Informative writeup in the May 2019 American Rifleman Magazine.
68 female shooters, ranging in age from 25 to 76, and with similarly wide-ranging levels of experience took place in the project.
They fired 26, currently available, self-defense oriented firearms, chambered in .380ACP, 9mm, and 357Mag/.38Sp, and rated them for various parameters such as ergonomics, recoil manageability, magazine loading difficulty, ease of operation of controls, etc.
The S&W M&P380 Shield EZ topped the list with a nearly perfect score (96.6%), runner up was the Glock 19G5, followed by the SIG P238. SIG also took 6th and 10th with the P365 and the SP2022, respectively. Walther managed an 8th place finish with its CCP M2 and the Ruger Security-9 managed to squeak into the top 10 with a 9th place finish. The remainder of the top 10 guns were Glocks, with the 42, 17G4, and 43 taking 4th, 5th and 7th, in that order.
What's interesting is that although 4 revolvers were tested, the top finisher came in only 17th. The top wheelgun finisher was the 3" GP100, also the largest revolver in the test. The smallest revolver tested, a S&W Bodyguard in .38Spl came in dead last in the test, scoring 26th out of 26.
We talk a lot about what we believe constitutes ease of use when it comes to firearms, and the "common wisdom" says revolvers top the list in that respect. Real world testing doesn't seem to bear that out.
68 female shooters, ranging in age from 25 to 76, and with similarly wide-ranging levels of experience took place in the project.
They fired 26, currently available, self-defense oriented firearms, chambered in .380ACP, 9mm, and 357Mag/.38Sp, and rated them for various parameters such as ergonomics, recoil manageability, magazine loading difficulty, ease of operation of controls, etc.
The S&W M&P380 Shield EZ topped the list with a nearly perfect score (96.6%), runner up was the Glock 19G5, followed by the SIG P238. SIG also took 6th and 10th with the P365 and the SP2022, respectively. Walther managed an 8th place finish with its CCP M2 and the Ruger Security-9 managed to squeak into the top 10 with a 9th place finish. The remainder of the top 10 guns were Glocks, with the 42, 17G4, and 43 taking 4th, 5th and 7th, in that order.
What's interesting is that although 4 revolvers were tested, the top finisher came in only 17th. The top wheelgun finisher was the 3" GP100, also the largest revolver in the test. The smallest revolver tested, a S&W Bodyguard in .38Spl came in dead last in the test, scoring 26th out of 26.
We talk a lot about what we believe constitutes ease of use when it comes to firearms, and the "common wisdom" says revolvers top the list in that respect. Real world testing doesn't seem to bear that out.