Big Smitty

I am working with my wife to get her into concealed carry. Can any of the ladies on this site help with information. What weapon you carry or recommend for a newbie. Also, can you give tips on how you carry your weapon. Guys, if you have any info that would help please chime in. Include pictures if possible, especially of carry options. My wife is slight build, 115 lbs and 5' 6" tall.

lowflyer

If I was to recommend a weapon for my wife, it would be a snubby. She's just not able to pull the slide back reliably and is not interested enough in shooting to recommend an auto pistol for carry.

Good luck.

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buckeyeLCPL

www.corneredcat.com is a site just for CCW help for females, have her look around there. As far as carry weapons go, a J-frame snubby in .38 is always a good choice for anyone, for carry try to keep her away from off the body carry, like in a purse.

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Invisible

Revolver. Snubby.The lighter the better for carry, but the recoil will be bigger because of that light weight short barrel.

No misfire mishaps. If it doesn't fire, just keep pulling that trigger because it will.

The most comfortable waist band carry (arguably) is strong side kidney.

raytracer

+1 to www.corneredcat.com

Joe

Redneck Repairs

IMHO you cannot choose a ccw for anyone , your wife , daughter , what have you . They must take the time and effort to find what fits them , and select a pistol that will work for them . You can make suggestions of what to try , but dont be supprised if Browing hp , 1911 , K frame smith , ect.. of that size gets selected because it fits the hand best.

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retsupt99

(which is another story in and of itself). I got her a S&W 637, and she really likes it.

I think the 'snubby' route is a great way to start her off...

OMO

ret

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Echo_Four

Everyone always says to start women off with a snubby. I don't think this is _wrong_ per se, but they can start off with anything a man can use. It is a matter of learning how to operate a pistol, just as it is for a man. They may have to use a different technique to operate the slide of a pistol, but it works just as well as anything a man can do.

I have found that if you decide that a woman needs to use a revolver they may resent the fact that you do not believe they can use the same type/style handgun that you use for yourself. Explain the plusses and minuses of each type of weapon, let her shoot a few guns, and then make the decision for her self. My lady is very small (5'3 105 pounds) and carries a USPc 9mm with no problem. She can shoot as well, if not better, than I, she is fast on the draw, and loves to train.

We have begun considering using the same weapon. The problem is she loves her USPc as much as I love the Glock 23. We can see how it would be nice to be able to share ammo and mags should the SHTF, but we also both believe that we have the best gun for ourselves. If you allow your wife to make the decision for herself, there is no reason she won't love her weapon just as much.

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Invisible

For that matter, a Kahr then.

mark555

For what it is worth, You might try going on a ture of the gun shops and letting her handle and operate different weapons. See what feels good to her.

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fed_wif_a_sig

When it came time for my wife to "choose" her ccw weapon, I emptied out all my gun safes and took her to the range. Shooting all of my pistols and those we rented she chose the Glock 19 for her carry weapon. Its not really a whole lot bigger than a snubbie and the recoil was less for her. Lately she has really fallen for my Kahr 9mm and I'm either gonna have to buy another Kahr or keep up the gunbox fight over who gets to carry it.

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limatunes

I agree that you can't pick someone's carry weapon for them. If my husband could have picked for me he would have picked a revolver. I chose a 1911. I had certain things I liked and disliked about different guns and I made a list of what I wanted and what I needed. See my list here: http://www.combatcarry.com/vbulletin...073#post301073

What does she think of weapons? Does she want to carry? You said she's a novice, then is she prepared to carry (mentally, emotionally, even physically)? I assume you have already discussed these kinds of things with her, but if not, then I would recommend not pressuring her. A gun in the hands of someone who's not willing to use it is worse than no gun at all, IMHO.

