Pistols for the ladies

[OlongJohnson]

There's a thread about "grandma gun" or something like that here. The P250 .380 is strong in that one. I have been shooting one, and agree it is likely the perfect girl gun. Available with grip modules in compact and subcompact with "small" grip circumference/trigger reach. The DA trigger is extremely smooth and light, the slide is extremely easy to rack, the manual of arms as simple as a semi can be. The Compact length mags hold 15 rounds, so 16 with a plus-one. I had serious back surgery a few months ago, and will spend a few months shooting it when I get past .22LR. I have a special person in my life who is half my size and has expressed dislike of recoil. It would be perfect for her if she didn't live behind the West Coast Wall.

In defense of my political incorrectness, I was just doing what SHE @Tamara did:

Enter the “Grandma Gun”: The Sig P250 Compact

And yes, the adult women I care about range from 5'4" to 6'3", and there was even once a 5'10" athlete with feet shorter than my hands. So of course I get that everyone is an individual. But there are still trends. Women definitely trend smaller in size, with smaller hands. And from the small end to the large end of the spectrum, I have personally heard expressions of dislike for recoil. One friend's wife took an intro pistol class with a G19 and didn't like the .22LR when she tried it, because it seemed like there was nothing happening. My first pistol as an adult was a Buck Mark, and I still really like them, along with my GP100 and P220. It still is reasonable to me to start a new shooter, especially a female, with less recoil and let them work up to whatever their comfort level ends up being.

Notice, at 6'4" and 240 lb, I make the point that the "grandma gun" is the right one for me due to my physical condition in the near future. But there are still trends.

[JHC]

@Gun Mutt Delica straight edge or serrated?

[Totem Polar]

@Gun Mutt, great story. Good for your lady. And I bet Mike J did like hearing the reasonably happy outcome.

[HCM]

This reminds me, I carried a .357 P229 for the US Secret Service for long enough to observe that the average woman we hired off the street does just fine carrying & shooting a 2.5lb pistol with a 12lb trigger pull in a nasty little caliber, with high quality instruction.

Selecting young, physically fit women who are at least somewhat more aggressive than average (true of most women in LE) doesn’t hurt.

Even once they get into their 40s and 50s the female shooters who have hand size / strength issues go back to shooting well as soon as you get them a 9mm and/ or a gun that fits their hand.

[HCM]

In defense of my political incorrectness, I was just doing what SHE @Tam did:

Enter the “Grandma Gun”: The Sig P250 Compact

And yes, the adult women I care about range from 5'4" to 6'3", and there was even once a 5'10" athlete with feet shorter than my hands. So of course I get that everyone is an individual. But there are still trends. Women definitely trend smaller in size, with smaller hands. And from the small end to the large end of the spectrum, I have personally heard expressions of dislike for recoil. One friend's wife took an intro pistol class with a G19 and didn't like the .22LR when she tried it, because it seemed like there was nothing happening. My first pistol as an adult was a Buck Mark, and I still really like them, along with my GP100 and P220. It still is reasonable to me to start a new shooter, especially a female, with less recoil and let them work up to whatever their comfort level ends up being.

Notice, at 6'4" and 240 lb, I make the point that the "grandma gun" is the right one for me due to my physical condition in the near future. But there are still trends.

We are all gonna age and lose strength- assuming we live that long. The original concept was actually Claude Werner’s “old man” gun.

[BillSWPA]

My wife actually cut two guys several years ago.

When we met, she worked with dogs professionally, doing both training and daycare, her best money coming from wealthy private clients that hired her to house sit as part of caring for their dogs. It was truly impressive to watch her run a full field with as many as 100 dogs at once; sheer command presence through patience and constant doggie OODA resets...y'all'd like her, she's my Khaleesi.

Before she got her CCW and her first pistol, I got her a *Delica and asked her to commit to carrying it. I asked her to intentionally and smoothly, draw and open it at least 3x a day (10-300 being even better). She always had to grab scissors in her job to open boxes, bags, etc, so I further encouraged using the Delica for those tasks (when it wouldn't scare a coworker, of course) to build familiarity. I told her that it wouldn't take long for it to become reflexive enough that if, God forbid, something so horrible was happening that she found herself in a fight or flight moment, she'd still have to decisions to make, but she'd probably be making them with an open and locked blade in her hand.

For training, we covered solely X-cuts; hands or teeth, whatever the threat might be, she'd slash furious X's at it until it was the right time to run or get stabby. She ended up opening and using it all the time, carried it religiously.

Fast forward a few months and she goes for Mexican food with her lifelong friend (who, we must note, is going through yet another shit show stage and needed consolation after her abortion that afternoon). After dinner, they went to the little neighborhood bar across the street where Shit Show immediately starts getting drunk and flirty with a couple of strangers. Wife finishes her bottle of beer and heads to the ladies room. She returns to find a fresh beer waiting and declines it, she doesn't drink anything she didn't maintain control of...and they'd paid her tab...nope, time to go.

SS wants to go back to their hotel room and needs to be reminded just why this is such a bad idea, especially that evening. SS switches to crying mode and my lady is guiding her to her Jeep when the two guys follow them into the parking lot. SS now goes aggressive, yelling and insulting the guys. That's when BG1 slapped SS, and again. BG2 takes a step towards Kahleesi, reaches for her and gets cut across his left forearm with the first move of her X. She said it was a good cut, too, lots of blood, him backing up and yowling while holding it with his right hand. BG1 was turned slightly away from her and as his hand came back to chamber another slap for SS, Kahleesi took a step forward and made the same cut along the back of his right arm, she's not sure if she got more deltoid or tricep, but she remembers it being an even better cut. She shoved SS through her open door and climbed over her to drive away.

