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Personally, my pocket pistol is a Sig P938. Pretty easy to ****, very compact and packs a punch that surpasses its' size. The lightweight polymer pistols have a higher recoil because they have less weight to absorb the recoil of firing, which means it's transferred to you instead.
I usually recommend a J Frame Smith & Wesson revolver to a woman. The model number for this gun is S&W model 36 (blued) or model 60 (stainless), or model 642 (concealed hammer), or model 351PD (22 Magnum), Taurus model 85. There is also a new small semi auto on the market made by Diamondback, it's a 9 MM and model DB9. The draw back to using a semi auto is the fact they are harder for a woman or inexperienced shooter to use than a revolver, you must draw the slide back against spring pressure and release it to load the first round out of the magazine. You usually have a safety to think about unless the auto loader is a Glock. The draw back to the J frame revolver is it holds only 5 cartridges and must be reloaded after shooting it five times, this is hard to do under duress or for the inexperienced shooter. These guns don't recoil as much as a larger caliber handgun would, and with a bit of practice, most women can handle the recoil. My everyday carry gun is a 1911 Kimber Ultracarry in 45 ACP caliber, I wouldn't recommend it to a woman because of it's size, however, my wife likes mine and shoots it well but has trouble getting the first round out of the magazine and into the barrel (getting it into ready to fire mode). Below are three small revolvers all with Crimson Trace laser grips. Bottom is a 22 magnum, center one has a concealed hammer.
Last edited by Nite Ryder; 01-08-2013 at 06:31 PM..
good pocket holsters can be hard to find. Many of them will come out along with the gun when you pull it out of your pocket,' so before you point the gun at the bad guy, you'd have to give it a shake to get the holster to fall off. That's 'sub-optimal' as Pres Obama might say. I bought a De Santis pocket holster for my Kahr that was supposed to 'stick like fly paper' to the pocket--it didn't. I bought a Kramer pocket holster for my S&W 342 (.38 j frame) that works pretty much ok, but still not perfect. I have to make sure I draw a certain way, or the holster comes out w/ the gun.
Also I find that revolvers generally are much easier to draw from a pocket holster. When the bad guy is coming at you with a knife, you don't want to be digging, prying, and pulling to get your gun out of your pocket.
The Ruger LCR .38 Special +9 is an outstanding revolver for concealed carry. It does not have an exposed hammer, so it means that in order to fire all you have to do is to pull the trigger. I bought one for my wife to have at home, and she loves it. Also, I handled several similar revolvers before settling down for the LCR. What I liked the most about it was the smooth and light trigger pull. By light I mean to say that it's lighter than a lot of the other revolvers I looked at.
Since my wife has small and delicate (and beautiful, of course) hands, I load it with some defensive but mild Hornady .38 SPL loads.
Here is the one I referred to, the first .38 SPL down the line ($529.00). But I did get a big discount at the store when I bought it, and ended paying around $288.00 or something like that: http://www.ruger.com/products/lcr/models.html
The Ruger LCR .38 Special +9 is an outstanding revolver for concealed carry. It does not have an exposed hammer, so it means that in order to fire all you have to do is to pull the trigger. I bought one for my wife to have at home, and she loves it. Also, I handled several similar revolvers before settling down for the LCR. What I liked the most about it was the smooth and light trigger pull. By light I mean to say that it's lighter than a lot of the other revolvers I looked at.
Since my wife has small and delicate (and beautiful, of course) hands, I load it with some defensive but mild Hornady .38 SPL loads.
That's the very one I am leaning towards the most, and your comment about the trigger pull is one of the major reasons why. How concealable in a pocket is it (though you might not know is it is a house gun)? Does the revolver wheel make it significantly less concealable in a pocket than one of the .380 pistols?
That's the very one I am leaning towards the most, and your comment about the trigger pull is one of the major reasons why. How concealable in a pocket is it (though you might not know is it is a house gun)? Does the revolver wheel make it significantly less concealable in a pocket than one of the .380 pistols?
I just bought the gun for my wife to keep around the house, or just to take with her when she drives to wrk or something like that. But I don't see any reasons why it would not make a house gun, too.
Yes, a pistol would be shorter and flatter (more compact), although not lighter than the LCR revolver.
I'm looking for something ultra small and concealable. So far my internet research has me leaning towards the Ruger LCR (either pistol or revolver). Does anyone have other recommendations or comments about the LCR line?
The LCR has a great trigger. It's light and easier to carry. Big negative is that it is too light and it doesn't handle recoil as well as a Smith and Wesson 442 or 640. They heavier weight helps with recoil. Snubbies are harder to shoot for the average shooter. My buddy hits out to 75 yards. I can only go to 25 yards, right now.
A SP101 is another great choice. At 24 oz it handles recoil very well.
The LCR has a great trigger. It's light and easier to carry. Big negative is that it is too light and it doesn't handle recoil as well as a Smith and Wesson 442 or 640. They heavier weight helps with recoil. Snubbies are harder to shoot for the average shooter. My buddy hits out to 75 yards. I can only go to 25 yards, right now.
