I think a pistol caliber carbine would be a good choice, and I'll step up and mention..........Hi-Point carbines 
(GASP !!).
I bought one last week, took it out of its fugly stock and put it into an ATI stock. From 10 feet, you'd be hard pressed to tell which was the Hi-Point and which was the Beretta Storm. I also put a Millett red-dot sight on it.
The trigger was klunky to say the least, and the bolt was harder'n heck to pull, until I'd shot about 150 rounds through it, that is. I now have about 300rounds through it, not a hiccup at all. The ONLY thing I've done to it other than swap stocks was to spray a little Break-Free on the action, once. The trigger and bolt fairies have must visited because the difference now is unbelievable.
With this set-up, I can shoot the alligator clips off of the targets at 15-20 yards and a pop can at 60, all day long.
The recoil is virtually non-existant, and I can shoot it comfortably without ear muffs. It is short, handy, accurate, reliable, and inexpensive. It is a carbine she will not have problems practicing with.
Any round missing its target, could be a concern for over-penetration, but in a SHTF scenario, I doubt that this would occur to her.
Sam
PS: For those who want to flame about Hi-Points, please, save the bandwith.
(GASP !!).I bought one last week, took it out of its fugly stock and put it into an ATI stock. From 10 feet, you'd be hard pressed to tell which was the Hi-Point and which was the Beretta Storm. I also put a Millett red-dot sight on it.
The trigger was klunky to say the least, and the bolt was harder'n heck to pull, until I'd shot about 150 rounds through it, that is. I now have about 300rounds through it, not a hiccup at all. The ONLY thing I've done to it other than swap stocks was to spray a little Break-Free on the action, once. The trigger and bolt fairies have must visited because the difference now is unbelievable.
With this set-up, I can shoot the alligator clips off of the targets at 15-20 yards and a pop can at 60, all day long.
The recoil is virtually non-existant, and I can shoot it comfortably without ear muffs. It is short, handy, accurate, reliable, and inexpensive. It is a carbine she will not have problems practicing with.
Any round missing its target, could be a concern for over-penetration, but in a SHTF scenario, I doubt that this would occur to her.
Sam
PS: For those who want to flame about Hi-Points, please, save the bandwith.
