millagerobert

The beretta storm pistols are nice. I have their full size in 9mm, I like it allot better than the glocks and H&Ks I have owned in the past, allot more ergonomic than the xd's, haven't shot the S&W M&P so can't compare to it, but so far I have been impressed with the storm.

usmc1978

Lotsa good advice so far. Unless she's going to get real familiar with the semi-auto and shoot it on a regular basis, stick with the revolver. Any shooter can control just about any caliber with a good Weaver stance and lockup.

And, thanks for your service. Get some for me.

Tallbud

I'm not sure what the purpose is for getting your wife a gun (i.e. self protection, target practice etc.) however, the Bersa Thunder .380 is a nice solid, yet light, medium framed gun. The .380 & 9mm rounds are almost identical. My wife is 5'03 and controls the Bersa with ease. The recoil is light and if necessary, easy to conceal. I paid $210 for mine with holster. Check one out, she may like it. Like Maine Shooter said, let her be the one who is comfortable with the weapon. Most importantly, get some range time when possible. On a personal note, my family and I thank you for your service!

devil dog

To start, never underestimate what someone can handle, my cousin is all of 5' and maybe weighs 100lbs wet!, she loves shooting my .44mag, my wife is 5'6" weighs in around 115 and shoots the crap out of her .38 snubnose with +Ps. The best advice I could give you is to let her shoot what ever she can and decide whats best for her, the most important thing to remember is, if its for personal protection, it needs to be the easiest thing for her to operate under stressfull conditions, thats were wheel guns really shine!.

driftrider

Since you're looking for a sub-compact, a revolver might NOT be a good choice for a woman, especially a very small hammerless chiefs special type revolver. Why? Well, she might not have the hand strength to pull a double-action revolver trigger, and in a crisis might not have the presence of mind or the time to manually cock the hammer for each shot (if there's a hammer to cock at all). Second, if she can just barely manage to pull the DA trigger, it'll probably throw her shots off so much that she'll be lucky to hit anything past a few yards. I don't know her, but I know my wife would struggle to pull a DA revolver trigger, and she's a bigger woman than your's is. My wife is also very recoil sensitive and doesn't handle anything bigger than a 9mm well at all. Your wife may be the same way, and if she is and you get her a pistol that kicks beyond her comfort zone, she won't like it, and if she doesn't like it, she won't shoot it. Women, in my experience, don't have the bravado about shooting uncomfortably hard kicking rounds that men do. Unfortunatly, unless you've shot with her before and know what she can handle, you won't know until she tries, but it'd be a shame to buy her a .357Sig or a .40S&W sub-compact that she refuses to shoot. Might even turn her off to shooting altogether.

My recommendation would be to take her out to a range where you can rent various pistols for her to try if you can. If not, take her shopping with you and have her handle several guns and see which one she likes best. But I'd probably suggest you start with either a Springfield XD or a Glock, either in 9mm Parabellum. I, personally, like the XD better than all the Glocks I've owned because the stock trigger is better and the XD has a more comfortable and natural grip angle. The reason I suggest the XD or Glock is because they are rugged, reliable, and are SIMPLE to operate when you are awakened from a dead sleep by the sound of an intruder coming down the hallway. As long as they are locked and loaded, they are pure point-n-click pistols. No manual safeties to forget to take off when the bad guy is three steps away and coming fast. Because I have (very intrepid, who can climb anything) kids, I keep mine unloaded and out of reach, but with the slide locked back and a loaded magazine close by, and my wife knows how to quickly load it if necessary.

But if you're in doubt, get her a 9mm. With the very good defensive ammo available today it'll do the job just fine. If a good hit (or two, as a good rule of thumb is if it's worth shooting, it's worth shooting twice!) from a 9mm with good ammo won't stop an attacker, you don't need a bigger pistol, you need a rifle. I like Federal Hydra-Shoks, but there are plenty of other selections out there of good defensive ammo. The most important thing is to run a few boxes of whatever ammo you choose thru it to make sure it'll cycle reliably (some guns don't like certain hollow points). My XD and the Glocks I've had are and were all 100% reliable with Hydra-Shoks.

Mike

CalHunter

First of all, thanks for serving and stay safe. I've been a police firearms trainer for over 13 years and have had the opportunity to train quite a few females. We use the Glock .40 claiber pistols and to date, every single female has qualified with either a Glock 22 or Glock 23 (both in .40 caliber). You can get the subcompact model (Glock 27) but it has a short pistol grip and most people end up attaching a mag extender to get a better grip.

The Glock pistols have double stack magazines but our 5-5, 100 #'s dripping wet females do shoot them and qualify. With the Glock, the actual shooting platform is lower and a shooter tends to handle the recoil better. I've owned and shot Glock 9mm's and .40 caliber pistols and there really isn't a lot of difference in recoil but there is a huge difference in terminal ballistics.

The Glocks have what is called a safe action, meaning that the pistol is "cocked and locked" but a lot safer than a traditional M1911. The pistol doesn't have a magazine disconnect safety like the S&W's and all of the pistols carry 2-3 times the # of rounds in a standard revolver.

If you are unable to wait till after you get back from Afghanistan and have to purchase a pistol (or revolver) from overseas, you should consider purchasing something you would like to have in case your wife decides she wants something different. Hope this helps some. Semper Fi!

rustydale

My wife had a .357sig in a baby glock and the recoil was brutal for her. She sold it and now has a .357 titanium 2" barrel that she is shooting .38's in.

idunno

Tallbud recommended the Bersa Thunder. Personally, I like the thunder and if I wanted something easy to conceal and carry, I'd probably go for one. I had one for my wife. She's 5'7" probably 150ish. She couldn't stand the bersa. It was her first handgun to fire and she felt like it had too much muzzle flip. Probably due to the really small grips. We shot a friend's 4" Ruger GP101 357mag and loaded it with everything from mild 38's to some +p+ 357's and she absolutely loved it. She's now a proud owner of a Taurus Tracker 357. Concealment was not an issue in our case. Just a bedside gun.

Recoil is very subjective and even if it's going to be a gift, I'd wait until she had a chance to try a few different handguns out before buying anything. Also might want to look into something with Crimson Trace Laser Grips. It's alot easier to put the red dot on the target than trying to line up the sights in a dark hallway.

Rifle Loony

A guy at work just bought one of those 3" Taurus Judge's for his wife. Says she likes shooting it with .45LC's and 410 buckshot both.

I've never met her but he don't seem like the type that would marry a linebacker..............

stalkingbear

I have to reccomend a revolver as well. The reasons are many including but not limited to: does she have the hand strength to "rack" the slide?, worrying about is there a round in chamber?,is the safety on or off(where present)? is the mag in gun and loaded? You cannot get simpler or more reliable than a revolver-just draw and fire. The important thing to do is let her pick 1 that fits her best. Usually a small frame snubby in 5 shot "j" frame size in .38 or .357 is ideal. Another idea is the new .327 mag.