[Old_Crow]

I have to agree with northhike. My wife was easy to get started shooting because she started with a marlin 60. Teaching someone with no rifle experience to shoot a handgun should be left to the pro's.

[Fielder]

I think the post #4 is on the right track, a trade in large S&W would be a whole lot more fun for a beginner than a tiny J frame that fairly leaps out the hands. A J frame is a special tool for a trained specialist. The bigger the gun the less the recoil all else being equal.

I learned to shoot with a Ruger .45 Colt Blackhawk, what a comfortable and easy rig compared to a .38 snubby with 2 modes of trigger instead of one. I hate small magnums: loud and uncouth. Give me a .45 auto or .45 revolver. Very relaxing.

[HOSSFLY]

Originally Posted by Fielder

I think the post #4 is on the right track, a trade in large S&W would be a whole lot more fun for a beginner than a tiny J frame that fairly leaps out the hands. A J frame is a special tool for a trained specialist. The bigger the gun the less the recoil all else being equal.

I learned to shoot with a Ruger .45 Colt Blackhawk, what a comfortable and easy rig compared to a .38 snubby with 2 modes of trigger instead of one. I hate small magnums: loud and uncouth. Give me a .45 auto or .45 revolver. Very relaxing.

Absolutly untrue-----

[Vikingdad]

Originally Posted by northhike

Having experienced this firsthand with a wife who was against guns to shooting with me at the range I would suggest the following:

1 - Bring her to a class on guns...get her educated and in a place where guns are not scary. Giving her a gun is not going to change that. She is not a guy and its a process for some woman.

2 - Have her shoot something fun like a .22lr. Shoot some cans outside or targets at the range, but just let her go at her own pace. I have helped many of my friends wife's and I really have yet to see any of them not enjoy shooting a .22lr. Now on the other hand I have seen many of their husbands move them too fast and they develope a fear of the bigger calibers. Go slow and don't worry about the SHTF right now. If it did hit now you woud be in trouble as she is not comfortable yet.

3- Ok...pay attention because this is the most important part. DO NOT try and do any of this yourself. Let a qualified instructor teach her. You could say the same thing in the same way as clear as crystal and it sounds 180 degrees different than an instructor. If you have every tried to teach your wife anything you will understand this.

My point in all this is that going through a process like this may have her comfortable with any caliber so slow down on picking for her. Let her pick.

What he said. Something I forgot to mention in my post is that I let my teenage boys do most of the instruction with the ladies while I stand by and observe- it is a very rare occasion that I have to step in for any reason.. Having a "kid" teach them makes for a completely different dynamic.

[clr8ter]

Well, maybe I should clarify a little more.....She's not afraid of guns. She has shot them, (she cold be pretty good). Her standpoint is that guns are evil, and kill people. (Another topic for another rime.) I doubt that she would shoot this gun we're discussing very often, if at all. If she did, I'd just say "Hey, try out MY new gun." This would really be her gun if SHTF, and it became an unavoidable fact of life that you needed one.