Picking self defense firearms for a wife who doesn't shoot.

[4RNR]

I don’t have time to watch the video right now so if all of the answers are in there, I’ll try to make time soon.

But I’ve never understood how people claim that revolvers are simple. From a pure mechanics standpoint, pulling the trigger is all you have to do but that’s the same as any striker fired gun without a manual safety. Everything else is more difficult in my experience though. Many are DA/SA (I think, all of the ones I’ve tried were). What is more complicated for mastering a trigger than essentially two different triggers in the same gun?

Even if we ignore that, most people that I’ve seen advocate revolvers only do so for CCW. The car (as in OP’s case), bedside, or other guns are usually something a little less last century. Does the grip translate from the CCW to the bedside gun? Or is it an entirely different grip that needs to be learned and maintained?

What about reloads? Is there anything simple about getting to your sixth shot on a revolver when compared to a striker fired gun? Even if the latter runs dry, is the revolver simpler to reload and get running again?

These are all genuine questions but for years I’ve wondered how people on this forum advocate revolvers for just about any purpose. Newish or at least non-practicing shooters is the most confusing case to me.

Most people on this forum can probably outshoot me at this point but I’ve taken a ton of new shooters to the range, many of them females that have never shown the slightest interest in guns (I took a number of girls that my wife cheered with when we were in college and finally got one of our best friends to go a few months ago). I always try to put them on a shot timer at the end, if they’re up for it. I’ve never brought a revolver out for any of them to try but there has been one present from other people on occasion. I’ve never had anyone prefer shooting a revolver after trying a few of my guns and I don’t even have a wide selection - Glock 19s, a 44 and 45, M&P 9, a .45 1911, and a 9mm 1911 are all I’ve ever owned. I had one prefer the .45 1911, all others preferred the M&P and then a factoryish Glock 19 in that order.


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In my case, for my sister, I know it's going to be an only gun. Maybe one day she'll get the bug and get involved in shooting but as it was this was going to be something put into a dresser and forgotten about. However is she wanted to she could use it as a purse carry. I know it's not a great idea but shes not about to change wardrobes for concealed carry and it's better than a striker fired in the purse. Ultimately she chose a striker fired that resides somewhere in a dresser drawer and will probably be there for all eternity

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[Elwin]

I will add that the wildcard option I’d at least want to see if my wife had interest in would be a .22 LCR. Because as far as low maintenance, easy button, lightweight, concealable options go, it’s pretty great.

Someone, I forget who, was on Ballistic Radio arguing that it’s the carry gun for people who don’t want to think about their carry gun, and I think they had a point.

[Duelist]

My wife prefers her G42 to anything else that isn’t a .22LR. Easy to shoot, easy to carry. I’d almost rather she went with a revolver for how often she’s willing to actually shoot, due to the very good reasons presented earlier, but this is kind of like choosing shoes or underwear: it’s really most appropriate for the person wearing it to choose it.

[JCN]

I will add that the wildcard option I’d at least want to see if my wife had interest in would be a .22 LCR. Because as far as low maintenance, easy button, lightweight, concealable options go, it’s pretty great.

Someone, I forget who, was on Ballistic Radio arguing that it’s the carry gun for people who don’t want to think about their carry gun, and I think they had a point.

The issue is that rimfire LCRs have very heavy trigger weights.

I think I’d pick an LCR9 for her with a 6-7 pound trigger and load it with something mild like gamer ammo.

[David S.]

How light an you get a .22lr revolver trigger and still maintain reliability?

[JCN]

How light an you get a .22lr revolver trigger and still maintain reliability?

22WMR on left, 9mm on right.

From factory, the 22 is probably 14 pounds or so. It’s way over my 12# Lyman.

From factory the 9mm is 7 pounds.

Reliability of Rimfire is a sliding scale because the cartridges are less reliable to begin with so you have to kind of define what acceptable reliability is for the application.

I am guessing it would have to stay above 12 pounds to remain over 95% successful but that’s still 1:20 failures.

[deputyG23]

My wife has ZERO interest in shooting.

Many years ago I figured this out and based the home defense on the lowest skill set in the house, which was her. I made things as simple as possible.

Point and shoot double action .38 Specials.

There are a couple stashed in the house, and when she carries, she carries a J Frame 442. Not the easiest gun to shoot, but I keep it loaded with wadcutters for her and it's very easy to operate. When she feels she wants more, its a 4" Combat Masterpiece.

On the HD side, if some dude is breaking in, I figure I can use whatever I grab and its not likely to make much difference outcome wise, if I pick up a Model 15 .38 Special revolver or a G19, but it might make a huge difference for her, so that is why I keep the double action .38s available for her.

Our philosophy as well.
There is a RB 4”10-5 available for her use if needed.
She will not even consider a self-loader.
Her hand strength has been weakened as a result of a stroke twenty years ago and she has enough hand strength to cycle it six or so times.
M10 is pictured on the bottom along with the M65-5 on top and the 64-1 in the center.

[Wake27]

If people are interested these are my thoughts about revolvers. Some of it may be specific to our family situation and I am not recommending that to others necessarily.

