Keith Savage — Braverman Arms, Pittsburgh, Pa.

With hunting season over, Braverman Arms is seeing a noticeable influx of first-time female customers, most of them in the market for a self- and home-defense handguns.

The preference of these buyers, says store manager Keith Savage, is for a revolver over a semi-automatic.

“The revolver seems to make more sense to the ladies,” Savage explains. “It’s easier to use, safe, reliable.”

These women are snapping up Smith & Wesson 642 revolvers in .38 Special, priced at $420.

So much so, Braverman Arms is having a tough time just keeping the 642’s on the shelf. S&W Models 19 and 66 are also strong sellers, in the 2.5- and 4-inch barrel configurations.

For the semi-auto crowd, Glock 19, 23, 26 and 27’s lead the way.

Braverman Arms has finally gotten caught up on its ammunition orders, and has a good stock of all common hunting and handgun calibers. But prices are higher than they were a year or two ago, especially for handgunners.

The same boxes of 9mm that Savage sold for $13 to $15 now command $16 to $17 per box.

Editor's Note: This brief originally appeared in the March 27, 2014 edition of Gun Digest the Magazine.