Later she would tell me that she didn't even remember drawing the knife, it was just there. It wasn't the reaching hands that triggered her either, it was his eyes she tells me. For days afterword, she'd give a little shiver and say; I can still feel him looking at me, it was so ugly it makes me feel dirty. Keep this part in mind if your lady love ever has to go full Kahleesi, she probably won't come home in the mood for a steak and a hearty romp.

*Delica tidbit: she'd switched to a waved Delica for a while and gave her original to another lady student from our EMT class (which is where we met). She told me she wanted to switch back and a friend was at Blade Show at that moment. I texted him and asked him to pick one up if he saw a good deal. An hour later he sends me a pic of him shaking hands with Michael Janich as MJ presents him with a Delica. And that's the knife that was in her pocket that night. Still her favorite knife, too. I shared a different board with Mr. Janich years ago and he enjoyed this story very, very much.

Anyway, guns: She likes a G19/X300 for bedside and will generally grab her S&W 351c over her G42 these days, but she loves them both.

You mess with this Lioness or her loved ones, you're gonna get shot in the face repeatedly.

Attachment 35039

Great story! One question: why the switch back to the non-waved Delica?

Hopefully your wife is spending a lot less time with SS.


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[ChaseN]

Selecting young, physically fit women who are at least somewhat more aggressive than average (true of most women in LE) doesn’t hurt.

This is undoubtedly some truth to this. That said, federal hiring and USAJobs being what they are, there are a lot of agents (male and female) who would have gone to work for the Peace Corps if they'd have called them back first. Never saw anyone who the instructors couldn't get spun up on the 229.

[Gun Mutt]

@Gun Mutt Delica straight edge or serrated?

Straight edge.

Great story! One question: why the switch back to the non-waved Delica?
Hopefully your wife is spending a lot less time with SS.

She's tiny and she's practical, so she does BJJ. When she's on her back with her knees &/or feet on her opponents hips, she can't make the wave work. She also only carries the one knife, so it serves general purpose duty, too. Snapping your blade out to open a box at work doesn't always earn ooohs and ahhs and nowadays, she'd be waving it open right at our son's face level.

Full disclosure, she's a full time mom these days and mostly wears yoga pants around the house, jeans maybe once a week, so the Delica spends most of it's time on the kitchen counter. This is also why she prefers her 351c w/ClipDraw to her G42 in a Keepers Errand most days.

SS seemed to get a good bit of fecal cohesion over the years, getting a job as a theraputic masseuse for a children's chiropractor. She earned a black belt in some hard style of karate, did lots of kata competition and bumped her self esteem considerably. Even left her latest loser boyfriend because, well, he was a loser. She's gone full lefty last we heard, I'm sure she's just a riot at the dinner table now.

She was over for one of our nearly weekly bonfires at the old house in Indy before we moved and did one of her forms for gathered; fun to watch, she's cute and played to us like we were the judges, I see why she won a lot. Later, alone, Kahleesi gave her appraisal: Oh, I'd effing kill her in a fight, not even close.

[BillSWPA]

Straight edge.



She's tiny and she's practical, so she does BJJ. When she's on her back with her knees &/or feet on her opponents hips, she can't make the wave work. She also only carries the one knife, so it serves general purpose duty, too. Snapping your blade out to open a box at work doesn't always earn ooohs and ahhs and nowadays, she'd be waving it open right at our son's face level.

Full disclosure, she's a full time mom these days and mostly wears yoga pants around the house, jeans maybe once a week, so the Delica spends most of it's time on the kitchen counter. This is also why she prefers her 351c w/ClipDraw to her G42 in a Keepers Errand most days.

SS seemed to get a good bit of fecal cohesion over the years, getting a job as a theraputic masseuse for a children's chiropractor. She earned a black belt in some hard style of karate, did lots of kata competition and bumped her self esteem considerably. Even left her latest loser boyfriend because, well, he was a loser. She's gone full lefty last we heard, I'm sure she's just a riot at the dinner table now.

She was over for one of our nearly weekly bonfires at the old house in Indy before we moved and did one of her forms for gathered; fun to watch, she's cute and played to us like we were the judges, I see why she won a lot. Later, alone, Kahleesi gave her appraisal: Oh, I'd effing kill her in a fight, not even close.

The 351 is a surprising solution that makes perfect sense for her.

I used to know a lady that attended the same MMA class as me who carried a folding Benchmade clipped into the AIWB position of her yoga pants. So, a knife can work, but I would never pick a knife over the 351.

I like the Spyderco waved knives, but they do tend to be tough to withdraw from a pocket without them waving open. I doubt that would be my choice if it was in a waistband rather than in a pocket.

KnifeCenter has some really nice looking wood-handled Delicas and Enduras, just in case these are of any interest to your wife. They do not have the weave.

It appears that knife carry may be part of a solution to female weapon carry, but also presents its own challenges. I wonder if knives for the ladies is a useful topic in the edged weapons sub forum?



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[ViniVidivici]

I'm with Drang, don't care for the principle of "ladies gun". I'm happy to report that my 6 actual is competent and capable, loves her G19 and G43, shoots them well, never leaves home without one, or both.

Yes, I'm lucky to have her as backup. We make a good fireteam.