Best CHL Carry Pistols for Women?

[Juniper9mm]

On to two pages with our favorite puppet master troll.

 

[arakboss]

Has anybody seen a women's section at the gun shop?

 

[1911Fanatic]

Has anybody seen a women's section at the gun shop?

I've never seen that, although the LGS had a display for the P365 Rose package and ammo. The funny thing is that the Sig hollow points don't expand for bubblegum most of the time.

 

[Certaindeaf]

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/_hC94XERqQI?feature=shared

 

[oremike]

Buying a gun for a woman is a lot like going to the naughty store to get her fancy bloomers. It's best to let her pick out what she wants, you'll both be happier for it.

 

[orygun]

My wife has and carries a Glock 43. I don't know if it's best, but it's what she chose.

A little back story. My wife inherited a Colt 1908 from her grandfather and we were attempting to get her up to speed with working, shooting and carrying a single action semi. Didn't take long to realize that wasn't going to work well and I pointed her to a 38 Special snubbie. (good idea/bad idea) She bought it herself and carried the 38 for many years, but that DA trigger made it difficult for her to be very accurate. (the only complaint I consider valid in regards to a 38 DAO snubbie for women, especially one that's not "in to" guns? the really tough trigger pull. most women, and many men, don't have the hand strength to comfortably/accurately shoot a snubbie) When our daughter got a 43, I had her clear it and gave it to my wife to dry fire, paying attention to the trigger. I'm not Glock fan, but the same "simplicity" of a DA only revolver is something Glock has nearly mastered, and I thought it might be an easy gun for her to transition to. I didn't mention buying one, but after she pulled the Glock's trigger a couple of more times, she "pulled the trigger" and bought one, too.
She also has a Ruger 1911 in 45 that she loves and used to carry out in the woods, but that's a heavy gun (she eventually figured out SA autos). Once I convinced her that her 9mm had enough punch to be serious and that she wouldn't be giving up much by leaving the 45 at home, she now carries the 43 exclusively.
The 642 she used to carry? It fits ever so nicely in the pocket of my Carhart jacket.

 

[orygun]

It doesn't matter whether man or woman.
We're getting into cold weather.
And already grasping a J frame in a coat pocket is more reassuring than any "Magnum-X-Blaster" that's buried under two or three layers of clothing.

F-N A, @Quirt!

 

[bpyycpyy]

When my wife was looking for a carry gun several years ago, most pointing was done towards the Springfield Hellcat or Sig P365 but I found that more importantly was the effort it takes to rack the slide and my wife had a hard time performing that simple important task. The search was then on for the easiest slide to rack and for that I landed on the Walther PK380. Not the smallest pistol but small enough. Shoots well and you can add laser to under rail for assistance. Yes it's a 380 but with proper load selection should be adequate enough. I don't necessarily like the takedown method (requires a special takedown tool to release slide) but how easily the slide is moved is excellent compromise (and who are we kidding, it'll be me cleaning it anyways). Recoil is pretty good for smaller frame too making it easy to handle.

I'd personally vote for the Sig P365x (what I have) because for about $40-50 dollars you can get the full sized frame and with a simple pin removal you can shoot with the larger grip module and save the small one for carry. Both the Hellcat and P365 have very large capacity for their size (plus with the P365 you can get Magguts magazine components to add plus 2 to the standard capacity size). Most reviews I watched indicated women thought the P365 had a slightly less felt recoil over the Hellcat.

It appears that the PK380 has been replaced with the PD380 (holds 9 rounds) and has removed the 2 things I didn't like, the requirement for a takedown tool and the non-captured recoil spring (that was difficult during reassembly).

Link: https://waltherarms.com/firearms/pd380/pd380-black
Comparison link: https://gunmagwarehouse.com/blog/walther-pd380-vs-pk380/

 

[nickblast29]

snub nosed revolver in 327 or 38SPL +Ps. second best option being a glock 43x in my semi professional opinion

 

[Old Dog]

Has anybody seen a women's section at the gun shop?