I said in my other post that sometimes us women need more than one gun because just as our clothes change on a day to day basis, so does what those clothes can conceal. A man's wardrobe is pretty straight forward with shirts and pants. There's not much deviating from that. For a woman you have pants, skirts, dresses, tops in all varying shapes and sizes, low riding jeans, hip-huggers, slacks, suits,... and the worst part is, they are all form fitting. We are women, we have curves, and not only do we like to show off those curves, but, let's be honest, you men like to see our curves, so it's no surprise then that a VAST majority of female clothes are designed specifically to form to those curves and show them off.. Great for getting a date, bad for concealing a gun.

What works in jeans and a t-shirt probably won't work in a fitted suit and skirt combo for work.

I carry one of three different guns...
Kimber Ultra Carry in .40
Colt Mustang in .380
Bersa .380


I carry in one of two locations: shoulder holster or behind the hip (or Kidney Carry or all those numbers of different terms I've heard for it). The fact of the matter is that because of my shape there's no way I can do strong side carry. It would stick out so far I might as well wear a sign that says, "Oh, by the way, I have a gun!"

Here is my Kimber.. I'm wearing just regular jeans (not low-riding) and a tank top.


I put on a sweater and presto.. no more gun... There's a little printing when bending over, but not bad.


....


...


The only problem with the above sweater is it's length. It's shorter than the other two and so when I raise my arms I get this...


The Mustang...

is even better because it's so small.
A nice shirt conceals it nicely...


You still have to be careful when lifting the arms though...


The shoulder holster works well, but because of my very small frame it is a little more difficult to conceal...




You can see the difference in the size of the guns I carry by looking at these pictures...
Here is the Mustang compared to the Bersa...

The Bersa compared to the Kimber...

The Mustang and the Kimber...


The Bersa and the Kimber are almost the same size and can share the same holster...

Bersa in Nylon holster Mustang in leather..

Kimber in Nylon holster Mustang in leather...

Kimber's shoulder holster...


In closing, there is a lot of different options for carrying for women and a number of different guns. Take her to the range and let her try what she wants.. Let HER decide what's best for her.

I also like what was said about letting her go to a shop and try things out for herself. If she's going to carry it she should pick it.

Good Luck!

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Chorizo

limatunes:

Excellent post.

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1911shooter

My fiance carries a Sig P229 IWB and she has no problem she is also of small frame and it works for her. i let her shoot as many of my pistols as she wanted along with all my other friends different guns. she chose the P229 it fills her hand very nice and she shoots it very well, just got to let her decide for herself.

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FIREARMZ

take her to a range and let her try different guns. if the gun has to much recoil or she just doesn't like it, it may make her not want to carry a gun. My wife shoots and carries a J-Frame, Kahr P9, and a Glock 22. The one you will always catch her with is the J-Frame 38 with a set of Barami Hip Grips riding appendix carry. This little gun hides so easy that it is pathetic. While the recoil can be a handful with full power house 38+P's she doesn't mind practising with it to stay familiar and confident with it.

The bottom line is there are a lot of good guns out there and she will make the final decision on what she wants to carry, just be supportive of her.

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Timmy Jimmy

Great Post

Thanks Lima

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Timmy Jimmy

If it is not in the US Constitution then the Federal Government should not be doing it.

"Carrying a gun is a social responsibility."

lowflyer

What has been said about picking a gun for somebody is absolutely true, but it seems to presume that recommending and picking are one in the same. For my part, I recommend a weapon based on my knowledge of weapons combined with what I know about the person. I would never select a gun for my wife. I will advise her on what I think will work best for her though.

Great pics, Lima!

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SIXTO

picking out or suggestion a gun for anybody, women especially, is like picking out a pair of shoes for them. It just not going to work.

Limatunes post is awesome, some great information.

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sgtD

What he said^, 38 special is perfect for most people, get one rated for +p ammo.
I carry a Taurus .38 titanium. Light but powerful enough to get 'er done. My sister has one and likes hers a lot.

Edited to add: I agree that you shouldn't pick someone's gun for them, but you did ask for sugestions, it's a personal choice. My wife picked her pistols. She likes revolvers only and doesn't even like to shoot autos, yet in shotguns autos are her favorite?? She sticks with what she likes. Can't complain about that.

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rocky

As said let her pick.

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