Mugzy6

I am very, very petite. As of late, for no reason I can particularly put my finger on, I've wanted to learn how to shoot a gun. Now I have some sort of idea about how guns have kick after you shoot them. With this in mind, I would like to know up to what kind of weapon I could use that wouldn't have me on my ass after shooting. Any ideas?

MSD

Anything in .22 is good for a starter weapon. It has about as much kick as a BB gun (actually, my most powerful BB gun kicks more than a 10/22 rifle,) and it's cheap as dirt. If you call up a local range and ask about rentals and lessons, they should be able to point you in the right direction.

Recoil also depends a lot on the gun itself. The first thing I ever shot was a .44 Ruger Redhawk, which my friends decided was a good match for my huge size, and it was heavy enough that non-magnum loads barely caused any jump.

Strange Famous

I guess the best thing to do would be to go to a professional looking gun store and they would probably have experience of what gun would be best.

I dont know much about guns, and have never fired one in my life either, but I would guess that the smaller the bullets, in theory the less hard the gun kicks, cos it would require less force to move them the same speed.

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Uncle Pony

You should be fine with a .38 Special (for a revolver) or a 9 MM (semi-auto). I know small women who can handle both of those effectively. Serious recoil starts happening in the Magnum revolvers. Any semi-auto caliber should serve you well.

cj2112

Start with a .22 it's cheap, readily available and has virtually no recoil at all. Btw, the key here is to buy a decent quality gun. The Ruger 10/22 is what i would recommend just make sure you're shooting copper jacketed ammo in that gun and you should have no jamming issues.

Uncle Pony

I wasn't paying attention apparently. For some reason or other I was thinking you were asking about handguns.

ziadel

I'd also suggest a ruger 10/22.


accurate, reliable (never had any trouble shooting lead through mine) short length of pull (should fit your petite size) and cheap to own and buy ammo for. ($10 will get you 500 rounds)

start there for rifles, if you want a pistol pick out a good .22 pistol.


but keep in mind, .22's are worthless as defensive weapons, but thats ok, you should learn how to shoot first before you start considering anything like that.

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ziadel

and if you want a pistol try a Walther P22 or a SigSauer mosquito.

The Walther is probably better suited to VERY small hands.

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Mugzy6

Thanks guys! You are very helpful! :-)

ziadel

keep us posted Mugzy.

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Anxst

If you do decide to look into a handgun for defense after getting to know how to fire at a range and taking some good gun safety courses, look into the Star Firestar 9mm. It's a decent small 9mm handgun.

For home defense, nothing beats a shotgun, though, imho.

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BigGov

I will agree that a 9mm is the way to go for a handgun for defense, however, a shotgun can be very unwieldly for some people. I'm a big guy and I have no problem handling a shotgun, but many shotguns can be hard to use, and actually extremely unsafe in the hands of someone that is not comfortable with it. Not to mention the fact that it can be really hard for someone to walk around a house while holding a shotgun in a shooting position.

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Anxst

I'm a big guy as well, but I know my old fiancee was able to handle a 20 guage that had been cut down to the smallest still legal length with few issues. She was 4'11" and just over 100 lbs. However, as with any firearm, go with comfort. If the gun is unwieldy or uncomfortable, you're not going to do well with it under any circumstances.

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Strange Famous

I'm pretty sure a .22 can kill someone man, how much more defense can you need?

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for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
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Strange Famous

this looks like the best gun to me. It's the Jericho 941

Specifications
Caliber
9mm Para, .40S&W, .45ACP, .41AE
Weight
920g
Length
192mm
Barrel length
96mm
Capacity
16 (9mm), 12 (.40), 10 (.45) rounds



Its not that heavy and it fires 9mm bullets apparently, so it shouldnt have too much of a kick. And it must be good quality, as it is made by the best gun company in the world.

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"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

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ziadel

are you serious?


and I've never heard of a Jericho.

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Uncle Pony

Me either. I'd consider the best in the world to be Hechler & Koch or Sig Sauer, closely followed by many others.

cj2112

Jericho is made by Isreali Military Industries, the company that brought us the UZI. However they are also the company that brought us the Desert Eagle, so i wouldn't exactly say that they are best in the world. I wouldn't say any one gun company is the best overall. The Jericho 941 9mm is now called the baby eagle in the US.

