advice for 1st time gun owning female

[gingerkat333]

I would like to get a hand gun and a rifle. I know nothing about which type to buy. Can someone please recommend what they feel would be the best to start out with which are reasonably priced, say within @ a $500.00 price range (for each), if that's reasonable? Thank you in advance for your help and wisdom! : )

 

[croute]

Just about all of us in here will tell you to go to the range and try out as many guns as they have available. They're all different and you might feel more comfortable with a different one than we suggest. You'll also want to test different calibers to determine which one you're most comfortable with. However, I have used a Taurus 9mm for many years without problems and I would recommend it. You can get one for under $400.

 

[fstroupe]

You will assuredly get a lot of advice here. My .02, first you need to consider what you are planning to do with each of these firearms. (I realize that you are not currently a gun owner and really don't know where this will take you, but you have to start somewhere)

First the handgun. Are you thinking about concealed carry, a pistol to place in your nightstand for just in case, something to go to a range with and hang out, or competitive shooting? Of course, many handguns would work for all of the above, but if you, say, are pretty sure that you would never concealed carry, you might not want to consider handguns designed primarily for that purpose. But if concealed carry is your primary reason for wanting a pistol, you probably would want to eliminate most full-sized pistols from your choices.

I am a firm believer that there are good handguns to be had for under $500, but to be honest you will find that you eliminate many popular models/brands if your budget is under $600-$650.

Once you decide what your intentions are, you need to get some guns in your hand. I'll leave it at that and let some others put in their input.

 

[CharlesMorrison]

Get some instruction if possible as well. There will be many coming along soon to offer options for you so hang on tight!


Sent from behind enemy lines.

 

[RB522]

The first thing any new shooter needs to get is a qualified instructor. He or she will then help answer your questions with hands on experience !

 

[Andrew49417]

What they said. You have to know what the job is before you can choose. Concealed carry, plinking, self defense, home defense, deer hunting, etc?? There are many choices. I can tell you my current guns, but it is an individual choice:

Ruger LCP: Very concealable. Minimum caliber for SD.

Ruger LC9: concealed carry.

RIA 9mm 1911: zombie apocalypse gun/plinking/open carry/home defense.

RIA 38 Sp: Same as above.

Ruger 22/45 Lite (22lr): plinking.

Mossberg 715T (22lr Semiauto) looking scary, plinking.

Savage 243: bolt action for deer hunting.

 

[rae_shoots]

Excellent advice above... you may also want to check into a Well Armed Woman chapter in your state

Link Removed

Also, a NRA Women on Target course may be good. I've only been into the shooting thing for about 6 months, but it's a lot of fun and there is so much to be learned but it's an awesome experience.

I have an XD9 SubCompact and a Ruger 10/22.

Have fun

 

[CarryNM]

My Wife likes the Ruger LCR, for the fact it has no external hammer. She uses it for Concealed Carry, and home defense Shooting 148 gr Hollow base lead full wad cutters. It is a nice gun in the $520.00 range and has a very nice trigger pull. find someone or a range that has one you can try. She has weak wrists, and arthritis, and is able to do about 50 rounds before it wears on her. Good luck

 

[rae_shoots]

One more thing... buy a copy of The Cornered Cat by Kathy Jackson.

Link Removed

You can find it on Amazon and is an excellent read.

 

[27Reeder]

1st handgun & rifle

1st handgun (for female self defense) Smith & Wesson 642 revolver.. Especially for those that don't shoot often. Simplicity, 99.9999% reliability (nothing is 100%), super concealable, vast improvement in 38 Special ammo. For target shooting.. Go to a range and rent all that you can.. very subjective. Rifle: Ruger 10/22. Fun, almost zero recoil, reliable, ammo relatively cheap (yes, currently hard to find sometimes). If you just have to have a semi-auto pistol... again, try to go somewhere that you can rent. Way too many options out there (all pretty good btw). Whatever you decide... training, safety, practice, and NEVER get complacent. Good luck

 

[JimTh]

The handgun has so many variables. The semi automatic has features that suit some folks and drive other folks mad. My wife likes her small 32 caliber revolver. It is easy to use and has little to no recoil. The only place you can find this type of pistol would probably be a pawn shop. They are very affordable, say 200 bucks or less. The ammo may be a bit difficult to find on a store shelf but it is widely available on the internet.