My local Sportsmans Warehouse has about a six foot wide swatch on the end of one aisle with concealed carry purses for women, does that count?

 

[Alexx1401]

Has anybody seen a women's section at the gun shop?

I have LONG wished we would see more women working in shops that sell guns. What you "normally" see is guys who when some woman asks, show them guns that they like. A LOT of women end up with a gun they don't like and can't shoot well due to either some man in their life picking out the gun or some man in a shop telling them what will work for them. Thankfully there are more and more shooting groups now aimed at females. Where they can get advice from other females who made the mistake of buying a gun because a guy told them it was the way to go.

 

[DirectDrive]

G42/43
P365
P238/938
S&W Shield EZ

 

[kmk1012]

I don't believe I've seen anyone mention the S&W Ladysmith yet, this is purpose built for the ladies. It's a lightweight revolver in an easy to control chambering. Not the capacity of some of the autoloaders but a great, reliable gun.

 

[1911Fanatic]

I don't believe I've seen anyone mention the S&W Ladysmith yet, this is purpose built for the ladies. It's a lightweight revolver in an easy to control chambering. Not the capacity of some of the autoloaders but a great, reliable gun.

Well, the Lady Smith of today is just a cosmetic treatment as opposed to the Lady Smith of old that actually had a nice trigger pull. My wife tried one and it wasn't any better than the regular Airweight that cost much less.

 

[kmk1012]

Well, the Lady Smith of today is just a cosmetic treatment as opposed to the Lady Smith of old that actually had a nice trigger pull. My wife tried one and it wasn't any better than the regular Airweight that cost much less.

True, but……does the airweight say "Ladysmith" on it? Kinda like putting robbin egg blue, pink, or purple grips and calling something a special edition? My wife and daughter remember those models and always say they want them, even after I tell them I could replace the grips on one of my guns and make the same thing. They still say they want the factory model, oh well, what's another gun in the safe?

 

[spookshack]

The Sig P365 equivalent of the Ladysmith is the "Rose".

P365 ROSE™ 380

ROSE by SIG SAUER, your journey starts here

www.sigsauer.com

 

[kmk1012]

The Sig P365 equivalent of the Ladysmith is the "Rose".

P365 ROSE™ 380

ROSE by SIG SAUER, your journey starts here

www.sigsauer.com

Uh oh, my wife like that a little. One of these may have to be straw purchased from me to get for Christmas, LOL

 

[1911Fanatic]

The Sig P365 equivalent of the Ladysmith is the "Rose".

P365 ROSE™ 380

ROSE by SIG SAUER, your journey starts here

www.sigsauer.com

The reason we didn't go with that one was the manual safety. We wanted as Glock as possible, but not an actual Glock. Also the one that I purchased was a few hundred less, with Night Sights. No gold accents. And it's 9mm, so much cheaper to shoot. It's the Snakebite version. I got it for $475 or $480 out the door on sale and after an additional 5% off at Cabela's.

 

[oremike]

Well when you get one (or more ) of those colored pistolas see me for ammo to match I'm an eggelstone bullet dealer so can make most any ammo with bullets the color you'd like.

Match Grade Coated Bullets

Eggleston Munitions manufactures the highest quality coated bullets. We use our own EM Polycoat which outperforms all other bullet coatings currently on the market.

www.egglestonmunitions.com

 

[spookshack]

The reason we didn't go with that one was the manual safety. We wanted as Glock as possible, but not an actual Glock. Also the one that I purchased was a few hundred less, with Night Sights. No gold accents. And it's 9mm, so much cheaper to shoot. It's the Snakebite version. I got it for $475 or $480 out the door on sale and after an additional 5% off at Cabela's.

The 365 safety is easily added or removed. The downside is needing the corresponding grip module.

I had to modify my xMacro grip to use a safety. This was before Sig offered a safety cut version from the factory. Took a bit of work, but I was able to do it.