Advice for wife's first pistol

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FF57

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Good Evening all,

I'm looking for advice for a first pistol for my wife. She's doesn't have much in the way of criteria or experience for that matter. She basically wants it to be pretty (stainless vs black), light, she likes loud noises and she can get recoil shy. (I know hardly any of the criteria are shooting based at all). Basically we were at a sports store and she had her hands on a few, and of course she picked the $1300 Kimber .45 that they had on the shelf.

Before I get too many comments on .22's... I know you could get light, pretty ones and it would have little recoil (but not very loud either). And they would definitely be cheaper than the most expensive one found on a shelf. I'd prefer to hear about others because I just don't like the .22 rimfire much because... well... it's a rimfire.

As a side, I reload, and quite enjoy reloading as a time occupying hobby... possibly more than shooting. And her having a reloadable catridge would just be a bonus for me. (Then I could also tweak the recoil a bit, as I have with 30-06 for her)

I've also seen that you can buy fancy grips for 1911's. Do those work on all 1911's? If that's the case, it would make it easy to make pretty.

..... Women..... Thanks guys.
 
Some years ago I would have suggested a 9mm but having gone through a similar experience you may well find that your wife finds that a steel framed .45 recoils less and is therefore more manageable than a polymer pistol in 9mm. You should of course consider grip - a single stack is smaller than a double stack grip. Maybe this points to a 1911 in 9mm ? If so there are several nice models to choose from - some time ago I had a very nice Kimber Team Match that most people thought to be very attractive.

Grips do fit most models but check with vendor to make sure.

A review I wrote a couple of years or so ago may be of help:

http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?593791-A-Comparative-Review-of-Three-9mm-Pistols
 
For what it's worth... Most women are NOT recoil shy... it's the noise that seems to bother them... Did a 'test' a number of years ago with some women shooting revolvers. A blue 4" with 38 +p was too much for them (they were just wearing regular hearmuff)... Oddly enough stainless 4" with 357 mag was fun to shoot (they were wearing hearmuff and ear plugs).

-

So my advise
- Get the gun she like (and forget about saving a few $$ and buying something else). Making your wife happy and wanting to go to the range is a worthwhile investment!
- Get the best hearing protection you can find.
 
If she likes the Kimber, might I suggest the Custom 2 stainless in 9mm ? 9mm on a 1911 is quite soft shooting. My wife has small hands and her grip isn't strong enuff to grip the slide. Since you reload you can adjust loads and spring tensions on the 1911 accordingly.

My 2 obsolete pennies.
 
trebor2880 said:
If you're quick, you can still get in on the "1911 and ammo" deal at CanadaAmmo.
Click to expand...

I started to read through the Norinco 1911 Thread. By page 8 I got to this post:

zelly_101 said:
Honestly, Canada ammo is the best. Free shipping just means more gas in the tank...
I saved enough money, now I can turn it into this :) nothing to shake a stick at, might just turn heads at the club.
Click to expand...

Am I able to modify the Norinco to look like this? Cuz that could fit the bill of the cheaper option.

I appreciate all the comments and I'm reading Tomochan's review of the Kimber aswell. And it is a good point that to get her a good gun will encourage future purchases as she will have a good experience.
 
1911 grips are pretty much universal. At MOST you'd need to slightly oval out one of the grip screw holes to let them fall into place. And by slightly oval out I'm talking the thickness of a piece of printer paper. So yeah, you can go crazy with custom grips. You can find anything at all from exotic woods with laser cut designs to clear molded plastic grips with pictures or molded in objects. Sky is the limit.

To get a gun nickel or chromed like that shiney one will require some prep and care. Plating like that adds material to all the places exposed. You would want to have this job be done by a gunsmith that works with the plater to ensure that the areas that can't tolerate the buildup of thickness are masked off. Also the plating process is only as good as the surface under it. So all exposed surfaces would require polishing to a high and smooth gloss first before the plating process. And to do it right and produce a good looking job it's much more than simply jamming the parts up against a buffing wheel. There's a lot of hand work to ensure that the edges and slide grip areas remain crisp and sharp instead of buffing things until it looks like a half used bar of soap.

So all in all plan on the price of the gun doubling by the time you buy a Norinco and have it nickel or chrome plated like that example.

Is she married to the idea of a semi auto? A Ruger Vaquero or Pietta single action revolver in polished stainless or nickel with fake ivory grips has a HUGE Bling! factor. Another would be a nickeled DA revolver like a S&W model 19.

The odd time if you look around or get it sent away you can even get them neatly engraved. Here's an example I found on the web.

vaquero2.jpg
 
I got my wife a Uberti 1871 (stainless) open top revolver in .38 special for our first Christmas together. Then she wanted a .22 so I got her a tarus revolver. But then she tried a friends 9mm. Well she wanted one of those too LOL so I took her shopping and out of all the pistols she held she picked a Viking 446 Baikal in 9mm
The viking is her only black non stainless but she says its ok because it has a really cool name LOL
My advice would be to gather up your shooting friends and take her out to try all their handguns in .38 9mm .40s&w and .45 and see what she favors.
 
Get her something that to big and to heavy and to much recoil so that you have to get her something else ;)

Sometimes you are forced to buy 5 or 6 guns till you find the one that fits her.
 
i am reading this thread in total jealousy, not only will my wife not shoot a pistol, i can barely get her to plink with a .22 rifle!
buy her whatever gun she wants if she is interested in shooting pistols with you!
 
My wife's first handgun, by choice, was a .38 S&W revolver. My wife isn't your wife, but as they are both women, maybe they will share some opinions.

This post is an excellent example of how little I know about women.

Regardless, here's a list of why my wife went with a DA revolver (that I remember) and yours might like one as well:

- They are aesthetically pleasing. Frankly, if you can't appreciate the look of a good old Model 10 or Model 19, you may need your eyes checked. Even the more recent options with a bit more of a brutish look like the 686 or GP-100 are still pretty. She ordered some plain wooden grips and plans to wood-burn them all custom-like, and also made her own holster and gun sock for it.
- They have better 'manners'. A semi-automatic is always demanding you push buttons, shoving a slide in your face, and throwing brass down your shirt. The revolver doesn't do much of this, and is even polite enough to offer the easier single action or more challenging but rewarding double action option.
- Easier brass retention if you reload, which my wife does.
- No struggling to jam cartridges into magazines. Even if my wife wants to shoot a bunch fast or gets bitten by the competition bug, speedloaders are readily available.
- Like your own spouse, my wife likes the pyrotechnics of shooting but doesn't like painful, sharp recoil. It's not hard to develop .38 or .357 loads that create sweet fireballs but have very little recoil, and given the size of most revolvers, they help soak up that anyway.

Those are the big reasons I remember. Used-but-loved S&Ws are available every now and then. Maybe see if your wife likes the single-action revolvers as well. My wife chose the revolver route after three trips to the range to try out all kinds of stuff (she shoots, but prefers long-range rifle stuff) and settle on one that would make her happy. She went with a used Model 10 and loves it.
 
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