Which of my Guns is the Easiest to Shoot

[AndyLate]

I’d say G19 of your choices.

I always used a 9mm 1911 for new, women shooters.
The all steel construction, wonderful/easy trigger and mild recoil made it an enjoyable experience for them. The thumb safety didn’t seem to be an issue after a couple magazines

A 9mm 1911 would be a good transition from a Ruger MKx, especially a 22/45. Somehow my BHP has not been a hit with any of the ladies who shot it, despite sharing some of the same characteristics. It has a less than stellar trigger, but I wonder if appearance plays into it; finish was poor when I bought it used 30+ years ago and apparently parkerizing doesn't grow back.

Andy

[Ron3]

A 9mm 1911 would be a good transition from a Ruger MKx, especially a 22/45. Somehow my BHP has not been a hit with any of the ladies who shot it, despite sharing some of the same characteristics. It has a less than stellar trigger, but I wonder if appearance plays into it; finish was poor when I bought it used 30+ years ago and apparently parkerizing doesn't grow back.

Andy

People being people aesthetics matter, yup.

[Sikiguya]

Whichever one you can suppress.

Then after she is comfortable, take off the can.


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[StainlessSteelRat]

My wife suffered a stroke at a relatively young age, and has considerable left side deficit. She isn't able to rack the slide on any pistol now, or work a long arm. We went through everything I could think of, and she ended up able to shoot my 4" Model 19 pretty well, with .38s of course. Between that and our 55lb Staffy/Blue Heeler mix that is totally devoted to her, I don't worry too much when I'm away.

[Todd.K]

Whichever one you can suppress.

Then after she is comfortable, take off the can.

I’m going to strongly disagree here. A suppressed .22 is a great way to start out a new shooter. But the recoil of a tilt barrel pistol is all kinds of messed up with a suppressor, and I think it will cause poor habits rather than help.

I would consider a barrel mounted comp to reduce recoil if needed.

[m4brian]

Cz P hammer guns. Too easy.

[sinister]

I would recommend crawl-walk-run. At the shop-range I worked retail we also had a nice (expensive) laser video projector trainer which really helped out before going live fire.

I ALWAYS start off BOTH ladies or gents with a .22 -- suppressed if you have one. This addresses issues with fear, noise, and blast.

Next step is to remove the suppressor, or change to the same gun without suppressor. An old Colt Woodsman is a good universal starter, while the Smith and Wesson .22 is a good, light, generic pistol. A Ruger 22-45 works as well.

Next, a centerfire automatic that fits that they can handle. I do all fitting and manual-of-arms dry, in a classroom, with no distraction from others live-firing cannon in the same bay or area.

Of the choices the OP mentioned, I'll try a Gen 4 17 first, for fit with smaller hands. A 19 might be attractive, but snappy recoil can be intimidating.

A 9mm 1911, or in .45 with light target loads (AVOID Ball and self-defense ammo), is a next step so they become familiar with a good trigger and slightly more recoil. They don't have to fire and maneuver with it, so I'll start with a five-round magazine, having them stop and put the pistol on the bench or shelf after each shot.

I teach grip, stance, sight picture, and sight alignment (equal height, equal light on either side of the front sight, concentrating on top dead center of the front sight) with a great big red and black Shoot-n-See target about six to ten feet out. I have them think of a big beach ball, with the tops of the sights along the waterline (which centers them up, height-wise), with the top dead center of the front sight at what would be the intersection of a vertical line from 12 to six o'clock (centering their left-right alignment).

Trigger squeeze is like tickling a baby's chin, straight back to your own chin so as not to disturb the sight alignment. You wouldn't jerk your finger quickly away from a baby's, dog's, or cat's chin -- it would startle them ... same principle. Ladies understand this.

They transition from pop-pop of suppressed or basic .22 to 9mm. You can use in-between cartridges (380), but some guns recoil and jump more than others.

I'm fairly sure this is my mother-in-law's first pistol target. She'd never fired a handgun before.

[TehLlama]

The one SHE chooses.

I really tried to out-think the whole process.

My wife decides my TRS 1911 was her favorite looking, so she loaded it up, I added the X300, and she proceeded to embarrass me with it at 15yd. Like, not even close, she's far more capable with a handgun, and that particular one had the precision to really show the difference.
She still prefers to shoot .22lr, but yeah, total smokeshow with 45ACP on that bad boy.