As far as the rifle goes, it depends on the purpose. For fun the 22 semi auto works well and gets you familiar with the functions of a long gun. If you want it for home protection you may want the Smith and Wesson MP 15 22. It is an easy rifle to handle. It does look like one of those incredibly deadly "assault weapons". From there you can move up to the AR chambered in 5.56 for a defensive weapon. Regardless of what Joe Biden says, the AR platform is the easiest weapon for any person to use. I would not recommend the AR platform for hunting unless you get it chambered in 308 caliber...but that is a big gun for most people. For hunting you could probably go with a 270 bolt action. They can be bought for between 300 to 400 dollars new. Don't listen to anybody that says you have ta spend a thousand bucks on a rifle...that is simply firearm elitism at work. I bought my daughter a 300 dollar 270 (new) and she can hit a 6 inch target all day long at 100 yards.

Angelina Jolie says that shooting guns is a bit like an aphrodisiac. I think she is on to something!

Enjoy your new found sense of freedom.

 

[MamaLiberty]

I Am Not A Victim

The Man I Might Have Killed | The Price of Liberty
By Susan Callaway
Certified NRA instructor for handguns, self defense, CRSO

The dedication page of my new book reads: To the man I had to shoot to save my life.

Yes, you read it right. I’ve already had to shoot a man in self defense. Here’s the story.

****
I'll echo the advice of a few others here. Find a comprehensive basic pistol class and make friends with the instructor if you can. Most of us are happy to be mentors and resources for new shooters. Join a gun club, if possible, and prepare to spend some time there to practice what you learned in class. Handle as many guns as you can find and shoot them as much as possible before you decide what to buy. This presupposes you've thought a lot about what you plan to do with the gun you purchase.

The most serious use for a gun is self defense, of course, but not every woman is truly ready to go there immediately. Don't let anyone browbeat you into it if you are not, and on the other hand, don't let anyone talk you out of it when you are ready. That's a personal decision, to accept the grave responsibility of carrying or even using a gun for home defense. Make it YOUR decision and own it as you own your life.

I've written a book about my own experiences and what I do to practice for self defense and effective carry. I'll be happy to send it free to anyone who writes to me and requests it. mamaliberty at rtconnect dot net - just replace the words at and dot with appropriate symbols and remove the spaces. I Am Not A Victim

 

[the dark]

I would like to get a hand gun and a rifle. I know nothing about which type to buy. Can someone please recommend what they feel would be the best to start out with which are reasonably priced, say within @ a $500.00 price range (for each), if that's reasonable? Thank you in advance for your help and wisdom! : )

No one can answer this over the web - you have to get up and go to a range. Lots of friendly folks willing to help...but YOU have to try things out and choose.

 

[dgifted]

