Weapon choice for women.

[waiting4something]

I think as far as suitable womens for women it should be this: anything that makes them look sexier.

[Brother in Arms]

Any weapon she wants!

Women are just as capable with handling and operating firearms as men and in many cases better marksmen. Though they do often have different firearms preference which may be due to size and build. That being said I have seen women fire all types of firearms.

I went to the range one day with a group of freinds and lady showed up firing her Springfield M1A Scout rifle all day long it was a really beutiful day. She shot great, but I don't think I have shot so poory (guess I was distracted)When I was in Colorado I met another lady at the range who favored her Romanian PSL rifle in 7.62x54R and she was an excellent shot.
I brought a date to the range one day and she shot everything we brought with us, AKs. ARs, M1A tons of hand guns, but her favorite firearm was the remington 870. In fact all of the women I have been with have owned and fired firearms. My ex had a chinese SKS, but she shot many different rifles and shotguns. My current GF loves to shoot! She owns a Makarov and enjoys shooting my AK.

So like anything everyone is different

[FrankieFisticuffs]

What a wide spectrum of thoughts and ideas on this matter! I don't think a single one of them is completely right or wrong, and while I consider myself an intense feminist I'm not offended by any of the comments. Here's my bottom line:

In a T2K setting, it hardly matters what a woman's prefrence of gun would be. It's immaterial. You use what's available, practicle, what you have ammo for and what it will take to get the job done. It doesn't matter if I'm great with a .22 bolt-action rifle. If I'm in a situation where I'm surrounded or about to be physically overpowered, I don't want to be assing around with the bolt action thusly giving someone an opportunity to tackle me. The weapon should meet the needs of the situation. Seems stupid to select a Walther PPK because you can handle the recoil if an AK is required to take out more targets. Any woman who's able to survive in an apocalyptic setting would learn that you need to be adaptable and do what you gotta do to survive. I imagine I'd be looking to upgrade my firearm whenever possible. ("Whadda ya know-I blew your face off with my Derringer. Think I'll be stealing your M1911 now. Kthanx bye")

But more to Kato's original point: Personally, I've liked every gun I've shot. My aim was better with smaller guns (my Makarov and Kel Tec) but with practice I think I can get used to anything. General tendencies that me my friends have noticed about women using firearms: Guns aren't usually too heavy but often too long, women have a little less machismo when attempting to fire an intimidating gun for the first time but often take to them quickly after using them and we crave lots of accuracy. Hope that was helpful

[Targan]

Personally, I've liked every gun I've shot. My aim was better with smaller guns (my Makarov and Kel Tec) but with practice I think I can get used to anything. General tendencies that me my friends have noticed about women using firearms: Guns aren't usually too heavy but often too long, women have a little less machismo when attempting to fire an intimidating gun for the first time but often take to them quickly after using them and we crave lots of accuracy. Hope that was helpful

Bless your cotton socks. Please keep posting your thoughts. Valuable new point of view.

[kato13]

Hope that was helpful

It was thanks.

[copeab]

Just make sure they have color-coordinated outfits:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2009/09/21/2009-09-21_libyan_leader_.html

[Cpl. Kalkwarf]

Just make sure they have color-coordinated outfits:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/worl...n_leader_.html

The first thing that popped into my head when looking at those pictures was the saying

"Its good to be the King" :P

Man some seriously bad-ass hotties he gots there.

[JimmyRay73]

Hmm. First things first: Women and men are different, we all know that. We're all good at stuff, but evolution and design have conspired to give each of us strengths and weaknesses. I never felt a need to fiddle with roleplay rules to explain this 'cause I figure it'll average out in the long run. We can throw around statistics and anecdotes all day long, but it'll still probably average out.

Back to the original topic, I really believe that if you can't comfortably hold a firearm you can't operate it effectively, i,e, put steel on target. I'm a man of less than average height, with hands that are perhaps smaller than average (no cracks from the peanut gallery please). A .44 Ruger Blackhawk was probably too much for me. Was fun to shoot but the recvoil was a bear and the trigger guard dug a furrow in my trigger finger. An old school M1911 was very comfortable and controllable. Popular 9mm pistols run the gamut from tack driver to waste of time depending on their grip designs mostly. A small frame Bersa .380 works for instinctive shooting, but feels too small if I have any time to think.

