20 year old daughter wants a handgun . Which one ?

[Pilot1]

If she can't carry it in Rhode Island why get a small gun with sharp recoil? This is a mistake a lot of women make, and then never shoot the damn thing as it is painful, and scary. A full size revolver in 38 Spl, or semi auto in 9MM is the best choice. But, yes let her shoot it, and let her pick. My wife's favorite gun is one of my heavy, all steel HK P7's. Of course she would pick that to go with her Louboutin shoes.

[Skar]

Pilot1
Read post 48 I got her a G19 gen 4 ( adjustable back strap)

[LowSpeed_HighDrag]

Whatever gun she wants. I've bought my wife too many guns that she did not end up liking. A gun that is not liked/comfortable is a gun that is left at home.

[SiGfever]

If she can rack the slide don't discount a G26, great little pistol. The Shield 9mm would be a cheaper alternative.

[Pilot1]

Pilot1
Read post 48 I got her a G19 gen 4 ( adjustable back strap)

Got it. That is a good, solid choice. +1 on the training.

[Beat Trash]

I got her the green g19 gen 4
Told her she needs to take a class
#1 thing

Green g19 gen 4 new local $539.99
Hard to find green ones
? Fair price

Fair price and excellent choice. Since CCW is not on the table, I'm glad to hear that you did not steer her to a subcompact gun like the Shield or the Glock 43.

Good that you told her to take a class.

I think that a 20 ga shotgun might still not be a bad idea. I'm not familiar with Rhode Island. But there are enough issues with social unrest throughout the country popping up that it might not be a bad idea for her to have a shotgun in addition to her pistol.

[Bulletdog]

I swear half of the women i put behind my Glock 19 stove pipe the damn thing with practice ammo. I don't think I could get it to stove pipe in my sleep. But yet, with females, it never fails.

This has been my experience too, except for me its been well over half. Its to the point where I don't generally recommend the G19 for ladies.

In contrast I've had skinny 12 year old boy all the way up to 6'6" 300 pound plus giants shoot the G19 and they can't make it jam if they try. Hand the same gun to their mom, girlfriend or wife and they can't get through half a mag.

I've seen this with 6 different G19s from brand new out of the box to well worn with thousands of miles on them and rounds through them. Some of these Glocks were purchased new in the late 90's and other were purchased new in 2015.

I can't explain this phenom, but I've sure seen it a plenty.

[Bulletdog]

Big hands G17. Smaller hands G19.

They are the exact same frame size. What does a half inch of barrel or butt have to do with hand size?

[Skar]

That's why we went with a gen 4 g19 Adjustable back straps

[Bulletdog]

Here's my two stories:

I followed most of the advice in this thread for both my wife and mother. Each tried out a few guns and shot a two day "General Handgun" course with class instruction and ample range time. Then we went to the range (One lady at a time on different days… I'm not that crazy…) to handle and shoot a bunch of different options.

At the end of the day my 5'2" tall 105 pound wife chose the Sig 226. It gets a little heavy after a long day at the range, but she shoots it well and she's comfortable with it.

My 4'10" 100 something pound mother ended up with the big fat G30 in her little hands after eliminating all sorts of other guns that by all accounts should have been more suitable for her. I was dumbfounded, but the paper targets, smile on her face, and obvious comfort level and competency did not lie.

Neither liked any of the .380 choices and both of them couldn't run any of three different G19s without stovepiping. My wife found the double stacked Glocks too fat in her hands, but liked the feel of the 226. My mother actually preferred that fatter feeling of the G30 over the slimmer 9s and .40s, and she shot it significantly better too.


Skar,
I bet your daughter will like her 19, but be sure she can shoot it without any of the aforementioned stove pipes. If she sticks with it, I'll bet her preferences will evolve and change over time, but it sounds like she's off to a great start. I wish more 20 somethings were like her!

I second the motion to get her into a long gun of one sort or another when the time is right. As my instructor is fond of saying: "You know what a hand gun is for? Its to fight your way to your shotgun!!!"