Friend asked my advice on a concealed carry gun for his wife

[chrisjp]

so i gave him my advice:



"i recommend letting her pull it out of the case, make sure the barrel is not to long or that its too bulky, it needs to be concealed easily and comfortably just about anywhere on her body she wishes to hide it. she needs not only to like the feel of it, but make sure it fits nicely in her hands and not awkward. practice pulling it out quickly so that its almost instinctive in her hand. then she needs to aggressively handle it with precision, never loosing sight of the target and with steady pulls of the trigger till it goes off..repeatedly and without hesitation...then and only then will not only you, but she will be will be happy with her choice of "weapon"..... and then i would give her the $400 to go pick out the gun she wants too" ..... lol

 

[VIPER]

 

[lankeeyankee]

The main thing to ask is.
Could you kill someone with a firearm to protect yourself. If there is any slight of a pause in answering, not a wise choice to carry a firearm for protection.

 

[skydivr]

The main thing to ask is.
Could you kill someone with a firearm to protect yourself. If there is any slight of a pause in answering, not a wise choice to carry a firearm for protection.

+1, and I think THAT is the worst problem I have with my wife carrying...she is proficient, but I don't know if she's got the mindset yet....

 

[Tim99ws6]

The main thing to ask is.
Could you kill someone with a firearm to protect yourself. If there is any slight of a pause in answering, not a wise choice to carry a firearm for protection.

To protect myself? Yes I'd pause, because I can protect myself just fine without my handgun.


Now, you come at me, my family, or anyone around me for that matter with DEADLY force, and there's no pause.




As for the wife, I like the road you are going down. The hard thing with a carry gun is:

-easily accessible but not noticeable
-powerful enough to be useful, but not so powerful it is heavy or bothers the shooter
-accurate enough within a personal defense range(realistically, most anything should be able to do the job as a true place of self defense isn't about "aiming" but pointing and shooting. Most real life self defense cases are extreme close range)
-safe enough that it won't mistankingly fire, but still able to quickly fire if need be.

 

[GsxrBots]

The hard thing with a carry gun is:

-easily accessible but not noticeable
-powerful enough to be useful, but not so powerful it is heavy or bothers the shooter
-accurate enough within a personal defense range(realistically, most anything should be able to do the job as a true place of self defense isn't about "aiming" but pointing and shooting. Most real life self defense cases are extreme close range)
-safe enough that it won't mistankingly fire, but still able to quickly fire if need be.

It is VERY important that she shoots the gun before you buy one for her too.. Great advice here!
Bought my wife a LCR .38 and it hurts her wrists to shoot, so she doesn't want to shoot it.. Doesn't matter how it fits her hand or how she draws it if she won't practice with it..

 

[Spkrdctr]

Do they make the LCR or another snubby in .32 magnum? That would be a lot less kick. I think the .32 mag is probably the most overlooked cartridge for women. They often have weak wrists and it does hurt to shoot a .38 with lots of women. A 32 mag will hurt the bad guy a LOT more than a .22 or .25 auto and both of those cartridges kill people once in awhile. At self defense range they will take the shot at max velocity. Job done!

 

[GNBRETT]

+1, and I think THAT is the worst problem I have with my wife carrying...she is proficient, but I don't know if she's got the mindset yet....

most men dont have that mindset either when it comes down to actually pulling that trigger in real a real life situation. shooting at a paper target is a hell of a lot different then shooting at a moving live target that may actually be shooting back at you. which is why many have been disarmed with their own weapon and shot after either missing or not having the ballz to pull the trigger.

and under stress your likely to miss pretty bad actually when ur hands are shaking which they will be no matter how strong you think ur nerves are. trained police officers miss terribly under stress even up close and they have a chit load of deadly force training and the mindset to shoot someone.

 

[m_ridgeway]

most men dont have that mindset either when it comes down to actually pulling that trigger in real a real life situation. shooting at a paper target is a hell of a lot different then shooting at a moving live target that may actually be shooting back at you. which is why many have been disarmed with their own weapon and shot after either missing or not having the ballz to pull the trigger.

and under stress your likely to miss pretty bad actually when ur hands are shaking which they will be no matter how strong you think ur nerves are. trained police officers miss terribly under stress even up close and they have a chit load of deadly force training and the mindset to shoot someone.

x2

Look at what happened in nyc, officers allegedly hit 9 people.

 

[busa-saga]

did you let your buddy know to sleep with one eye opened as well????

 

[BlueHaya]

She should get a handgun to carry. Something small.....something that she is comfortable with and is not thinking about the gun in a life/death situation.

She should have one.....but she should also have either pepper spray or a stun gun, as a person is more likely to be able to use those on a person rather than shooting them. That should be her first line of defense.....then run.....if pursued, stop, turn, drop to 1 knee and unload the gun in their chest.

 

[Adox]

It was touched on earlier but: Practice, pratice, practice. Gotta put a few hundred / thousand down-range before it's even worth carrying. Just having the right gun means nothing if you can't use it well. Prefferably moving targets after she gets used to it.

