I am wanting handgun

[beepbeep]

So, I shot hand guns for the first time today and it was a loads of fun. A good friend of mine invited us to his dad's place to shoot and he instructed me on which end I needed to be on. I shot the .40 and my friend's 1911. Chris shot those two AND his .44 magnum. It was a good day.

[CoopKill]

Nothing like the ability to accurately make your own holes at will!

[beepbeep]

Here's my second go with the .40 (target is actually upside down from how it hung). I'm a happy girl.

1544523_673231132699737_239387233_n.jpg

[wingnut]

Nothing like the ability to accurately make your own holes at will!

...or to carry discretely, even when youre in their garage, helping them with their car

[3kgtGirl]

I have a .380 Ruger LCP. Love. It.
Its not exactly pocket size, but not huge. I open carry all the time.
Only because I am too lazy atm to get a CCW. :/

[JohnnyTurbo]

Although a .40 cal is a good stopping round, that model Ruger is not ideal for CCW, it's too big. I had the 9mm version and although it shot bullets every time I pulled the trigger, I am not sorry the gun is gone. Most long time shooters and CCW holders would generally advise a woman to get a Smith J frame for around the house because you never have to worry about carrying one in the chamber and it will fire EVERY time the trigger is pulled. I got my wife an S&W Airweight 38 SPL for in house duty and a Beretta Storm PX4 9mm Compact for her CCW gun. She has small hands and both guns fit the bill for her needs. One train of thought is to get a .357 J frame and shoot 38 spl in it for practicing and go with .357 hollow points for protection loads. The idea is that the softer .38 round will not have you conditioned to flinch in anticipation of the very loud .357 round going off.
My recommendation for a CCW gun would be a high quality .45 in a 3" to 3.25" barrel length. Great stopping power and a good concealment gun. I have the Kimber Ultra Carry II and have worn it in the car, driving from Ohio to Florida and have actually forgot I had it on me at times. (Using a Comfort Tuk holster).

If you do a lot of reading from the experts on concealed carry, most all of them do not recommend carrying a tiny .380 pistol. Although very concealable, you just don't want to bring a pea shooter to a gunfight. No one ever wants to actually have to shoot their gun at some one, but if you do, a palm sized sub $400 POS is NOT what you want to be using against a bad hombre. Go to a gun range that rents guns and shoot your Ruger, then go rent a $500 to $700 gun, then rent a $700 to $999 gun and see/feel the difference. I had a Ruger P95 DC (.45 ACP) that runs right around $485 +- most everywhere and I will tell you with out a doubt, it was very inferior to my $790 Kimber in recoil & shot placement. Those two factors alone, are the only thing you really need to be concerned with if you are thinking protection.

Summary: ideal woman's gun is a Smith J frame .38 snubby - a great purse gun, a very reliable gun for house protection. For a potential CCW encounter - an over $500 .45 ACP in a 3" barrel (compact/ultra compact), second would be same format in .40 CAL, then a 9mm like a Beretta PX4.

Bottom line: no matter what it is you wind up with, practice is the best defense. Get some snap caps to protect against dry firing and practice holster draws until you can't see straight, then do it again. If you can't or don't know how to smoothly pull your weapon in a confrontation situation, it is useless and you might as well leave it at home. Oh, and die hard CCW holders will tell you that if you are carying a semiauto pistol that does not have a live round in the chamber while in your holster, you might as well leave it at home too. You will NOT be able to pull the gun and rack the slide before the other guy shoots you. If you are nervous about doing that, just get a DA and it will be the same as carrying a revolver. Both my carry guns always have one in the pipe and are only a trigger pull away from firing. I am not a fan of cocked & locked, I's rather go the DA route. With the Kimber 1911 style, I developed a style of that my thumb cocks the hammer on the reach for a medium fast draw and for a fast as possible draw, I just go for a hammer down DA trigger pull.
Just my .02, you mileage may vary with any of this advice.

[onebadmollafolla]

Have to disagree. Most Kimbers are overpriced mediocrity. I have seen more Kimber problems than I have hands down to their Springfield and Sig counterparts. Sometimes fixed by purchasing Wilson Combat mags, but not always.

[Valhallaz]

Although a .40 cal is a good stopping round, that model Ruger is not ideal for CCW, it's too big. I had the 9mm version and although it shot bullets every time I pulled the trigger, I am not sorry the gun is gone. Most long time shooters and CCW holders would generally advise a woman to get a Smith J frame for around the house because you never have to worry about carrying one in the chamber and it will fire EVERY time the trigger is pulled. I got my wife an S&W Airweight 38 SPL for in house duty and a Beretta Storm PX4 9mm Compact for her CCW gun. She has small hands and both guns fit the bill for her needs. One train of thought is to get a .357 J frame and shoot 38 spl in it for practicing and go with .357 hollow points for protection loads. The idea is that the softer .38 round will not have you conditioned to flinch in anticipation of the very loud .357 round going off.
My recommendation for a CCW gun would be a high quality .45 in a 3" to 3.25" barrel length. Great stopping power and a good concealment gun. I have the Kimber Ultra Carry II and have worn it in the car, driving from Ohio to Florida and have actually forgot I had it on me at times. (Using a Comfort Tuk holster).

