Training my female friend to shoot last week. Purchase suggestions

[mcapo]

The one that has surprised me with how easy it is to rack is the Witness Pavona and it’s quite pleasurable to shoot. My wife has the purple framed but it comes in several colors and black. Not the easiest thing to find in a store though.

EAA makes a fine firearm, especially for the cost....but they clearly do not word their marketing to me:

[FONT=noto_serifregular]The WITNESS PAVONA is beautifully designed, elegantly packaged and sparkles when you hold it; a sophisticated pistol for any shooter.

[/FONT]https://eaacorp.com/guns/handguns/witness-pavona-polymer-compact-by-tanfolgio-26

 

[Ggreen]

The honor defense honor guard has a super easy slide to rack, and is a tack driver. The trigger is a little goofy on the take up but it brakes and resets nice. They also have a long slide that is that much easier to control.

 

[mom45]

I have a hard time pulling the slide to rack it and found a tip online that solved the problem.

She should not be pulling the slide. She should be holding the slide firmly in place and pushing the gun forward with her stronger hand....it is much easier to push the gun than to pull the slide and it works every time on every gun I have tried it on. If I can find the video, I will link it here. Have her check out The Well Armed Woman site for great articles for new shooters.

 

[mom45]

That was easier than I expected.... https://thewellarmedwoman.com/training-handling/racking-the-slide-of-your-gun/


Several more good articles. https://thewellarmedwoman.com/training-handling/

 

[Ark]

The Shield is definitely stiff as hell right out of the box. Trying to load the magazines to full capacity is unreal.

Fact is, a woman can utilize any firearm a man can utilize. It's all in their head. Use both hands to rack the slide.

 

[Snapdragon]

LCR and 148gr wadcutters.

This. Sometimes "can't" means "can't". All of the confidence and fancy techniques in the world will not give you hand strength if you don't have it. IMO the LCR has the best factory trigger and the least recoil of any small revolver. It was the first gun I got and it will be the last one I get rid of if the time ever comes.

 

[Areoflyer09]

EAA makes a fine firearm, especially for the cost....but they clearly do not word their marketing to me:

[FONT=noto_serifregular]The WITNESS PAVONA is beautifully designed, elegantly packaged and sparkles when you hold it; a sophisticated pistol for any shooter.

[/FONT]https://eaacorp.com/guns/handguns/witness-pavona-polymer-compact-by-tanfolgio-26

To be fair, Tanfoglio makes a fine firearm and EAA does a crappy job importing them.

Not my preference either, they oversell the sparkly bit of it though. It’s not like it’s been bedazzled, shimmery may be a better word. Though in some lights, speckled may be closer. Avoid the colored options and it’s less noticeable. That said, the marketing worked perfectly on the wife who bought it because it was purple and it ended up enjoying it so much that it’s taken the place of the PPQ as the favorite 9mm.

 

[mcapo]

To be fair, Tanfoglio makes a fine firearm and EAA does a crappy job importing them.

Appropriate and accurate clarification.

 

[Sling10mm]

If she doesn't have some underlying health issue (nerve damage, arthritis, etc.), she should be able to learn to rack the slide with practice. The first two videos posted were very good (sorry, didn't watch the others), although I would suggest getting even more aggressive with it, pushing with the strong hand and pulling the slide with the weak hand strong enough so that when it is released, you actually strike yourself in the chest.

 

[ru44mag]

I think maybe fear was part of my wife's problem. But that little P238 was so cute it just could not be that scary. I think some of the others were just too big and too scary for her. The little Sig was just right. Reality is, the little Sig is very good for those that are recoil sensitive. Also very easy to pull back the slide. Great sights, and we both shoot them accurately.

 

[jkmonte07]

I've been through that with a couple friends. My girlfriend ended up getting a Kimber micro .380 after trying quite a few others. I also have another friend who loves the Sig P238 like several others have mentioned.

 

[OurDee]

My wife complained about the long trigger pull on my P227 so much that I had to put a short reset trigger in it just to try and appease her.

 

[billybob44]

148 Wadcutters..

LCR and 148gr wadcutters.

^^^Yep, with every other one seated BACKWARDS...Nasty up close..

 

[churchmouse]

^^^Yep, with every other one seated BACKWARDS...Nasty up close..

Nasty man.....just nasty.

I like the way you think.

 

[OutdoorDad]

Racking a slide is all technique. Not fear or strength.

It took me a considerable amount of time to get a former Raiders offensive lineman to rack a SIG 226 with consistency.

And he isn’t small, or afraid. Just had no technique.


I’m sure your friend is smarter than my friend. Work with her. 20 minutes and she’ll get it.


Hand on top, move the frame, not the slide. Keep everything close. Or use the edge of a table if you must.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

^^^Yep, with every other one seated BACKWARDS...Nasty up close..

The whole point of a wadcutter for someone with hand strength issues is not to expand, which means it can get sufficient penetration at a lower velocity resulting in a lower recoiling round. A WC running at about 700 fps is extremely low recoil, penetrates quite nicely, cuts a neat hole, and doesn't deflect off bone easily. To get a bullet to both expand and penetrate sufficiently out of a 2" gun pushes you into +P territory, which eliminates a lot of the reason for my recommendation of this particular set up for those with lower hand strength.

 

[Snapdragon]

Racking a slide is all technique. Not fear or strength.

It took me a considerable amount of time to get a former Raiders offensive lineman to rack a SIG 226 with consistency.

And he isn’t small, or afraid. Just had no technique.


I’m sure your friend is smarter than my friend. Work with her. 20 minutes and she’ll get it.


Hand on top, move the frame, not the slide. Keep everything close. Or use the edge of a table if you must.

I call BS. If you don't have the hand strength to grip the slide tightly enough, you will not be able to separate it from the frame.

 

[chezuki]

I call BS. If you don't have the hand strength to grip the slide tightly enough, you will not be able to separate it from the frame.

I’m sure there are people who truly don’t have the grip strength, but they likely can’t put on their own socks or pull up their pants either.

I’ve seen a petite 8 year old girl manipulate full sized pistols like a champ because she had the right technique.

This video explains the technique pretty well.
[video=youtube_share;LM0kl4PrINs]http://youtu.be/LM0kl4PrINs[/video]

 

[Brad69]

What BBI said I support 100%

Semi auto pistol male or female is for a person that wants to commit to training on a regular basis.
All others need a revolving handgun.

 

[churchmouse]

I have a hard time pulling the slide to rack it and found a tip online that solved the problem.

She should not be pulling the slide. She should be holding the slide firmly in place and pushing the gun forward with her stronger hand....it is much easier to push the gun than to pull the slide and it works every time on every gun I have tried it on. If I can find the video, I will link it here. Have her check out The Well Armed Woman site for great articles for new shooters.

You are sporting an officers size 1911 yes.....they have serious recoil springs.