Guns Illustrated 2011. Dan Shideler
plus one in the chamber.
Outdoor gear like this camoufl age by Foxy Huntress gives ladies a choice in hunting clothing.
SIG-Sauer’s P238, a redux of the old single action semiauto Colt .380s, caught my eye at SHOT Show last year, so in 2010 it was a delight to see several new variations, including one breath-takingly beautiful option with a rainbow Titanium finished slide equipped with SIGLITE® night sights atop a matte black frame and wearing pretty rosewood grips. The P238s weigh 15 ounces, and are just under 4 inches tall and 5-1/2 inches long, with a 2.7-inch barrel. Other finish options included a two-tone scheme, as well as an all matte black option. Interestingly enough, the single action trigger weight is set between 7-1/2 to 8-1/2 lbs., considerably heavier than the double action only LCR, Kel Tec or Bodyguard.
SO MANY PISTOLS, SO LITTLE TIME
Handgun selection, while vastly assisted by the plethora of models and variations marketed, can also become a confusing and potentially expensive adventure. Two questions – highlighted at this article’s beginning – must guide handgun selection. First, is the handgun reliable? If unable to shoot and test reliability yourself, you will be dependent on anecdotal reports, though in the age of the Internet, such accounts probably outnumber the stars in the firmament. Certain handgun brands, however, like Glock pistols for example, are designed for reliability before any other consideration. The second question, of course, concerns fit. If you find a reliable gun that fits properly, search no further!
Before leaving the subject of handgun fit and function, I’d like to add that several decades ago, semiauto pistol reliability was suspect, patchy and unpredictable. The pistols were often ammunition-sensitive, and at worst, it was expected that a gunsmith’s services were required to guarantee a reliable semiauto. If you wanted a totally reliable handgun, you simply bought a revolver! While we still occasionally run into pistols that won’t function reliably, that hassle is far less prevalent nowadays.
At the same time, revolvers are a fi ne handgun choice for shooters of either gender, though ladies rankle at the suggestion that women find them more suitable owing to their simple operation! Really, skillful handgun operation results from full familiarity and training with the gun, regardless of its design. Still, the choice between revolver and semiautomatic asks how much strength is required to manually cycle a semiauto’s slide versus the stiffness of the revolver’s trigger pull. Both can be impediments to skill with a handgun, so we welcome the lighter springs of many 9mm handguns compared to the stiffer spring often required to keep a heavy-caliber pistol running, especially in the short-barreled concealment configurations. New approaches to revolver design have changed trigger geometry, but too often these innovations show up in the super lightweight polymer and alloy revolvers that are too light for much recoil absorption, so the recoil batters the shooter with each discharge, and practice is painful.
THE HOLSTER HASSLE
Gun fit issues pale in comparison to the thorny issue of holsters for women. Gun purses are available in profusion, however, and some of them show considerable thought and ingenuity, with more and more designed by women who habitually carry guns for self defense. Galco has long been the leader, and Lisa Des Camps deserves a nod of appreciation for her guiding hand in developing a line of stylish and functional gun purses. The other big player in fashionable gun purses is Coronado.
Sig Sauer’s P238 now comes in several options, including one with a Titanium rainbow colored slide.
Colt’s 9mm Defender New Agent.
Sig Sauer .22 LR Mosquito in a bold black and shocking pink design
THE MAGIC IS IN
THE FIT
Given enough time and concentration, most shooters can coax accurate shots out of handguns, Rifle or shotguns that do not fit them. While plinking at the range, a deliberate rate of fire – one shot every minute or two, for example – accommodates all manner of misfit gear. It is, instead, during high-intensity defense or duty training, or Heaven forbid, under the stress of a self defense emergency that ill-fit guns betray their unfortunate owners.
Instead of long seconds committed to getting the gun in just the right firing position, followed by a careful alignment of the sights or optics and slow, deliberate pressure applied to the trigger, under stress we find the gun extended toward target in an approximation of grip and stance, often fired while moving away from the threat or to cover. Trigger control must occur in an extremely compressed cycle, delivering multiple shots in a matter of seconds. Here, the shooter discovers that the compromised grip and shooting platform imposed by the ill-fitting gun interferes with accuracy, interrupts use of the sights (if there is even suffi cient light to see and use them), and exaggerates muzzle flip and recoil. How much better it would be to solve gun fit problems at the time of the gun purchase!
HANDGUN FIT
With the pistol centered in the web of the hand, both the length of the fi ngers and the meatiness of the hand determine how well the trigger fi nger will be able to contact the face of the trigger. A mere tip of a trigger finger is a poor candidate for a smooth, straight-to-the-rear trigger pull, especially at speed.
A handgun that allows the crease of the trigger fi nger’s first joint full contact with the face of the trigger while the gun is centered in the web of the hand gives the most natural pointing. Since babyhood, humans have locked out the arm and extended the index finger when emphatically pointing. A properly fitting handgun takes advantage of all those repetitions, and aiming it mimics that oft-repeated action.
When the pistol is too big, as is this big Glock Model 29 for these small hands, the mere tip of the fi nger on the trigger is insufficient for a smooth pull.
An extremely small-handed shooter or one mandated to use an overly-large gun accommodates by moving the backstrap toward or even beyond the ball of the thumb. A gun gripped thus naturally points somewhat to the right for a right-handed shooter and to the left for a lefty. A strong isosceles-style stance combined with a hard two-handed grip brings the natural aim back to center when poor fit thus compromises natural pointing. This is harder to maintain if circumstances throw the shooter into one-handed shooting, though responsibility for a child, calling for help on a phone or radio, or other concerns may result in one-handed shooting in a fast-breaking situation.
FITTING LONG GUNS
Classically, we’ve considered stock fit on shotguns acceptable if, when the butt is held in the crook of the elbow, the trigger finger has a good purchase on the trigger. It is still a good standard, though we see the value of an even somewhat shorter stock when the small-statured shooter operates the pump-action shotgun, or needs to be able to mount and fire the Rifle or shotgun rapidly. The shorter the stock, the easier, as illustrated by special response teams in law enforcement’s use of the collapsible AR stock.
For shotgunners, recoil control and subsequently accurate, rapid fire is considerably improved when a short stock accommodates quickly mounting the shotgun, attaining a repeatable cheek weld, and having a strong flex in both the shooting and support arm to hold the shotgun firmly against the pectoral muscle.
While we love the collapsible AR stocks for their easy adaptability for short shooters, many don’t encourage a good cheek weld, a factor that deserves consideration when setting up a Rifle for a woman.
SPECIALTY NICHE
In a world where gun stores with high-volume sales tend to stock products purchased by the majority of their customers, who are men, it can be a challenge for a smaller shooter