I know everyone has an opinion..but what is best concealed carry weapon for the wife? Thanks

One she is comfortable with. I know that is a generic answer but lots of guys try to push a pistol on their wife. If she isn't comfortable with it, it won't do her any good. She needs to spend lots of time shooting it and becoming very familiar with it. Now, with that said, a very good pistol is the S&W 642 Airweight, hammer less .38. Very easy to shoot, no hammer to get snagged on. No fear of misfire. Very easy to load/reload.

something that is light and comfortable enough that she'll actually keep in her purse or carry on her.

for mine, it's a small .380...Taurus, Ruger, etc.

At first I thought you were about to do her in and collect the life insurance. Keltec .380. It is the lightest, smallest .380 made. It shoots six rounds and easily slips into the pocket with decent man-stopping power for about $300.

Thats a bad choice.most women can't pull the trigger work the slide or operate the magazine release. On top of that those little 380's are harder to shoot accurately and have more recoil than a slightly larger 9mm

My choice would be one of the smith and Wesson 38's lady smith 642 etc or the 9mm glock 42 or 43 can't remember what the model number is.

My wife carries a compact SIG 1911 .45


I thought it was a little big for her but she wanted it and shoots it just fine.

Ruger LCR

If she is comfortable with it and shoots it well, anything from about .38 special up would be fine.

If she is a country girl with a lot of shooting time and good safety skills, the training that must be ongoing will be easier and less tedious. If you have to start from scratch - use it as a set of test driving sessions. Rent a lot of different pistols at various ranges and let her shoot them and decide which type and later which model she likes.

Very important - start with a rimfire pistol and move up slowly from one caliber to the next. My wife started with a .22 revolver, moved to a .38 revolver and settled on a 9mm auto with specific mods she wanted after shooting everything I could lay my hands on. I have never mentioned or discussed recoil or muzzle blast. I have had extensive discussions with her about velocity and energy. She routinely puts ten rounds from my .357 sig into 1" at 75 feet without realizing that most people won't even fire that pistol due to perceived recoil/blast.

My wife has a slightly modded glock 26. Not so awful trigger (glock competition trigger package + 25 cent trigger job) and a +2 mag extension.

as the op mentioned, everyone has an opinion and generally not a one size fits all discussion.

my wife has no probs actuating the slide on the ruger .380 and probably wouldn't tote anything much bigger. I also like a heavier trigger for something she's going to carry in her purse. if you're buying for accuracy, the 380 prob isn't the best choice. im generally more interested in it firing repeatedly and scaring off a perp if the situation were too arise vs. her being able to hit a silver dollar at 20yds.

might be worth having her handle a few and see what she's most comfortable with. may check out hoover tactical or similar and let her try a few.

The ruger isn't so bad my mom carries one but the keltec is bad

LCR with Crimson Trace Grip. No hammer to snag and a really smooth crisp trigger. Recoil is surprisingly low.

Stop now and take her and give her 4 options you approve of, but let her choose,because if you pick it out later she will resent it and say she would of picked differently. I tell you this from experience and by purchasing my wife 2 guns for personal defense, 2 because of me picking the 1st one.

My wife chose the Sig P238

.38 Revolver.

.38 Special revolver. The one mine carries has a set of CTC grips on them. Women seem to definitely grasp the concept of "whatever that little red dot is on is where the bullet is going" better than men. We tend to over-think stuff.

Pull trigger. Will not fail

I bought my mom a LCP 380 last year for christmas. She hasnt shot more than a box through it just learning how it works and what to expect, but she is very capable. The gun shoots great to be so small, but is very snappy.
My fiance carries a S&W 642 .38 special. Great gun, fool proof, cant hit the broad side of a barn more than 10 ft away.
I carry a S&W M&P Shield 9mm that shoots great.

The 642 is a great gun for beginners IMO, but i personally like having more than 5 shots, and also i like something more accurate. Her sister carries a LCR that handles well and shoots great.

The LCP is very small, can fit in my pocket. Hold 6+1, which is still not much, but gets the job done. Much more accurate that i thought. The gun is as much, or more snappy than my 9mm is.

