BMWGSRider wrote:Thanks for all the wonderful advice as I will use all the advice that was given in my research for the right gun for me.
I have already qualified and did qualify with a semi-automatic.
I don't mean to be "dumb" but for those who mention try before buy... how do you try before you buy? I did not think there was a way to try a gun out before you buy one. Or when you say try before you buy meaning to find a gun range that will rent guns?
Thanks for all the welcomes... I never got an email notification to replies... are you suppose to get email notifications on replies or no?
Thanks again for sharing you'll knowledge.
Welcome to the forum
Already a lot of good advice. I'll add my $0.02 down below. But to answer your specific "try before you buy" question:
1. Rent guns at a range. Can get expensive $10 or $15 for rental, plus usually have to buy/use their ammo = another $15 to $20, plus range rental time fee. But worth it before you spend +/- $500 on a gun that you intend to be your last line of self defense.
2. Ask around of friends, fellow shooters, folks here on the board. Plenty of good people who like they're particular guns and would be happy to let you shoot a few rounds through them to see if you like them too. We see posts like "Hey I'm in Amarillo and would really like to try Xxxxx gun(s) if anyone has one" all the time. Offer to buy someone a cup of coffee or even lunch and spend an hour at the range. GREAT way to learn. I haven't been to Amarillo myself in over a decade, but I'd offer to let you try some of my guns if you were in Austin area. I'm sure there's someone in that area who'd be happy to let you try their gun(s).
As to recommendations, as has been said it's a very personal thing which gun fits you best. I think it's a lot like fitting on a nice pair of boots. Me personally, I can only comfortably wear ropers - old-fashioned Cowboy style with the skinny toe box and tall upper just don't fit me well at all.
For someone with small hands, I'd certainly try semi-automatics with single-stack magazines. These will naturally have thinner grips, regardless of caliber. Many will point a petite woman with small hands toward the many medium-frame .380-caliber semi-auto guns like Bersa, Walther PPS, Sig Sauer P232, and even Beretta Model 84, Browning BDA etc. These are all great guns. But be aware that their straight blowback method of operation can have as much
felt recoil as a similar-sized 9mm pistol with a more forgiving locked breech short recoil operation. Example: I fired a Beretta 84 one time, then picked up my 9mm Glock - which is close to same size, lighter weight, and fires a larger cartridge than the Beretta - but the Glock did not FEEL like it recoiled as hard. This is not to say don't try these .380s, all are well-built great guns and may fit your hand like a glove. Just try something else too as a comparison.
FIT in your hand is the most important factor in accurate, comfortable shooting. If you can't grip the gun properly, you won't be accurate, you won't enjoy shooting it, and over a long time of thousands of rounds of practice shooting you could even injure your hand or wrist (repetitive stress type injuries are not unheard of).
Also take a good look at revolvers - huge number of choices, but many of us carry a snub-nose .38-caliber revolver as either primary or backup weapon. The Smith & Wesson J-frame is the standard. But Ruger, Taurus etc also make very good wheel guns. Many of these guns are made of very lightweight material - aluminum alloy or even composite/polymer frame - and can have a sharp kick or felt recoil that you may not enjoy. If this is a problem, then look for revolvers made of solid steel such as the S&W Model 60 or the Ruger SP-100. Typically, a heavier gun firing the same caliber will have less
felt recoil. As an example, my little S&W 638 Airweight snub-nose .38-special has sharp recoil even with standard .38-special ammo and kicks like a mule with .38 +P ammo (some here even fire similar size/weight guns with 125-grain .357 Magnum loads - OUCH!

). But the same .38-caliber ammo in my big, heavy S&W K-frame revolver with 4-inch barrel feels like shooting a cap gun by comparison. The benefit of a revolver is that typically they are very reliable and easy to operate and clean. The downside is the lack of ammo available in the gun (typically 5 shots with a small carry revolver, 6 or more with much larger models), and the more difficult reloading process if under pressure (easier and faster to put a new magazine into a semi-auto than a speedloader into a revolver - though either can be lightning fast with extensive training and practice).