Perhaps he is overcompensating for an area he lacks size. Nothing pisses me off more than an idiot giving bad advice. However with guns, it amplifies the negative outcome.
There are also some gun stores that will āguideā you to certain guns that they want you to buy, and not what you like or what fits you. This is the worst way to sell guns.
Oh so true! A few months ago, my wife and I went to visit my son in Northern Ohio and we spent an afternoon at one of his friends homes that has a small range. My wife was shooting my Glock 19 with a red dot and my sonās S&W M&P 9 with a red dot. She shot much better with the S&W and no longer likeās Glocks, although she never really liked any firearms.
Our divorce attorney is really messing things up. He likes Sigs. 
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Topic title piqued my curiosity. I thought you guys were talking about something else, so I read through all the posts. No Dr. Ruth discussion but still pertinent. My wife is slowly coming around with the current troubles brewing.
Wife and I went to Gat Guns in West Dundee, IL and wife tried out a bunch of pistols as my other stuff is too big for her to comfortably carry. Great service.
She did not like the revolvers. Narrowed the pistols to about five or six based upon:
Ease of racking the slide
Comfort in handling
Ease in loading the magazine
Weight and size
We then went to the indoor range and she and I shot all five or six. Narrowed it down based upon comfort when shooting, slide racking, ease of acquiring and hitting a small target and loading . She kept coming back to one pistol in particular. Done!
Few weeks later, I ended up buying the same damn pistol!
Very nice as I never feel guilty buying more magazines to keep around the house and vehicles.
Glock 43
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Several years ago my wife decided she wanted her own handgun. I had her try my Glock 26 but her hands are too small and she couldnāt pull the slide. The recoil with target loads was too much too. So I found a gun store with an indoor range and would do rental. I thought she might like either the Bersa Thunder .380 or the Ruger LCP .380. She didnāt like the feel or the sights of the Bersa and couldnāt pull the slide on the Ruger. The range officer handed my wife her his wifeās Sig P238. Bingo. Pulled the slide, shot to point of aim and felt real comfortable. One P238 sold.
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This reminds me, my wife and I have been married for 34 years. When we were dating I bought her, her own gun. It was a 25 semi auto. She liked it. Through out the years I bought more guns and her and I would go out to shoot on occasion. It wasnāt until about four years ago when she applied for her gun safety course when asked how to load a magazine with ammo and place the magazine in the magazine well. She did not know how to do it. I was shocked and embarrassed. She didnāt know because I would it all for her. All she had to do is shoot. Just a small little story that could have been disastrous. But now she odd well trained.
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I sent my new wife to a one day women only class.
Yup, gotta fiaht the weapon to the person, in size, comfort and ability. Way to many stores just want the sale, not to advance our cause.
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Donāt pick 9mm. Ammo cost has gone up 300%.
Was $18.98 for 9mm hollow pt. and it is $79.99 now.
Get any thing but 9mm.
I donāt know why ??
This is something that is of such great importā¦ not enough emphasis can be put on no just women, but men etc need to figure out on their own which gun fits them. I an many of my friends and 2A acquaintances have discussed this at length. Advice is great, but individual preference and learning canāt be usurped by some Neanderthal intentā¦ you create enemies of the 2A that wayā¦
In some recent CCW classes, I have had couples attend together. One a husband-and-wife, the other a boyfriend-and-girlfriend, the men provided a handgun for live fire qualification in both cases, and the women were new to firearms. To strengthen @Alexander25ās point, the handguns provided, both 9mm, were way too big for the womenās hands.
While I never actually fail someone entirely because of shooting skills, I do give them the opportunity to come back for āsummer schoolā and a little one-on-one training and provide them with the proper fitting handgun. I do this for their safety, and enhancing their customer experience, building their confidence and enthusiasm. Iām happy to say in both cases, with a proper fitting handgun, which was a 9mm, they not only both passed, they outshot their male counterparts.
