Don't overlook Springfield Armory. Their weapons are supposed to be first class. My best friend is in Iraq and armed his stateside wife with a Taurus .38. He speaks highly of his Springfield XD. I've never actually fired either one, but I trust his judgement. He's career Army, and knows his firearms.

Agreed, the XD is the equal of Glock in most respects, and Springfield's warranty/tech support is first-rate.

A 22 would be a great choice and at least an easy way to 'break into' handguns. IF she gets comfortable with that, you could always upgrade to a .38 or higher.

I tend to think revolver, only because in the kind of emergency that she might need to use it in, I would not be 100% convinced she would operate an automatic correctly. No round in the chamber or safety on, not good when you need to pull the trigger.

A revolver, on the other hand, pretty much a no-brainer.

I'm hoping that your wife doen't have to be any place that requires her to have a handgun or that makes her feel so uncomfortable that she feels the need to carry. If that's the case, I'd recommend a change of workplace or change of where she has to frequent.

Otherwise, a .357 will leave the print of the pistol grips in her palm (I speak from a .357 Colt experience). A lesser caliber would most likely be more comfortable. You could, if you are so inclined, get her a .38 and load it with hollwpoints. That would leave a considerable mark on any attacker.

Again, if it were my wife, I'd not have her frequenting any locality that I'd be so worried that I'd consider having her carry a firearm.

Waterdog, before I make my suggestions let me 'splain my background without sounding like I'm tooting my own horn. Fifteen years as a cop during which time I was a firearms instructor for duty- and off-duty weapons, and gunsmith with a specialty in pistolsmithing. I've investigated numerous shootings and examined the damage that bullets have done to bodies, including during autopsies. I've been to factory gunsmithing schools taught by Remington, Smith & Wesson, Colt, Glock, Ruger, and Detonics. I've also taught home firearms courses to women.

Based on the limited information you provided, and not knowing anything about your wife's familiarity with firearms, I'll assume that that she is not a "shooter".

First, I would highly recommend a revolver over a semi automatic pistol. They're simpler to operate, almost jam free, and if a round fails to fire you simply pull the trigger again. Those things make a revolver a much better choice for a non-shooter.

Yes, semi auto pistols have higher magazine capacity, and are much faster to reload. However, if the pistol jams (and there are many types of jams that can occur), unless the shooter is highly trained in clearing the malfunction, the gun is pretty much out of commission. To me, that huge negative far outweighs the extra magazine capacity of a semi-auto pistol. Besides, in most shooting situations, they happen at a distance of 10' or less, last about 2.5 seconds, and fewer than 4 shots are fired (total).

Having taught all skill levels from non-shooters up to very experienced cops how to use a semi-auto pistol (I taught a course for the state of Washington that was designed to teach cops how to transition from a revolver to a semi-auto pistol) there's no way I would recommend a semi-auto for home protection to people with limited shooting experience.

Now that I've recommended a revolver, let me suggest that you buy a .357 Magnum revolver and use .38 Special +P+ or +P ammo in it or buy a .38 Special revolver.

The problems with .357 Magnum ammo are numerous: Loud report, large muzzle flash, extreme recoil, excessive penetration, ammo is much more expensive, etc.

The perfect round is one where the bullet passes through the normal layers of clothing, expends all of its energy inside the body, and does not exit the body. If a bullet exits the body and carries with it a high amount of its energy, that bullet has the ability to injure an innocent bystander, family member, etc.

.38 Special +P+ or +P ammo is designed to expend a high percentage of its energy inside the body. The bullets expand quickly but retain their weight well.

As to a revolver brand, from my gunsmithing experience I prefer S&W. Colt's are as good, but generally higher priced and not quite as simple to work on. Rugers are heavier and bulkier than they need to be so if you're going to carry it concealed the weight difference might become a nuisance. Also, if you're carrying it concealed (or in inclement weather), stainless steel is important.

If small size is important to you for concealment purposes, I'd look for a stainless steel S&W revolver in either a .357 Magnum or .38 Special. They can be easily concealed on a belt or in an ankle holster. I carried a S&W Model 60 in an ankle holster for years.

Also, don't overlook the gun shows and/or buying a used revolver at a gun shop or from a private party through a newspaper ad. When you consider that most guns never have more than a box or two of shells fired through them, buying a used gun can save you lots of money, and most have not been used much. By way of a measure of longevity, I have a S&W revolver that I used in competition for many years. It's had well over 100,000 round through it and it's still in excellent shape.

got my wife the Taurus cia model 850 38 special revolver fully enclosed hammer light weight 5 shot very simple to use. autos can jam revolver leaves no shell casings

I agree with what most of GFC had to offer.

I think you should start out an inexperienced female shooter with a .38 revolver. Make sure to let her pick one out that she feels comfortable with. A weak wrist with a semi automatic will give her nothing but problems.

And don't forget to teach good trigger control!

very true .....