A SP101 is another great choice. At 24 oz it handles recoil very well.
The added recoil of the LCR is probably true, but the one with the Pachmar? (I am guessing the name) grip helps a little. What I do for my wife is to buy ammo that produce a milder recoil than the +P or heavier loads. If recoil is of concern, it's true that a little extra weight does help tame it.
By the way, I mentioned the recoil to my wife, and she said, "don't worry about it, since I will be so scared if having to shoot someone that the recoil won't be my main concern."
I'm looking for something ultra small and concealable. So far my internet research has me leaning towards the Ruger LCR (either pistol or revolver). Does anyone have other recommendations or comments about the LCR line?
Kahr makes some nice compact pistols, Glock does too. I still have and use a Charter Arms Bulldog in .44 special for ccw sometimes.
I have never shot a 1911. What is more complicated about it - the fact that you have to **** the hammer? I assume the hammer **** is for the first shot only or is it required for each shot?
Nope. Not the case. You either buy a Para LDA (light double action) auto pistol (loaded, but you pull it through to fire it, noting that you already have it cocked and ready by simply loading a mag and cycling the action before you holster it.
Now, if you are knowledgeable enough to carry Condition One...
Condition 0: round in chamber, hammer cocked, safety Off
Condition 1: round in chamber, hammer cocked, safety On
Condition 2: round in chamber, hammer uncocked
(note: all of the above include a loaded magazine in the weapon)
Condition 3: empty chamber, hammer uncocked, loaded magazine in weapon
Condition 4: empty chamber, no magazine in weapon
... then you are OK with a pistol. Otherwise, you should probably not be carrying any such firearm.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nite Ryder
I usually recommend a J Frame Smith & Wesson revolver to a woman. The model number for this gun is S&W model 36 (blued) or model 60 (stainless), or model 642 (concealed hammer), or model 351PD (22 Magnum), Taurus model 85. There is also a new small semi auto on the market made by Diamondback, it's a 9 MM and model DB9. The draw back to using a semi auto is the fact they are harder for a woman or inexperienced shooter to use than a revolver, you must draw the slide back against spring pressure and release it to load the first round out of the magazine. You usually have a safety to think about unless the auto loader is a Glock. The draw back to the J frame revolver is it holds only 5 cartridges and must be reloaded after shooting it five times, this is hard to do under duress or for the inexperienced shooter.
Very true, NR! Given my logical propensity for ultra-reliable small frame revolvers, I always recommend such revolvers as the super-well made S&W J Frame. I happened to be able to buy a titanium J-Frame (less than 12oz empty!) a few years back in the very user-friendly .32 H&R mag, which also provides 6, rather than the usual 5, rounds. I'd hope that this will afford me the necessary stand-off power and no. of rounds to successfully prevail.
Btw, I've had to use it twice when 1) three illegal alien thugs out on I-80 east of Portland, OR decided to follow me into the rest stop restrooms, and we were all alone that spring evening. I simply pulled my sports coat back enough they could easily see the revolver there. They changed their minds..
And 2) when some dycko-head decided to growl at me and approach me, in broad daylight no less, at a crouch, outside of a Yakima, WA 7-11. I said, with considerable surprise in my voice, "What?" , but then I pulled "Dr. No" and said "Stop!" as I leveled it at his now-less-interested head. He and his other buddies fled right then and there.
No shots fired. None needed apparently.
A revolver trigger is always easy to pull, a snubbie light enough to never be intrusive or burdensome to carry concealed, and these handguns are also easy to reload (you can even get those nifty little speed loaders with another set of rounds. Just empty the cylinder (very easy with a double action!), and then position and drop 6 more in! Voila.
As well, periodic cleaning of the weapon (when you leave it for months in your linty purse or potentially dirty pocket..) is v. easy with a revolver, versus the necessary disassembly of any auto-pistol in order to clean it. Finally, a small frame revolver is really not that much thicker than a pistol. Not a functional issue, IMHO.
Go revolver. If you can find a snubbie in .32H&R or the more recent .327 Federal (really not necessary, but it will also fire the .32H&R mag), and can keep to the lighter ones, you'll be doing the sensible thing! Oh and Btw, this is not about firing comfort. You'll likely NEVER have to use it in self defense, but if you do, you also will not notice it's recoil as long as you have done even minimal practice shooting.
Note re this picture: do NOT buy a snubbie in .357 Magnum. You don't want that "manly" recoil, and you also do not want the subsequent penetration through several levels of drywall or plywood, finally killing some innocent grandmother with your warning shot. If you can find Glaser Safety Slugs (a plastc bullet with shot inside, and which will not penetrate any walls, but if you catch a perp with it, it will give him quite the tummy ache. Just before he dies on the spot!)
Well... there yah have it: 45 yrs of experience yakkin' it up!
Take care, but buy soon!
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