 

[sanket_420]

It was touched on earlier but: Practice, pratice, practice. Gotta put a few hundred / thousand down-range before it's even worth carrying. Just having the right gun means nothing if you can't use it well. Prefferably moving targets after she gets used to it.

well said budd. Im agree with you 1000%

 

[skydivr]

My wife has a S&W Bodyguard 380 (so do I). Small, compact. DOUBLE ACTION TRIGGER (so not as easy to accidentally fire). Easy to clean, easy to train, reliable. Great little pistol.

 

[Stilslo]

Smith & Wesson shield looks good too. Now you can get them with a little red tab that pops up when there is a round in the chamber. Problem is finding one. Shops that are lucky enough to get some in, sell quick.

 

[Wag]

To echo prior sentiments, never EVER buy a gun for another person. The chances of the fit being right are slim to none.

--Wag--

 

[skydivr]

Smith & Wesson shield looks good too. Now you can get them with a little red tab that pops up when there is a round in the chamber. Problem is finding one. Shops that are lucky enough to get some in, sell quick.

I've got a Shield also. Don't like it near as much as the Bodyguard:

1. Noticeably bigger but just as thin. My Bodyguard fits in my pocket whereas the Shield isn't. bullet marker on Bodyguard also.

2. It's single action, striker fired (like a Glock). Although it does have a thumb safety, the finger safety is just too touchy to be grabbing it in panic mode. A woman in panic mode grabbing it in her purse (or a man grabbing it out of his pocket) with a round in the chamber and safety off is 10x more likely to prematurely fire it. Double action (Bodyguard) means you are not likely to accidentally fire it at it requires a full trigger pull to make the hammer drop (take a little getting used to not to pull off when firing, but IMHO it's worth the additonal safety factor, especially when carrying one in the chamber).

3. For some reason, the angle of the barrel to the grip isn't right to me; it's different than a glock, and therefore unnatural because I'm used to a glock being on target in my hand without looking.

4. .380 in the right kind of ammo is powerful enough, but not gonna kick as hard as a 9mm which helped my wife not be so scared of firing it.

I'd like the Shield a lot better if it was double action, hammer fired like the Bodyguard. Frankly, I'd consider selling my Shield, because I prefer my Glocks over it.

 

[Professor]

I've got a Shield also. Don't like it near as much as the Bodyguard:


2. It's single action, striker fired (like a Glock). Although it does have a thumb safety, the finger safety is just too touchy to be grabbing it in panic mode. A woman in panic mode grabbing it in her purse (or a man grabbing it out of his pocket) with a round in the chamber and safety off is 10x more likely to prematurely fire it. Double action (Bodyguard) means you are not likely to accidentally fire it at it requires a full trigger pull to make the hammer drop (take a little getting used to not to pull off when firing, but IMHO it's worth the additonal safety factor, especially when carrying one in the chamber).

3. For some reason, the angle of the barrel to the grip isn't right to me; it's different than a glock, and therefore unnatural because I'm used to a glock being on target in my hand without looking.


I'd like the Shield a lot better if it was double action, hammer fired like the Bodyguard. Frankly, I'd consider selling my Shield, because I prefer my Glocks over it.

Interesting. I have been looking for a Shield.

The Glock grip angle is no natural for me but my Sigs and the M&P full size works fine.
Some of the feed back on the bodyguard I have seen really complained about the long trigger pull. More so than most double actions. I'm used to slipping a Smith snubby in my pocket (642) and it has a pretty long trigger pull. I was hoping the Shield would drop in a pocket , but likely would be in a Milt Sparks VM II or similar IWB holster.

Have you handled other M&Ps for comparison to the Shield?

 

[GsxrBots]

Chances are Professor, if Skydivr is partial to the grip angle of the Glock he won't like the regular M&Ps either. Glock is kind of the odd duck for grip angle. Either you love 'em or you can't hit crap with 'em..

 

[Stilslo]

I've got a Shield also. Don't like it near as much as the Bodyguard:

1. Noticeably bigger but just as thin. My Bodyguard fits in my pocket whereas the Shield isn't. bullet marker on Bodyguard also.

2. It's single action, striker fired (like a Glock). Although it does have a thumb safety, the finger safety is just too touchy to be grabbing it in panic mode. A woman in panic mode grabbing it in her purse (or a man grabbing it out of his pocket) with a round in the chamber and safety off is 10x more likely to prematurely fire it. Double action (Bodyguard) means you are not likely to accidentally fire it at it requires a full trigger pull to make the hammer drop (take a little getting used to not to pull off when firing, but IMHO it's worth the additonal safety factor, especially when carrying one in the chamber).

3. For some reason, the angle of the barrel to the grip isn't right to me; it's different than a glock, and therefore unnatural because I'm used to a glock being on target in my hand without looking.

4. .380 in the right kind of ammo is powerful enough, but not gonna kick as hard as a 9mm which helped my wife not be so scared of firing it.

I'd like the Shield a lot better if it was double action, hammer fired like the Bodyguard. Frankly, I'd consider selling my Shield, because I prefer my Glocks over it.

Good info. My girlfriend just applied for her ccp and we are shopping around for a gun for her. She liked the shield, just can't find a store with one in stock so she can physically hold and check out. I'm partial to my Glock as well.