I am looking to get my wife a compact 9mm, but I want to surprise her. Are there any women out there that have an opinion or like one better than another?
My wife and I chose the new baretta nano for her. I have a kahr cm9 and it's to hard to rack and snappy for her. The nano is much easier to rack and it is much more comfortable for her and me actually. The sites are great to. I got mine for $450 from m&j in fortville. Watch the YouTube videos on the nano by women says it all.
My fiance has a Ruger sr9C, which would fall into the "compact" 9mm category. She is very happy with that gun, I am too. Before that she had a taurus pt111 which was also a nice little gun.
I agree with xtreme above...the kahr cm9 (which I love) is very difficult to work the slide. My fiance couldn't do it.
Really it would be better to have her try a few different guns somewhere, at least have her hold them and see what grips fit her hand better, what points better for her, which ones she can work the action of...
I guess though if you want to surprise her and she doesn't end up liking it you will be getting a new gun out of the deal
Woman here. I like the Rueger lc9. Unless she has a strong grip, the revolvers tend to have a tough trigger pull, so I cannot recommend a revolver. You might take her to a range that rents firearms. Some folks find the really small pistols difficult to fire. In that case I would go for a Springfield XD model, although others might suggest a Glock. YMMV.
I have an SR9C and an LCP. I thought the LCP would be a good carry gun for my wife, but she can't rack it. She says it's too small to get a good grip on. She can rack the SR9C though. I'd make sure she has the grip strength to rack any gun I was contemplating buying for your wife. We also looked at a Bersa Thunder. My wife liked it better than the SR9C. They make the Thunder in both .380 and 9MM.
My wife couldn't stand the LC9. She likes the XDs, Sig 938, and the Shield. XDs was in stock but we were concerned .45 in such a small gun may cause problems for her. The shield isn't available and Indiana Gun Club had plenty of 938's so we picked up a 938.
She said, "I like it, but I don't enjoy shooting it like I enjoy shooting yours." I told her, "Yeah - well, you wanted a small/light/easy to carry gun and not something that would be tons of fun to shoot... Maybe we should look at a compact 1911...."
if you are considering anything other than a 9, the smith and wesson 380 bodyguard is really nice, small, easy to take apart. My wife also enjoys that since she keeps it in her purse
I have shot my mom's Ruger LC9 and my M&P Shield together and the LC9 is much more snappy than the Shield. I'm way more accurate with the Shield because of this. The Shield recoil is very manageable for a subcompact gun, which has been said by many who have shot it. My wife shot it for the first time the other day (her first time shooting a handgun) and she put 8/13 in about a 4'' group from 10 yards. I thought that was pretty good for her first time every handling a handgun. She said she liked shooting it better than even the .22 we shot. Also, the Shield trigger is WAYYYY better than the LC9 in my opinion, which has a super long trigger pull and terrible reset in my opinion. I can't stand the LC9 trigger.
I carry a full size 9mm, but for a compact or subcompact I love the Beretta PX4 Storm. The subcompact only comes in a 9mm, but the compact comes in 9mm and 40. Great especially if she finds Glocks or Springfield models too large for her hands.
Surprising a woman with a handgun is like surprising a woman with a pair of shoes that she can't return. What is she supposed to do if it/they don't fit?
Have her handle several handguns at your LGS and see what fits her hand.
Unfortunately, the stock of handguns available to facilitate this is pretty low right now due to the hysteria of our illustrious President.
My wife loves the LC9 she has handled every sub compact pistol in every LGS around where we live granted she hasn't been able to shoot them all but she is in love with the LC9 so much that she has been begging me for one of her own.