Posted on 01/23/2010 12:42:20 PM PST by Richard Kimball
Young lady I know is around twenty and wants to get a concealed carry permit. She knows the safety concepts and has been safely handling .22 rifles and other small arms for years. This would be her first handgun. In Texas, for a concealed carry permit, she must test with a caliber larger than .22. If she tests with a revolver, her carry permit is only good for a revolver. She is relatively small, so please no suggestions for .45s, .50 Desert Eagles, etc. (Like that ever stops anyone from suggesting them anyway ;o>).
“It is possible to have a misfeed if the arms are not kept stiff enough during the recoil. This problem doesn’t exist with a revolver.”
“Very good point . I have seen big strong men , whose limp wristed hold caused a malfunction.”
My personal experience bears out what both you and !1776! said. The first time I went to the range with my Kel-Tec .380 pocket pistol, I had a “failure to eject” in the first six rounds. I realized I had limp-wristed it, and had no more problems when I used a firm grip and adequate recoil resistance.
If the gun is very light there will be greater recoil. It took me six months to find a appropriate round for the S&W 642 I started with a 158 gr; it produced uncontrollable recoil. I settled on a DPX 110gr +p totally controllable The feedback that I have gotten from seasoned CCWGreat feedback.
holders is the LCP is great variant of a Kel-Tec.
javachip, you said...
“the LCP is so small and light that it’s not particularly easy to control or pleasant to shoot.”
The folks at American Rifleman seem to agree with you! In the latest issue, they have an article reviewing nine different .380 pistols. Regarding the LCP, they said “Recoil is snappy and almost painful”.
One problem they reported (that you did not encounter) was with feed malfunctions. They used Remington, Black Hills, and Speer ammo in their test, and concluded that the LCP might be a little bit ammunition-sensitive. To be fair, they reported feed malfunctions with almost all of the pistols in the test, including my little Kel-Tec. What ammo were you using in your LCP?
Ruger SP 101. If she has shot before, she can handle this w/.357 mag. My 110# 15 yr old niece shoots like a pro with this.
Ruger SP101 in .327 Magnum sound about right for the young lady. Yep...I said “.327 Magnum”, not “.357”. It’s a relatively new loading from Federal.
Best advice is to let her try as many firearms as you can. She'll know when the right one is in her hand. Until then, and knowing what little I do about her, I'm guessing your safest bet is, as others have said, a small .38 revolver. You have to be able to train with what you carry or it's just a lump of metal, and some very fine concealment firearms are not much fun to train with - lots of muzzle blast, muzzle flip, and stiff slide springs if you're talking a semiauto. And some really aren't built with a lot of repetitive firing in mind.
Look into some leather for her. Loose carry in a purse is a dumb idea - if you need to draw down you don't want to be fishing around in the hundred items of crap (sorry, ladies) that are to be found in the average purse - since one of these is generally a wad of Kleenex, you're going to find that and other lint in the barrel. Get her a purse with a separate compartment at the very least. Most training courses require some sort of holster anyway (usually it's one into which you can re-holster the piece one-handed). Budget for a belt and some leather even if it isn't what she'll be normally using.
Have her take classes. Not just the minimal requirements, but good, basic combat handgun classes that will familiarize her with things like weak-hand shooting and tactical reloading. And practice, practice, practice, and then more practice.
Oh, and you know what else? Get her some amplified earmuffs. It'll cut down on her flinching and help her hear her instructor. Hearing protection is absolutely vital and it's no place to economize.
Small enough to carry, big enough to shoot comfortably, that's what you're looking for, or rather that's what she's looking for. You can't make the decision for her. Best of luck!
He will provide the ammunition at cost so you are not
locked into one caliber and can spent more time selecting
the weapon that fits your hand and where you carry it.
Walther PPS in a 9mm. It’s way smoother than my 642 revolver. My instructor doesn’t think anyone should test for their CHL with a revolver as then you are stuck only carrying a revolver.
BTW, on another thread ex-soldier posted a link to http://www.crossbreedholsters.com which has a holster called the minituck for the pps.
Diamondback firearms has a little .380 that is new to the market. It’s really concealable. They are flying off the shelves around here. It’s called a DB380. Very portable weapon.
So true, I wanted a Springfield XD in .45, but couldn't rack the slide. I do great with the Walther PPS, and it also comes with changable backstraps so you can get the best grip, depending on handsize.
I also had a Taurus PT 111 which I got rid of because of jams when I did limp wrist it, plus, depending on one's grip, the magazine would fall out because of the location of the mag release. I love the mag release on my Walther. It's in the trigger guard, so it's ambidextrous, and you can't accidentally drop the mag.
Dang. You can’t beat that!
.357 with a .38 load in a revolver, but not something as small as a Lady Smith. A slightly larger handgun in a smaller caliber seems to have less kick.
~~~
I was gunna say that !,,,;0)
Buy her a new S and W in the box so it will be “Her” gun,,,
A .22 is great for the range,,,
Even cheeeper than .38’s to learn on,,,
Firing a pistol is all “Hand~Eye”,,,
“Point-N-Shoot” in a close range situation,,,(5-10 yards),,,
This is where the .357 Mag. round comes in,,,
1 round center-mass will stop most bad guys,,,
I would add Hogue grips,,,
Bianchi thumb-break holster,,,
At least 1 speed-loader,,,
And,,,
A,,,
BOOK ?,,,
Yup,,,
“No Second Place Winner” by Bill Jordan (RIP),,,
He was a friend of my Dad’s and gave me some pointers
back in my younger days...;0)
Good Shootin’...
taking my CCW class this weekend. Leaaving for day two shortly.
Take classes in personal protection. Buy Paxton Quigley's books at Amazom Practice; practice, practice !
That is my wife's gun. Actually - really ejoy firing it - much tighter than my Ruger but a little small for my hand.
First couple times shooting it (first couple times shooting a pistol period) she didn't keep her hands/arms stiff enough which ocassionally caused a failure to feed the next roung. Nothing a couple time at the range didn't fix (experience is everything). She is petite and a little practice takes care of the newby hold which leads to misfeeds. Great gun actually. My experience is that 9 mm is more flippy than a .40. She seemed recoil sensitive so we went with the 9 mm. Wish we would have tested a .40 since I think it would have given more of a push than a flip. Lesson learned - try more buy less...
The Texas Concealed Carry Class requires a caliber of .32 or larger. You already know of the semi/revolver restrictions.
Keep in mind a revolver fired in a self defense scenario would probably be fired in double action. It would be much harder to hit with a revolver due to the long trigger pull.
Every person carrying a concealed weapon should be aware of Jeff Coopers four safety rules:
RULE I: ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED
RULE II: NEVER LET THE MUZZLE COVER ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO DESTROY
RULE III: KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER UNTIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET
RULE IV: BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET AND WHAT’S BEHIND IT
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