Advantages of the Modern Striker Fired Handguns
The MSF guns have some serious advantages that make them very suitable for women (and men too!)
- Reliability. The MSF guns tend to be some of the most reliable handguns built. They require little maintenance and they work under some of the most adverse conditions.
- Simplicity. Most of the Modern Striker Fired handguns are easy to operate. They don’t have extra buttons and levers like de-cockers or manual safeties. Instead, they are ready to shoot when you need them. Remember, simplicity translates to efficiency.
- A relatively short and light trigger pull which allows the trigger to be pressed easily and quickly and helps you make precision shots when you need to.
- Recoil management. The barrel of the MSF handguns tends to sit closer to the top of the hand than many other types of handguns. This results in a recoil that pushes directly into the hand and sends energy up the arm and into the whole body which is easily able to absorb recoil.
The modern striker fired pistols are the best combination of reliability and efficiency for most people most of the time and as a result are my top pick for a woman’s concealed carry handgun.
Related: In addition to a defensive handgun you will need a holster to carry your handgun. Blade-Tech offers affordable quality holsters that work well in a variety of situations. You can take a look at Blade-Tech’s holsters here.
Best Handgun Caliber for Women
For my female students I typically recommend 9mm handguns which happens to be the exact same caliber I recommend for my students that aren’t women. I talk specifically about the 9mm and why 9mm is the best handgun caliber for concealed carry in the Safety Solutions Academy Podcast.
Why 9mm?
- Capacity. When we compare two identically sized handguns, a 9mm will hold more ammunition that a .40 or .45 simply because the cartridge is smaller.
- Tissue damage. When a modern bonded hollow point bullet is used we find that the amount of medical tissue damage caused by most handgun rounds is very similar. There are many factors that affect how well an individual bullet wounds and caliber is only one of those factors.
- Recoil management. In the same sized gun, the 9mm is going to have less recoil than a .40 or .45. This allows the shooter to fire more rounds in the same amount of time than with other “more powerful” calibers.
- Wounding Capacity is the real reason that 9mm should be your ccw caliber. Instead of looking at just one factor when selecting caliber as most people do, when you consider wounding capacity you take into account multiple variables. The wounding capacity of the 9mm is greater because the gun can carry more bullets than the same sized gun in another caliber AND because the tissue damage shows very little difference between handgun calibers AND since you can manage the recoil more efficiently you can shoot the 9mm faster than other calibers. This results in more shots on the threat in the same amount of time. Plain and simple, 4 or 5 9mm holes is better than 2 or 3 .40 or .45 holes.
9mm has many advantages over other calibers with the real trump card being its wounding capacity. As a result of 9mm’s solid performance as a defensive handgun caliber ii is my top pick for armed females to carry as a defensive round.
This link will take you to a post where I talk about Handgun Caliber.
You can also learn about Why I switched from both .40 Smith and Wesson and .45 ACP to 9mm for MY defensive handgun rounds.
Handgun Size
This is where the rubber meets the road and where the biggest differences come into play for men and women. Any one that carries a concealed handgun needs to balance three important factors of their defensive handgun. These factors are power, recoil management and concealability.
Balancing Concealment and Recoil Management
Power has already been discussed and for most people the appropriate amount of power in a defensive handgun cartridge is going to be 9mm. This leaves recoil management and concealability as the remaining two factors that need to be balanced. These two attributes work against each other. A larger gun makes managing recoil much easier due to the guns mass, however, this makes the gun more difficult to conceal. On the opposite end, the easily concealable smaller handgun can be noticeably more difficult to shoot as a result of increased felt recoil.
I recorded this podcast some time ago. It deals with defensive handguns in general an isn’t specific to concealed carry handguns for women, but many of the principles for concealed carry handguns are congruent in many ways with the qualities of defensive handguns in general. If you want to understand more about the best concealed carry handgun for women, this podcast is worth your time.
Best Concealed Carry Handgun for a Woman: My Recommendations.
