KirStang

*EDIT*: Holy cow my grammar is horrible.

My father purchased a lady smith revolver for my mom. However, she did not have enough strength to pull the trigger (until we got a trigger job), and the recoil on a snubbie is pretty stout. Thus, my mom almost never shoots the lady smith. For these reasons, I have not considered a revolver for my lady friend. I do like snubbies, though. (That Ruger LCR looks pretty awesome).

I understand simplicity of operation is one of the big things revolvers have going for them. What were your thought processes in buying her a .357, Slims?

Slims

My thought process went like this:

1: The .357 was on sale at my favorite gun-shop for just over half the original retail price and then they gave me a modest but appreciated 'good customer' discount on top. The pistol was also the airlite with scandium frame and titanium cylinder that I was really looking for but had not been able to find in-stock. You can't turn a deal like that down.

Plus, I don't think they currently make a .38 only model so that wouldn't be an option. I really like some of the new modern revolver calibers that are out there, but they are, IMHO not yet common enough for me to abandon a tried-and-proven mainstream caliber. I don't mind tinkering, but I won't give my wife a weapon that she might not be able to find ammunition for, etc.

2: I have more options with the .357...I can (and will) give my wife standard pressure .38 special loads but CAN load .357 if I am going to be carrying it and want a little more oomph. I know it will be painful. Since I have not had occasion to shoot full power .357 out of the ultra-light pistol yet I may be making a mistake....I'll let you know after I give it a go.

3: I'm a nut, and any pistol that can shoot two cartridges without really sacrificing anything is better than a pistol that can shoot just one.....Except for the Taurus Judge, that thing just needs to go away.



for the rest of your post: I had my wife shoot another similar revolver and I ensured she can comfortably pull the trigger on this one. She can shoot it more easily than my USP compact. The trigger is probably about 8 pounds and the geometry of the j-frame is agreeable to her. She can handle a .40 S&W so she should be good shooting .38 even in the light pistol, but I am going to give her super light loads for range practice...no need to encourage bad habits. This pistol is a major compromise in a lot of ways. I had to give up a lot in order to get a small, ultra-lightweight weapon that she would actually carry AND that wouldn't be as simple as possible.

I messed with the LCR and I didn't like it. I felt like I could not get my hand as 'high' as I could on the S&W, it wasn't as comfortable, I don't like push-buttons on a weapon that might end up in a purse, the trigger pull (on the one I dry fired) was horrendous, I am leary of anything 'new,' it's ugly, the polymer seemed bulky, it is 2.5 ounces heavier than the airlite, and the prices were similar (because I got a good deal on a used airlite).

I won't normally EVER buy a used weapon from a gun store. My general opinion is that people don't typically sell weapons unless something is wrong with them...and it is nearly impossible to vet a used gun...But I happily made an exception in this instance because:

1: I trust this dealer. When I purchased a defective weapon from them in the past, they could have told me to contact the manufacturer. Instead they swapped it for a new one no questions asked on the spot. I am confident that if I had taken this pistol home and something was wrong, they would have made it right.

2: Because it's a revolver it is pretty easy to inspect for the basics. See above for solving any wierd problems I may encounter with mis-alignment, etc.

3: I trust S&W customer service and am confident that failing everything else, S&W will make it right. H&K told me to piss up a rope when I told them I was beginning to shoot out my USP and needed a new recoil spring. They told me I had to ship my pistol to them (at my expense) and they would examine the pistol (at my expense) and then replace the recoil spring (at my expense) and then send the pistol back (at my expense) with a minimum 8 week turnaround time. That's horrible and I will never purchase another product from them again unless they build something I need and there are no other alternatives. How fucking arrogant to think that I can't replace my own fucking recoil spring that I was happy to pay for in the first place. I mean, even if I was wrong and didn't need a spring, giving me the stupid thing would have made me happy while allowing them to make an extra dollar or two profit.

S&W on the other hand impressed me with their customer service. To summarize, I had a problem with a new M&P pistol. I called them and complained. They sent me a next day air shipping label. 8 days after I called them, I had my pistol back in hand, fixed completely, with free Novak Tritium sights, at no charge, along with a note apologizing for sending out a bum weapon. I have never even heard of customer service that responsive and easy to get along with (though Nighthawk comes close).

I like to do business with companies who I feel have 'earned' my business, and S&W now has me for life, provided they don't turn around and screw me in the future.

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KirStang

Despite more experienced and expert knowledge on the contrary, I think I'm definitely going to go with a M&P15-22 type rifle.

Took the woman shooting--she handled a Bersa .22LR pretty well, but had a hard time dumping 10 rounds in to Center-of-mass like I instructed. I had her shoot a M&P9FS, she put one round that nicked the bullseye, but then put it down and refused to shoot it anymore. Then, I had her shoot the .22LR AR15, which she really really liked.


Although it's sub-optimal for home defense, I think this will serve a three-fold purpose of (a) home defense when I'm away (b) familiarization with the AR15 family of rifles (c) comfort around firearms.

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