Carry gun for the wifey

[palmettogunner]

About a year ago I bought my wife a gun that I thought would fit her well as a carry gun.  Yes, I bought it.  Bad idea right there.  It was a Springfield XD9 - great gun, but not one for my wife. 

This time around I want her to make the decision.  The three options we've been recommended are the Walther PPS, Taurus PT709 Slim, and Kahr CW9.  All are 9mm which she really likes. 

Out of the three above what are your thoughts and recommendations?  Are there other guns that we're not thinking of?  Please keep in mind how a woman would carry it.  She works in an office environment and typically doesn't wear belts with her jeans/slacks, and sometimes will wear a skirt.  What is the best way to carry it under these circumstances? 

She's also concerned about safety features.  For instance the Kahr has no external safety feature and she worries about having it loaded in her purse and the trigger getting caught on something.  Is there a way to avoid this situation?

Thanks all for helping us out.  Matt and Katy

[tom]

I am only going to answer one piece here because I haven't tried wearing skirts yet.  You don't carry the pistol loose in your purse, gym bag, attache case or pocket because that does open the possibility of accidental discharge and things float around.  Even if you have a flip down safety that safety could be clicked off.  You need it in a compartment or a holster that will secure it, keep it in place and cover the trigger.  This way you know where the pistol is, what state it is in, and you have a consistent purchase (you don't want to reach blindly into the purse and grab your gun by the barrel). 

tom

[ZEBRA NINER]

This is a common question and one that I've been faced with before. Luckily I let my GF pick her own gun, but we sure did try a lot of them out before she finally decided.

I have never used the guns you mentioned but I would try them out first if possible. A lot of ranges/shops will have these guns for rent and you can give them a try. If that's not possible at least let her pick the one that feels the best.

My GF also had the same problem with clothing (she wears skirts). We found a good solution that  works well with a skirt or track/sweat pants. Under Tech Undercover compression shorts/holster.

If she's going to keep it in a purse then she'll need a purse designed for carrying a firearm or at the very least a good holster like the safepacker. Something that completely covers the trigger guard is a must. Make sure that wherever you put the gun, it's by itself (no keys, lipstick, misc. items).

Let us know what you go with!

[Hk940]

I love these threads. 

Lets go off the deep end flip the tables on you.  Your wife decides you need a new pair of dress shoes.  So she buys you a pair of ladies size 8 jimmy choo pumps.  You take one look at them and say “you got to be kidding, I don’t like designer shoes, wear ladies shoes, wear high heels and my feet don’t fit a ladies size 8”!  Not to beat you up on your original gun purchase but I just want to give you an idea what you did… you wanted Rockport dress shoes which is like her wanting a Ruger sp101.

 

We know she can make her own decisions so let her do it!  That means she get’s to go gun shopping.  Even if she is not a shopper she needs to shop for this gun.  So throw out the idea of A,B,C.  The Walther PPS, Taurus PT709 Slim, and Kahr CW9 won’t be her gun and her decision or her ownership of the idea of her finding her gun for her.

 

So it’s clean slate time with an intelligent woman who can choose for herself what she will buy.  Let’s take buying shoes as an example.  They need to fit and be comfortable, not overly complicated plus work with her lifestyle, be reliable.

 

First trip to the gun store is to take notes and see what fits her hand and feels comfortable to her.  With an autoloader can she run the slide and push all the buttons without shifting her grip.  Can she run the slide, pull the trigger and run the gun?  Do her fingers wrap around the grip?  Does the gun “look good to her”?  Pick the top three or four guns to keep in mind.  Did the salesmen treat her with respect or ignore her or worse belittle her?  Go out to lunch or dinner and talk about the experience with her.  This is bonding time between you two.    

                                                                                

Second trip to another gun store this time with gun rental and shooting range.  This time try them all again to see how they fit and if she can run the slide and which one is easier.  Rent one or two and shoot them to see which one she can shoot the best and more important which one feels the best to shoot.  Now she is forming her own opinions, likes and dislikes. 

 

Do the above as many times as she needs before she buys the gun. 

 

75% of the time my GF will Purse carry.  25% IWB belt carry.  She has a dedicated pocket in the purse for the gun.  Nothing else goes in that pocket.  If the GF feels threatened her hand goes in the pocket on the gun ready to blow a hole in the purse.  Yea her Glock 19 or Ruger LCP can jam but she can clear that jam or draw the gun.  There is nothing wrong with packing a Kahr, Glock, Ruger LCP or a revolver if it is kept in a separate pocket. 

 

Best of all having a gun in the purse helps keep her ahead of the threat curve.  She is more likely to stay out of condition white and be in yellow.  When she sees an orange level threat or just feels ill at ease she can put her hand into the purse and be a big jump ahead ready to go into condition red and use deadly force if required.  With a belt holster I have to see a need to draw, and then clear clothing, then draw my pistol and finally fire.  She just blows a hole in her purse.  Most of the time I try to pocket carry so when I see a threat I can put my hand in my pocket and be one step ahead.                       


oh and my GF has lots of guns.  Ruger LCP, Glock 19, Ruger SP100, S&W 340PD just to name a few.  Depending on the situation she packs a gun of her choice.  Most of the time I pack a duplicate of her choice.  Why have your 1911 and two mags plus her Glock 19 and her two mags of ammo?  If you both pack a 19 you can share the mags.  That is 6 15 round mags or almost 100 rounds on your persons!  Talk about firepower.  Throw in an olimpic arms AR15 that takes Glock mags and you can solve most any problem.  During hurricane Ike we went to the grocery store with our two Glocks and the Olympic and felt very secure. 

