What caliber?

How about a can of carburator cleaner! Ever get that in an eye?
How about a can of hair spray and a Bick disposable lighter. ( Fixed it for you. ) I saw a YouTube a few years ago about someone demonstrating how nice an improvised flame thrower that makes and suggesting it as a bear repellant.
 
me keep it simple a wheel gun like a SW model 10 or 15, 4 inch barrel 38 special she even may like shooting targets with it.
After several months in a purse and neglected and not cleaned, it will not be one of the cleanest guns in the world. And may be soooo dirty it might not even align the cylinder in use with the barrel.
 
If a woman wants to carry a gun in a purse, they make special purses with a separate easy accessible outside compartment for the gun. I've seen these, and they are pretty slick.
 
How about a can of hair spray and a Bick disposable lighter. ( Fixed it for you. ) I saw a YouTube a few years ago about someone demonstrating how nice an improvised flame thrower that makes and suggesting it as a bear repellant.
Give you my money/ purse? Sure, Hold still , let me line up my aqua net and bic lighter . I only need both hands and about 20 to seconds to make this work, while dialing 911.
 
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My 2 cents... don't buy her anything until after she has taken some self defense oriented classes. (Don't even think of trying to teach her yourself) After she has some experience, let her chose what she wants. In the real world software beats hardware most every time.
 
I see lots of women shooting at the range and women pickup shooting faster and better than most men,. It is because women are evil and vicious.
I have to disagree about women being evil and vicious.

I have taken a number of women to the range (including females in my family) and find that once they are given instructions as to target sighting, gun handling, safety, etc., they get less distracted and their concentration is more focused. Once they obtain good groups, only then do their competitive nature kicks in.

I let my friend's wife shoot my various pistols and she found that the one she shot best was the S&W 586 with .38 special loads. She was very "vocal" about the recoil of my .40 cal S&W. o_O So he bought her a shorter barrel .38 special and she carries it in her "special" purse.
 

Ok next question.
 
For a newbie....I'd stick with a small 38 caliber revolver like a S&W, Ruger or even Taurus if money is an issue.
That's what I was going to say too. Anyone should be able to handle a 2" barrel 38 Special revolver without much training or experience. They're stupid simple to operate, hit hard enough, and are small/not too heavy. And ammo's relatively cheap as well (as ammo goes these days).

Something like these would be great for a purse.


You really don't want your wife having to deal with a jam if she's in a shooting situation, so a revolver seems like the best choice.
 

Ok next question.
That's the one I bought for my daughter and accurate. Super easy slide racking.
 
That's what I was going to say too. Anyone should be able to handle a 2" barrel 38 Special revolver without much training or experience. They're stupid simple to operate, hit hard enough, and are small/not too heavy. And ammo's relatively cheap as well (as ammo goes these days).

Something like these would be great for a purse.


You really don't want your wife having to deal with a jam if she's in a shooting situation, so a revolver seems like the best choice.
Strongly disagree. Any self-defense ammunition for a 38spl is going to be +P and snappy. Not nice, and followup shots and accuracy will be a problem. Heavy trigger pull in DA will be difficult as well.

No reason someone couldn’t become quite proficient with a shield or other small semi-auto with the level of practice one should have before carrying a firearm.
 
Strongly disagree. Any self-defense ammunition for a 38spl is going to be +P and snappy. Not nice, and followup shots and accuracy will be a problem.

No reason someone couldn’t become quite proficient with a shield or other small semi-auto with the level of practice one should have before carrying a firearm.
The level of required firearm knowledge and training will be less with a simple revolver than with a semi-automatic. Just how much training is a new gun owner at 66 years old willing to put in to be comfortable with operating and handling aspects and the possible failure modes of a semi-auto?
 
The level of required firearm knowledge and training will be less with a simple revolver than with a semi-automatic. Just how much training is a new gun owner at 66 years old willing to put in to be comfortable with operating and handling aspects and the possible failure modes of a semi-auto?

will it?

Again - the level of training required to be proficient with a firearm that you are going to carry defensively makes revolver/semi-auto ease of use pretty irrelevant.

Establishing that point - we then move on to the ability to hit targets. A semi-auto will usually be much easier to do so.

If you are just going to pick up a gun - put a couple rounds down the barrel at a paper target and then just drop it in a purse, well… good luck with that. Pepper spray might be more your speed (not digging pepper spray, I carry it while running and Mtn biking). Heck that might be the BEST option in OP’s scenario.
 
I have to disagree about women being evil and vicious.

I have taken a number of women to the range (including females in my family) and find that once they are given instructions as to target sighting, gun handling, safety, etc., they get less distracted and their concentration is more focused. Once they obtain good groups, only then do their competitive nature kicks in.

I let my friend's wife shoot my various pistols and she found that the one she shot best was the S&W 586 with .38 special loads. She was very "vocal" about the recoil of my .40 cal S&W. o_O So he bought her a shorter barrel .38 special and she carries it in her "special" purse.
Not evil but can be mean.
 
While a 22LR can effectively be used in self defense to more experienced users I am all for a good 9mm with a defense round. But, I would have it Mag-na-ported.
For a first timer or a none weapon enthusiast a nice 22LR can also be used as a great fist held close combat weapon.
Most small 22LRs can do some serious soft skin impact damage, break a nose bust teeth out to an attackers face. :devilish:

 
As you can see, many varying opinions on your question. Take her to the range and let her try out various guns to see what she is most comfortable with. My local indoor range will let you try out various types of weapons that they have for a small price. Well worth it. At my age of 73 I prefer the SP101 for my daily carry.
 
Taking someone to a range to choose a weapon is half the decision. You must determine to some degree if a person has a fight or flight response to situation needing to use a lethal weapon. Sometimes having something that simply makes lots of noise without kick can at least give someone a chance to run from a dangerous predicament.
 
will it?

Again - the level of training required to be proficient with a firearm that you are going to carry defensively makes revolver/semi-auto ease of use pretty irrelevant.

Establishing that point - we then move on to the ability to hit targets. A semi-auto will usually be much easier to do so.

If you are just going to pick up a gun - put a couple rounds down the barrel at a paper target and then just drop it in a purse, well… good luck with that. Pepper spray might be more your speed (not digging pepper spray, I carry it while running and Mtn biking). Heck that might be the BEST option in OP’s scenario.
The statement "The level of required firearm knowledge and training will be less with a simple revolver than with a semi-automatic." will always hold true.

It's not a matter of IF someone can be trained and become proficient with a semi-auto with enough training or not taking into account all aspects of the firearm. It'a a matter of HOW MUCH it will take between to two types of firearms, and which one will be less complicated to use if ever found in a real case where it has to be used without thinking about how to operate it or how to over come any kind of malfunction.
 
The statement "The level of required firearm knowledge and training will be less with a simple revolver than with a semi-automatic." will always hold true.

It's not a matter of IF someone can be trained and become proficient with a semi-auto with enough training or not taking into account all aspects of the firearm. It'a a matter of HOW MUCH it will take between to two types of firearms, and which one will be less complicated to use if ever found in a real case where it has to be used without thinking about how to operate it or how to over come any kind of malfunction.

Edit: my long response just isn’t worth it.

The amount of training required to become proficient with a concealed carry handgun is significant. At that level of training, the choice of handgun is irrelevant.

Anyone recommending a revolver because it’s “simpler” to operate is doing that person a disservice, plain and simple. Recommend pepper spray instead.

The rest of your descriptions of ease of use are irrelevant and/or incorrect. I’m tired of typing these responses out with my thumbs.
 
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