guns for girls

[Get'em Duck]

OK I'm new to the hand gun scene myself and now my better half wants to get in on the fun. I fell into my used Kimber custom II Target for less then 350. and My buddy shoots single stack so it just seemed right. But now with her wanting to shoot to, I'm not sure what to have her look at we live in BFE so don't have the option to shoot a ton of different guns but she shoots what she can trying to see what she likes, likes the 9mm the best. She's dry fired my Kimber and likes the trigger break better then a double action trigger. So what would her options be. what are small framed women shooting? She is 5'1" (the 1" is VERY important) ladies who know hands and rings she has small hands wears a 5.25 ring. she can grip and reach the trigger ok on my 1911 but does want the recoil of the 45.

Searches have pointed toward poly guns with double action triggers, is there anything else out there?

Thanks for the help folks.

~Get'em Duck

[Matt Cheely]

9mm 1911, CZ SP01. Open gun with a cut down grip...

[Bigpops]

The Mrs loves her Glock 34

[D.Hayden]

She just needs to try a few grips see what fits their hand the best.

My wife likes the Glocks... she settled on a G35.

[Aircooled6racer]

Hello: I would say a 9mm 1911 with thin grips. You may look at pistols for kids as well if you do a search. My son is 10 and a little on the small side. He likes the 1911 single stack over the Glock 17/19's. There are different 1911 frames so let her try different pistols. Thanks, Eric

[mpeltier]

M&P 9mm is worth a look. My 11 yr old does greast weith one, small grip insert.

[bbbean]

OK I'm new to the hand gun scene myself and now my better half wants to get in on the fun. I fell into my used Kimber custom II Target for less then 350. and My buddy shoots single stack so it just seemed right. But now with her wanting to shoot to, I'm not sure what to have her look at we live in BFE so don't have the option to shoot a ton of different guns but she shoots what she can trying to see what she likes, likes the 9mm the best. She's dry fired my Kimber and likes the trigger break better then a double action trigger. So what would her options be. what are small framed women shooting? She is 5'1" (the 1" is VERY important) ladies who know hands and rings she has small hands wears a 5.25 ring. she can grip and reach the trigger ok on my 1911 but does want the recoil of the 45.

Searches have pointed toward poly guns with double action triggers, is there anything else out there?

Thanks for the help folks.

~Get'em Duck

I've found that if I don't tell new shooters the .45 is going to recoil, they don't really notice it. Just have her shoot a .357 for a few rounds and then the 1911.

But seriously, get a 1911 in 9mm. You can use it for your steel gun or for IDPA when she's been shooting a while and takes your .45.

[Ridgerunnr]

Well i have 4 kids shooting and one is a girl and also my wife shoots. If i can tell ya anything its let em pick their own..lol Id rather try buyin em shoes than buyin them a gun and we KNOW how THAT would work:)

SHe has to try out as many as poss..it really does make a difference. I got lucky, everyone in my house likes the XD Tactical. The plus side is its light and the easy to move from target to target. With light springs and loaded down 9mm 147 gr bullets it shoots so soft that its incredible. My 11 yr old sons small hands even have no prob. The only thing we did to it for small hands is put an extended mag release button on it. Buy her what she likes i guess.

[M.E.Anglin]

what is your budget like?? do you reload??? if you are on a tight budget you can get 1911 in .45 alot cheaper then 1911 in a 9mm (as you already found out) and you could always load her light .45's for her gun,

also two thumbs up on the M&P the small grip insert works good for most smaller hands

[uscbigdawg]

9mm 1911, CZ SP01. Open gun with a cut down grip...

I'll second this. We built an ex-girlfriend an open gun built on a cut down Entreprise frame (basically making it an officers model) and then with no grips added grip tape (like with Caspians).

Worked like a champ 'til we broke up.

Rich

ETA: She was 5' (maybe) and all of 95 pounds.

Edited March 23, 2009 by uscbigdawg

[SA Friday]

My wife's 5'2" and carries a Kimber Pro-carry 45 ACP. She's also shot my G34 and G24. It all depends on the lady. Just don't show them an open gun unless you're willing to absorb the financial impact

[bbbean]

if you are on a tight budget you can get 1911 in .45 alot cheaper then 1911 in a 9mm (as you already found out)

In the long run, though, cheaper 9mm ammo more than makes up for the difference.

