The only thing that I can say is, my wife has shot my FNP 9mm, S&W M&P 9L and my Walther P22. She actually did better with my S&W than I did to start with. I bought her a S&W 442 revolver, .38 SPL, and she will shoot it till tomorrow. I will let you know how she does. If she has problems with it, I'll probably buy her a Ruger .380 when they release them again. That might not be an ideal home defense gun though.

Thanks for the response. I'll take a look at the S&W 442.

Yeah, this is strictly for home def, so it doesn't have to be lightweight. I prefer that it be on the heavier side to reduce recoil. I realize that if she ever decides to carry (wish she would), we'd be shopping for something entirely different.

This past summer my wife wanted to get her first hand gun after shooting my collection of 9mm's and one .22. She ended up choosing a Beretta 85SS 380 ACP.

Take her down and let her handle them and if you can rent and shoot them all the better.

She ended up choosing the 85 because it was pretty and she could conceal carry it in her purse.

Just my .02 worth.

When you say she has difficulty pulling the trigger of the guns you currently have, do you mean the trigger pull is to heavy? Or she just doesn't like the guns you currently have? If she thinks the trigger pull is too heavy, then you surely wouldn't want to get her a revolver. A semi will have a lighter trigger pull.

Don't count out other calibers for her. My wife is 5'2" and 105lbs and can easily handle a 9mm. She liked the larger handle guns more than the smaller guns. She really liked the glock 26 and shot it well. I ended up getting her an xd subcompact 9 for the added safety. She couldn't hold on to the kahr 9.

I'd consider a single stack 9 mm that is DA/SA. The single stack would allow for a better grip. The DA/SA would allow her to thumb cock for a lighter, more accurate, trigger pull. The 9 mm choice will give enough energy to do the job.
A SIG 239, or a S&W 908 come to mind.
Don't forget to get her professional training.

Have you considered one of the many used S&W Mod 10's out there? Most have been used enough the trigger pull is smooth and not bad, and the 4" heavy barrel does not have much kick with a .38 spcl round.

I'm with jrs. Several years ago I bought a used S&W mod 15. I put a set of hogue grips on it and gave it to my wife. It's a 4" and she shoots it great! She is real comfortable with being able to open the cylinder and see if it is loaded.

When she got her CCW I got her a Colt Detective Special. It is not the lightest 38 out there but she is comfortable shooting it. I bought her a blackhawk briefcase with an internal holster and that is what she carries.

If she is having trouble with the DA pull then you can put a slightly lighter Wolff spring in it. Alternatively, she can cock the weapon to shoot it. I know that is not ideal for self defense application but that is what my wife and daughter do with my self defense revolvers.

I have a few guns,auto & revolvers. I sold & gave away about 20 including rifles & shotgun. Before I started selling t& getting rid of them I let my wife pick out one for a bed gun She picked a Rossi M88 stainless 2" revolver. She turned in the Walther P-1. I asked why the Rossi. She told me you just pick it up & pull the trigger, no safeties or any thing else.She is very proficent with both revolvers & autos. Bullmack45

My wife, retired, has tiny hands/wrists & little strength. She loves to shoot & 'claimed' one of my 38 snubbies, to start [my off-duty sidearm]. One day at the range, she wanted to try my P3AT; she clobbered the 9 ring at 30 feet, easily. I never got it back since it fits in her purse so well.
Also, she likes it for answering the door when I'm not around, since she can pocket the thing without scaring anyone.
She qualified for her CCW with her [used to be mine] .22 semi and, after putting 5-6 rounds of .38, 9mm, .380 into the POA in a target, she goes back to the .22 semi for practice.

Her only concern is that she cannot pull back the slide on any of my semis, which would be a HUGE problem if she ever got a FTF, FTE, stovepipe, especially under great stress.
She chooses to carry her little .380 whether in public or at home.
I think she'd be better off with a revolver at home... they 'always' go BANG.

Originally Posted by Popeye

My wife, retired, has tiny hands/wrists & little strength. She loves to shoot & 'claimed' one of my 38 snubbies, to start [my off-duty sidearm]. One day at the range, she wanted to try my P3AT; she clobbered the 9 ring at 30 feet, easily. I never got it back since it fits in her purse so well.
Also, she likes it for answering the door when I'm not around, since she can pocket the thing without scaring anyone.
She qualified for her CCW with her [used to be mine] .22 semi and, after putting 5-6 rounds of .38, 9mm, .380 into the POA in a target, she goes back to the .22 semi for practice.

Her only concern is that she cannot pull back the slide on any of my semis, which would be a HUGE problem if she ever got a FTF, FTE, stovepipe, especially under great stress.
She chooses to carry her little .380 whether in public or at home.
I think she'd be better off with a revolver at home... they 'always' go BANG.

While I'm in favor of revolvers for home defense, have you looked at the Beretta Tomcat? .32 ACP with a tip-up barrel; you can insert a round into the chamber to make it double-action ready, without manipulating the slide.

My two cents for home a defense revolver and no carry concerns a stainless Ruger SP101/GP100 or S&W 686 revolver would be good. If I was thinking about my wife I'd have her strongly consider a 4" 686 as a good balance between refinement, ease of use and recoil management. Small light weight revolver exclusively for home defense seems the wrong way to go thinking of recoil and ease of accurate shooting but that's just my opinion. Depends on the shooter.

In semi auto's the options abound but the biggest challenge I have seen is racking the slide and manipulating the controls as some can be pretty stiff. Berretta PX4 storm comes to mind as it is easy to rack the slide and the DA/SA trigger in my experience is smooth and easy to use. HK USPc, P2000 etc. slides are usually very easy to rack but the DA trigger is a strong pull. LEM trigger would take care of that. My wife has a Sig 228 that she shoots well but I do worry about her racking that slide for reloading or clearing a potential malfunction under stress.