1. Semi-autos for inexperienced shooters with weaker strength can jam more and be difficult to clear if hand strength is lacking. She had a Smith 380 EZ but grip safety activation was inconsistent for her. Interesting, I was curious about the 380 EZ. DO you think it was technique or something mechanical?

2. I don’t think trigger weights over 8 pounds are viable for her. That Smith is about 7 pounds. That’s one thing that I feel needs to be addressed when discussing revolvers. Some are 13+ pound triggers. She actually liked the Smith trigger better than anything else she shot.

3. That particular Smith is an 8 shot which was done intentionally. When combined with light 38 special loads it’s very shootable for her in a gun that large. Revolvers are nice because you can shoot a variety of power ammunition without any difference in reliability. For semi autos you have to match recoil springs to ammo somewhat. What common semi-autos need that? I only ever shoot standard ball and +P hollow points but have never had to swap a spring unless messing with a comp. Are you talking about some super light load?

4. That revolver also has a Magna trigger as recommended by Mas Ayoob to theoretically reduce risk of our small child injuring herself or my wife getting disarmed and having it used against her. Never heard of that until now. Does she always wear the ring?

My wife has probably been to the range less than 10 times. In the beginning, we spent time with Airsoft at home working on grip. Did some MantisX trigger presses too. Good fundamentals seem to be durable for her trigger presses on a variety of different firearms but without ongoing training, she doesn’t feel comfortable with complicated manuals of arms.

From that standpoint, revolvers seem reasonable. That being said, she liked the Maxim the most.

Here are two contextual videos.

The last time she went to the range almost three years ago.



That was with a Model 66 also with a Magna trigger.

Here’s a demonstration of how the Magna trigger works. If the ring isn’t on the finger it won’t fire.

The revolver recommendation is for people who don't train and aren't going to train. They want something they can dump in a proverbial sock drawer and forget about. They're not concerned about quarter second splits, one second reloads or 25 yard bullseyes. They're not going to shoot it enough to need cleaning, and on the rare occasion they might, they'll have their spouse or friend do it for them. They're great for folks who'd be hard pressed to pass the most basic CHL class, no matter what you gave them.

We basically want a talisman that maximizes foolproofness at the expense of performance.

Some considerations:
-The revolver requires zero steps to check loaded status: just look at the back of the cylinder. The semi auto requires multiple steps in the correct order (remove the mag, rack the slide a couple times, inspect the chamber and mag). Not a big deal for someone with training and regular familiarization, but it's not trivial to get that sequence correct. every time. That's a bit of an exaggeration. M&Ps have visual LCIs and Glocks have tactile ones. Sure, there can be problems with either but pretty uncommon so to say any semi auto requires multiple steps is extreme.

-Semi autos are better at handling use. Revolvers are better at handling neglect. Are they? Can a Glock not sit in a sock drawer just as well as a revolver? Legitimate question but I don't know what would be the difference here. If anything, I'd guess that the revolver cylinder is more exposed to dust than the critical parts on a common semi auto.

-Hand strength applies to trigger weight and racking the slide. Which is worse, particularly in smaller framed guns?

-The barrier to ND that the long DA pull offers has already been mentioned. Harder to ND, also harder to shoot accurately. And if we're talking about underpowered loads in generally unaccepted defensive calibers, shot placement may mean something.

These things may or may not apply to Mrs. JCN's specific context. I don't know. For many folks, they are worth considering.

Some of these answers seem logical after reading them so I appreciate the opposing thoughts and insight. I've bolded responses to some others though to continue the discussion.

[Rex G]

My wife is very much a revolver gal. J-Frames, K-Frames, and, since she seized my Model 327 snub-gun, N-Frame. She does not shoot much, or often, but seems to hit amazingly small things, when practicing on her family’s rural private land. I saw a video of her head-shooting a feral hog, with her S&W Model 66. BANG-FLOP. She worked 21 years, as a death scene investigator, for the Harris County Medical Examiner. The county seat of Harris County is Houston, Texas. That means she saw PLENTY of death scenes, and would know, if homeowners were dying, after having run out of ammo, during home invasions.

I am acquainted with some petite women who keep .22 LR single-action revolvers for home defense. Makes sense. No long reach to a DA trigger. No long, heavy DA trigger stroke. Reloads would not be quick, but, Ruger does make a Single Ten. That is ten shots. Fast split times are possible, should one want to train for them. I doubt the utility of fast split times, in a defensive incident, but, well, here we go:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy4D5n8LQ6U

Look closely, at the video. That is not “fanning,” but slip-shooting, with a good two-handed grip. The support-hand thumb is what moves fast.

For that matter, maybe, in another decade, or so, my arthritis might get bad enough for me to keep a few Single Tens handy for home defense.

[David S.]

-The revolver requires zero steps to check loaded status: just look at the back of the cylinder. The semi auto requires multiple steps in the correct order (remove the mag, rack the slide a couple times, inspect the chamber and mag). Not a big deal for someone with training and regular familiarization, but it's not trivial to get that sequence correct. every time. That's a bit of an exaggeration. M&Ps have visual LCIs and Glocks have tactile ones. Sure, there can be problems with either but pretty uncommon so to say any semi auto requires multiple steps is extreme..