[SHSBulldog06]

Alright, my wife is looking at getting her first gun for carry. My first attempt to get her a revolver is out, because, "I don't like that, I want a pretty gun" she said. So last wknd we went to the gun store to see what she likes. And here is what it all boiled down too: Beretta Tomcat .32, Bersa Thunder .380, and Taurus PT709 Slim 9mm. Myself, I like the Taurus 9mm just for the fact that its got a little more meat on the bone. She narrowed it down to those after she held all of them, and made sure they had a manual safety. I don't know how bad the recoil is on the 9mm but I'm sure if she can handle my 3" Kimber .45 then the 9 will be a breeze. Of the 3 listed, which would you guys prefer for your wife or girlfriend or mom or sister or your hooker?

[NGIB]

For me it would be the Bersa. I am not a fan of Taurus, in fact, a guy on my local GA gun forum just had to return his PT709 for warranty work 1 week after purchase.

My wife finally settled on a Walther PPK/S - it met her "pretty" criteria - and she shoots it well...

[Jess]

I prefer a 9mm over a .380 all day long. My .380 was a snappy beast. my 9mm XD is a dream.

[NGIB]

Originally Posted by Jess

I prefer a 9mm over a .380 all day long. My .380 was a snappy beast. my 9mm XD is a dream.

I'd have given a different answer if an XD would have been listed as one of the choices...

[SHSBulldog06]

The bersa was her first choice, then she saw the taurus. I also like how the trigger can be pulled again incase the first try didn't fire. What was malfunctioning in your friends taurus NGIB?

[CA357]

A 9mm would be better than a .380 or .32ACP. Bigger is better in this case.

However, I'm leery of trusting a Taurus. There are people who swear by them, but I hear more negative reports about them than any other brand handgun. In fact, the gun shop where I used to work stopped carrying them because of all the problems.

My suggestion is to look at more sub compact 9mm's before making a decision. Failing that, go with the Bersa. She likes it, so she'll carry it. (I owned one and it was a great little pistol)

[Jo da Plumbr]

My Hookers all just carry blades.

The girlfriend has a Browning 22. We can't carry here so it's just for range.

She wants to give it a name.

WTF

[JonM]

i got 3 bersa 380 two thunder plus and a 7 round thunder fantastic guns.

[NGIB]

Here's the post explaining it (I don't know this fella, he's on my local GA gun forum). The problem I see with Taurus (and I have personally experienced) is they make more than than their share of "lemons". If you get a good one, a Taurus can be a fine, reliable gun - but I will not take that chance again...

I got my GFL in the mail the other week and decided to celebrate by purchasing a new gun that I could carry. I was looking to get a Keltec PF9 because of its size. I had recently shot a PF9 and my only complaint was the trigger--very long and very heavy. I was not the best shot with the PF9, but I figured that would come with practice.

I got to the gunstore, and what do you know, they were out of PF9s... I looked at a P-11 in the standard blued finish and I would swear that thing looked like something I could cast in my back yard. It looked like it was made out of pot-metal and the barrel was not very inspiring either. My friends hard-chrome finish looked much better, so the P-11 was out.

Having already set aside money, that was burning a hole in my pocket, I came across the Taurus 709 Slim. I had heard the stories about how hit or miss Taurus was, but I didn't care at that moment in time. The gun seemed to be perfect: small, stainless steel slide and it appeared to be well made. I used my phone to do a little bit of research on the gun, and it seemed to be the usual with Taurus--very good or very bad. I took the plunge and bought it.

The first trip to the range was good (the gun was throughly cleaned before it was fired). The trigger on the Taurus was awesome. It had a long pull, but it was definitely a single-action trigger with a nice crisp break at the end. The first box of round was fine--no hiccups. The next box was not so good. The gun failed-to-fire on several rounds. The gun was listed as a SA and DA trigger, which I thought was a cool feature--but it is not. The only way to get the gun into DA is to have a round FTF. Then it just continues to click as you pull the trigger. Out of the 10+ rounds that failed to fire, only 1 fired after several pulls of the trigger. I though it may have been the crap ammo I was using because the strike did not look too bad. I put the FTF rounds in my Glock 17 to see if they would fire--and what a surprise, they all fired without a problem.

Beyond the FTFs, the Taurus was getting really bad with failing to extract the spent casing. I took some cases home to look them over. The cases had excessive bulging and had obvious signs of being dragged hard to get out of the chamber. The cases from my 17 had no signs of bulging and were smooth (no drag marks). I cleaned the Taurus and detail stripped the slide to look over the striker and extractor. Nothing looked to be out of line.

The next 3 trips to the range were the same. I had lost all confidence in the gun and nothing could restore it. The Taurus was traded in for a Glock 26. The 26 is a Glock--enough said.

[Mr. Bluesky]

Maybe a Kel Tec PF-9? It's concealable, more reliable (IMO) than a Taurus, and shoots 9mm.