Later on I got this brilliant idea that I wanted a gun in every caliber so I started researching 9mm pistols since I was informed that a .380 was simply a shortened 9mm. I went to the local gun range where they had pistol rentals (somewhere I should have gone in the first place) and tried out every single one of their 9mm pistols that they had in stock. I tried Sigs, S&W, Glock, H&K etc. I fell in love with the P226 until I realized it wasn't in my budget. I went in hoping that I would love a Glock being that they are very customizable, but I didn't find any of them to be very comfortable to shoot. However, I was shocked how little recoil all of these guns in 9mm had, and I began wondering what was wrong with my Bersa to make it have so much more recoil! I ended up liking the S&W M&P9 the most, out of all of them at the time.
The purpose in explaining how I ended up buying my first gun is to illustrate that just because a caliber is labeled as "easy enough to handle for a woman," it doesn't mean that it will necessarily work out for every woman. When you are working with a small pistol, there is less place for the recoil to go and you end up feeling the bulk of the kick in your hand.
I find it funny that the gun market is suggesting that women carry .22 and .380 mainly because they are not "powerful" calibers. It's not to say it won't hurt if you get shot with either, but there is a reason law enforcement use other calibers. The gun market is trying to make guns more appealing to women by painting them pretty colors like pink, purple, and even crazy animal print. I feel that by doing this, it is discrediting female shooters. I've gone into many gun shops, both small and large and half the time if you are a woman they won't even show you a .45 pistol. I've been told "Oh honey, that's a man's caliber, it will be too much for you." I'm not a small woman either, and in fact my husband and I are the same height and have the same hand size. I can (and do) shoot any and every caliber/gun my husband shoots.
Very few manufacturers make “pretty” guns. When they do make these “pretty” guns, they make them in a useless caliber and they also jack up the price for not only the guns, but for the accessories as well. If you get something that is catered towards men aka tacticool dudes, the price is still higher, but not as much as the “pretty” female products. There are ways to customize almost any gun you get. You aren’t restricted to what the manufacturers sell.
If the appearance of your gun is important to you, there are so many options besides the manufactures selection. You do not need to buy one of the cutesy pink guns that are being marketed to women. There are such things as Brilliant Backstraps which is something I actually bought for my M&P9, and there is also DuraKote/CeraKote. You can buy any gun you want and have it coated in almost any color and style imaginable without paying a premium right out of the box for a finish that costs the manufacturer next to nothing. So yes, you can have a gun and a caliber that will serve its purpose of defense and look pretty at the same time.
Posted by Kristen Donchess