XD-45ACP right for wife?

[Dirt]

I am going to pick up an XD-45ACP Service for home protection next week. I grew up around handguns and am very comfortable with them. I only currently own hunting rifles and shotguns. This will be my first handgun purchase. I have a few questions regarding the appropriateness of the XD-45ACP for my wife. I had her hold it at the store. She was barely able to pull the slide back twice in five attempts. So here are the questions: Will Don's 18# spring help or is 18# already stock? Will the recoil be to much for her keeping in mind the slide strength she has? Will the stock spring weaken enough over the first couple hundred rounds to make it simpler for her? I am planning on getting 165-grain to 180-grain to keep the recoil down. Any help would be much appreciated. Great forum. Keep it up guys.

[Alkaline]

As far as I know, Don does not make a guide rod for the XD45 yet. http://www.hs2000talk.com/viewtopic.php?t=30282
Here you will see people bugging Don for an XD45 guide rod. I'm sure he will make one though, just sit tight.
I have not been here long myself, but welcome aboard.

[Boma]

Regarding the 45 versus a lower caliber....

I don't think a lower caliber would make the slide pull any easier for her.

I suggest she work out her arms a little. It'll get her strong enough to rack the slide easily.

I wouldn't take more than 10-15 minutes, a couple days a week of working out to get her strong enough.

Get her the 45ACP!!!

[mboehlen]

just keep a round chambered for home defense. Regarding the recoil though, when I took my girl friend to the range, who is terrified of guns btw, she shot a couple mags of WWB 230 gr. and was fine with the recoil. She also has carpol tunnel. The recoil is very manageable. Just my .02

[Frank_XD9SC]

A pump shotgun is far more effective for home defense than any handgun, particularly with a 18 inch barrel and buckshot load. Just the sound of the pump cylcing on a scattergun would convince most intruders to run like hell. I would get your wife proficient at that first, as it takes less physical effort to operate and less skill to shoot effectively.

As far as her using the XD, I wouldn't recommend any gun unless she can operate it with ease 100% of the time, but it you decide to buy it for yourself, teach her to shoot it anyway, even if she can't cycle the slide manually. You want to be sure she can hold the gun firm enough so it cycles reliably. You can always store the gun with a round in the chamber in a quick access lock box. That way, unless the gun, jams, she'll probably never have to cycle it manually.

If you prefer fail-safe simplicity, get her one of the 7 shot S&W .357s and load it with a .38 special defense load that has manageable recoil for her. Add a pair of laser grips from Crimson Trace and she will be well armed, even when tired and just awakened in the middle of the night when the XD or other auto might cause her problems.

[Dirt]

Thanks for the discussion. I have already thought of racking a round so she wouldn't have to worry about it. With the kids around though, I will have to invest into a good lock up (safe) for it. I do believe without shooting it yet that she will be able to handle OK from everything I've read on this forum. What is the WWB's? Is this the Winchester Winclean BEB's? Still need to get my ammo figured out. Thanks for any help given.

[ANeat]

Worst case scenario would be a jam of some type. Then you better be 100% sure that you can clear it. Sounds to me like she would NOT be a good canidate for the XD45.

As was mentioned a much better option for someone like that is a shotgun or a revolver. A speed loader can be kept handy if you dont like the idea of leaving it around loaded

My wife cannot work the slide on my 45's I keep a Mossie 500 with 00 buck ready for her use.

WWB is Winchester White Box. The bargain stuff you can get at Walmart etc; 100 round boxes.

['Card]

Yeah, I just mentioned the same thing in another thread - for me, a shotgun is a better option for home defense - especially for my wife. We looked at several different pistols for her, and I intend for her to get comfortable with my XD-45, but in the end we settled on the shotgun as the primary choice if she's home and I'm not here and she needs to make something die.

Let's face it - semi-auto pistols aren't simple, and even guys with years of firearms experience occasionally pull a brain-fart in a high-stress situation. I don't have any doubt that my wife can develop some proficiency with a pistol, but I don't want that tested under stress if we can avoid it. With a double-barrel 12-gauge, she would barely even have to aim. You just kind of point it in the general direction of the evil-doers and unfortunate things happen downrange, you know?

[mboehlen]

Kids are another thing you would have to worry about. If you want something that is quick access for a safe, you should look into the biometric safes. You can get them for around $300 and most are programable for multiple fingerprints (usually up to 10 at least I believe). I'm not to sure how I would feel spraying a shotgun around in a hallway that my kids rooms are ajoined to though, if thats even the case. I would rather put a laser sight on the rail. You really need her to shoot it though and see if she is comfortable with it.