Back on topic, I would not recommend any lightwieght automatic handgun for somebody who is recoil sensitive, or to a beginner.

Strange Famous

"The Government assert that their restrictions will be enough to ensure that .22 weapons never get into general circulation. However, in the Cullen report the umbrella organisation for the shooters stated its view that no system of certification or regulation can be foolproof. In other words, no system will stop someone saying that he is going to a target shooting competition, taking his guns out and doing whatever he wants with them.

Smaller handguns are used to commit many atrocities. They are the chosen weapon of Mossad, the Special Air Services and the professional assassins. Robert Kennedy and Yitzhak Rabin were killed with .22 weapons and Ronald Reagan was nearly killed with one. The Evening Standard reported that last night

"A mother found her four children shot dead in their beds in North Carolina with a .22-calibre handgun, the type of weapon that the Government is refusing to ban". "

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"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

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ziadel

you just gave me a headache.

.22's are not viable self-defense rounds. period. anyone who knows anything about guns will agree it is a piss poor choice. Just because the SAS uses them to kill guard dogs doesnt mean they'll work.

and assasinations are a far cry from any self-defense scenario.

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MSD

The issue with self-defense is that you don't have time for a headshot, leaving you with a weapon that has to reliably incapacitate a target wtih two or less center-of-mass shots. Imagine for a moment that you're a terrorist who wants to crash a bomb-laden vehicle through a wall and take down a building. You're going to pick a big truck, not a Mazda Miata.

A .22 round will hit a target with the same velocity, but will not transfer enough force to the target to produce reflexive neurocirculatory shock.

PS: As far as I know, the .41AE round has been discontinued. I'd also prefer a USP in .45 or .40, but you're not enough of a gun person to really know different manufacturers and their histories inside and out. I'm not saing the Beagle is a bad gun, but it wouldn't be my first choice. I'm also not going to address the assertion that IMI is the "best gun company in the world." That argument won't go anywhere good.

Strange Famous

not being insulting man, but I think I'd take the combined recomendation of Mossad and the SAS over the advice of someone on the Net. I doubt that two of the best special forcesd in the world carry guns which are inadequate.

__________________
"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas

MSD

Special forces agents have very different requirements for handgun selection than the average person. A .22 is light, high-capacity, and very quiet and therefore easy to suppress (compared to other guns.) As for the selection of IMI firearms, politics has a part to play in that as well. Mossad is obviously going to use an Israeli manufacturer for their weapons.

If you look at the majority of US government agencies, H&K or Sig are the predominant weapon, and in most police departments tha use semi-autos, a .40 Sig Sauer is replacing the Glock as the standard sidearm. As far as special forces in the military and police like counterterrorist and SWAT groups, H&K are the weapons of choice from the rifles to the sidearms.

I may just be some guy on the Internet, but I want you to know that I'm not just pulling stuff out of my ass, I have reasons for saying what I do.

Uncle Pony

They use them because they can be silenced to near perfection. Even a 9mm or .380 sounds like a flag snapping in the wind with a silencer. They also don't use them for self defense. They use them for executing targets swiftly and silently with a shot behind the ear.

BCD

I had always heard that a good first self-defense handgun for a woman was a .357 revolver but using .38 special ammo. Because of it being a slightly larger frame and a lighter load, there is not a lot of kick to it.

SERPENT7

BCD,
That sounds like an excellent way to ruin a perfectly good handgun to me.

Mugzy6,
However, a .357 or .38 revolver are both excellent s/d choices, as they are light, easy to use, low maintanence, use cheap ammo, (Practice, Practice, Practice!) and are often easier to conceal and draw.
Capacity is not an issue, since MOST s/d scenerios play out in less than 5 seconds, and rarely go beyond 3 shots. (Considering they typically occur at less than 15 feet, you don't have to be much of a marksman, jusy comfortable w/ YOUR gun.)

cj2112

Actually shooting .38 in a .357 is perfectly acceptable and does no damage whatsoever to the gun. Many people with .357's (I did this myself with my Ruger SP101) use .38 ammo for practice ammuniton because of the price difference.

moot1337

I'll second(third) HK as being the best, with sig just slightly behind... and as far as self defense for a wimmenfolk goes, the 357 using 38 special ammo sounds a good idea... just be sure to get to the range with a lot of ammo, your gun, and the loads you're going to carry(on top of target practice)!

