazine well to facilitate reloads, good grip texture that her hand likes, sights she can see, a decent trigger with positive reset, dehorned frame and slide, smooth and easy to reach controls, and a few other little things, then she'll be ready to buy a gun.

Even a 3-4 hr intro to handguns, shines a light on what they need, vs what they thought, or were told they need.

 

Best answer = let her try several varieties and make her choice.

This is actually the worst answer. The reason is she doesn't know what she's doing. Any range session is just wasting ammo and time. Contiguous hours in class facilitate and accelerate learning; spread out single hour sessions inhibit skill development. See posts #32 and #33.

Case in point: Old lady shows up to gun class with a $1,200 SIG P226. The gun store sold it to her the night before. She had no time to test it out, much less get correct gear for it. As it turns out, she did not have the hand strength to operate the double action trigger pull in any sort of reasonable and useful way. It did not fit her at all. The instructor lent her one of the company S&W Shield pistols and she was fine for the rest of the class. That SIG was sold to another student and she got a Shield.

 

This is actually the worst answer. ...

Case in point: Old lady shows up to gun class with a $1,200 SIG P226. ... she did not have the hand strength to operate the double action trigger pull in any sort of reasonable and useful way. It did not fit her at all. ...

I'm failing to see your logic.

You just confirmed my point (if you keep it in the context I delivered it in).

I'm not rejecting someone going to training but they have to go with something and some guided suggestions to narrow the field of literally hundreds of different handgun choices was my point.

Then those curated options can be presented to the person to eliminate the very problem you just described.

Case in point: when I wanted a dedicated house gun for my wife, I put all my guns in front of her to try out. She had difficulty operating the slides on my Shield, G43, & G30S (and already hated my Bodyguard even though that wasn't a house gun candidate). She was already familiar with revolvers and preferred my S&W 65. (So we bought her a new 627PC that had more capacity and a lighter trigger).

You make it sound like someone should spend 40 hours in training figuring out how much they hate a random gun when putting the options in front of someone for 4 minutes could easily narrow the playing field and therefore lead to a much more positive training experience.

 

First off. Just because it's a woman don't assume that a small gun is needed. One of my daughters is 5'2" 130 pounds and carries a G17. AIWB.
Second. If it's primarily for home defense the gun doesn't need to be small.
Third. Larger guns absorb recoil better. Making them easier to shoot.
Where I live there are no ranges around that rent guns. My girls handled other brands to see how they felt in the hand. They chose Glocks. Thankfully. The little one acted like she wanted me to buy her the Delta Elite at the LGS that I've been drooling over for the last 3 years. She knows I can't refuse their wishes. She's the devil incarnate.
As for classes,there aren't any of them near here either except for 8 hour CPL certification classes.
My girls,for better or for worse have learned from me.

 

I should have posted this earlier.

My wife went to the range with me a lot and we rented a lot of guns together. 380, 9mm and 40. In the end she likes the Bersa Thunder in 380 the best. It fit her hand well, recoil was manageable and she was able to rack the slide easily. She had carpal tunnel issues.

So I bought her a Bersa Thunder. And then she got pregnant. Between the pregnancy, raising a newborn and us now both working or taking care of our daughter we didn't get the chance to go to the range together for years. I didn't like the Bersa because it just didn't feel right in my hands and was double the cost of 9mm to shoot.

Fast forward a few years and we finally get the chance to go to the range together. She shoots the Bersa a few times and shrugs. Then asks to shoot my XD9.

She fell in love with the XD9. While she had some trouble racking the slide the gun was much more pleasant to shoot versus the smaller metal framed Bersa.

I wasted $300 on the gun and a few hundred on ammo for that thing. It's been years and that gun just sits there. Lonely.

2 takeaways.

1. She may develop an idea of what she likes initially and change her mind further down the road. That is ok.

2. She might end up like a lot of us and have a great gun and curiosity makes her want another gun. That is ok too.

 

P365 or Walther PDP F series...I have an F series and a Compact PDP and there are some differences between the two.

P365 is a great choice due to size and modular grip sizes....

 

She said it's mainly for home defense and it will be awhile if ever if she will get a carry permit. She isn't a small girl, so I presume whatever feels good in her hand will be good

Take her to the range and have her shoot the Glock 19 and the Glock 48. Either one of these would be a good choice for her, based on the criteria above. She doesn't need to be looking at a sub-compact or micro gun for the above criteria. (If she later decides to get a concealed weapons permit and start to carry, then there are lots of other choices to look at... but that is down the line; from what you posted.)

It really will depend on her hand size. I recently took a husband and wife who are our clients to the range, they had taken an Intro to Handguns course already, and were looking to buy a pistol for home defense only. I had my WCV Gen 5 19 and my wife had her Gen 3 26. They shot both, the wife has small hands, so we rented the Glock 48. She liked it, her husband liked the 19.

Good luck, lots of choices out there today.