If you do a lot of reading from the experts on concealed carry, most all of them do not recommend carrying a tiny .380 pistol. Although very concealable, you just don't want to bring a pea shooter to a gunfight. No one ever wants to actually have to shoot their gun at some one, but if you do, a palm sized sub $400 POS is NOT what you want to be using against a bad hombre. Go to a gun range that rents guns and shoot your Ruger, then go rent a $500 to $700 gun, then rent a $700 to $999 gun and see/feel the difference. I had a Ruger P95 DC (.45 ACP) that runs right around $485 +- most everywhere and I will tell you with out a doubt, it was very inferior to my $790 Kimber in recoil & shot placement. Those two factors alone, are the only thing you really need to be concerned with if you are thinking protection.

Summary: ideal woman's gun is a Smith J frame .38 snubby - a great purse gun, a very reliable gun for house protection. For a potential CCW encounter - an over $500 .45 ACP in a 3" barrel (compact/ultra compact), second would be same format in .40 CAL, then a 9mm like a Beretta PX4.

Bottom line: no matter what it is you wind up with, practice is the best defense. Get some snap caps to protect against dry firing and practice holster draws until you can't see straight, then do it again. If you can't or don't know how to smoothly pull your weapon in a confrontation situation, it is useless and you might as well leave it at home. Oh, and die hard CCW holders will tell you that if you are carying a semiauto pistol that does not have a live round in the chamber while in your holster, you might as well leave it at home too. You will NOT be able to pull the gun and rack the slide before the other guy shoots you. If you are nervous about doing that, just get a DA and it will be the same as carrying a revolver. Both my carry guns always have one in the pipe and are only a trigger pull away from firing. I am not a fan of cocked & locked, I's rather go the DA route. With the Kimber 1911 style, I developed a style of that my thumb cocks the hammer on the reach for a medium fast draw and for a fast as possible draw, I just go for a hammer down DA trigger pull.
Just my .02, you mileage may vary with any of this advice.

Excellent advice. The only part I would disagree with is the cocked and locked carry on the 1911, and on that even very experienced shooters disagree. I prefer cocked and locked for 2 reasons.

First, is the loading process. In loading, you will start at condition 4, hammer down, no round in the chamber, magazine out of the pistol. When a loaded magazine is inserted, the pistol goes to condition 3. From that point, you cannot go to condition 2 (rounds in the magazine, one in the pipe, hammer down) or condition 1 (what's referred to as cocked and locked, with a round in the pipe, rounds in the magazine, hammer cocked and thumb safety engaged) without going to condition 0 (same as 1, but with the thumb safety disengaged as it will be when you rack a round). To my experience, decocking, rather than just engaging the thumb safety, just adds a step where just a bit of carelessness on the part of even an experienced shooter can lead to an unintended discharge (there is no such thing as an "accidental" discharge, carelessness is always a factor). I believe the idiot legislator that just fired her pistol in the capitol building in KY stated that she was decocking her pistol when it "just happened".

The 2nd reason is the grip required for the pistol to fire. On a 1911, the grip safety must be depressed prior to firing, and for me at least, I find the draw faster and safer if I have my hand positioned properly prior to starting my pull. That way the thumb safety can easily be disengaged on clearing the holster (I will note that the finger should stay out of the trigger guard completely untill you are actually lined up on target, to prevent issues - on target, on trigger, in that order).

As I said, experienced shooters disagree on this, so do what works best for you.

I'd also add 38 super to that list of ammo to consider. It is avail from mild to wild, allowing you to practice with mild recoil, but have serious power for your defensive rounds.

And whatever you choose, practice practice practice. Nothing will serve you better than proficiency, whatever your choice of firearm, ammo, or carry condition.

[CoopKill]

Have to disagree. Most Kimbers are overpriced mediocrity. I have seen more Kimber problems than I have hands down to their Springfield and Sig counterparts. Sometimes fixed by purchasing Wilson Combat mags, but not always.

Please expand on these Kimber issues you speak of. I have owned 3, 2 customs, and 1 carry. Not one issue, infact the best shooting handgun I have owned was a custom eclipse. Sigs are a great choice, but I have had bad experience with a Springfield .45 that I could not get to shoot worth a shit no matter what I loaded/bought for it. That is only experience with a Springfield I have had.

[onebadmollafolla]

The ones I have experienced personally? Fail to ejects and fail to feeds. Never had a hammer strike with no bang on a fail to fire. A friend of mine that at one time owned 3 had these issues with all of his and wasn't new to shooting. Went to the range to practice with my ccw and the guy next to me just picked up a $1,200 Kimber and it was jamming at least once a mag. Not sure if he was limp wristing it or what. Talked to him briefly and let him borrow some tools to adjust his sights. I'm not the only one...
Kimber 1911's Are Bad or: How I learned to stop buying Kimbers and love the 1911 : guns