Need a HD weapon for the Wife.

Let me set the scene a little. Wife is not big on firearms. Actually this is an improvement, when we got hitched 15 years ago she HATED them. It's been slow progress, but progress nonetheless. We live in the country a few miles north of Canton but do have some close neighbors. About six months ago one was burglarized in broad daylight. Two weeks ago same thing happened on the other side. So she's gotten a little nervous and is beginning to warm to the idea of her "own" gun.

She is pretty much philosophically opposed to handguns. Many years ago she shot a 12 ga. and it knocked her on her keester. She weighs about 110 lbs. wet, and has the strength of your average 12 year old, so methinks a 12 ga. is out. My first thought is a 20 ga. pump.
My second thought is a M1 Carbine, but that may be because I want one so badly.

Suggestions?

Shoe

The little M1 Carbine would be a pleasure for her to shoot. Also, it makes a pretty good little home defense rifle. I do like shotguns for home defense; however, the M1 is a good home defense rifle. I would let her shoot both of them (20ga of course, and a Carbine) -- the most important facet of this selection is which one WOULD she pick-up and actually use .. that is the one to buy ... IMHO

I am sure if you brought her to the Meet & Greet II on May 8th, we could arrange for her to shoot both a 20ga and M1 Carbine ... maybe a few more ...

well...cap pretty much summed it up.

I might suggest a small 357 (loaded with 38spcl) so she can carry it outside the house as well since trouble is not limited to one area

Remington 870 pump youth model in 20 ga...but she might have memories of the 12 or as Cap already said

man a M1 Carbine is a great home defense weapon...plenty ammo...low recoil...accurate for home defense out to 100 yards if you live in the country...it might just be the most underrated and best weapon you could have for HD

Just saw a show on tv that mentioned the Mossberg 510 mini. Think it was called the smallest shotgun ever? Might be a good choice. Comes in 20 ga and .410

Appreciate the input thus far. Thought about the .357/.38 thing, in fact one of those is number three on my "short list". But will have to get her over that anti-handgun bias. She actually mentioned being interested in shooting my 9mm, but I'm a little afraid if she goes to the range and finds out how much ammo costs and how quickly you can burn through it I'll have a whole 'nother problem on my hands.
Right now ignorance (hers) is Bliss (mine).

90% sure I'll be at M&G II, I'll work on getting her to go too. If she does though, y'all need to complain about how bad life is now that ammo is up to two cents a round. She probably won't believe it, but it's worth a try.

shoeshooter wrote:I'm a little afraid if she goes to the range and finds out how much ammo costs and how quickly you can burn through it I'll have a whole 'nother problem on my hands.
Right now ignorance (hers) is Bliss (mine).

I have that problem and it aint fun...and I cant explain the benefits of reloading to her because she cant look past the initial cost.

Shotgun 20 guage or even 410 would be great.

The less noise & recoil the better. Hadn't really considered .410, but I suppose there are some appropriate shells that would do the job at 20 -30 feet. Are .410 pumps common enough I can find one for $200 or less? and will it do the job? Any specific suggestions on ammo? I'm thinkin' this may be the way to go, and I could make it happen pretty quick.

shoe

i cant tell you wat to get b/c it sounds like she wont shoot just anything. sounds like she's bout my size. be careful with the youth model guns. because of the weight sometimes they kick more. ive got a franchi youth model 20 gauge and id almost rather shoot dads 1187 12 gauge. my best recommendation would be let her shoot some and chose for herself. that way if she doesnt like what u get her she cant complain about not getting to choose.

I have a couple .410 shotguns I can bring to the M&G she can shoot.

Mossberg makes a .410 pump in the $300.00 range called the model 500 HS410 and it's specifically designed for defensive use. It comes with a youth-sized stock, a vertical foregrip and a special muzzle brake and spreader choke on an 18.5-inch bead sight barrel. The .410, while by far the least powerful common shotgun chambering, still generates energy in excess of a .357 Magnum, and the spreader choke produces wider patterns, as well as less chance of wall penetration, in the short ranges to be expected in a defensive situation. This model is targeted at the novice user, who needs a simple, easy to use yet effective defensive weapon.

I'm going to chime in here with a fairly long post so bear with me. I had a similar situation with my wife. When she was a little girl, her Dad forced her to shoot his 45 (stupid) and when she did it scared her and she dropped it at which time he got mad and pitched a fit (even more stupid) and since then she hasn't really liked guns. "No guns" is not an option in my home and when we got together I knew there had to be a change.

I pulled her back and really had to sort of force her to shoot a 22 (pistol) and I didn't care if she hit anything which she didn't at first. She did find on her first outing however, that the 22 was not something to be scared of. The next thing I found was that she was mad at herself for not hitting the target and it became a challenge. We were making progress.

She then, own her own, stepped up and tried a 9mm and found no issues with it either. The next thing I knew she wanted her CC and her own gun. We went and found the perfect fit for her hand which turned out to be the fairly new Taurus Slim and she loves it.

Now on to a really important point about the HD gun. When she's home alone she will put her 9mm where ever she is and that (Preparedness) is very important in home defense and self defense in general. If your home is broken into and you are separated from your firearm it's of no use to you and most people will not move a long gun around with them. All I'm really wanting to say here is, don't let the fact that there is a gun in the house that she WILL shoot constitute comfort in the home defense arena because all it really is, is the "illusion" of being able to defend oneself at home. And all of this is really more about the mindset of the person. If they want to be able to defend themselves, they will be open to the experience. Otherwise, they are a "victim in waiting". Just my opinion.

A carbine would be a good compromise. Anything shooting 9mm in the size of a small rifle won't be too hard to control.

id rather shoot a .40 than a 9mm wen it comes to recoil but that's just me. i dont rather shoot pistols tho

ree_countrygirl wrote:id rather shoot a .40 than a 9mm wen it comes to recoil but that's just me. i dont rather shoot pistols tho

Interesting... ree is just downright tuff .

Rbelote wrote:

ree_countrygirl wrote:id rather shoot a .40 than a 9mm wen it comes to recoil but that's just me. i dont rather shoot pistols tho

Interesting... ree is just downright tuff .

Yep -- the .40s bite me sometimes!! Love the 9mm ...

Have you considered a Ruger PC9 or PC4 Carbine

captain-03 wrote:

Rbelote wrote:

ree_countrygirl wrote:id rather shoot a .40 than a 9mm wen it comes to recoil but that's just me. i dont rather shoot pistols tho

Interesting... ree is just downright tuff .

Yep -- the .40s bite me sometimes!! Love the 9mm ...

my beretta px4 storm really doesnt recoil that bad