Choosing A Woman's Gun


    Why The Revolver is A Good Choice for Inexperienced Shooters


  • "Simplicity of Action.---Justifiable Homicide: The Intelligent Use Of Deadly Force, Denny Hansen, p.20.
  • "Unfailing Reliability...with a minimun amount of maintenance."---ibid.
  • "No external safeties to manipulate...no need to remember if the safety goes up or down to fire."---ibid

    Note:

    • Under Stress-Fire situation, as the Stress goes up, the Reasoning goes down.
    • Under Stress, Loss of finite motor control deteriorates
    • Auditory exclusion occurs
    • Tunnel vision results
    • Space-Time Continuum disintegrates: The process by which you lose sense of time and distance.

  • If a dud is encountered...usually a "recalcitrant" or extremely hard primer, coupled with a revolver that has an unusually light main-spring.

    To Rectify:

    • Simply pull the trigger again.

  • For inexperienced shooters---Get a Double Action Revolver revolver of the largest caliber you can effectively handle.---ibid. p. 37


    Gun Fit: Not For Just Women Only

  • Prior to purchasing a gun, make sure it fits your hand. Go to a range and rent a gun similar to the one your want to buy, in this case a revolver. Have someone teach you how to use it while on the range. Generally for a small fee you can purchase the range master's time for a lesson or two. More is desirable.

    Then if, after firing the gun each time, you have to readjust the gun grip with the free hand or the gun hand (releasing the gun quickly and regrabbing it with the gun hand), on one or more shots, then that gun is too large or too small for you. This is an item that is often overlooked by instructors and shooters alike.----See Manstoppers: 'Trigger Reach and Grip Size'; 1994, Video, L.O.T.I. Group Productions.

    If the gun is too large or long for the shooter's index finger to easily reach the trigger, such that the first digit of the index finger does not make good contact with the trigger, the shooter must go to a smaller gun.

    However, if in gripping the gun, the index finger makes contact beyond the first digit, into the second or third digit, then that gun is too small for the shooter. Changing the grip panels to a larger set often expands the shooting hand outward, thereby moving the index or trigger finger outward with it. The trigger finger is moved thus to the proper digit. This eliminates the adjustment often seen in shooters shooting with too small a gun. This does not apply to the derringers, which are purposely designed for smallness.

  • "With the exception of double-action revolvers and the first shot from a double-action auto, only the first pad of the index finger should contact the trigger [For D/A guns (revolvers or self-loader, aka auto-loader and semiautomatic), you should overlap the finger to the first digit (joint) of the index finger]. The trigger is then pressed straight to the rear [whether using the pad or first digit]. Any side to side motion can and will be detrimental to good accuracy. Due to the long trigger pulls associated with the D/A guns, the finger must overlap the trigger and should usually be placed at about the first knuckle. 'Squeezing' is a fairly appropriate term for what happens when a double-action gun is fired."---Justifiable Homicide, Denny Hansen, 1996; p. 54.

  • For a proper gun fit, a proper grip on a handgun should place the frame of the gun directly in the center of the fleshy part of the hand between the thumb and index finger. This will position the hand and gun in a relative axis to the forearm.
    A straight line should be able to be drawn from the backstrap of the gun, to the wrist, to and through the inner forearm.In other words, the gun is an extension of the forearm with no bends at the wrist,

    And this aids in recoil control. It also prevents canting (slope or tilting) the gun to one side, which causes inaccurate, inconsistent shot placement.---Justifiable Homicide, Denny Hansen, 1996; p. 55. However, there are certain advanced circumstances, such as non-dominant side shooting, or, "tilt" and "roll-out" from behind cover that are permissible and with practice is very accurate.

  • "If your handgun does not fit you in this manner, smaller stocks may cure the problem, but the real culprit is probably the basic size of the gun. You may want to look into replacing the weapon with one that fits you better."---ibid.; p. 55. This is the only solution if the gun is too large for you, such that your index finger just barely reaches the trigger. You will not have good shot placement with this type of trigger reach. for a smaller gun, you can fit the grip with oversize rubber grips for a better hand fit. Changing the grip panels to a larger set often expands the shooting hand outwards, as pointed out above, thereby moving the index or trigger finger outward with it. The trigger finger is moved thus to the proper digit.

  • Hansen also writes on p. 55,
    "The importance of the grip cannot be underestimated. It is like the foundation of a building, and if that foundation is somehow flawed, whatever comes after it is tentative at best."



    My Husband Has Guns


    If you have read this page and understand it, then you know what is wrong with that statement: It is your husband's weapon. You have no real attachment to it! You want one that you choose; your gun, fit to your hand and ability to handle; It belongs to YOU!

    The latter is very important. You now have a personal psychodynamic relationship with your gun and self-protection. You have now given up on the myth that your husband is going to always be there to protect you. You now will respond differently to a home-invasion, provided you have taken the classes to protect yourself and family.

    One woman told these instructors that "Arthur has guns," and she is not worried. Oh...she neither knows how to hold a gun, nor does she know the difference between a revolver and auto-loader.

    Remember! They kill the men first! Why? To get to the women. But, while they are struggling to overcome your husband or male companion, they will hardly give you an ounce of consideration because most criminals think women are dependent upon the male counterpart.

    This gives you an extreme advantage...while they are overcoming your husband, you can present your weapon and put them down, to at least give your male partner the split-seconds he needs to reach his weapon and use it effectively.

    Two in the fight, well-trained with weapons, are better than one doing all the work while the other is screaming her head off, just creating bedlam.


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