My shield has never let me down. Goes bang every time i pull the trigger, has a flush mag that holds 7, or the extended mag that holds 8. With the extended, it has a long enough grip to get your entire hand on, as long as you dont have huge hands of course.

Sister in laws boyfriend carries a KelTec P3AT that has had multiple issues. Would not trust it with my life.

If it were me, I would buy her a M&P Shield or LC9 if she has the know how. If she has never handled a gun, the 642 or LCR is a great gun. If she needs a smaller gun, the LCP fits the bill.

LCR, light, reliable, simple. Perfect if she's like my wife and doesn't want to practice often.

Vote for lcp here.

LCR

My wife could not pull the slide on any of my guns various brand and caliber. Pick one she is very comfortable with, and she will use it (when she needs to) without second guessing anything.

This

LCR or 642

I would be interested to see that group. I shoot competitively almost every weekend and place top 3 of 40+ at most shoots and I can't put 10 in 1" at 25 yards. Not saying she can't do it but that is a tall order

Back to OP's question. My wife has a pair of 642's that she is fond of

smith 642

Bersa Thunder

Probably 1/3 of the guns I sell at Larry's are to females. After handling and test firing they always get either a small frame.38 revolver or a semi in .380. 9mm in a small frame semi are too stout and anything larger sized in a .38 are too heavy.

My wife carries a G42 or her XDs 9.

I just gave my wife my old Ruger LCP and she likes it. The first thing I had to do was to make sure she knew how to: cycle the action, clear a round, and load and unload the weapon. We will probably be shooting it just about every time we go to the cabin now, going through different scenarios until she is completely comfortable with it.

I think the biggest mistakes most guys make with their significant others is they don't make sure she can actual work the action of an automatic and/or they don't practice with them enough.

I'm with the consensus here and would highly recommend a small frame .38 or a small D/A only .380 auto with no safeties. Keep it simple for them in a robbery or rape scenario... Just point and pull the trigger, and keep going until the assailant stops coming. She keeps her Ruger with 6 in the magazine and one in the chamber. God have mercy on the poor dude who tries to mess with her now...

There are several good choices but like previously stated she'll need to be comfy with it. No matter what you get I would put her through a good familiarization course. I'm a Glock fan and I love both the 42 (380) and he 43 (9mm). The M&P Shield is also a good option and they're made in 9mm and 40. Ruger LCR and LCP are also good choices. Revolvers are a good choice for women, especially those who lack side arm experience, because they are so simple. I do like those few extra rounds you get from an auto and they are much easier to reload.

Have her be an active involved participant in this decision, instead of just "my ol lady dun neid her a pistal"
Regardless of the gun that she goes with consistent focused practice is needed.

442/642 & LCR are the go to options in snubnose.
One MAJOR downside of a snubnose is capacity, people dont fall over from a single hit usually and criminals move in 2s and 3s normally.
Glock 42, Sig 238 and LCP are the go to options in .380.
A friend of mine carries are a 238 and absolutely loves hers.
M&P safetlyless Shield, XDS, Glock 43, Sig 938 are good options for 9MM.

I would stay away from .40 because from a small gun it can be exceptionally snappy.

If she is capable of shooting a 9MM comfortably that is the best solution for capacity and ammo costs/availability.
Look at the cost of 100rds of range ammo 38 special,380 VS 9MM.
About a $10ish per 100rds difference.

As others have stated, let her pick it out. She will likely find a problem with the one you like and purchased so if she picks it out it's not your fault. The 4 you approve idea is a great idea.


Biggest debate my wife and I had was about her wanting one that was pink. I was not buying a pink handgun.. PERIOD! And she really wanted it to be pink. I had hope she liked a Shield but she chose a Ruger LC9S which was my 2nd choice behind the shield. Other than a budget I didn't tell her anything so she would choose it based on what felt comfortable in her hands. Unfortunately the LC9S was available in pink so that held us up for 15mins on proceeding with the purchase. Luckily for me an older lady overheard our discussion and intervened. She politely spoke up and said to my wife "honey let me settle this for you and your husband. I was in in your shoes 3 months ago. Never owned a gun and wanting to buy a pink one until a woman I work with told me to stay away from a pink gun. If you ever have to use it you want the person who sees it to know you mean business so don't get a pink gun". It made perfect sense to my wife and that was the end of our dilemma. I would have never thought to say that but was thankful this kind old lady did. Stay away from pink.

