I have been thinking long and hard about this question for nearly a year now. Plinking around at paper targets or taking a few tactical runs on the range is always a good way to let off steam, but I'm not certain I know what type of pistol to recommend to my wife and I need your help.

So often, the first response from everyone has been, "Get her a revolver or a snub nosed .38 and be done with it". Well, that's all fine and dandy except my fine lady doesn't like revolvers, so NOW WHAT!? I suppose it all hinges on what she'll be using it for, right? Home defense? Self defense? Conceal and carry? Just range shooting? Lord forbid competition shooting? What if I wanted to only spend the money on ONE handgun (to rule them all)?

Some people have even asked me why a handgun for her at all? My answer is this; When Sam Colt cut loose the first commercially available revolver the saying was, "God made man, but Sam Colt made them equal". This, I believe, extends to women too. While my beloved has yet to attend her conceal and carry course, I still want to see what her options are in terms of firepower for the weaker gender.

I ventured over to firearmssite.com and had a look at their "for women" section and found some interesting ideas and pistols. Something they say that I didn't even think about was trigger pull. They recommend a pistol that requires a long, deliberate pull of the trigger in order to fire. They do not recommend the excellent Glock series of pistols for first-time users. What? They don't recommend a Glock??? Well read on brothers and see why. They say that the very short trigger pull of the Glock trigger is not what you need in a time of high stress. That makes total sense. When the stress is high and you don't realize how much the adrenalin is pumping, you want to be sure you really want to pull the trigger and not do so by mistake.

I also spoke with Teddy Jacobson, a pistolsmith out of Sugarland Texas.

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He recommends the Baretta 92F 9MM.  He says it is a wide grip large frame handgun that uses a 13 lb. recoil spring which makes it relatively easy for a woman to pull the slide back.  He says the only down side is, its big and heavy and hard to hold.  I knew a girlfriend like that once.  He also added that the Walther PPK or PPK/S is not the way to go because it's very difficult to operate the slide as the pistol is equipped with a 20 lb. recoil spring.  The trigger pull out of the box averages approximately 16 to 18 lbs. in the double action mode. This is out of the question for most women.

 

Still searching I found this article at Handgunforwomen.com.  You guessed it, they recommend a REVOLVER!  Here's why.  They say revolvers are simple to operate, easy to maintain, will function with any commercial version of its proper cartridge, and will still work with lack of lubrication, and other neglect (So do I).  Additionally, if you pull the trigger on a revolver and it doesn’t fire, you can pull the trigger again and bring an entirely new cartridge into firing position.  Now that makes sense.  Maybe I can convince her a revolver is what she needs.

I'm still very open to any suggestions.  Throw your ideas into the chamber by commenting on this post.  We'll see if any of your ideas hit the 10 ring!

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