Diggity ~
Okay ...
I'm partial to 9mm as a beginner's defense caliber. (Not that it isn't also a good caliber for more experienced folks.) There are several reasons for this.
First, it is the least expensive of all defensive calibers. This is major, because it removes one of the most common excuses people give for not practicing enough.
Second, and equal in importance, it is a soft-recoil round while still being adequate for defense. I know a lot of guys sneer at any defense caliber that doesn't begin with a 4, but the fact is that 99% of people will become better shooters, sooner, if they start out by getting in a
lot of practice with a lighter round. (And yeah, I'm pulling my nomex undies on here ...) We all know that shot placement is king -- which in turn means the best choice for a beginner is a caliber and a platform that maximizes early skill development.
Third, 9mm is available in a very wide variety of quality handguns. There isn't a single gun type that is not readily available in a 9mm -- including revolvers if you don't mind moon clips. The smaller autopistol calibers, .32 and .380, tend to come in only a few platforms and (with a few stellar exceptions) those platforms are sometimes poor ones for pleasant shooting. So you've got a lot of quality choices with the 9mm and that's a good thing too.
So that is why I tend to steer beginners toward 9mm whenever they haven't expressed a strong opinion otherwise.
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Next up, gun fit. Not going to retype the whole article here, so I'm putting yet another shameless plug for my site here instead:
www.corneredcat.com/FirstGun/tryongun.aspx -- that link has the article about gun fit. If you read nothing else, if
she reads nothing else ... read that article before you purchase anything. It'll save you money and grief.
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Now, platform. Do yourself and her a favor, and gently steer her away from any DA/SA autoloaders for her first defensive handgun. The learning curve on these is much steeper than most casual shooters realize -- and did I mention that the proper beginner's gun should maximize early skill development?
If she gets her heart set on one anyway, encourage her to
heavily practice those DA first shots -- I mean like the first half of
every range trip for the first 1000 or more rounds should be in DA mode. And the second half of the first 1000 rounds should be two-shot drills, practicing that awkward DA-to-SA transition. I am utterly serious about this: the very first shot out of a defensive handgun is the most crucial one, after all. You may not get another!
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Specific guns to try ...
Glock. Take the mid-sized G19 or the baby G26. Glocks are good because they are extremely simple, widely available, lotsa holster choices out there, everyone on the range is familiar with 'em so if she has a question there are lots of people who've actually shot one & can answer her question (this is as opposed to say, a Desert Eagle, a gun for which there are a lot of "experts" who've never so much as handled one). The good thing about a Glock is that it is very simple and always ready to shoot; the bad thing is that it is very simple & always ready to shoot. I personally believe that these guns produce very safety-conscious, responsible shooters because new Glock owner are never tempted to say, after doing something stupid, "Well, it's okay, the safety was on..."
Kahr. Take the more solid and heavier metal series rather than the polymer lightweights. These are excellent guns for small hands. Reliability can be spotty; don't trust one until you've put it through its paces to the tune of 500 rounds downrange without a single hiccup.
I personally would not rule out the XD based solely on service considerations -- they are
very reliable guns and you are unlikely to have a problem with one in any case. Of course every gun can break, but they're more reliable than most and very unlikely to give you grief in the first place.
Dunno if any of that helps. Hope so.
pax