 

[palmettogunner]

HK - I completely agree with letting her pick the piece.  I admit I screwed up the first time around, but this time it will be her pick.  I mention those three guns above because those have been recommended from various sources as being good, small guns.  They are also mentioned many times by women as being a good size, and that's one of the qualifications - it has to be small enough for a women to conceal.  She's held the Kahr and Walther, but not the Taurus. 

I'm only trying to get people's experiences on these guns (and any others we should consider).  I also want some information on how best for women to carry a gun, when they wear pants, when they wear dresses, when it's in a purse, etc.

Zebra - appreciate the info. I'll have to look into the compression shorts.  How long has your wife had hers and how long do you think they'll last?  Does she carry every day?

[ZEBRA NINER]

Zebra - appreciate the info. I'll have to look into the compression shorts.  How long has your wife had hers and how long do you think they'll last?  Does she carry every day?

Whoa, whoa... hold your horses, "wife"? What the hell is that? lol.

My GF has only had the shorts for about 6 months. She works from home so she doesn't carry every day. They look like they are comfortable, but I'm not going to destroy them by giving them a try.

I would also like to comment on the size of the gun you are looking for. She doesn't need to have a small gun. My GF is small, but she chose an XD45 5" Tactical for her first gun and still uses that when carrying in a purse. You may not want to limit her to small pocket guns. Hell, if I had a purse I would be packing the biggest gun I could!

Hmmm... *thinks about getting purse*... Nah!

[palmettogunner]

Hahaha, my apologies, Zebra!  Don't want to rush things on you two - just take your time.

My wife really likes the smaller guns and I think her hands will fit around them better.  The XD9 isn't bad, it's what she used to qualify for her concealed carry, but I think a smaller gun would fit her better. 

My concern about the shorts is that they would wear out quickly due to wearing them nearly every day.  However, if she could wear the shorts 2-3 days a week and carry in a purse the other days that might keep them in tact longer.  At $70 a pop they aren't cheap!

My wife is a runner, has your GF ever tried running with those on and the gun in?

[ZEBRA NINER]

She bought two pair, one in black and one in white for different clothing. I can imagine they would wear out if you wore them everyday.

I don't know if she's ever used the shorts for running, so I'm not sure (I'll find out). She uses a belly band for running/exercise.

[Chris]

+1 to HK940... let her pick the gun. She's the one that will have to carry and use it. All the "expert" recommendations in the world mean squat in that regard.They won't be there to help her if she actually has to use it.
Chris Christian

[UGA Dawg]

I see there has not been a post here in a while so you've probably already made your decision. 

As a female/woman/wife, I was lucky to be able to choose my own guns and I LOVE my S&W M&P 9C and my Ruger LCP.  One of the great things about the S&W is the interchangeable back straps on the grip for different sized hands. The Ruger LCP is just fun.  I also have a Crimson Trace Laser on both guns. 

A suggestion would be to have her try/rent a gun at a local shooting range if possible to get the real feel for how it shoots. I found this to be very helpful because you can not go simply by the caliber or size of the gun.  My LCP is much harder to handle than my 9mm.

Hope she was able to find one that she really likes!

[palmettogunner]

Yes, we have made our decision (I say "our" but I really mean "her").  About a month ago I'd collected reviews from youtube on all the guns she was interested in.  She quickly ruled out the Kel-Tecs because of their small feel.  Let's face it, Kel-Tecs are more of a secondary gun than a carry piece.  The three in question were the Kahr PM9, Walther PPK (or PPS, I can't remember) and Taurus Slim 709.  All 9mm and all about the same size.

We visited a couple gun stores where she got to pick up, touch, point, and dry-fire all of the guns.  She felt them all in her hand and was able to take that to stage two - watching the reviews on youtube.  Stage two would have been firing the guns, however, only one was able to rent and by that time she had already ruled it out.

There are several reviews of each gun on youtube.  After watching them, from various people, both backwoods rednecks and tacti-cool people like Tommy, she decided. 

Because of the safety features that Taurus offered and a solid price point my wife chose the PT709.  The next week I found it at a gun show, new, for 365 after tax - below the price on the tag!  Unfortunately she hasn't shot it yet but I got the bug and took hers and my XD to the range and put 70 rounds through it.  It worked flawlessly.  Groups were pretty consistent, especially for that small of a gun.  It felt like going from a Geo Prism to a tank going from her gun to mine but I think she'll like it.  We're planning on her breaking it in shortly.

I should add that the safety features were a plus for her due to her keeping it in her purse sometimes.  She isn't as comfortable with a gun as am (of course mine is always in a holster on the hip) so having a safety feature gives her some peace of mind.

Good gun so far and I'll try to give an update on it in the near future after she's shot it.

[tom]

Excellent, I think that sounds like a reasonable process given all the circumstances and I think that is a nicely looking piece and Taurus is building good valued guns.  Hopefully she will find in shooting that it suits her well.  Don't know if you watch best defense but they did a week on women getting approached in the parking lot who had gun in the purse.  If you didn't see but do get outdoor channel, then you will want to pickup the rerun when it cycles back through.  Now, get her to the range with a good trainer.

tom