If she does have to fire, a 22 or 25 will have low recoil that will make follow up shots much easier
The premise is flawed, and why I recommend everyone take some self-defense classes. Inside of 20', being able to draw and get off a shot at all is difficult, much less the precision required for .22 or .25 where it's facial triangle or the crime blotter. "Follow-up shots" are how gun manufacturers sell comically underpowered varmint rounds to women who're big hecking scared of handguns.
If you want an easy way to test this without springimg for a non-lethal training handgun, go get a laser pointer and a banana. Tell your buddy to rush you sometime that day and try to "stab" you with a banana before you can draw and laser pointer him in the face. After you get banana'd to death half a dozen times, you'll stop screwing around with squirrel rounds and get a caliber where even a poorly aimed JHP to the spleen will put an assailant down.
self defense classes
Classes and training aren't possible if she's afraid to fire the weapon, or can't handle it comfortably.
Again: my first choice for a woman is something in 380. But I think you're too quick to discount 22/25/32. If it's what works for someone, it's better than trying to fight them off with your bare hands. And if you can comfortably shoot off a few hundred rounds at the range of 22, as opposed to 50 rounds of something larger, guess which weapon they will be more proficient with when shit goes down
Don't take this personally but the original Bodyguard .380 is a terrible choice for a new female shooter. It sucks to shoot because it hurts to shoot. Most women will not want to shoot it again and it'll be a wasted investment.
Supposedly the Bodyguard 2.0 is much more comfortable to shoot but I cannot confirm that myself.
Having gone through the process of introducing firearms to a young woman that previously never wanted to touch a firearm, I had her start with a .22 for familiarization but then stepped her up to the S&W Shield EZ .380. She ended up buying a Shield EZ .380 for herself.
Not taking it personal, at all. I was referring to the 2.0 model. I know the general fight is between the bodyguard, shield, and recently the ruger security 9/380. It's like Ford and Chevy. PERSONALLY, I prefer the bodyguard (If I wasn't going to use my bobcat or revolver), but the shield is a fantastic weapon also. Again though, I've spoken to a lot of small women (100 pounds wet), who are afraid by even stuff we'd consider mild, like .38 special, 380, etc. In those cases, you just gotta find something they can handle, and are willing to practice with a lot. So the argument on which CC is best is all moot if it's not a fun weapon to shoot.
(post is archived)