Female friendly semi-auto for small hands?

[VirginiaTactical]

My wife started with a 1911 Commander chambered in 9mm, made from a caspian slide and frame.

Now she shoots a M&P 9 Pro ... I wish I could tell you how we made the leap to such a big difference. But mostly she saw me love my M&P and saw how much tuning we had to do to her 1911 every 2,000 or so rounds. She went from shooting 4000 rounds through her 1911 to now competing in uspsa matches and recently got 3rd lady in production at the VAMD sectional with the M&P.

The 1911 was a great start for her, and she has very small hands as well. I would recommend the 1911 in 9mm for any lady with small hands if you don't mind the price tag.

Good luck on choosing between the two pistols that are left! I was so exstatic when my wife finally got into shooting. It is no myth, if your wife shoots, you shoot more. The only thing I found is that I cannot be a prophet in my own town, and training my wife has been quite a challenge until recently.

[DTHN2LGS]

I can whole-heartedly recommend the H&K P7 for a small-handed woman as well. It's the gun I regret selling the most. I'm glad I didn't give it to the woman I knew who wanted it, as I had the gun longer than her.

[SteveS]

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[.45fmjoe]

My girlfriend really likes the feel of the HK P30, but I cannot afford one right now. The local range has a CAI import P6 for sale and I'm going to see how it feels in her hands. If she likes it I'm going to get one from J&G for $349 vs. the $489 the local range wants for it. And no, they won't go down to match the price. I already asked.

[DasBulk]

The SR9 is pretty nice in terms of grip.

[Warg]

We spent last Saturday at the range alternating among the Sig 226, Sig 229, HK P30, my Glock 17 and PPS: 30-ish rounds each with much back and forth. Wife concluded the 229 was, without reservation, the best tool for her among these, but admitted that she was starting to like the P30 quite a bit more.

Since the CZ75 Compact was still a consideration and that range did not have one to rent, we spent some a fair bit of time with a new piece at another dealer. Turns out that she had some difficulty with the internal slide, i.e., getting proper purchase as well as manipulating the slide release. We decided to refrain from purchasing this one.

Today we purchased a new Gen 2 Sig P229 SAS for her and a few mags. She preferred the smoothed ("melted") slide as well as the two-tone finish. I could certainly care less about the latter, but if she likes it and it gets me to the range more, I'm game.

On another note- while she was swapping firearms, I spent some quality time with the P30. I really like this piece and think I'm going to buy one for both of us to enjoy. Okay, let's face it...it's for me

I feel pretty confident she did the right thing by shooting the snot out of wide variety of candidates based largely on the advice given herein. The value provided by the generous contributions amongst experienced M4C members here is immeasurable. You guys and gals rock!

[Hmac]

My wife was just wanting to finally ditch her Colt NiteLight (ss Mustang)....wanted to go to 9mm. She looked hard at all of them...I was rooting for a blue label Glock 26, but she couldn't hack the grip. The dealer recommended against the M&P because he felt they came back too often. She ended up with the Walther PPS. Nice pistol. It fits her hand well, easy to use, and she shoots it well.

[Dunderway]

Yes. Again, I think the issue is the Glock's release lever and lack of familiarity with the action of the release. She had zero problems with some other semis she has looked at, so naturally I'm inclined to suggest one that seems to work better from the start.

I have issues with the stock Glock release when I start to get fatigued. The factory extended releases are night and day difference from the stock G19, and just effortless to use. For $15 it is well worth the money.

[HK51Fan]

my girlfriend and I are looking for a small pistol, she seems to want an auto, for her to carry when she runs on a fairly secluded jogging trail and for safety carry.
She's 5'3" about 125lbs w/ smaller hands. She fired a beretta tomcat in .32, but said it had really sharp kick?! She just finished her CCL class yesterday and shot a 240 out of 250, with a Glock 19 9mm. So I know she doesn't have an issue with shooting. She does have a bit of a problem with working the slide though. My first thought was a revolver, but then I thought about the Ruger LCP in.380? What do think?

[ChicagoTex]

my girlfriend and I are looking for a small pistol, she seems to want an auto, for her to carry when she runs on a fairly secluded jogging trail and for safety carry.
She's 5'3" about 125lbs w/ smaller hands. She fired a beretta tomcat in .32, but said it had really sharp kick?! She just finished her CCL class yesterday and shot a 240 out of 250, with a Glock 19 9mm. So I know she doesn't have an issue with shooting. She does have a bit of a problem with working the slide though. My first thought was a revolver, but then I thought about the Ruger LCP in.380? What do think?

If a .32 Tomcat was too much for her, a .380 LCP will knock her into next week.

It sounds like you're gonna have to look at .25s for this situation and practice, practice, practice shot placement.