Good to see so much
mostly good advice.
As a cop and a competitive shooter, for years I ended up being the go to guy (by default), for a slew of friends and relatives seeking advice on gun choices. Of course my advice was the same as several here, to shoot different guns and see what fits
you best. When it was husbands or boyfriends of women, my first, and sometimes toughest task, was convincing them that they probably didn't want to buy their significant other a .25 auto, North American Mini Revolver, High Standard Derringer, etc. Sometimes it took a trip to the range to show how hard the little guns were to shoot, or that their "
little woman" could indeed shoot a .38 Special just fine, thank you. (
Sometimes better than they could.....)
I will say the vast majority of women ended up with steel J frames, as a great compromise of power, portability and controlability. Though I appreciate the idea of a K frame for easier shooting, I still think the J can be a better choice if the intent is a defense gun, even if it isn't going to be carried. Sometimes going to check a bump in the night at home, or while out camping, can mean slipping the gun into a pocket to be less obvious, and a J is certainly easier to do that with. Yes a J is a
little harder to shoot, but I never had much issues teaching women or teenage girls to shoot them effectively, even in Airweight versions.
Today, I think many women, and lots of men too, end up with small or medium automatics for defense/CCW guns, when they would be far better served by a small revolver. Unfortunately, the erroneous opinion that revolvers are ancient and not suitable for defense is quite prevalent......