I just went through the same thing with my wife. Hopefully our experience helps. We ended up with a S&W Ladysmith in 38spl basically for the reasons GFC listed above. It felt comfortable in her hands and will handle +P loads. At the moment I have both Ruger and S&W revolvers in different calibers along with a H&K USP compact 40. While I tend to buy Ruger in the larger calibers the S&W is easier to conceal than any of the Rugers I've looked at. As far as revolver vs auto I wanted something simple and reliable for her. She's shot autos but she's not comfortable enough for an emergency situation so auto's were out.

As far as price we paid just over $400 used from a friend. Over the years I've bought and sold countless guns and GFC is right. The vast majority of guns I've bought had less than a box of shells through them so finding a good used one shouldn't be a problem.

Actually, after buying her Ladysmith I'm looking for something similar for me. I like carrying it and it's a lot easier to conceal than my H&K.

the admiral has a .38 6 shooter and loves it.

Personally, I am not a fan of the S&W Airlight or Ladysmith, especially for the fairer sex. Too light, the recoil is more noticable. I helped my mother pick out a .38spl and she ended up with the standard .38 revolver, but with the covered hammer. While not overly light it is a reliable and easy shooting revolver.
My recomendations is to get the handle fitted to her hand. Go to a store that has a bunch of handles, rogue, uncle Mike's, etc, and get her a handle that fits well. Possible the stocker will work, but you don't want it jumping on her. Get the weakest ammo to get her started, low recoil = high probability she'll like shooting. Work her up to self defense rounds as the ones GFC mentioned.

I also like the smaller 9mm or .380 autos. i know many do not like them due to jamming and such. As with any auto, test fire the carry ammo, a bunch. Be sure it doesn't have a tendency to jam. I also like autos with Traditional Double Action, if the first shot doesn't scare them off, the second shot has to be on target.

My wife's pistol is a SigSauer P229, .40. Not exactly what I'd put in a beginner's hands but very nice weapon once you are familiar with it. I wouldn't call it overly concealable either. Personally, well, I'm 10' tall and bullet proof, so....

A couple of forgotten, but decent calibers for a woman's handgun, are the .32 & .25. To be honest, if I was to get a weapon for my wife, I would consider a good .22 break action derringer, using shot shells. A Walther PPS would also be a good choice in .22.

As a long time shooter and hobbiest I have owned and carried many types of guns. My wife has also fired most of my guns. He are my suggestions:

1- Find something comfortable that you are willing to carry. If something is too heavy or too big you will not carry it.

2- Avoid .22 rimfires as they are not always reliable and sometimes fail to fire.

3- Autos are harder to learn to use, more systems, although they are slimmer.

4- Find a secure way to carry. For ladies, I would discourage the purse as this is the first to get stolen or dropped in a struggle.

Based on these points I like the light weight snub .38's. I personally own a Airweight S&W 642 and carry it more than most other guns that I own. The next most carried is a Glock 23 which is slimmer but also bigger/heaver to carry.

My wife has shot both of these guns and has no problems with either. If money is a factor Taurus makes a model 85 Ultralight which is around 12 ounces empty. I prefer S&W but at $50-100 cheaper Taurus is a nice bargin.

I have tried packing larger guns on hikes, hunts, atv rides, etc and found anything over 20 ounces, at least for me, is too heavy. The 642 gets carried the most often.

Really? In all of the shooting that i've done with a .22, I have never, never, ever had a misfire with a cartridge. And, I've burned through scads and scads and scads of bricks of .22 shells. Heck, I've shot through two bricks at a time at times.

My concern with using a .22 as a personal defense weapon is that it doens't pack enough wallop. I'd want a show stopper for a cartridge fired in self defense. Personally, if I were to carry, and it wasn't illegal or too heavy, I'd prefer a sawed off 20 guage with slugs for the cartridge of choice.

I would bet the bank that statisticlly .22 rimfires have the highest failure to fire rate compared to any other round. This is probably due to many reasons but I have ready more than one article talking about rimfire primer not being as reliable as a centerfire. I forget the science behind it.

The main failure to fire reason, IMO anyway, is cheap bulk ammo and a dirty gun due to high volume of firing. If you clean and lube your gun and shoot premium .22 ammo I think the FTF's become less common. Still, in an autoloader especially, 1 FTF can cost you your life.

My .22 experience comes from shooting numerous long guns and my Ruger MkII. I usually use the cheapest Remington bricks and always have a few FTF's. With brands other than Remington, the MkII jams almost every shot. A friend has the same gun and gets the same results!

I tossed around the idea of the S&W .22 Magnum Airlight that was around the same price of the 642 and decided on the .38. The .22 (which I believe is the model 617) was lighter and a bit smaller but I wanted the .38.

I would not feel undergunned with the model 617 but would not feel comfortable carrying any rimfire in semi-auto for self defense.