[Get'em Duck]

Thank you all for your reply s I have no intent on picking her gun unless she asks me too then I'll pick me up a 9 for SC matches

I like the 1911 or 2011 in a 9mm idea, shes played with the m&p, the XDm preferred the XDm but asked if she could get a trigger more like my gun (1911) when she started pointing out triggers I started thinking it's the double action that she doesn't like and why I am currently looking for models in a 9mm on a 1911 frame to have he take a look at. I know she would love an open gun in a 9mm but I'm not that rich yet if I was I'd have me a nice limited gun. any ways yes I do reload for my 45 and was given the stuff to reload for a 9mm so if she choose the 9mm it would be in our favor.

We'll find her something and get her out there shooting.

Thanks everyone

~Get'em Duck

[Singlestack]

She will NOT like scoring minor...

[uscbigdawg]

Given all that, give a serious look to a CZ in 9mm. VERY affordable, probably the best pistols ergonomically there is and the frames are small enough for most womens' hands. Hi-caps are readily available as well as "race" gear or more production oriented gear. Triggers are easily tuned too.

Rich

[R A Miller]

If i can tell ya anything its let em pick their own..lol Id rather try buyin em shoes than buyin them a gun and we KNOW how THAT would work:)

That's the truth. My wife picked my STI Trojan in 9mm. I put the original thin grips that came with it back on and it has been hers every since. She can shoot a 1911 chambered in .45 acp fine, but for longer range session she prefers 9mm.

Rick

[Tiny Warrior]

I got to try out a bunch of guns before I settled on a CZ SP01. I replaced the grips with thin aluminum ones that made it easier to get my hands around (I am 5', also with tiny hands).

I went to Open last year. Even with the size of my hands, gripping the open gun doesn't give me any problems.

I would totally recommend open, but if it's not in your budget, my next choice would be the SP-01.

Glad to see your wife getting into the game!!

[FranDoc]

I shot an XD9 for two years in Production. Learned to do reloads ... a lot. Learned to be very accurate because A's count and anything else hurts. Those are both good things to learn early on. It also ran, period. Ran when the temperature was 90+, ran when the temp was below the solidifying point of Slide Glide (at a major match, of course), ran in the rain, never got fussy, ate most anything for ammo.

The ONE ergonomic issue I had with the XD was the take-down lever on the left side of the frame. If my thumb contacts the frame, the take-down lever bangs into the end of my thumb every single time. Solution: shoot with the left thumb off the frame. It's workable. The M&P has solved this problem; the take down lever is recessed into the frame. Trigger on the XD9 needed work. Canyon Creek (Forum dealer) did a good job with it.

The XD is a bit chubby, but at least the grip angle is like a 1911. Tru-Grip is a wonderful thing with any polymer gun. I can't seem to get my hands around any Glock well, but I know other women do fine with Glocks.

I've shot a friend's CZ Open gun and it's absolutely wonderful. The DA trigger pull on the CZ is difficult for me, therefore no CZ gun in Production. Would be fine in Ltd/L10 (but, in 9mm, there's the issue of Limited minor).

I now have a Caspian high-cap (.40) and absolutely love it. No grips, just tape. That feels no 'fatter' than the XD. The grip profile is different than a 'standard' 1911, but it works for me. Disadvantage is cost -- this is not a 'starter gun', at least not new from a 'smith. Watch the classifieds, Caspian's pop up occasionally. Jim Anglin did a great job tuning mine.

Good luck. Handle as much as you can within the geographic limitations. Don't be afraid to get something to get started, but know that your choice may change in a season or two, depending upon what she's able to try otherwise.

