She says she wants one for ‘home defense and fun!’ So I suppose she’ll be happy with a quality rifle that she could use for a competition shoot here and there.
Is this just a pretty straightforward purchase or is there something I’m missing? She’s about 5’4 and not very strong. Any particular ARs that the ladies seem to prefer? Midlength vs Carbine, etc?
dunno… the AR is a pretty smooth shooter, no matter what you get. my 5 year old son shoots my LMT 14.5 carbine… i’m sure your little lady could handle anything you give her. just don’t put a muz brake on it, thinking it’ll soften the recoil for her- chicks freak out about the report way more than the recoil, in my experience.
middy’s shoot softer, longer barrels shoot softer, Vtacs are tactical but not “scary” looking, and girls like pretty colored paint.
hope that helps.
My 5’2" GF was scared poop-less everytime I would shoot the AR… she would jump with every round fired. Then she tried 1 round, and would not give the rifle back to me…
I don’t think the recoil from any of the 5.56/.223 ARs will be a problem for anyone so anything you purchase for her will be fine in my oppinion.
I’ve seen pink furniture sets if she is into that lol
http://www.cavalryarms.com/pink.html
THey will make anything as long as there is someone to buy it haha
DO put a muzzle brake on it unless it’s a self defense gun, then no.
There’s nothing wrong with making new shooters use -29+ db muffs and foam ear canal plugs to get them used to the noise. Also make them keep their mouth closed though that’s not the problem with rifles that it is with pistols. The ear drum is very close to the back of the throat.
I made my wife’s gun light - Clark carbon fiber handguard and right now it has a 16" m4 barrel, an aluminum gas block, and an EGW race comp. She doesn’t have the arm strength to hold up a heavy rifle for very long.
Go for it. Get her a Colt 6920 from botachtactical for $1110.00. I think that’s the GP’s price, instead of the LEO price. I got the email last night. You have to call them.
My wife is only about 5’3 and she shoots them fine. I am working on my first purchase for myself (b-day gift from my wife…woohoo). Then will work on getting her one.
Oh, this is my first post…yay. I’ve been on here a little bit, but mostly reading and learning. Thanks for all the great info guys.
i can only dream of such a day that my wife will approach me and say “honey, i want an AR.”
yea…but there customer service is said to suck.
Weight, simplicity and ease of use are the top three in my mind. My GF is 5’3 as well and she really doesn’t have any problems shooting my rifles, though the rifle she finds easiest to work with is my LMT 14.5". Its my lightest rifle and is very easy to handle and shoot as it is very simple. My light (x300) is run at the 12 o’clock in front of the FSB so its not in the way and she can place her hands anywhere comfortable, the VFG is a quick detach tango down so if she doesn’t like it (and this happens to be the case) she can take it off easily. No Redimag as it obscures the boltcatch and increase weight and difficulty of manual of arms. I made sure all the edges are smooth (i.e. file down rough edges on the forearm rail covers and pistol grip, most female hands are relatively soft. And I made sure to have a comfortable sling, so that she don’t have to hold it up the whole weight of the gun all the time (a padded sling is a plus, the Padded VTAC worked terrific).
Here is a picture of the rifle my GF prefers:
Here are my suggestions from my personal observations:
-Guns are loud, especially fired inside, make sure to double plug her earpro and don’t add a comp. The advantages of recoil control are not worth the potential flinching from the louder sounds, the recoil from 5.56 rounds is not bad to begin with and in my personal experience most shooters flinch from the report not the recoil impulse.
-If the recoil is beating her up, add the weight to the butt of the gun, its easier to support. And while we’re talking about buttstocks, an adjustable one is a must. I love magpul ctr’s and moe’s. If you need to go heavier I’d look at the viltor, ACS and MBR. I didn’t like the SPODMOD that came with my lmt lower because the edge of the stock was rough and would irritate my face (but thats just me). If I really cared I would have filed it down but I can sell it easily so no worries for me.
