Birthday gun for my wife?

[Desert_Rat]

OK Ladies, here's my question. I want to get my wife her own rifle for her birthday. Which one?

A little background on her. She's rad as hell and we've been married 17 years this Nov. She's got no problems with any of my guns. She just bought me a Dillon xl650 and did not bat an eye when I went out and "impulse bought" $439.00 worth of 3gun gear. She shoots our .22 rifle and likes that just fine.As far as the AR, AK or any of our bolt guns, she could take them or leave them.

She has her own USP.40c and hates it! I bought it for her when she was talking about wanting a pistol. I surprised her with it and it did not go over as well as I had hoped.

So now I'm thinking I'll get a rifle for her in .22 but I want it to be "her" rifle.

Should I take her down to the shop and let her choose? Or build her a *****in 10/22? I want to avoid the HK USP disaster.

I have an AR lower to build, do I build it in .22 for her?

Thoughts? input?

Got to go She just called and is on the way home a block away.
Thanks for any input and discussion.

[movie zombie]

um, you tried the surprise route before and she hated what you bought...and probably disappointed she wasn't more appreciative. and you want to try it again?! i don't suggest it unless you are a very slow learner.

yes, take her to the shop and let her choose......and while you're there casually mention that you'd be willing to build her the 10/22. let her decide.

or you could just give her the cash and let her go on her own.......see thread re Big 5 and disappointment re not being able to buy a rifle as the salesperson thought it was a straw purchase.

btw, did she ever get the pistol she wanted? perhaps you'd be better off getting that instead of a rifle.....you do say "she could take them or leave them re rifles.

and if you do not know specifically which pistol she wants, yes, either take her to a rental range and let her try them out and/or give her the cash to make the purchase.

mz

[golfrj]

Are you SURE she wants a gun? Maybe you should ask this time.. Perhaps she would prefer something more Feminine.. Sometimes we Men forget just how Different OUR Women Think & Feel.. Anyway Good Luck and I hope you find JUST the Right gift..After 16 years with a gun Freak she Deserves it......

[Steyrlp10]

OP, I commend you for the thoughtfulness in wanting to surprise her with something that she can call her very own. I'm not very familiar with rifles since I'm a pistol shooter, but I did think the 10/22 was suitable.

This is how my guy did it for me. He's not the shooter in the family and had to dig in my range bag, sneak secret conversations with my shooting friends, and ultimately, he did a lot of Internet research. He knew I could never have enough 1911s, so he would just watch and listen while pretending to be practicing live fire next to me.

That's when he let me know he put an order into Les Baer to have them build me my own custom Bulleye pistol.

When it comes to fishing gear, I pretty much do the same. I dig in the Man Cave when he's not home (he's at a Delta tournament right now - lol), snoop through all the bass magazines laying around in every room, and live on the Internet, reading specs about gear ratios and how many ball bearings there are as opposed to 7' medium heavy rods, etc.

You get the picture

Btw, does she think black rifles are cool?

[1lostinspace]

Glock 26 with the finger extension

[laika]

I vote for a couples shopping trip also. And then a nice lunch or dinner out during which you can discuss your ideas for the 10/22 build options.

I would hate to see you strike out a second time. Love my 10/22; actually we have "his and hers" bought on the same day many years ago.

But maybe she has a secret desire for a black rifle, a handgun, whatever and you'll just waste your money while she gets turned off to shooting. So I think it's safest to go together. Just my two cents here.

[movie zombie]

you could go out to breakfast before going shopping! and follow up the expedition with a nice meal afterwards...... make it a fun date!

when she was talking about a pistol, did she mention which one she wanted or was interested in trying out at a range?

mz

ps laika's comment about risking turning her off to shooting is a real possibility if she's not getting what she wants.

[Desert_Rat]

The surprise route did not work before, because it's not a glock 22 as it turns out. She likes my G22 a lot.

I'm not worried about the store clerk thinking straw purchase, like the recent Big 5 thread, because the clerk will be the owner of TPF, who also happens to be a good friend of mine from childhood all the way to today.

Through some careful probing today while we were at Tachi Palace playing Bingo of all things. (she wanted that for mothers day) It came out that she wants a .22 pistol. Now I'm thinking Ruger Mark III

AS rifles go, it's the big rifles she can take or leave. she loves the .22

Maybe I'll just get her over to the shop and drop the money and let her pick...(first i have to pay off the $400 in 3gun gear that is sitting on my account....

Her B-day is in July so I have a few weeks.

[glockwise2000]

For what I believe girls like shopping more than guns. Don't get me wrong, I tried to buy my wife a tiny pistol that would fit her hand. But she wowed more when she saw a shopping gift card with it. My wrong move.

[Cokebottle]

Not a straw purchase. You can legally purchase a gun as a gift.
Every time I've bought a gun for my wife, she has filled out the DROS and 4473 and I've gone to the register and swiped my card. Turner's has never batted an eye.

[movie zombie]

you're doing all the right things re talking to her while doing an activity she's enjoying!

i shot a a .22 ruger target pistol in stainless last week. had not even handled one and was amazed at how accurate i was with it given i wasn't even trying........ fit my hand. no recoil. fun to shoot. but i wouldn't use it for self defense....that's what my .38/357's and .45 are for.

if you're sure that's what she wants........but i'd make sure of that because you run the risk of being disappointed if she's disappointed.

how about a gift certificate to the gunshop and let her pick out her own?

mz

[DaveInOroValley]

I vote as well for the let her choose vein of thought.

[OliveCookieMonsta]

Will she like the Ruger MkIII? Has she shoot one before? I think if you do go that route let her test it out first and see if she really likes it... I'm just saying because I get bored with mine, mostly bored reloading. She's used to shooting the 40 and might get tired of it... She can try mine.

I say a purple AR ; ) in 22 ... AND a Mark III with purple or pink holster ...

But then diamonds would be nice too!

[tacticalcity]

I stopped in because I was curious to see what you were planning on getting your wife. If it is alright I'd like to add some food for thought.

If she really hates it then she could probably get a pretty good price on that HK USP 40c. It is far from a cheap gun and a very popular one. Just because she doesn't like it doesn't mean there aren't plenty of people who would love it - and pay a good price for it. Even used they go for a pretty penny. Then you could combine what she gets for the USP and any accessories she has for it with what you wanted to spend on her birthday and she'll make out like a bandit, getting exactly the gun she wanted. Gunbroker.com has always been good to me, as has this site's marketplace.

In any case, good luck. Buying for the significant other is always hard.

[Mimi_T]

Maybe the problem was also that it was an USP 40c. The compact model is IMO extremely annoying to shoot, it has an unpleasant weird kick that the full-size model doesn't have. I'm a 1911 person when it comes to semi-auto but the USP .40 full size is one of my favorite pistols too. I tried the compact and hated it, it handles very different from the full size one.

I'd say take her shopping and let her pick the gun, that way you won't have the same problem from the first time, or at least it will lessen the likelihood a bit.

Women don't always prefer something more feminine. We like shopping but guns count as shopping too, and so do nice holsters and other accessories.
I'm a woman and yet I'm the one usually likely to do impulse gun purchases. When we go to the store together it's my husband telling me to stay away from the consignment case and its endless temptations.... (The other cases are tempting too, but the consignment case is worse because you could pick up more than one per month... There's also the "it's like it's on sale!" aspect to it since used is cheaper!)

To be 100% sure, you could always give her both a gun and a gift card o some clothing store or other thing she enjoys.