[G-ManBart]

A 1911 in 9mm is a great choice, but it is hurt a bit by minor scoring. The CZ SP-01 or an M&P 9 would make great choices for Production. My wife is 5' 2" and wears either the same or similar ring size, so I know what you're talking about. She doesn't like the way my Glocks feel (22's, 23, 27) but she does like my 1911 in .40.....although it is still a bit too big for her hands (like getting her thumb on top of the thumb safety etc). I just picked up an M&P Pro (today actually) and I think that's going to be a great gun for her to practice with...pop in the small insert and you're done. The trigger feels a world better than most of the current double action/DAO guns and with an inexpensive trigger job you can get it down under 3lbs. I handed it to the guns at work (two are also firearms instructors and they all loved it). R,

[M.E.Anglin]

my wife found this grip to be just right...and the recoil wasn't bad

[GentlemanJim]

I see some tiny ladies blastin away with sv or sti open guns

9mm can be major or minor...

see that she has a chance to shoot a high end open gun before choosing

Jim

[walter hornby]

my girlfriend was 5'2" and about 130 pounds when she started out. she had her choice of firearms but she settled on my beat up old 1945 vintage 1991 that had a number of upgrades on it. as she started to shot we made adjustments to it for her. we went with the thinest grips i could find, put an extended mag release on it and grip tape. she then bought a single stack 38 super open gun and we basically just moved everything over to it for her. her next gun was an SVI. she did put a short trigger on it but she felt the grip angle was better then the STI so she left it alone through she has talked about relieving the trigger guard a bit. her latest acquisition is an SP01 Shadow. she had it tuned and put a set of aluminium grips on it and shots 147 grain bullets out of it and she just loves it.

if she wants to talk to my GF let me know and i will put the two of them together.

[Chuck Anderson]

If it's just the trigger she doesn't like on the Springfield, Springer Precision can take care of that. Shorter and much lighter than factory. Also, the Taurus 24/7 OSS has a very small grip frame for a doublestack gun. One of the smallest I've tried. I keep it for new shooters.

[waxman]

Well i have 4 kids shooting and one is a girl and also my wife shoots. If i can tell ya anything its let em pick their own..lol Id rather try buyin em shoes than buyin them a gun and we KNOW how THAT would work:)

SHe has to try out as many as poss..it really does make a difference. I got lucky, everyone in my house likes the XD Tactical. The plus side is its light and the easy to move from target to target. With light springs and loaded down 9mm 147 gr bullets it shoots so soft that its incredible. My 11 yr old sons small hands even have no prob. The only thing we did to it for small hands is put an extended mag release button on it. Buy her what she likes i guess.

I have to totally agree with this one. I have been through almost every option with my wife. She initially loved my Kimber 1911 in 45, but I knew the recoil would be too much for her in the long run. I had her shoot matches with a beretta 92, a xd service, a xd tactical, and a glock, none of these she liked. She ended up shooting the kimber 45, for the year, but by the end of a match, everyone could see she was getting recoil skiddish, even with minor 45, it happened. I then let her pick out a gun for herself. She chose a Kimber target 2 9mm. I bought all of the gear for that, including 10 expensive 10rnd mags. She loved the gun, but minor scoring with a newer shooter, really sucked. For christmas, I let her decide on any gun she wanted, so she didnt lose interest in the sport. She chose a Tanfoglio limited in 40. This gun recoils no more then the 9, due to its design, and how low the gun sits in the hand. Now she is on the same playing field as the competition.In our local match saturday, she placed 15th out of 21, her first time shooting it in a match. This is alot better then she ever did with any other platform. I now have a whole shelf full of guns and gear that did not work for her, but I thought it would . Oh well,more guns for me. So take it from me. let her decide, and try not to influence here decision. I hope mine has finally found hers

Edited March 24, 2009 by waxman

[steveyacht]

Well, here is my take. Since the first of the year I have had four of my "students" purchase guns based upon my advice and teachings. They are all women that range from 5'3" - 115 to 5'10" approximately 170. We have purchased the following: Dan Wesson Patriot in .45ACP. Two Glock 34's. one Glock 17 long slide and one Glock 17. They are all very happy with their choices and I still work with all of them, assisting in picking our mag pouches, belts, mags, sights, trigger work, grips, etc. We tend to shoot USPSA, Steel Challenge, bowling pins, and other informal shoots.

For what it;s worth, Steve