First off let me start off explaining why I'm asking this, I want to get my girlfriend into shooting handguns so that hopefully I can get her to get used to using one in case a self defense situation ever arrised, she is a petite girl that really couldn't do much physically if ever attacked.

She doesn't mind the thought of firearms but she is afraid of them due to the noise, I know this may sound dumb to some but its just something she has had since she was little, she hates fireworks bang and firecrackers alike.

I was wondering what the quietest handgun is that I could get and maybe get her used to the noise and then move up to a larger self defense caliber. I've even thought about maybe getting a sound suppressor however that would be very expensive, alot of paper work and red tape, not to mention the yearly tax that you would have to pay and the liabilities of having one.

So what do you all reccomend? What could I do in this sitauation, giving hearing protection is already on the list, but even then I would still like it to be as quiet as possible.
Thanks!

My old High Standard target pistol with an 8" barrel, loaded with Remington LR Subsonic Hollow Points, is very quiet compared to any other handgun at our indoor range. It's a heavy gun and may be a bit too much for her, but it's accurate.

Bye
Jack

Wife will use both the foam ear plugs and muffs...doen't give a twice teh reduction, but will give a noticable decrease in noise over one system alone. With the noise level down, she took to even the loud handguns just fine...it's not so much the recoil, but the noise and blast.

Indoor ranges increase the blast (that would be that pressure wave that slaps you in the face...a tactile sense rather than auditory)....shooting close to any vertical wall increases the blast...shooting under a covered area increases the blast. Pulg her ears up and set her in a gavel pit, and she's content to shoot a .41mag. with max. loads (and if you wonder, from her shooting, there is enough difference between full house 41's and 44's that she can tell them apart easily...44 is over her recoil limit, 41 is just under it).

SO....reducing ther ability to hear wroks just as well as recuing the noice the gun makes.

With that said, a closed breech (semi-auto or singleshot) .22LR with match or sub-sonic ammo, and a barrel OVER 6" in length will be about as wuiter as you'll find.

ruger 22, I would guess

Just double up on the ear protection ie plugs and muffs and start with the basics: a .22.

I've taken a few women to the range for their first shooting lessons. One absolutely hated guns before we got there. After an hour I couldn't get that Ruger Single-Six out of her hands.

Be smart start her off with the 22. More people have been scared away from shooting by an ** that handed them a 44 mag or similar for their first shots. Sean

How about a .22 revolver with CCI .22 CB rounds.

Ralph

Would the cylinder gap blast cancel out any reduction in muzzle blast? I guess you'd have to try the Remington subsonics in an automatic side-by-side with a revover loaded with CBs. I'm almost out of Subsonics and the CBs I have are the most inaccurate load, by far, that I've shot in my rifle. That won't encourage a new shooter if the CBs are shooting dinner plate groups.

Doubt if I'll get to the pistol range this week or next.

Bye
Jack

with .22 short

with .22 short

Gap does make a noticable noise; barrel length to barrel length, CB caps in revolvers are louder than semi-autos (or single shots...non vented barrels). Been shooting a long time, and like most old timers, have lost a bit of hearing along the way...I can still hear the difference between a 6" semi-auto and a 6" revolver.

But a .22LR it certainly isn't anything to get a novice shooter (wearing ear muffs) upset.

BTW: CB caps are the least accurate .22ammo I've run across...the least consistant, they tend to string vertical groups or shoot two groups (a high one, and a low one, with a few strung out in between).

If you get her anything centerfire, for heaven's sake, don't get a ported or muzzle brake model. The brake will surely reduce felt recoil, but will add substantialy to the sound level.

Darrel

I endorse the above comments about using standard velocity or sub-sonic .22 LR ammunition, either in a longer barrel semi-automatic or a revolver. A .22 is always a great way to start a shooter, and with ear muffs there is really littel noise to distract a new shooter. Avoid indoor ranges, and if you have to use one, avoid going when the thunder and light shows are on with the .357 Magnums, .44 Magnums, .50 AE or even the .500 S&W.
If you don't want to use a .22, or don't have one, then I would suggest that you use something like a .32 S&W Long (S&W and Ruger have made revolvers in .32 H&R Magnum, which will take the anemic .32 S&W Long), or a .38 Special with standard velocity ammunition. If you load your own, it is even easier to keep the bullet weight down, and the velocity down. Both will help with reducing noise and reducing recoil, all of which will help a new shooter.
Avoid any .357 Magnum (especially 125 grain loads), and other magnums, if you are concerned about noise.
I have also seen idiots handing a new shooter a .357, and seeing a lost shooter after one round.
Good luck and be patient.

I finally got a chance to check out the CB caps and the Subsonics. It wasn't too scientific, just the abused Mk.I eardrums. Result: The Remington CB Shorts, fired in a 6" H&R 929 revolver, are quite a bit quieter than Remington Subsonics in a 8" High Standard semi-automatic. Just a little pop, with ear plugs in. I hand fed a couple of CBs through the High Standard and they were slightly quieter than in the revolver. They didn't have enough oomph to eject and probably wouldn't feed from the magazine either.

