MichaelT.

I have bought 2 of the charter arms undercover .38's. Both are great guns and shoot as good as the Taurus' and Smiths. They usually can be found a bit lower in price than any of the others. And yes, I bought both for protection for my old wife and the new wife.

And both of them liked the handguns, and they both still carry them.

biscuit jake

Consider a S&W chief's special, and fire wadcutters through it. Also, Taurus makes a 32 revolver which could shoot the H&R magnum, and the 32 Long. The wadcutters and the 32 Long would have much reduced recoil. Heavier calibers have much to recommend, but if someone is adverse to shooting them, I would look to these mellow mid bores. Daughter biscuit has a 32 ruger revolver and loves it.

Used Chief Specials are pretty common place, if you can get out to shop. If you get a Taurus, just check it over well first as some have quality control problems.

hillbilly archer

Thank you all for your help. I like the little .327 ruger and the S & W ladysmith in particular. If I can find a way for my wife to shoot the .327, she may like it if it truely has less recoil. That will factor big with her because of her size.

Thanks again for the info.

kdvollmer

Best thing to do to find her a handgun is 1) keep your mouth shut on what she needs. I don't mean to be rude, but what you like, or think she should have isn't always going to be the best thing. One of the biggest mistakes I have seen in my buddy's gun shop is guys bringing in their wives, fiances, girlfriends to get a gun for protection, and then telling the ladies that what they like, is too small, not enough gun....etc. Ultamatlely they would go home with another gun for him, because she isn't going to shoot it much since she didn't like it, it wasn't comfortable for her...etc I think you get my point here.
2) to find her something that she likes, do at least one of, if not both of the following. Take her to a gun show and let her look, let her pick up a bunch of guns, and let her tell you what she likes, how it feels for her. IF it is going to be for her to carry, other than the fact you are most likely paying for it, your opinion doesn't mean much unless it is to tell her that is a piece of crap pawnshop garbage. 2) the other thing is find a gun shop / range that has pistols there that you can rent / try out. This will be a good place for her to try several different calibers. Sure, every gun shoots different, but at least she can get some idea on what she does, or does not like, or what she can handle.

James B

Taurus gets a bad rap sometimes but there little model 85 in 38 special takes a back seat to nobody. I have had a half dozen or so, every one has been 100 percent reliable and very accurate. Shoot mild loads for practice and keep a few 158 grain Lead HP loads ( FBI load ) for personel protection. You can't go wrong and you can't beat the price.

22 Mag would be a fair choice but I don't know what is available in that caliber. The 32 is not bad either.

kmunny19

I don't think anyone else got it yet. pretty funny.

kmunny19

forgot to add, if the 22 feels and shoots best for her, I would go with that. sure, it doesn't have the impact of the other calibers you mentioned, but you hear about people killing each other with 22 pistols all the time, so they have enough power for self defense. also, the likelihood is that this gun will only get used for taget shooting, so the one that feels best to her would be my choice.

ShatoDavis

+1

Absolutely, a 22 that she will shoot and practice with is way better than a 38 etc that she is scared of IMHO.

ShatoDavis

[quote]ORIGINAL: kmunny19



nice, though my wife is worth more. At least throw in some ammo!!!

hillbilly archer

lol, yeah sure. I don't know of any around here.

I think we got it narrowed down maybe, thanks everyone.