My advice to anyone is to evaluate honestly the situation you're most likely to be faced with and then try several weapons to see what feels right for you. Smaller hands = smaller grips may seem elementary, but it doesn't always work that way. In a real life setting that means you should train with the weapon you intend to rely on. In an RPG setting we have the luxury of applying certain quirks if we wish relating to handling, availability and training.

[waiting4something]

The first thing that popped into my head when looking at those pictures was the saying

"Its good to be the King" :P

Man some seriously bad-ass hotties he gots there.

I second that! The guy is like a James Bond villain or something with a security detail like that. Those are some sweet looking impactical colored cammies those chicks are sporting too. I saw some dude in the phillipines wearing some crazy colors like that once. I think it would be cooler if the women maybe sported booty shorts and high heels, now that would be a security you wanna get grabbed by.

[pmulcahy11b]

You just wanna spread your arms and legs and yell "Frisk me!"

[HorseSoldier]

So much of what women shooters are capable of with firearms gets informed by people dealing with women with little or no firearms training on recreational ranges who are timid and intimidated by recoil. As a counterpoint to this, I'd note that the women in my police academy class were just as able to train with and qualify (buckshot and slugs) with our issue short-barrel 870s as the rest of us. A properly trained female shooter will have no issues at all with an M468 or other 6.8 Rem SPC weapon (my wife, 5'5" and 130# never had problems with the 6.8 AR rig I had for a while once she got comfortable around long guns).

On the topic of handguns, I'd likewise note that there are a lot of women who shoot IPSC and IDPA competitively using 1911s. It again goes back to training -- female soldiers had issues with the M1911A1 and recoil back in the day, but the reality is that outside of SOF units, US military standards of pistol training are really pathetic. Referencing the police academy again, women had no trouble qualifying with .40 cal Glocks, on a much more demanding qualification course requiring much higher weapons handling skills and speed than the army qual course, once they had proper training. They did run .40 cals instead of .45, but that's because the issue 45s were Glock 21s and the grip size was just too large for all the women -- and several men -- in my class.

The M9/M92 was mentioned as a better choice, but it's actually pretty flawed if you are talking about someone with good firearms training and small grip size. The M9 has a really fat grip, and the controls are poorly placed for someone with smaller hands (of either gender) to operate them without breaking their grip.

The High Power was mentioned -- much better choice, given smaller dimensions and better control layout (though it's even better with some after market parts to make it more user friendly). According to my wife, the High Power is nice, but the 1911 is even better -- the single stack grip is actually much *more* user friendly for a small handed shooter.

All that said, if the question is about setting up a standardized equipment package for members of the Morrow Project, it's hard to go much past the Glock 17/19 combination. I'm not a Glock fan (traded my issue one in for a 1911 as fast as I was allowed to), but they're simple, reliable weapons that beginning shooters can pick up rapidly and that can then hang with progressively skilled shooters up to whatever skill lever. Various authorities on gunfighting consider them the best default for a gunfighters gun (Larry Vickers, Gabe Suarez, assorted others) and there's a lot of validity in their opinions, for shooters of either gender.

[Dog 6]

My wife has a .380 auto she really likes, loves my AR-15/M-16A2, and is a mean shot with my .30-06 Remington model 70 at 500 - 600 m.

[kcdusk]

Would it be wrong to say women are more likely to knife you in the back

[waiting4something]

Would it be wrong to say women are more likely to knife you in the back

Not at all. This is more likely to happen after they get to know you and have you fooled into thinking they like you. John Wayne Bobbit wishes that his ex-wife put it in his back, I bet.

[waiting4something]

I was just thinking back when I talked with a female USAF security forces/CATM instuctor about firearms years ago. She told me how she perferred the 1911 over the M9 because it's smaller grip fit her small hands, like others have mentioned already. As for shotguns I have to say I have never seen a woman do well with 00 buckshot loads. Granted I have only seen 3 women handle 12 gauges. Their shoulders are just not developed to take that abuse. Yes, I know some women out there that hit the gym might be a different story. I think that was one of the reasons the USMC decided on the M1014/M4 Benelli. Hoping the semi auto action would buffer some of the felt recoil pump shotguns pack. Rifles as far as assualt/battle rifle calibers don't seem to be that big of a issue for women. Just the shotguns.