Women are NOT idiots, and the whopping 2 buttons on a pistol are NOT hard to understand.
Well, I'm not an idiot, either, and I'm extremely technically inclined on top of that, but I still prefer utter simplicity when my life is on the line, and I'd recommend the same for any shooter (especially beginners) unless they really, really want something more complicated and are willing to train with it regularly.
There is NO reason to steer her into a revolver if she thinks she can handle a pistol - beginners need MORE shots, not less, and manageable triggers, not the heavy DA pull of a revolver.
It depends on the individual, and frankly what beginners think they can handle doesn't count until they actually handle and fire the weapons.
As for needing more shots, I doubt that most beginners could fire many aimed shots very quickly (unless they shoot a .22 like my mom, and she does have more shots in her S&W 617).
Let HER pick out what she wants to shoot. DON'T pressure her, or dump your bias onto her decision.
Let her choose after she has some experience (even a single trip to the range may be enough) with a variety of handguns and calibers, yes. But you also have to ask the right questions, having her imagine being in a real situation, so that she can decide on issues such as whether she minds having to remember to flick off a manual safety. Yes, I know that for experienced shooters it's ingrained in their "muscle memory" but I've seen those with some experience forget to do so at the range, where the stress level won't be as high as in a real life-or-death situation (then again, the way I've seen some people handle their guns at the range, it may well be a life-or-death situation!
).
Revolvers are NOT simple - they are HARDER for many shooters to shoot accurately,
It depends on their finger strength (and other factors, some psychological), and there is only one way to know if that will be a problem early on. I agree that autos should be considered as well, preferably shot during the same range session.
take practice to reload effectively,
True, but the odds that anybody will need to reload are fairly slim, even with the more limited capacity of revolvers. Yes, it could happen, but no it doesn't happen often, whereas a manual safety always needs to be handled properly, which also requires practice, based on what I've seen.
and they have about 1000 small precision parts inside of them. Calling a modern revolver "simple" is like calling a Swiss watch simple.
Also true, but the topic is the simplicity of use rather than design and construction. Revolvers also tend to be extremely reliable, their internal complexity notwithstanding.
A DAO or SAO pistol is every bit as easy to learn as a revovler, has less parts, and takes less skill to become proficient with.
Well, even the simplest of autos requires being able to rack the slide, which is an issue for some (and even if it can be overcome, I'd feel more confident if it weren't an issue at all). They are also perhaps less intuitive than revolvers with regard to their loaded and unloaded states, and require more steps to be remembered (e.g. racking the slide to chamber a round or empty the chamber after you've removed the magazine). I've even seen people who initially disliked revolvers become "converts" after discovering how much more comfortable they are with them, at least as beginners. I'm not saying that beginners have to start out with a revolver (I didn't), but it's no surprise that revolvers are the most common suggestion, either.
Don't take it personally, but I don't see why anyone would recommend a double action only revolver.. god I hate those things. For me double action on a revolver is last resort unless they are point blank. Maybe I just need more practice.. but I shoot WAY better in single action
Like I keep saying, it depends on the individual. I don't see a difference in my shooting between single- and double-action, and actually I never shoot single-action these days (on revolvers). What surprised me, though, is that my mom also has absolutely no trouble with DA revolvers despite being small and having much less grip strength than I do. She has trouble racking slides, however, which appears to be psychological (seems to treat the gun delicately by nature when she should be firm and crisp with it). I can get her to the point where she can rack my M&P40 easily (no special techniques required), and then a week later she can't do it again. Other folks can rack any slide all day long but curse DA triggers, and that's alright too because everybody is different.
LCR sounds like a bad idea too, unless shes down to put in some serious range time
Who knows, maybe some beginners would have no problem with it, although I find that unlikely enough to advise against it from the get-go.
