.22 for my wife

[Jtgarner]

Okay, so I know the usual response to someone asking what gun to get for his wife is "let her pick it out." I learned from the first gun I bought for her (a taurus 357 revolver that we keep loaded with .38+p HPs) that that is the best way to do it (I did not), because she will actually WANT to shoot it.

Well my wife has shown more interest in shooting my step father's ruger MKII and my 10/22 than she has in shooting any other guns. I have decided that my next gun purchase is going to be a .22 pistol for her that hopefully I will enjoy shooting too

I pulled up some pictures tonight to see how she felt about the look of some of the options out there. We looked at the Ruger MKIII, the Ruger 22/45, the Walther P22, the Sig Mosquito, the GSG 1911, the Advantage arms .22 conversion kit for my Glock, and a .22 that looks like a Baretta 92.
My plan right now is to take her to a gun store when we get a chance and let her hold some of these (or their higher caliber counter parts) so that she can decide if she likes them.

Obviously i would like to get the conversion kit for my Glock since then I could get some cheaper practice in too but the main goal for this purchase will be something fun for the wife to shoot so that she ENJOYS shooting and wants to do it with me (hopefully).

Ladies out there, what .22 do you shoot and why, are there any I should stay away from?

 

[kludge]

OK, so I'm not a lady, but...

If her carry/SD gun is a revolver, then perhaps a revolver with identical manual of arms is a good idea. Taurus and Smith both make .22 LR revolvers that fit this description... form good habits with the .22 and they will carry over to the .38/.357.

Of the ones on your list I like the Rugers, I also like the Buckmark. The 22/45 with Cocobolo grips feels very nice... much nicer in fact than the one with just plastic grips. GSG 1911 has nice reviews.

The only way I would get a Sig Mosquito is if the carry gun was to be a Sig. Same for the P22. I for one am annoyed by the safety that goes up and so other Walthers are off my list... and your wise for having her check out the higher caliber counterparts.

I also like Ruger Single Six and the K-frame Smiths (K17, K22).

 

[Jeepcrazed]

I have the Ruger Mark III hunter. The fluted barrel allows you the advantage of the length, without all of the added weight. I think it's a very nicely balanced gun. no failures, good shooter, accurate, and yes...very pretty, too.

 

[Jtgarner]

Well I don't much care if the manual of arms is the same on this gun and her nightstand gun simply because I am trying to get her to WANT to shoot. If she starts to enjoy shooting and wants to do it more I would THEN look into a higher caliber gun with the same manual of arms as the .22

The manual of arms for her revolver is put the red laser on the chest and pull the trigger if you ever need to. She could care less about reloading it fast (doesn't even want a speed loader in the nightstand). And she knows if it doesn't go bang to pull the trigger again.

If SHE likes the sig, then her next gun can be a sig if she shows interest, and so on and so forth for the other types as well (except the rugers I guess since I don't know of any higher caliber guns that have the same style).

The main purpose of this gun will be to get her out more and get her behind a gun and more familiar with shooting, it is not necessarily to train her for a higher caliber, although that could be a nice additional advantage.

 

[sgreen3]

My GF like the Walther P22 alot

 

[Jtgarner]

My GF like the Walther P22 alot

I heard they can be finiky on ammo. Any experience with that?

 

[throttletony]

First of all, get her what she wants (smart man). After that I can't recommend highly enough any of the ruger semi-autos or the buckmark. That's my two bits. As I told someone else earlier today, any new gun is better than no new gun. Good luck and enjoy.

 

[murph]

I'm really picky when it comes to handguns and tend to lean towards revolvers, however I found 2 pistols I have actually liked. A Colt 1911 45 (you know because they're so cheap ha!) And the Buckmark. So I vote Buckmark.

 

[stilllearning09]

I have two Rugers, a Mark I and a Mark III. They are a lot of fun to shoot. The Mark I came from my Dad, and I have enjoyed shooting that one very much. It was because of it's reliability and accuracy that I recently purchased the Mark III.

 

[88GT]

Hmmm, I don't shoot .22s. But I do like the Ruger Mark-something-or-other that hubby has stashed in the safe. My only other experience with a .22 handgun is a Buckmark, and never again. Reliability and function didn't exist in that firearm. Hence, the Ruger in the safe.

But I'm one of those weirdos who likes Rugers too. I know it's not cool to like Rugers anymore.

 

[Shoots4Fun]

My daughters enjoy shooting both our Rough Rider 22 revolver and our Walther P22.

The Rough Rider is a great gun for the money and a ton of fun to shoot. Most also come with a cylinder for 22 Magnum's as well and if good to go right out of the box.

