I had gotten one of those for my wife (380EZ). She loved shooting it, but she has tiny hands. She found that the grip safety was awkward for her, and she couldn’t reach the slide release with her right thumb. In the end she stopped using it and gave it to me. I love it. It’s super reliable, and so low on recoil that I can shoot it faster and more accurately than about any other handgun I’ve used. I carry it often, as it’s nice and slim and easy to conceal, even though it’s large for a 380.
Also, it feeds the Federal Hydrashok deep 100% reliability, which seems to the the most effective 380 ammo out there for both penetration and expansion. I don’t feel under-gunned with that ammo in that gun (the longer barrel vs most 380’s helps).
I am a huge Sheild fan and a bit “old school” as I prefer pistols with a manual safety (although my truck gun is a Glock 22), my EDC is a Shield .40.
My concern is that never having been exposed to the noise a foream makes will surprise her into not wanting a firearm. But as I told her this morning when I picked her up from work I pointed out I saw two fools fighting on the street corner about 1/2 mile form the chemical plant she works in. I used this oppurtunity to stress awareness of where she is and to have my son (her hubby) and me on speed dial.
There are a lot of things to consider. Locked car doors. Driving a car that isn’t desirable. Tinted windows so that they won’t notice she is a girl or alone. Sunglasses. Hat. Seriously…
Pepper spray is a good option, in hand and in car, and in purse.
Small hands and stature don’t necessarily determine what she shoots well, and you want her to have something she shoots well. As others said, rent, rent, rent. Scale up, 22LR/22WMR to see how the whole thing feels, then larger .380/9mm for less recoil, then work down to a size/recoil that she can easily handle. If she gets scared away, she’ll never own/carry one. Be patient. Shield EZ 9mm is where I think she’ll end up. Cheap. Always works. Fine for small bodies/hands. Easily concealable.
My wife ended up trading her EZ for a Smitth 43C 22LR revolver. Literally, no recoil, muzzle flash and very quiet. We picked .22 LR over .22 magnum because there is a Federal Punch .22LR SD ammo available that gave great penetration numbers, designed for 2" barrels, and the velocity difference between the two calibers with very short barrels was minimal. The .22LR holds 8 shots. She had no problem with the heavy DA trigger, but that’s something to test for your daughter, if she can hold her sight picture through the trigger press. I put a CT laser on my wife’s and she practices dry fire and holds the laser dot perfectly steady as she presses the trigger.
I know people scoff at a .22LR for SD, but most bad guys aren’t going to choose to continue an attack based what caliber is pointed at them, or what size bullets are going into them, and with 8 shots on board, she can do some serious damage.
I can’t imagine a day I want to be shot by one to eight .22lr rounds. Something she is good with is better than nothing or something she can’t shoot well. Good on you!
I picked up some boxes of Federal Hunter Match for the one .22 we keep around the house for bad guys. Not sure how that compares to what you chose in the short barrel.
This is why I personally would start with a .22lr, low recoil, not very loud, Then after getting used to the 22, graduate to a 380.(who couldn’t use another gun?). Possibly she might eventually be able to handle a 9mm (and of course have to buy another gun ).
Being small framed, she has to consider what size firearm she could conceal. A larger firearm will soften the recoil, but if it is hard to conceal, will she carry it? I’d rather have a 22 than nothing at all. I don’t think that a 22 is sufficient to carry, but it is better than nothing, and easy to get off more shots. The goal should be to get her comfortable with a firearm that she can handle safely, and conceal easily.
I wish I could remember the make and model, but my sister had a DA only semi that took her 2 fingers to pull the trigger. That’s why it is important to at least dry fire to find out if she can physically comfortably pull the trigger.
Shield 9 was my first carry, moved to a 45 for awhile. They are great gun. Nothing wrong with manual safeties, but I’ve moved away from them. One less thing to fumble and I buy kydex holsters that I adjust to be very secure so I don’t have to worry about the trigger getting accidentally pulled. Just my preference these days.
Definitely agree with taking classes. I was brand new to guns about 7 years ago. I always thought conceal carry was weird. My brother in law took me to the range and I loved it. After that I signed up for a LTC course but the course I signed up for also had a morning intro to guns class and that was a really good choice for me.
I know people who are jumpy, one of which is a close female family member I would like to take to the range. But I’m not going to take her till she’s ready. My hope would be that your daughter in law sees the current need, therefore steps up to the challenge. I don’t know the nature of her work, but if she works for a chemical plant and drives I bet she could handle the controlled environment at a range. Being able to shoot a 380 or 9mm is very doable boys.
I think she could handle 9mm or 380. I would not depend my life on 22. Regardless of ballistics, center Fire bullets are more reliable than rim Fire. It would be awful for anyone to pull a gun out for defense and then it fails to run. That’s more probable with a 22.
If I were to buy my wife a gun right now, it would be a G42. It shoots really good for its size. It’s small, easy to carry, it’s a Glock with all the Glock reliability. The only downside is capacity, but I would value shootability and reliability over capacity.
Smart, smart smart. Because it’s a revolver if a round doesn’t go bang it juts cycles to the next round. Don’t have to worry about a 22 having enough power to eject. I said earlier I wouldn’t recommend 22 but I could see a 22lr revolver being a good option, especially in car.
I still would recommend trying the bigger bullets. Ballistics, reliability. The loud noise itself could potentially end the situation all together, but the revolver in 22lr seems very reasonable to me.
As instructor and a range “fit finder”, your best path, as many have stated, is “try before you buy ANYTHING “. I’ve seen many a person of all genders and ages buy 1st only to come in, do a fitting and then select something very different from what they 1st bought. FWIW.
Cheers!
The 43C leaves a nice deep dimple in the cartridge rim, and good quality ammo pretty much fires 100% (like her SD ammo) but I have a bunch of bricks of Winchester that I bought years ago during the 22 ammo shortage that I later found would not cycle reliably in my rifle. We’ve been burning it up in the revolver. I’d say about every 10th round or so doesn’t go off on the first strike. When that happens, I pull through the rest of the cylinder then click around til I get to the dud and it always goes bang on the second hit.
I have a M&P 9mm Shield 2.0 and I like it. But I love my Roger Security .380, and I mean love, love, love. So easy to rack with easy glide. It looks great, shoots better than my 9mm, and feels great in my hands. I have small hands and short fingers. Good luck finding a firearm for her.
Something she is good with is better than nothing or something she can’t shoot well. Good on you!
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