Gingerkat, congratulations on wanting to take responsibilty for yourself by becoming a firearm owner. As mentioned above, once owning a firearm, it is important to get appropriate training in gun safety and proficiency with your chosen firearms. That means lots of practice too.
--- --I noticed that you show California as your location. All the advice above, while good under most circumstances, may not apply to you with the recent legislation in your state. For example, all semiautomatic firearms (handguns that are not revolvers) are now supposed to be capable of "microstamping" or putting a gun id on every bullet prior to firing. I do not believe any semiauto manufacturer has the capability at this time to make a gun do that despite what the California Attorney General says. That means you would not be able to buy a semiautomatic handgun and your choices of rifles available to own in California have been drastically reduced. If this law does not get repealed (and a few other recently passed discrinimatory gun laws) your only choice for a handgun may be a revolver. Also, you will have to be licensed, I believe by your County Sheriff before you can buy a gun.
--- --My suggestion is to contact the California Rifle Assn. Their web site is http://www.crpa.org/ and there is a tab "Contact" shown there. Ask them if they can give you a contact person close to where you live you can talk to face to face to find out the steps you will need to take before you can purchase a gun. Also ask if they can direct you to someone to help give you basic training in firearm handling and help you decide the kind of handgun, caliber and rifle that would best fit you. Keep in mind another of the new laws that passed by your gun hating state government is a $50 fee to be paid with every purchase of ammunition. And a whole range of firearms were declared illegal to sell along with a limit on the size of magazine used in semiauto handguns or rifles. Again, hopefully many of these laws will be overturned but that will take time. You will still need someone to help you wade through the laws.
--- --You can check on the web for women friendly firearms websites. One that comes to mind besides those already named is Girls Just Wanna Have Guns - A site for ladies who refuse to be victimized.. Also there are some good YouTube videos for women gun owners that you might find helpful.
--- --If you are moving from California and that is not your residence, congratulations. Then more of the advice shown above will be helpful to you. If this is the case, the women's shooting groups mentioned above would definitely be good places to check and, I would suggest contacting your state Rifle Assn. to get leads. Good luck on your new journey. Shooting can be fun.

 

[gingerkat333]

Just about all of us in here will tell you to go to the range and try out as many guns as they have available. They're all different and you might feel more comfortable with a different one than we suggest. You'll also want to test different calibers to determine which one you're most comfortable with. However, I have used a Taurus 9mm for many years without problems and I would recommend it. You can get one for under $400.

Thank you croute for your advice. I'm realizing that there are so many choices! Sort of over whelming right now but I will take your advice to try out as many as I can to find the type which is best for me. Have a great day! : )

 

[gingerkat333]

Thank you for your reply croute. Right now it's sort of overwhelming, there are so many choices. But I will take your advice and try out different styles to find one which I feel comfortable with. Have a great day!

 

[gingerkat333]

You will assuredly get a lot of advice here. My .02, first you need to consider what you are planning to do with each of these firearms. (I realize that you are not currently a gun owner and really don't know where this will take you, but you have to start somewhere)

First the handgun. Are you thinking about concealed carry, a pistol to place in your nightstand for just in case, something to go to a range with and hang out, or competitive shooting? Of course, many handguns would work for all of the above, but if you, say, are pretty sure that you would never concealed carry, you might not want to consider handguns designed primarily for that purpose. But if concealed carry is your primary reason for wanting a pistol, you probably would want to eliminate most full-sized pistols from your choices.

I am a firm believer that there are good handguns to be had for under $500, but to be honest you will find that you eliminate many popular models/brands if your budget is under $600-$650.

Once you decide what your intentions are, you need to get some guns in your hand. I'll leave it at that and let some others put in their input.

Good point! I'm mainly looking to purchase and learn to use both the hand gun and rifle mainly for self defense purposes. I would like to be able to carry a concealed weapon whilst in public places . I also plan on spending time in the back country with a goal of living off the grid and self sufficient. I may need to defend myself from large animals. I am not into hunting but one day may be for survival purposes. I will try to find a local shooting range to try out guns/rifles, probably the best option. I wasn't aware you could rent guns at the ranges til I read it in another post. Thanks so much for you input! Have a great day! : )

 

[gingerkat333]

Thank you for your input Charles. Yes, I will seek out a qualified instructor. Have a great day! : )

 

[gingerkat333]

Thank you rae_shoots. I will check those groups out. Have a great day! : )

 

[gingerkat333]

I just want to say thank you to everyone replying and all your great advice! Sorry, I don't have time to answer each reply right now but I wanted to thank everyone for their support in this endeavor of mine. I will take all your input into consideration. Have a great day all! I now have an idea of where to start and thank you all! : )