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analog

I don't see how anyone could compare a gun's use as common self-defense, which is pretty much always going to be one, two, maybe three center-of-mass shots, to its precision use by assasins and other professionals of the life-ending kind.

I can poke you hard with two fingers pretty much anywhere on your body, and you'll be annoyed- but if i strike the right spot, you die. The common user does not have the time, accuracy, and opportunity to make the kind of shot required to put down an attacker with a .22- professional killers do. That's why the word "professional" is in there.

So, if one can defend their home by sneaking up in perfect silence and giving the intruder a round behind the ear, or in the soft spot on the back of the head, then they're perfectly welcome to use a .22... until then, i'd go with a shotgun, or a handgun with actual stopping power.

Dragonknight

Learn with a .22 it will get you comfortable with guns and shooting. Most home intruders or attackers don't go around wearing body armor, so a .22 will hurt/stop them long enough for you to get away. True this is not the most likely weapon to use to kill some one (unless your a Pro), but your not using it for assassination attempts pr to kill people, just for self defense. For that purpose it's a great gun.

MSD

..

OPgary

[B]For s/d a Taurus .38 3 inch compensated barrel is perfect. For home defense a short pump shotgun....like a .410 for a woman and a 12 or 16 guage for men

Menoman

You could use a .22 for self defense if you were a crackshot.


As for a starting gun, a .22 is a excellent choice, a .22 magnum would be perfectly well.

You can go up to a .222 or a .220 swift, .223, .217, .243

I'd stop at the .243 until you've gotten a good understanding of what kind of recoil you can take.


keep in mind of course, that guns do not kill people, Improper ownership and usage kill people.

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MSD

Guns don't kill people, holes in vital organs do

hrdwareguy

Guns don't kill people.....it's them dang bullets that do.

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ziadel

"I did'nt kill him, I shot him, the bullets and the fall killed him."

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krwlz

Am I the only one that noticed she didn't specify she wanted the gun for self defense? Personally, just knowing how to operate any given firearm, safely and responsibly is enough reason to learn how to shoot. In addition to the fact that plinking along with a .22 is a great way to excercise some coordination, and waste a sunday afternoon.

That said, for beginers, .22 is no doubt the way to go. Small, easy, cheap, and fun.

Where I'm from to own a handgun you need a permit anyway, so starting with the rifle would be the most logical.

From a self-defense (home) perspective, a 12 gauge with 00 buck is obviously going to put down any threat at a reasonable distance every time. (However, a 12 with 00 probably will knock you on your ass as a petite woman, lol)

None the less, my mother regularly goes shooting clay's with us. She is faily petite herself, and never has any real problem. In addition to that, of the three bird guns we own (Browning 12 guage... wish I could recall the model, because it was my grandfathers gun, and I absolutly love it, 16 gauge Rem, and a 20 Remington 870 youth model) they rank in order of heaviest kick to least, 16, 20, 12. Has a lot to do with the size of the bullet, but also the mass of the gun.

Its a physics problem, and me going to school for engineering...

Being 20 however, in NY I'm not allowed to own a handgun, so there I can give no advice.

ziadel

I just threw out an FYI and it all went downhill from there


and I've known 10 year olds who could handle 12 guages, it won't knock her on her ass.

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krwlz

Well, haha, we should clarify that. Proper stance, and form, and no, it won't knock her on her ass. Leave that stock a little loose on the shoulder for the first time, and while she will still be standing, she will never do it again Or anyone for that matter, regardless of size and sex.

And yea, I realized the point of the self defense comment, but it felt like the thread was rapidly moving away from the information she cares about... but I could be wrong.

MSD

The first time I went shooting, I just bummed some ammo off my friend who got me into shooting. I don't know the dram equivalent for "MAX," in a 12ga 2 3/4" shell, but it was MAX load and #8 birdshot. I lifted my chin a bit, and I had a bruise on my shoulder for a week. I also need to learn to shoot left due to arthritis in my right shoulder (if i'm in this condition when I'm 21, imagine me when I'm elderly.)