The typical recommendation I make to students regarding the size of their concealed carry handgun is to select a compact model. It doesn’t matter if you are a man or a woman your concealed carry handgun choice needs to be correct for you. An example of a compact concealed carry handgun would be:
- GLOCK 19
- S&W M&P 9C
- Springfield XD(m) 9mm 3.8 Compact
These guns may find a good balance between recoil management and concealability and can make a great choice when it comes to concealed carry handguns for women. It should be noted that the Smith & Wesson and the Springfield guns are much more suited to fit smaller hands. Many women have smaller hands than the typical male and this certainly needs to be considered. Depending on your method of carry, size of your hand, type of dress, body type and other factors, these pistols might not fit the bill.
Another Option: Single Stack 9mm Handguns
Another option that has opened up concealed carry options for women is the introduction of single stack versions of modern striker fired pistols. These guns are a bit smaller than the compact versions but most importantly they are thinner because the magazine contains only a single row of cartridges instead of the typical two rows. Although this brings the capacity down to around 7 or 8 rounds, it drastically improves the fit for people with smaller hands and increases the ability to conceal the handgun as well.
Top Single Stack 9mm Handguns
This is one of the fastest growing segments of defensive handguns and can make great concealed carry handguns for women. Unfortunately, there are very few single stack 9mm handguns that are done well. The segment is dominated with handguns that are just short of greatness. There is really only one pistol that stands out, but I’ll list several choices with a biref rundown of any issues.
- Smith & Wesson M&P Shield 9mm – make sure you purchase the no manual safety version.
- Springfield XDs 9mm – be aware, this gun has a grip safety located on the backstrap. Better than a manual safety, but I wish it wasn’t there.
- Springfield XDs 4.0 9mm – This gun has a short grip and a slightly longer barrel and slide. the big benefit of the longer barrel is that it can be a bit more comfortable and stable when carried in the waistband. It still has that pesky grip safety like the shorter XDS.
- Bersa BP9CC – About the same size as the S&W M&P Shield but less reliable and it has a magazine disconnect safety.
- Ruger LC9s Pro – Like the Smith & Wesson Shield , Ruger now offers a version of the LC9 with no manual tumb safety. This is an improvement over the LC9 but the LC9 still has a heavy double action trigger.
- Kahr P9 – Kahr makes sigle stack guns exclusively and the P9 makes a good sized gun for concealed carry. I would like to see more reliability out of the box and a manual of arms that works with an overhand racking of the slide in addition to use of the slide stop.
Final Thoughts
When it comes to selecting the best concealed carry handgun both men and women benefit from the reliable and efficient aspects of the modern striker fired handgun. Both the compact and the single stack 9mm MSF handguns fit the bill in that they are reliable and efficient. In addition, the actually are likely to fit the hands of the typical female shooter.
Pick the Best Handgun Then Train! I give a detailed summary of what kind of training you need to really be prepared for a violent encounter here. Many people have commented how this overview has been helpful to them in preparing to protect themselves and those that they love from violence.
To keep things in perspective we have to remember that a gun is an inanimate object. A gun can never be the best handgun for women or anybody else without the operator. The operator, yeah that is you! The gun won’t save your life, that is your job.
So when you select that handgun that is best for you the next step is to get some quality training.
Of course we would love to have you train with Safety Solutions Academy and you can follow this link to find out more about our courses.
The key is to get out there and learn the important concepts that surround defensive shooting and how to apply those concepts to your equipment and your lifestyle. Training is a great opportunity to learn, to be challenged and to test your equipment. Find a qualified instructor and take a course.
The Bottom Line
I recently worked a charity shooting match. It happened to be a three gun match where competitors needed to efficiently shoot rifles, shotguns and handguns. There was exactly one female competitor. I don’t know how she fared in the overall standings but there is no doubt in my mind that she was in the top ten of all the competitors on the portion of the match that I ran.
You might wonder what this story has to do with selecting the best concealed carry handguns for women. It’s simple. Women can run guns. All it takes is proper training and a handgun that fits and you will be all set. The next time someone tries to sell you a pink revolver think back to this post and help to educate them on why a revolver might not be the best handgun for you!