TexasCHLforum.com

To be brief, the wife is extremely recoil shy. She's recently showed interest in shooting again. I want to get her a pistol that she won't be afraid of and that she could use for the chl test. (this started when some of her friends mentioned getting chl's) I was thinking that one of the "heavier" .380's might be the ticket, assuming they are comfortable in her hand. This won't be a carry piece, just something to get her back into shooting and comfortable with. If she ever decided to carry, we'd get her anything she wanted.

Nothing I own is a good fit for this, except the .22 conversion on the 1911, which is how I plan to start her back. Just hoping you guys and gals would have some specific suggestions on very mild recoiling guns.

Thanks!

shooting a .22 with a heavy 1911 should have very mild recoil

Desert Eagle with a .22 conversion kit.

The Sig P238 is very light, but has very, very mild recoil.

Steel framed High Power or 1911 in 9mm. Don't get much milder than that.

flechero wrote:I was thinking that one of the "heavier" .380's might be the ticket

The problem with most larger, heavier .380s is they use a direct blowback action that delivers substantial felt recoil to the shooter's hands compared to a similar size & caliber in a locked breech short recoil design. This is why JMB designed locked breech ... recoil pressures of a .45 ACP would crack the frame of direct blowback handgun.

Walther PK380 is a newer design that uses a .380 cartridge in a locked breech action. It's received some good reviews from recoil averse shooters.

Other larger blowback .380s to avoid (IMHO) for recoil averse shooters: Walther PP/PPK, Bersa Thunder, Sig P230/P232, Browning BDA, Beretta 84/85. I've shot a number of these guns and felt recoil is as bad or worse than an Airweight .38 special snubnose revolver or even a .40-cal Glock. Even in .45 ACP, I find a 1911's recoil "stings" my hand a but less than a blowback .380.

Good explanation of blowback vs. locked breech here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xQIPMYg ... ata_player" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Taurus PT58 if you can find one or a Beretta model like that ... heavy enough, good grip which isn't too narrow in thee web of the hand so recoil is over a larger surface area.

My Keltec P11 9mm isn't real bad but heavy DA trigger

If you live near me I'd loan you my Glock 19 with ported barrel for her to try/qualify... and low recoil Hornady critical defense or the low powered/low velocity Speer gold dots (comes in several varieties)
I qualify with a Taurus PT92 heavy enough, light recoil using the above 2 ammos. Real tack driver accuracy. My Glock with ported barrel is good too.

How close to Marble Falls/Bertram/Burnet/Liberty Hill are you? "Location: Central Texas"
PM me if interested in borrowing any to try.

Desert Eagle with a .22 conversion kit.

Isn't a .22 round too low a caliber for the range test at CHL class in Texas?

rdcrags wrote:

Desert Eagle with a .22 conversion kit.

Isn't a .22 round too low a caliber for the range test at CHL class in Texas?

yup
.380 or above to qualify I thought

From asking questions like this on this site, I learned to let my wife pickout her own gun. All I did was borrow guns I thought she might like. Then I found a girl only gun class, not chl.

She came out of that class wanting a mid sized 9mm over a 380. And wanting to carry on person not in hand bag.

Papaw, while I LOVE my P238, and I don't think she is bad on recoil,my 14 year old would disagree. She would much rather shoot the 9mm. I think a heavy steel frame 9mm would be "softer". No disrespect, JMPHO.

RPB wrote:

rdcrags wrote:

Desert Eagle with a .22 conversion kit.

Isn't a .22 round too low a caliber for the range test at CHL class in Texas?

yup
.380 or above to qualify I thought

.32 is the smallest allowed.

Pawpaw wrote:The Sig P238 is very light, but has very, very mild recoil.

+1 on the Sig P-238. I bought one for my wife. She's sitting right here next to me right now, and I asked her how she would rate the recoil. She said very light. She's shot my 45's and a 357 snub nose loaded with 38 special.

When introducing a new shooter to the sport or re-introducing one that has not fired a round in a long time there is nothing better than a 22. Begining with a centerfire caliber might be ok, but why take a chance on turning someone off to shooting because they were shocked at the recoil. You cannot go wrong by letting someone's first day at the range start with a 22.

My wife owns and shoots everything from .22 to .45 caliber which is her edc. Her latest acquisition is the Ruger SR9C, bought for practice due to ammo cost of the .45 cal. She opines that there is very little recoil from this pistol and you can change the backstrap grip around and also mag plate bottoms for your own liking. With short 10rd mag and 17rd fullsize mag you also have a short or long grip choice. For the price of these guns they are hard to beat.