Easiest shooting 9mm for small hands? Dedicated home defense application.

For those that advise giving up on my daughter shooting pistols, I'd like to direct an enthusiastic and well deserved RASPBERRY your way. :p

Terrible advice! You should all go find a forum about knitting, stamp collecting or baseball! :D

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Originally Posted by gc70

Today, I took two similar pistols -S&W Equalizer and M&P Compact 3.6"- to the range. There are only small differences in the lengths, heights, widths, and weights of the guns. The grip sizes of the guns are the same as measured by the method described on page 4 of this thread. Being made by the same company, the operating controls and other characteristics of the guns are very much alike.

Notwithstanding the similarities of the guns, I can shoot the M&P much better than the Equalizer.

This is just a reminder to the OP that measurements can only tell so much. In the end, you have to see how a pistol works for you.

Attachment 118094

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We went over to a fleet supply store in a neighboring town this weekend to check out their limited stock. We already have an M&P 2.0 4" Compact at home, and she was able to get her hands on an Equalizer. The Equalizer feels significantly smaller, with shorter trigger reach, and easier access to all the controls. It really looked like it fit her hands better.

The M&P .22 compact was the gun she learned how to work out of a holster shooting drills with years ago. The Equalizer is nearly identical but slightly increased in all dimensions. While holding a gun that actually fit her hand size better piqued her interest, she has enough experience to know that doesn't mean it will shoot better than the M&P 2.0. "Dang, I just wish I could shoot it", was her conclusion. I really wish we could rent one somewhere.




As a purely theoretical exercise, just looking at numbers, it occurs to me that a Beretta APX A1 Tactical, with Surefire 300 Ultra, in a Philster Floodlight 2 Holster, may be a really nice shooting combo if the trigger reach/ergonomics were small enough. They are pretty cheap with the rebate, too.

Adding a heavy weapon light for ballast to the Equalizer, and then actually finding a decent holster that would fit, seems like it might be a problem.

Surprised no one recommended the Springfield echelon. The medium grip module that comes on it is already smaller/slimmer than most guns and you have the option of ordering a small grip module from Springfield for like 50-60 bucks. You could order the grip module and see how it fits her hand before committing to the purchase of the gun and return it if she doesn’t like it.

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Originally Posted by frozentundra

We went over to a fleet supply store in a neighboring town this weekend to check out their limited stock. We already have an M&P 2.0 4" Compact at home, and she was able to get her hands on an Equalizer. The Equalizer feels significantly smaller, with shorter trigger reach, and easier access to all the controls. It really looked like it fit her hands better.

The M&P .22 compact was the gun she learned how to work out of a holster shooting drills with years ago. The Equalizer is nearly identical but slightly increased in all dimensions. While holding a gun that actually fit her hand size better piqued her interest, she has enough experience to know that doesn't mean it will shoot better than the M&P 2.0. "Dang, I just wish I could shoot it", was her conclusion. I really wish we could rent one somewhere.




As a purely theoretical exercise, just looking at numbers, it occurs to me that a Beretta APX A1 Tactical, with Surefire 300 Ultra, in a Philster Floodlight 2 Holster, may be a really nice shooting combo if the trigger reach/ergonomics were small enough. They are pretty cheap with the rebate, too.

Adding a heavy weapon light for ballast to the Equalizer, and then actually finding a decent holster that would fit, seems like it might be a problem.

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My friend had an APX A1. It is very soft shooting due to an extremely stiff recoil spring, so strong that it was difficult to cycle compared to other 9mms and would malfunction with anything less than hot 124 grain ammo. Some other people had the same experience in the APX A1 Thread, while it worked for others.

Not a factory gun, but at SHOT a few years ago I held the Lone Wolf Timberwolf 2 frame, it was shocking how much smaller they made the Glock feel. The G21 model felt smaller then a factory G17.

If the frame can fit her hand, a G34 with WML built on that frame would probably be as soft shooting as it gets for a 9mm.

https://i.ibb.co/4jMZXHC/ir0p3vR.jpg

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In terms of factory guns, Walther makes the PDP-F series for women / those with smaller hands.

https://waltherarms.com/firearms/pdp-f-series

These guys spend an hour talking about 6 smaller guns w/ decent discussions on recoil. Not sure how much stock I put into them but its another data point for you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17SfGJVDG_Y