The Walther is very easy and fun to shoot as well. It takes some break-in as most people know. But is small enough to fit in most hands.

My ...

 

[Bill of Rights]

My wife isn't on right now, but the first pistol she fired in recent years was my Walther P22. To hear her tell it, she fired once, and climbed up on my head crying and demanded to be taken home. I talked her through it, reminded her that I'd told her it would be loud (not comparitively to other guns, of course, just compared to "not shooting") After a few minutes, another woman came into the range bay where we were.
With a rifle.
A .270, as it turned out.

She got mad when she saw this other woman shooting and hitting. Mad=Determined, and every shot the other shooter fired, she fired one of her own. Accurately.

Today, she owns a Walther PK380, with the same manual of arms. The .380 also fits her hand better. Because of some medical issues, my wife and iron sights don't go together well, so her pistol has a laser. Prior to her buying it, she did some more shooting, and on the classic

target, she made sure to put a few rounds in his manhood as well as putting a round from my 9mm down the barrel of his pistol... and my 9 does not have a laser.

We haven't been out with her .380 yet, but she'll be posting a range report when we go.

Hope that helps!

Blessings,
Bill

 

[Jtgarner]

Thanks for all the responses. I know she likes a MkII, but if the gun is hers I want her to have the opportunity to try something else if she likes it better. The PK380 is something I thought about when looking at the P22, it seems like an obvious transition to make if that is the 22 she chooses.
We will just have to see next time we get to a good gun store

 

[88GT]

My wife isn't on right now, but the first pistol she fired in recent years was my Walther P22. To hear her tell it, she fired once, and climbed up on my head crying and demanded to be taken home. I talked her through it, reminded her that I'd told her it would be loud (not comparitively to other guns, of course, just compared to "not shooting") After a few minutes, another woman came into the range bay where we were.
With a rifle.
A .270, as it turned out.

She got mad when she saw this other woman shooting and hitting. Mad=Determined, and every shot the other shooter fired, she fired one of her own. Accurately.

Today, she owns a Walther PK380, with the same manual of arms. The .380 also fits her hand better. Because of some medical issues, my wife and iron sights don't go together well, so her pistol has a laser. Prior to her buying it, she did some more shooting, and on the classic

target, she made sure to put a few rounds in his manhood as well as putting a round from my 9mm down the barrel of his pistol... and my 9 does not have a laser.

We haven't been out with her .380 yet, but she'll be posting a range report when we go.

Hope that helps!

Blessings,
Bill

Bwhahahahaha. That sounds like me. At least the competitive part.

 

[jgreiner]

Thanks for all the responses. I know she likes a MkII, but if the gun is hers I want her to have the opportunity to try something else if she likes it better. The PK380 is something I thought about when looking at the P22, it seems like an obvious transition to make if that is the 22 she chooses.
We will just have to see next time we get to a good gun store

S&W has a new MP .22 model coming out. Might be worth looking at.

 

[Jtgarner]

S&W has a new MP .22 model coming out. Might be worth looking at.

I showed her pictures of a M&P and she wasn't impressed. Like I said, she definitely has to like it.

 

[kludge]

Thanks for all the responses. I know she likes a MkII, but if the gun is hers I want her to have the opportunity to try something else if she likes it better. The PK380 is something I thought about when looking at the P22, it seems like an obvious transition to make if that is the 22 she chooses.
We will just have to see next time we get to a good gun store

The P22 and PK380 definitely fit women's hands very well, but before purchasing, have her hold the gun in a normal grip and move the safety lever from on to off. If it works for her, fine; it's a motion I could never get used to so I traded my S&W 411 for something else.

That said, I know a couple people that own them, don't have any issues (like the craked slide), and like them very much.

 

[Jtgarner]

I have actually been trained to use those stupid slide mounted safeties as a decocker and NOTHING else. I understand that they are not mounted in an ideal spot for fast deactivation so I use guns with slide mounted safeties WITHOUT their Safety. Knock on it all you want, but it is no different than shooting a revolver or any other gun that doesn't even have a safety. The weight of the first DA pull is the safety, when you are finished firing, flip the safety to decock the hammer and then flip it back.

 

[kludge]

That's what I do too. As long as the gun is drop safe, this is not an issue, IMO. But that old S&W is what drove me to stiker fired pistols.

 

[RobbLG]

FWIW my wife loves her P22... She says that it fits her hand better than any other... Hers has ate anything that she's fed it... I also would not put the mosquito in the same class as any other Sig... Now the Sig 1911-22 is another story, I saw my first one at the Auburn Gun show today and I think I will have to get one... Once you get her a P22 the next step to make it more enjoyable for her to shoot would be to get a suppressor...