As far as caliber goes, with advancements in ammo 380 will do fine but if she can handle a 9 that would be better. I would def say steer clear of a 40. Probably even put a subcompact 45 over a 40. Lots of recoil in a 40.

Now no one can argue the reliability of a revolver so they are def not a bad choice, but they are somewhat harder to accurately than a semi-auto, mainly because of the trigger pull. Even though they don't need to be able to hit quarters at 10ft you want them to be decently accurate with it when practicing with it. I would recommend a striker fired semi. Better trigger pull and depending on what you get, more round capacity. My wife didn't care much for having her own gun until taking her out and letting HER pick out the one she liked and doing the paperwork etc she was fired up about it. Within 24hrs of buying it she knew more about the gun than I did.

Regardless of what she chooses don't let that be the end of it. Buy her a couple hundred rounds of ammo and let her get familiar with it. My wife, after some instruction, can easily work the slide, load and reload, and is getting better handling a malfunction. She can also break it down and clean it by herself. After Christmas, I'm planning on sending her to a class. Regardless of what I teach or try and teacher her, an instructor will teach her more than she will ever get from me.

A guy I know purchased his wife a pocket pistol 3yrs ago. She carrys it everyday. To this day she nor anyone else has ever even shot the thing. Who knows if it even shoots. SMH? To me it's just flat out irresponsible. She's a walking liability. For him and everyone around her in the event she ever has to use it. Everyone of us who CC should invest in some type of training. Especially on our wives who likely don't shoot as much as we do. They will learn more on basic handgun class than they will ever get from you (most cases). I've taken 2 handgun classes and as a lifelong shooter I left both classes a better shooter with more knowledge than I had prior to taking them.

Good luck and good for you both on deciding it's time to get her armed. Mine finally made the decision when her job changed and made her drive to work through downtown BESMA..

Unless she really wants to learn to use a semi auto...I mean REALLY...get her a revolver

I really do not understand why there is the impression that teaching a female how to run a semi auto is like teaching pigs to fly.
For one, most good & maintained semi autos with a good tried ammo do not malfunction with regularity or even ever.

Revolvers are great but they have some major inherent issues with capacity and width.

I used to carry a 642 and I loved it but realized the inherent issues and switched.

The best gun is what she will carry and shoot. I like the 380 myself. I just bought my wife an S&W Bodyguard 380 with laser. They cost a little more than the other little 380s, but she is more comfortable with it because it has a safety. I think the safety is unnecessary, but if it makes her more comfortable, she is more likely to carry it vs leaving it in the glove box. I will also say th hat I like the Bodyguard much better than my Taurus TCP380. Better quality and it comes with 2 mags instead of 1.

Next, buy a ton of ammo. My wife's last gun was a 22, so I want her to shoot the 380 until she gets used to it and comfortable with using it. That's my opinion.

If you are going for a revolver, I like the Ruger LCR. Much lighter than most other revolvers.

My wife carries the S&W bodyguard 380 with the laser on it. Keeps it in a Sneaky Pete holster and people think it's a cell phone in a case. Had security look at it at a concert at Oak Mtn and didn't question what it was.

TBH, and no one said anything about swine flying, is that in a split second situation most people do not think tactically...especially women...
Personally I do NOT like carrying a semi auto, especially one without any mechanical safety besides my finger (grew up on 1911's ...sorry)
IMHO its much safer and to be be able to just grasp the firearm (wheel gun} and start blasting without carrying a semi auto and A. having one in the pipe and big time trigger awareness or B. have to work the slide to get one in chamber...

Like I offered...*REALLY* learn to use it a semi...or just start clicking...capacity?...Most situations dont require or allow an 'OK Corral' gun fight...

I just bought this for my wife.

If I were looking for a lady's pistol right now I would look at the sig 290rs in 380.
My wife hated the trigger pull and lack of accuracy in a revolver.
G43 is a good gun too. Lots of options.