I have been wanting to purchase a revolver for home protection. I am choosing a revolver becuase I want my girlfriend to be able to use the gun as well. She isn't to comfortable w/ my semi-autos, so i figured the simplicity of a revolver would be easier to teach her on. I want her to feel comfortable so I can teach her how to use it safely without as many distractions as possible. Anyway, I really had my eye on a GP-100 4" stainless. I figured that it would be a good revolver to use becaue I could teach her w/ .38 specials and the weight of the gun would dampen the recoil for her considerably (she is concerned about the recoil being to much). Plus I figured that the 4" inch barrel would let you get the performance out of the .38 for home defense that you need for stopping power. Well, we went to try one out. She has small hands, and the trigger was a little hard for her to reach. She really had problems pulling the trigger w/ a double action pull. I was really discouraged. So now I'm back to square one. The range officer suggested trying a 3" ruger SP-101. My main concern is twofold: is the SP-101 heavy enough to dampen .38 +p loads for her to feel comfortable shooting it, and , 2nd, will a .38 perform well enough ballistically out of a 3" barrel to be suitable for home defense? She did hold it and it felt good to her. Any suggestions?