S&W Model 640 .357 for the Wife?

[Tiz68]

Ok so I am in the process of looking for a good personal protection gun for my wife. I have looked around and come to the conclusion that a good gun for her would be a Smith and Wesson Model 640 .357. Here is a pic of it.

I would like to hear what opinions you guys have about this. And can you recomend any other guns that would be good for the job. She is unexperienced with guns and this will be her first gun. She has shot my Ar-15 and a little .25 pistol. That is really about it. Once she gets it, she will be taking a class.

The reason I chose this gun, is because I think a revolver is simple enough and reliable enough for her since she is unexperienced. I chose the .357 because she can use .38 spl in it until, if even at all, she gets comfortable enough to use .357. I also chose all steel instead of the lighter version, to help with recoil comfort.

And yes I do keep saying "I" when it is "her" gun. She has been looking and trying out different revolvers in her hand. She finds that this model is particularly comfortable for her. I am letting her choose the gun, I am just trying to help and guide her to get what is all around best for her. I want to make sure it is comfortable for her, and easy enough for her to conceal and use quickly in an emergency situation.

She is not a gun person by any means, but she is really getting interested and her attitude is changing about them. I think with more experience she will get a greater appreciation for them. I would never force her to carry one if she didn't want. I am really glad she is getting interested in them, because I know I would feel more secure if she took the time to learn about them and eventually carried one. And I think this gun would be a good "first" gun for her. So what do you guys think? Oh and sorry for rambling on, I get carried away sometimes.

 

[topgunz1]

if you want to get her interested in shooting, that gun is not suited to the task. I love shooting, and I have an airweight .38 smith that I have to force myself to practice with. Its not a fun gun to shoot. The steel frames arent much better, and thats just with .38.

Great to carry, not to shoot.

 

[Tiz68]

What do you suggest would be a good gun for her to start with?

 

[Conceyted]

Well, I can tell you that I am pretty much in the same boat. However, the gun I am looking for is for both my pocket carrying needs and her enjoyment. She has shot a small Jframe .38 and felt it was decent for her. She did not feel the recoil was too snappy or that the gun was too heavy for her. However, this was an Airweight S&W that we shot so the gun you are looking at is about twice as heavy unloaded. I am actually in the final stages (basically waiting for quotes to come back) to purchasing an S&W 340. I have a feeling she is going to be overwhelmed by the .357mag loads so, like you, I am happy that she will be able to have +P .38 in it when she has it. When it is with me it will have the .357 in it, though

Good luck with your choice, I believe you will be happy with an S&W no matter what you go with. Their revolvers are very well made and I have always been happy with the finish and quality of S&W's.


Edit: The gentleman above is right about the "fun to shoot" comment. The 2" barrel revolvers are really inaccurate for a range gun and the recoil isn't exactly comfortable. If she is looking for a range gun and not a carry weapon I would suggest a walther p22 or similar.

 

[topgunz1]

Fun gun to learn on: Walter P22

My fiance started shooting with a Sig P220, mainly because when we first started dating and she started shooting, that was the only handgun I had.

For Christmas she wanted another pistol, I let her pick it out. She started out wanting a S&W M&P compact in 9mm, but we ended up taking home a Sig P250 in 9mm.

For alot of range use, the trigger pull on a revolver could be a bear for some women if they are lacking in grip strength

 

[LACamper]

I made the mistake of buying my wife a .38 snub some years ago. She had shot my 4" Ruger .357 before and liked it. (SHE has been ticked off at me for selling that one for quite a while.) Anyway, the snub kicked too much, and with the short barrel was rather loud for a .38 (at least that's what she thought- maybe the short barrel made the muzzle blast more noticeable?).
Anyway, she was scared to death of the thing. Then she tried my S&W 469- 3 3/4" barrel 12 shot w/ alum frame and steel slide if you're not up on S&W model #'s. Its been with her ever since, but she'd still rather a 4" revolver.

 

[Tiz68]

Thanks guys, I appreciate your suggestions and opinions they really help out!

 

[Pops]

Different opinion here . I bought my wife a S&W snubbie and she had no problems at all . Got some .38 wadcutters and let her get used to it . She soon graduated to a .45 auto . Some women take to handguns and some don't . I think a hammerless revolver is the way to go for a non-gun person to start out on .

 

[Tiz68]

Haha yeah I hope to get her up to a .45 auto one day too.

I think I will get it and see what happens. If she doesn't like it, I sure know I'll use it for the .357. So it won't go to waste. If I need to go smaller or get a different type of gun for her, I will. She does really good with the guns she does shoot, .25 and AR-15, so I have confidence in her and I think she will like it. Not that shooting those 2 will help her with a revolver, but they do give her experience. I guess I'll just have to wait and see when she tries it out.

 

[LACamper]

I'd teach her to shoot w/ a full sized .22 auto and make it fun...
Then let her try out as many different pistols and revolvers as you can get your hands on...
I'll be honest here, I wasn't fond of that .38 snub either. The muzzle jump was significant. It was a 5 shot. It was loud (my ears would still be ringing if I'd shot that thing in a car w/out hearing protection). The muzzle flash was horrible at night. I sold it and gave her my 9mm and actually started to carrying my Browning Buckmark (no power, but accurate as all hell...) w/ 2 extra mags until I bought something else. I figured 30 rounds of .22 in a target beat 5 misses w/ a .38 at 10 yards...

 

[acme_labs]

Have you read about the .327 magnum? Ballistics approaching the .357, but noticeably less recoil, also one more shot in a small frame revolver-Ruger is making one.

 

[Tiz68]

I seriously think she'll be better served to find a range that rents and let her choose... I had to buy 3 or 4 guns before I learned that the hard way.

Do you know off hand of any ranges around here that do that? I might give that a try. I live in the Morgan City area and often travel to lafayette and houma areas. I will prolly just look at that list of ranges in the forums and give them a call and ask around.

 

[topgunz1]

next time theres a big shoot at Sherburne bring her out, theres always a nice variety of toys on hand. Just dont show her anything made by Sig. I made that mistake and ended up buying a $700 P250 for christmas

 

[lsufan1971]

When I went to my CCW class the instructor had a smith 317 with him. He said he carried it with him to every class because the females in the class would show up with .357's or 38's and couldn't qualify. He used the 317 to get them comfortable shooting. I have a model 18 that I let my wife use to get her trained on shooting without having to adjust to recoil and so forth. I found that a 22 revolver is a good starting point for someone who hasn't had a lot of experience. I know some people say .22 can't do squat but if you can't hit what you shooting at an M1 tank won't do you any good.

 

[Tiz68]

I know some people say .22 can't do squat but if you can't hit what you shooting at an M1 tank won't do you any good.

True dat.