Self Defense Handgun for wife

[perfectionist1]

Hi,
As you know I carry a 0.32 revolver for SD.
Now I am planning to get a handgun for my wife to carry for SD, since he drives and goes out oftenly.
The plan was shelved for few years since she was not ready to take responsibility of a gun, since kids are around. But it took a lot of time to convince her about it.

I feel handgun is the best for self defense/ home defense, in case you live in a metro in apartment and are not privileged with farm house , since it can be maneuvered easily in confines of a car or has very less danger of ricochet or blowing your neighbour's wall away.

First of all we have decisions to make 1- Revolver or Pistol. 2 - 0.22 cal, 0.25 cal or 0.32 cal. 3- Interestingly - 0.32 IOF Anmol (since she wears salwar kurta, it is easy to conceal.

I am inclined towards 0.32 rev, so that ammo can be pooled, however recoil factor, stopping power and her ease of use is prime importance.
She is not very strong built, thus has to cautious.

I am also thinking of getting her try my rev so that an idea can be drawn on recoil.

Guys, let me know, help me with your experience.
She also like 7.62x25 tokarev on you tube ( atleast she is looking out for guns)


Cheers.....

[inplainsight]

See if she can get used to reloading the IOF .32 revolver. My mom has a webley .32 revolver and I have a Mauser HSc pistol. My wife struggles to operate both. She has tried the .22 IOF revolver and a colt .25 pistol and loves them both. Take her to a good arms dealer and have her try out a few options.

[goodboy_mentor]

As you have already said the ammunition can be pooled for common caliber. When living in a an ammunition quota system, keeping guns of common caliber is a better idea. Let her fire your .32 revolver. If she is comfortable firing and reloading it, then your question is solved.

[perfectionist1]

As you have already said the ammunition can be pooled for common caliber. When living in a an ammunition quota system, keeping guns of common caliber is a better idea. Let her fire your .32 revolver. If she is comfortable firing and reloading it, then your question is solved.

Thanks, yes i will and inform you guys.

[timmy]

Perfectionist:

Have her shoot your revolver and see how that goes. If she can load the magazine of a semi-auto, she shouldn't have too much trouble reloading the revolver.

Remember, she would have to operate the slide on the pistol to chamber a round before firing, so the revolver is the best bet when it comes to something being ready immediately.

If the 32 is borderline for her, either in pistol or revolver, a 7.62x25 will certainly be too much. They have quite a muzzle blast and I doubt that she would like it. For sure, it is more powerful than 32 ACP or 32 S&W Long -- it is in the 9mm class. But the pistols are large and somewhat awkward to shoot, and this will be even more of an issue for someone with small hands, not a lot of strength, and very little practice.

Please let us know how your practice sessions with her go.

[xl_target]

Perfectionist, if she is a novice,start her out with a .22 caliber revolver or pistol.
Make sure you have her wear hearing protection all the time. If she is not used to shooting the report will make her flinch.
Once she is comfortable with the .22 LR, then move on to a larger caliber. Don't start her with the biggest firearm you have, if she gets turned off, she might never pick up a handgun again.
Explain the sight picture to her. Show her the proper grip. Explain the trigger pull. Let her make the decision as to what caliber and what handgun she should use. Teach her the four rules of gun safety before you go out to shoot.

[timmy]

Yes, XL, you are right -- my assumptions made my advice of much less value that yours!

You have laid out the correct path.

[veeveeaar]

If she is comfortable with your .32 rev, then why bother about another caliber and type of hand gun? .A same .32 rev will be fine. But she must practice with it on loading and trigger pull. In a crisis if she is not well versed in drawing,pointing and good trigger operation, The arm itself will be a fatal disadvantage.

[dr.jayakumar]

my adice would be a semi auto pistol,either .22 or .32.double action revolver could be difficult as the trigger is quiet hard.
my 2cents.
regards
dr.jk

[perfectionist1]

Thanks Timmy, Dr. JK and all,
Today I gave her my 0.32 revolver (IOF-mkIII) to load, cock the hammer and see the trigger.
yes I gave lot of attention to explain sight picture, grips, stance etc.....we did not go to shoot in the first go.

But....there was a big deal of trouble as she was not able to cock the hammer for single action or trigger pull was too much for her in DA, hands were really shaking when she tried to pull the trigger for DA.
while she was able to open the cylinder, but it was a visible effort.

I am really worried now.

While I have never operated 0.22 rev (IOF), I am trying to go to some gun shop this saturday, to see if they have one and let her handle it.

Thanks for your comments.
Will keep you posted.


Cheers...

[to_saptarshi]

I was expecting this . It would be extreamly difficult for her to fire .32 IOF in a double action mode . The trigger pull in DA is much above than 2 KG, even its difficult for here in SA mode. I seriously doubt if she can pull it in DA at all.

If .32 is your choice then you can try considering Ashani , Cocking effort is much lesser than revolver and Trigger pull is accpetable even for ladies. I dont recommend .22 IOF for your wife for two reasons. 1. Cocking Hammer .22 IOF will still be little hard for her 2. For being extreamly light weight the recoil is considerbly on the higher side in compare to other .22 variant . In a life threating situation it could be too dangerous if she cannot hit the target. If you could get a imported .22 other than IOF that is possibly the best option. Otherwise stick to .32ACP with imported rounds.

[xl_target]

Tim,
My post was meant to be a follow-on to your post. I pretty much agree with what you said.

Perfectionist,
If she is having a hard time cocking the hammer on your revolver, she will probably have a even harder time cocking the slide on a semi auto.
The only thing I can say is have her try a bunch of different handguns to see what she would be comfortable for her.

[timmy]

XL: When I read your post, you suggested the things that needed to come before any of the things that I mentioned. It was a bad more on my part to skip those steps.

Perfectionist: The key issue, to me, for whatever gun you select is that it is safe to carry when it is ready to fire. A double action revolver with modern lock work is such a weapon. You can load all the chambers on a Colt Detective Special or Smith & Wesson Chief's Special a examples of this sort of revolver. Or, you can go for a single action semi-auto that can be SAFELY carried "cocked and locked." Teheran 1911 is an example of this type of pistol. Or, you can go for a modern double action semi auto like a Glock.

All of these are larger guns or in larger calibers. What I'm suggesting is that any defense/carry handgun has to be SAFE: meaning, you can carry it ready to shoot without worrying that it's going to go off in uor ur pocket or purse and blow part of your anatomy away unexpectedly, rather than protect you.

A lot of the older "pocket pistol" types, like th original Colt, annot be safely carried with a round in the chamber.

Even if you get a 22, you need to think about this for your Wife so she has a safe weapon, yet one that she can really protect herself with.

[perfectionist1]

Hi Tim,
got your point, thus discounting 0.22 from the list.

Still I have to take her to shoot 0.32 revolver for actual assessment.

Given the level of scarcity of choices for handguns in India, mostly I am confined to 0.22 or 0.32, max. 0.25....for readily available cals.

Cheers....

[gladiatorgarg]

hii sorry for joining the party my share of penny will go for .22 iof... its cheap its very light preity easy for CC..makes hell lot of noise if you want to scare off some one with a warning shot..and with imported ammo u can do some serious damage with well placed shots at any homosepian torso...i av personally fired it & its quite accurate till 15mtrs...and for a lady it will be a good deterence as well...its my opinion...rest its upto you bro..