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Divided Attention wrote:Karder, might I suggest a pocket holster of some sort for inside the purse pocket for the Shield. Also, the Shield could easily become invisible on body as well. JMPHO - but on body is so much easier and less stressful than purse carry - YMMV

I am with ya. We will absolutely get a holster for purse carry and I am trying to ease her into the idea of carrying on her body, but she is kinda cool to that now. She does have a purse with a perfect zippered side pocket where she currently carries a pepperblaster that the Shield would fit nicely, but I agree that on the body is better. I just have to let her try a few holsters so she will see it is not as bad as she is probably thinking.

I didn't read through all of the replies to your post so disregard this if your wife has already made a decision. She is lucky that she has you to help her out with this. I was all on my own and very intimidated throughout the process but I finally decided on the M&P shield. It doesn't meet your 'no external safety' requirement but for what its worth, I love it enough that has replaced the shotgun under my bed. As far as I can tell, Im doing okay with it. Although I have very little experience shooting handguns and not much to compare it to other than rifles and shotguns, I really like it and am pretty accurate with it considering my lack of experience. I don't have a CHL so I don't carry mine but I have tried to conceal it in front of a mirror and found it a little difficult to do so. Im 5'2", 130 lbs and wear semi-tight fitting clothes. Ive had several jams and one misfire but Im using cheap target ammo. Im able to wrack the slide with quite a bit of effort but its pretty akward and sometimes too difficult when my hands start getting tired. One other thing that ive found is that the slide doesn't always lock open after i fire the last round but perhaps its the ammo or maybe this is just common in general? I am planning to experiment to find out what it likes.

loblolly wrote: Im able to rack the slide with quite a bit of effort but its pretty awkward and sometimes too difficult when my hands start getting tired.

A piece of advice an old instructor gave me about shooters with weaker hands:

Hold the slide firmly in one hand. With the gun pointed in a safe direction (the ground is easiest for this) use the hand on the grip to push the gun down while trying to hold the slide in place.

Here's a video of a woman explaining it a little better than I did (and with visuals!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbayNc6D9HY

74novaman wrote:

loblolly wrote: Im able to rack the slide with quite a bit of effort but its pretty awkward and sometimes too difficult when my hands start getting tired.

A piece of advice an old instructor gave me about shooters with weaker hands:

Hold the slide firmly in one hand. With the gun pointed in a safe direction (the ground is easiest for this) use the hand on the grip to push the gun down while trying to hold the slide in place.

Here's a video of a woman explaining it a little better than I did (and with visuals!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbayNc6D9HY

Thank for the advice NovaMan!

Update! We mastered slide racking tonight! She can rack the slide on the PM9 easily now, and if she can manipulate that, she can manipulate anything. Her method of choice is to lock both arms out straight and pivot her upper body, works like a charm, and seemed to improve her confidence a bit.

Good that she can rack the slide. But also consider the trigger. The MUCH better half has increadibly weak hands. Her fingers are like pencils. So a DAO trigger is a no-go for her. So if you're considering a Kahr, think about that as well. Will she be able to fire enough shots with it at a range session without tiring her hands. She can pull most DA triggers enough to get off one shot, but if she had to fire several it would be tricky. It's one of the reasons she went with the P238. It's SAO. But your wife may have no issues with it. But just be sure she can pull the trigger more than once.

She's good with the trigger on most pistols, DA revolvers are a no go though.

You can tell that you are getting old by what weird things trigger memories. Talking about double action triggers and how hard they are for some people to pull reminded me of an old exercise we had to do in training, back when cops carried revolvers. If she can pull the trigger one time, then you might try this every so often.

We would have to stick the end of the barrel in a tire that was hanging on a rope. Center the barrel in the tire and see how many times you can pull the trigger in one minute. If the barrel moves and touches the tire, you stop at that point.

It is not as easy as it sounds and even a smooth light trigger will feel like about 50 lbs is needed by the thirtieth squeeze or so. It also will help show how poor trigger control can affect your aim by moving the barrel.

And yes, the first times we did it, most of us were hitting the tire before the minute was up.

When I was learning to shoot pistol, a lot of people used these.

Loblolly, where are you located. Please check into a local ladies group. They can help you address some of the concerns and challenges you are experiencing. Some of the "hiding' is not as bad as you think. Most ladies have to adjust to a good belt - which many do not wear at all - and realizing most will not at all notice the "bump that looks like a huge thing". I carry on body 98% of the time, and strap on my side arm when I get up in the morning, take it off at bedtime. My "holster" purse has "slash resistant straps" and when I carry in a non-holster purse I use a pocket holster in a designated compartment of the purse where nothing else goes. I am 5'4" and 135# (can't believe I just admitted that) but I lost 30# since December and since getting my CHL. I carry an M&P9C most days, the alternate is a Sig P238. I have carried my full size 9mm one time - but the longer grip frame and barrel were not so comfortable with my short wasted self (32" inseam). It can be hidden

All the best - keep up the good work!

Take a look at the Walther PK380. My fiance owns this gun and loves it. The .380 is a decent round, not a lot of pop, but will get the job done. This gun is very easy to manipulate. The slide is very easy to rack. I own two .45's and she hates shooting them, and she really can't work the gun. She can drop the slide stop, but its hard for her to rack it.

The PK380 is a good choice. She actually shoots it better than me. She likes my 9mm too, but she is more than comfortable with her gun. I'd check it out. Never had a single failure of any kind, and they are under 400. She got hers for 319.00 when it was on sale at Gander Mountain.

As everyone else has pointed out, SHE has to feel comfortable with whatever she ends up carrying. My wife had the same problem. I have Glocks, but she doesn't like them or the caliber. We rented a few guns at ranges to see if we could find something she liked. After a CHL class had finished up, the instructor hung around for a bit. We started picking his brain, and he recommended an M&P9c. He said he even had some she could shoot. He showed her the interchangeable backstraps and away she went. Right off the bat she was very accurate with it, and the size was perfect. The search was over, so we bought one at the range THAT DAY. She still loves it and actually asks ME if I wanna tag along to the range with HER!!! I love it, and haven't said no yet! IMHO, start by grip. Find a weapon that feels right in her hand. A lot of manufacturers have gone to the interchangeable backstraps now, and this is at least partly due to the increase in sales to women. It just takes time to find "the one", and that's half the fun too, for both of you. Good luck!