Accuracy: My shoulder was acting up and I was NOT having a good day at the range. However, the CBs seemed to go where the gun was looking and I was pleasantly surprised, particularly since the H&R has some distinct likes and dislikes about ammunition. I didn't have a chance to bench it.

Bye
Jack

Start with a water pistol which has zero anxiety level, them move to a .22 LR. This worked well for scouts when I was one decades ago!

We moved from the water pistol to High Standard .22s both auto and revolver and we all shot pretty well by the end of camp! :D

Don't no one laugh! I use an Air Soft pistol inside at about 15 feet and a cardboard box with a paper target (Beartooth) taped to the front. Saves all of the plastic BB's, then have student graduate to the 22's. I have a High Standard Auto chambered for 22 shorts that I used to use for speed shooting that really works out real good for the beginning shooter.

Lee L.

[rant on]If you are shooting without hearing protection, SHAME ON YOU. If you are subjecting you girlfriend to muzzle blast without hearing protection, DOUBLE SHAME ON YOU. [rant off]
This is what I do with new shooters as young as 4 (.41RemMag revolver). Use your everyday shooting iron (in my case Ruger and S/W .41RemMag revolvers)but load it with primer only and wax or rubber bullets. In a revolver or rifle there is no recoil to deal with. In a revolver there is no muzzle blast even without hearing protection (I use it anyway, gets the new shooters in the habit of putting it on no matter what) and only a slight sound. In a rifle the sound is even less (still use that hearing protection) By doing it this way you get the new shooter familiar with the firearm they will eventually use. If the caliber you are using doesn’t have rubber bullets available (38/357, 44, 45 don’t know of any rifle calibers) wax bullets are very easy to make and load.

.22 and the longer the barrel the better.

You can stuff Shorts in it to begin with and then LR.
Something with an 8-12" barrel would be cool but that's pretty much a specialty item.

To teach her the fundamentals of shooting, a BB / pellet gun, or Airsoft, like mentioned above, would work fine. Little noise or recoil. She could focus on sight picture, proper stance and grip, and safety procedures. Also, it'd be very inexpensive to shoot and can be done indoors.

Then she could graduate to a .22 and go from there.

Have you thought of loading the 38 caliber or 44 caliber Speer practice rounds? Nylon cases primed by large pistol primers shooting plastic cylinders that look and cut paper like wadcutters?

No louder than a cap gun and gives the weight of your actual firearm. Pretty darn accurate inside 50 feet. With earmuffs it is quiet. With muffs and plugs, well, you get the idea.

Use a box behind your cardboard target to collect the plastic slugs and reprime and reload your plastic brass. The only reloading tool needed is a priming tool.

Hope it works out.

I used to shoot those Speer plastic loads when I had a fireplace. I would set a cardboard box in the fireplace. I filled the boxes with old carpet pieces with the loops turned towards me. They absorb the bullets with little damage to carpet and none to bullet. If the bullets hit the carpet from the backing side they will shoot through it.

I cut a slot at the bottom of the box so that when I ran out of bullets I could shake the box and the bullets would roll out of the 'coin return' without any digging and searching.

Be careful to hit the box though. I had a stray short chip the brick.

Let me just state that as one assembles a collection of firearms into a battery, get at least one .22 of small or medium frame for teaching others! This will help our sport as well as the novice shooter! :D

99 GrandTouring, Lots of good advice here. You should find something workable for your girlfriend. I do have a few comments. My youngest daughter had been afraid of gunfire since she was a little girl. We have 3 girls and 1 boy and when they were small I taught them all to shoot except the youngest girl. I figured forcing her would be counterproductive so never insisted she learn. After she graduated from college she asked me one day why I taught the other kids to shoot and didn't teach her. I explained that I did not want to force her to do something she was uncomfortable with and asked if she would like a gun of her own. The answer was yes. So for Christmas that year I gave her a used S&W M66 in like new condition and began to take her shooting. To shorten this story she has gone on to rifle and even skeet shooting and loves it all. She has even added camping and fishing to her list of prefered activites. I believe if I had forced her as a child to learn to shoot she would never have liked the shooting sports. Now, she lives in a different town than I do, and when I visit she takes me shooting and fishing. One other comment on the silencer. I believe the regrestration fee is not and annual fee but a one time fee for each owner. The point of the above story is mabey she just needs a little time. Regards, Byron

Its been my experience, that a thompson contender is the least of ear pounders, having all the noise at arm length and at the end of a 10" bbl, is really nice. Plus its one of the most accurate and versatile guns made. She may even want to put a scope on it, and do some rodent population reduction..

Just someone who has owned all calibre of handguns.

RB

Daisy air rifle corporation makes many quiet firearms suitable for this situation. The ballistics out to 15 yards are not favorable, however they are rather quiet. I have found on some models, the recoil is erratic but is over shadowed by the lack of muzzle blast.






Just kidding guy - I'm happy with my buckmark - it's not too bad for what you're trying to do. On another note, as a certified instructor, I have to say that introducing proper safety gear now would be the best and safest way to introduce her to the sport.

For self defense use I would start with a 3-4" med frame DA revolver in .38/.357. I would start them out using the Speer Practice bullets, then move to 148gr HBWC match ammo. As they progress then the ammo level goes up. This way only one firearm is bought by them. Of course they have the use of my .22 pistols.

CD