[soundguy]

after much harrassment from me.. my mom finally went and got her concealed carry permit.

now.. my stepdad has a 6" bbl judge at home.. but my mom can't fire it well. it's heavy.. and she doesn't like the kick of the 45lc.

at her concealed class, the instructor had a short bbl 357 revolver.. perhaps some sort of airweight ( titanium frame? ) and loaded it with 38's for the shooters. sa/da, so those that didn't like trigger pull thru could cock it.. etc.

apparrently it went over real well. all the ladies at the class had NO prblem with the very light , larger framed 357, shooting the lighter 38 loads.

so that's what my mom wants now... something that won't weight her arms down.. but can shoot a 38 comfortably.. with the option of a 357 for home defense shot..e tc.

 

[RunningOnMT]

Well if price is no object, a Lady Smith perhaps?

Smith & Wesson, the first and most respected manufacturer for womens' handguns, has designed a line featuring small frame revolvers as well as a compact 9mm pistol. They believe that women should have the power to defend themselves, and that power is best found in a Smith & Wesson.

http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/.../Smith+&+Wesson+60LS+.357+Magnum+(Lady+Smith)

 

[GunnyGene]

My wife has a .357 S&W 5shot she likes, but I'd suggest taking mom down to the gunshop and let her pick out what she wants. I'd suggest that she avoid shiny wood grips. Reason is that many women use hand lotions, etc. which can make it slippery. A non-slip grip would be best.

 

[old semperfi]

i also agree if money is not too much of an option.i think a lady smith is the ticket.the other option is a taurus revolver with a hammer.they make some very light revolvers.nuff said...............old semperfi

 

[savage170]

my wife prefers this model 19

over the J frames and I use to have a 386 NG that she liked better then the J-frames and the other one that she likes shooting a lot is a old colt police postive that I have. I have been keeping a eye out to get her a 315 NG

 

[soundguy]

yep.. the range guy had the big hogue? rubber grips...

 

[Popeye]

My wife has a .357 S&W 5shot she likes, but I'd suggest taking mom down to the gunshop and let her pick out what she wants. I'd suggest that she avoid shiny wood grips. Reason is that many women use hand lotions, etc. which can make it slippery. A non-slip grip would be best.

What he said!

 

[Throckmorton]

an airweight can kick pretty hard even with med . power 38's,I know mine does.My wife much prefers shooting the same rounds in our steel-framed model 60
that said,our airweight has the miniscule 'boot grips',a std size pair of grips just might make it ok to get an airweight.

 

[soundguy]

i do plan on taking her to look at guns.. I just wanted an idea of what to line up.. something heavy like a steel long gun is going to be too much.. the bbl will tip down when she holds it..

I hear ya on a airweight and kick.. but hopefully she needs 1 shot.. and an air weight actually lets her point it out straight, vs aimed down..

 

[jbrescue]

If she has smaller hands, have her check out the Pink or Lavender Lady by Charter Arms

 

[Bindernut]

If possible, make a trip to a range that rents out or find someone that has the models that you guys are looking at.

Another one to consider besides the LadySmith models (good revolvers BTW) would be an SP101 Ruger.
The SP is a little heavier than most of the snubby Smiths and will help tame the recoil a bit more than the steel-frame Smiths. It's much easier on the wrist than the Airweight or Scandium Smiths.

If weight vs recoil isn't as much of an issue, also check out the Ruger LCP. I don't have much experience with these yet so that's about all I can say about it.

As for the Taurus and Charter Arms revolvers...well, I like the older Taurus models but the more I see of the new ones they have terrible quality control and aren't near the firearm that they used to be 20years ago.
Same goes for Charter Arms...except I haven't seen a decent Charter built since the late 70s. that's about the time things got pretty lean for the company and I think they started cutting corners on already inexpensive guns. The new Charters aren't much better either.

 

[76Highboy]

The problem with the light weight's is it is going to kick a bit more and she may not like that. I recommend the Lady Smith in .357 because she can shoot the .38's for practice but yet she can have either the .38 +p loads or some 357 magnum loaded. Then if she wants to experiment with the heavier loads then the extra weight of the gun will help with recoil so she won't be afraid of it, but yet it is not so heavy of a gun that she can't maneuver it. I carry her Lady Smith in my pocket at times and then she will carry it on her person as well and it is never a bother. I think if she tried the Lady Smith you wouldn't get it out of her hands. That's how my wife is.

 

[woolleyworm]

I too would suggest that she go down to the LGS and get her hands on as many different guns as possible. And to also check out the SP101 in 327Federal. The 115gn GoldDots have a big of recoil, but not something that she'd be shooting often. 6 rounds vice 5 too.

 

[Fast Forward]

If you can Find an old Taurus in 38 spl just put some Hogues on it ,,357 might be a bit much

 

[GunnyGene]

Something that hasn't been mentioned in connection with this is ammo. There's a lot of choices in .38spl. JHP, SWC, hard cast Keith, different bullet weights, etc. You should give this some consideration, since they will have different effects on an attacker. JHP is probably the most popular, but may not be the best round for the need. My wife loads alternating JHP and SWC in the cylinder for example.

 

[ozo]

If Mom liked the one the instructor had.....
ask the instructor specifically what it was...
and get her that.

My first and my last suggestion
as many of you know [these days]
would be a .327 Federal Magnum.
[despite some that ridicule me.....
I stand my ground. ]

Shoot .32 H&R's and .327 Federal.

And you can load Mom's rounds.

Many nice choices in arms.

 

[ozo]

And a perfect little Smith....

http://www.georgiagunstore.com/gun_...esson-S&W_632_PRO_2125_327MAG_BLK_NS_MOO.html

http://hammerbackguns.com/index.php...facturers_id=59&sort=20a&filter_id=749&page=3

 

[soundguy]

i'll have to find out the exact make of the gun.. but know it was a 357 snub, some sort of air weight, and was shooting 38spl for the range shots. I liet her hold my 38 smith and my tarus 85.. she said both of them are heavier than the one at the range. a buddy has a titanium fram 38 and it feels like a water gun.. i imagine that 357 in a similar allow will weight less than either of my 38's etc..