I recently saw a post on a firearms site relating to a guy looking for a pistol for his wife. She could not operate the slide on a particular firearm, and he was trying to find out what was wrong and how to overcome it. He didn’t want to consider any other option other than how to get her to operate the pistol correctly.
That’s not quite the way it works.
A few weeks ago I had a woman come into the shop looking for a Kimber 1911 for concealed carry and for home defense. She was sure that she needed a Kimber 1911. The units that come out of their Custom Shop are quite nice. I happened to have one, checked it to make sure it was unloaded, and handed it to her.
It was clear that she understood HOW to operate it, but after a few moments it also became clear that she could not physically operate it. It did not fit her hand well. It wasn’t as much of an issue of hand strength as hand size. She could not hit the slide release while maintaining a good grip on the firearm.
She really wanted a Kimber 1911, but she could not handle it in terms of operating the controls easily. While shifting her grip would allow her to do so – along with adopting more of a grip-hand “punch” rather than a support hand “pull” – she could not operate the firearm without these things.
Some people would say that this was good enough. That may be true – on the shooting range.
But there was no way she could perform a malfunction clearing drill on that firearm in any where near the required time for a “when you really need it” situation. Her natural point of aim would also not work out with that firearm. It simply did not fit her hand.
We discussed that, and I asked if she had ever considered a revolver. She said she didn’t really like them. It turned out that it wasn’t based on any first-hand experience with them, but based on things she had read and that her husband had told her about how pistols have a higher capacity, etc.
Since she really wanted a pistol, I had her try a Glock. I had her try a Springfield XD. I had her try a few other semi-automatic pistols and they all had similar issues.
I then convinced her to look at a revolver. It fit like a glove, and in the end we found a .357 revolver with an integrated laser that she loved, which fit her hand wonderfully and that she was able to hit with at distance on the shooting range.
Her husband also ended up buying a revolver before they left the store.
The moral of the story is: Find the firearm that fits your hand correctly, and that you can handle, and that is appropriate to the application. Friends recommendations and things that you read on the internet are all fine and dandy, but if the gun doesn’t fit your hand, you won’t like it, you won’t shoot well with it, and you certainly won’t be able to handle it properly when you really need it.
Find one that fits you well. You will be much happier.