-Keep it as light as possible I would run a carbine length 14.5" w/ pinned flash suppressor, and a VTAC forearm if I was building a gun for my GF. Unless she wanted to run a light at the 12’ I would stay with shorter rails for weight considerations.
-Use rail covers everywhere necessary, especially if you’ve got a picatinny rail, and make sure the edges are smooth, no exposed rails.
-RDS make the rifle alot easier to shoot, get one that can cowitness with quality iron sights so that you can train and employ both. Aimpoint M2/ML2/T1/EoTech/all come to mind.
-I really like the magpul MIAD pistol grip as it is adjustable to fit small shooters and very comfortable.
-The VTAC padded sling is terrific and very comfortable on the neck during transitions and for supporting the rifle during long periods of time.
-I would not add a redi-mag, or any crazy pressure switches, buttons etc. Keep the weight down and keep it simple.
-For a light, use a simple G2 in a viltor / VTAC / Larue / etc mount. that is easy to activate and stays out of the way.
And finally make sure you two are having fun shooting together:D
GU
I disagree. IMO muzzle brakes have no place on a .223/5.56 gun. The increased noise is annoying at the best of times.
Most novice shooters don’t flinch at the recoil, they do it because of the blast/noise. A brake would increase this.
Say “put a suppressor on it”, and you might have a point. THAT would be an awesome starting gun. 
My 11 year old shoots my midlength BCM offhand and loves it so that’s the one I would recommend. I would not recommend a muzzle brake either, way too loud for the operator.
Midlength carbines tend to have softer recoil, but I don’t think carbine length is too much for a small woman. If she is having trouble keeping a carbine under control, maybe a vertical grip would help.
Never had a problem when I’ve ordered from them. Lowest prices, fast shipping. No one here likes them because they’re not the sacred “gandr”, who I’ve dealt with once and was hardly impressed.
For her birthday last yea I had no money. But I did give her my 6920. She loves it. She is only 5’2". The only thing is that she prefers 55gr over 62gr due to the recoil
I must be one of the chosen few, who’s never had a problem with botach. I order something from them, every few months, for the past couple of years. Must be planetary alignment or something.
I got my wife a CMMG upper with a 16" lightweight midlength barrel, and DD 9.0 Lite rail. She has an eotech 552 (which she prefers to the Aimpoint Comp M3 2moa I had for her), a Surefire G2 in a vtac mount, Tango Down foregrip, CTR Stock, and padded Vtac Sling. It is a simple light setup, and she handles it without issues.
Saur,
I’d keep it as light as you could. Keep this thought in mind if/when adding things to it.
With that in mind, I would think that any 14.5" or 16" gun with an adjustable stock, and without heavier than normal barrels would fit her needs well. A “pencil barrel” like that found on the Colt 6520 might not be a bad idea considering her upper body strength.
If it were me, I’d look for a Colt 6920 or similar gun (DD, LMT or the new BCM ) and call it a day.
By all means what you have is rare. Do everything in your power to encourage her interest. Let her feel as if she is part of the decision making process, as it is “Her Gun”. This can still be done as you steer her in the proper direction.
Right on! Thanks everyone for all the great input. I’ll be sure to update the thread with what she picks 
I am in the process of setting up an AR for my wife. I bought her a M&P 15 with quad rails and BUIS to start. Plan on getting her an EOTECH or an Aimpoint next. I am hoping to get her into 3 gun shoots to increase her skill. I don’t really care about score just getting her more familiar with weapons. Might get trigger work done on this rifle as well.
I am also thinking about a suppressor to help with the noise. Not sure on that but its a possibility.
Matt
Amen to that! If only all of us were so lucky :D. I “gave” my 92fs (M9) to my GF as she is still active duty and I’m not anymore. She gives me crap every time I touch it 
lol, except when I clean it for her…go figure.
Good luck!
GU