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Youāre a good man sir. People new to hand guns, or guns in general always go through the what fits stageā¦ like clothing we are all unique in that respectā¦ it takes experimentation to find the one that compliments us. 
not such a big issue with guys I thinkā¦ but still relevant. My first purchase (handgun) was a glock22 40 cal. The gun fit well, Iām just not fond of the caliber. With glock it created excessive muzzle flip. Iām not sure why, but I could take a 1911 .45 and out shoot my .40 cal any day. 
Lots of folks are fine with the .40. It just didnāt work with me. 
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The wife did the right thing , if it felt wrong in her hand, then you are wasting your money to purchase the weapon.
When i took my wife to buy a gun, i let her pick the one that suited herā¦everyone is happy
If you believe a 22 is not enough, would you care to let me shoot you with a 22 ? Granted a 22 will not stop someone is so full of drugs that their blood is just about boiling from their heart beating at twice the speed of sound . But a 22 caliber in the hands of a trained shooter will put a normal person down & out with a well placed shot or two. ***This comment is not saying that I psychotic and looking to shoot you I am just making a point *** Any gun in the right hands will work , It is more dependent on who ( in this case your wife ) is comfortable with and can handle. Train Train and then Train some more until it becomes muscle memory.
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I proposed we get bomb vests for our wives. This way theyāre sure to hit their target. 
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Iām sure that gentleman had good intentions. I did too when I bought my wife her Ruger LC9s 9mm, but did not take into account that she doesnāt have the hand strength to rack the slide without difficulty. I quickly realized that this was not the gun for her and took her along on my next trip to the gun store to select a weapon that worked for her. She ended up settling on a S&W M&P .380 Sheild EZ M2.0 which was much easier for her to handle.
I did keep the Rugerā¦itās got to be one of the most accurate compact 9mm guns Iāve ever seen at the 25-50 yard range and is easy to carry when I take my daily hike through the desert. Alexander makes a great point. though. The gun needs to fit the shooterās needs, not those of the purchaser.
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6 to 10 rounds of 22 cal. placed in a one to one and a half inch group would pretty much stop anyone especially between the eyes. But going back to a few years ago in Charleston, South Carolina the cops put 9 rounds of 9mm into a druggie and he would not go down. They never said anything about shot placement.
I agree. Interestingly enough, it sounds like we started off the same, but ended up taking different paths. My first ācenterfireā handgun purchase was a Glock 22 as well. I had shot revolvers and a few semiās, but nothing in a semi larger than 9mm. The 9ās were extremely snappy compared to the .357 and .44, so I thought a .40 would tame some of that. The gen 4ās had just come out and were sitting side by side with the left over inventory of gen 3ās and were about 1/2 the price of the 1911ās in stock. Of course I had to choose the newer model. To my surprise, it was snappier than I expected it to be. I had purchase a couple of different types of ammo to experiment with, so I quickly found out that the 180 grain rounds had noticeably less muzzle flip than the more common 165ās.
After that, I put a Hogue grip on it and it really tamed down. The backstrap thing still didnāt sink in with me. I had chosen the gen 4 in part because the grip felt better in my hand at the counter than the gen 3. Fast forward a few years and I decide to try out a couple of backstraps on my G19 just for the experience. The light bulb came on then. I had been doing myself a disservice by running the gun without a backstrap. While the smaller grip felt good in my hand initially, it hindered me on the recoil mitigation side. The difference is substantial.
That said, the Glocks seem to be somewhat slide light / grip heavy compared to Sig or M&P, which can change the experience. Thatās not a bad thing as long as the shooter recognizes it. They seem to come into battery just a little bit quicker. I have never been able to outrun a Glock even with a flat out double tap. Having run springfield, m&p, sig, berretta, FN, and a few others, I have come full circle to Glock. I guess I just like the common trigger pull and simple platform between models. None of my Glocks will ever have a trigger as sweet as well tuned 1911, but it works for me.
On the flipside, the 3.3" barrel on a Springfield XDS in .45 ACP is a handful of snap compared to a Glock. So I guess, the only thing I would add is that not only does the gun need to be right for the shooter, but the cartridge needs to be right for both the gun and the shooter. Other than maybe a lack of variety, I love the .40, but these days I find myself shooting a lot of 9 because of cost. 
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Welcome to the Family Josh W.
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