Suggestions for 9mm w/ safety and lightest possible recoil

I saw a great looking 1911 a woman had at the range the other day. LW Champ RO. 9mm, nice grip size, 1911 battery of arms of course. She didn't offer for me to shoot it, but she handled it well! I am going to try to get my wife to rent one ;)
 
The softest shooting 9mms I've come across are the Beretta 92 and HK USP and both have a safety. Both can be had on the used market as well for excellent prices. For a really nice "upgrade", look to the HK P30s. HK knows how to handle recoil. Good luck with your hunt.
 
I need advice on a first handgun for my wife. PLEASE spare me the "she should pick it herself" responses because I already know this
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What has she tried so far and what is her experience level shooting pistols??

If she does not have much experience and even if she does she might benefit some one on one training with a qualified instructed to show and coach on proper stance, grip, trigger control, and sight acquisition. Improper grip especially will cause someone to perceive more recoil than someone using a good grip. Knowing the basics will also help greatly in being able to choose a pistol that fits one well.

Learning on a .22 pistol can also be greatly beneficial in that one can learn basics without fear of recoil and loud blast.
 
Check into the Beretta PX4 9mm - compact or full size. I've got the full size and it's a soft shooter.

Also look into the CZ P-07, which is configurable as either a safety or a decocker - your choice. And the grip should be fine for someone with smaller hands. It's a polymer gun, so won't shoot as soft as the all metal CZs, but a lot of people are recommending polymer guns, so I thought I'd throw it into the fight. Disclaimer: I haven't shot this one, but it sure feels good in the hand in the store.
 
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You are getting the cart ahead of the horse. She needs to fit many guns into her hands and to shoot as many steel guns as possible includeing single action 9mm. Besides recoil she and you need to know if she can rack the slide

If she can rack a slide on a full size steel 9mm then she can think about what fits in her hands. Others have mentioned 1911s in 9mm you might also want to think about a Star Model B in 9mm. It handles like a 1911 but is just a bit smaller yet it is steel so it will soak up recoil. It is a single stack so it is thin and limp wristing has no effect plus they are milspec. Yes it is German milspeck but they have the mag disconnect and they lock open with the last shot and you can release the slide with your thumb but it is a proven design and not that expensive at around $300. The mags can be found on the E site for $22 -$30 if she desires more than two but it is single action.

This simply means for me I disengage the safety and thumb the hammer back. Instead of lowering the hammer against the rebounding fireing pin which compresses the spring I lower my hammer on a short piece of matchstick.

Some will say that this step is not needed and the piece of matchstick will foul the action......it doesnt. The short piece of matchstick falls completely free of the action just like it did today when the clerk at the LGS today checked out the Star that I was carrying today.
 
I would say CZ75, but I noticed the comment on small hands, so I'd have to withdraw that...

I would venture something like an Astra A70. It will be used and harder to find spares for, but it is all steel for the recoil, it is single stack for the grip, it has a safety too.

It is SAO and that seems to aid with long reach issues too.

They seem to have a great rep by owners.

If it has to be new, could a single stack 9mm 1911 work?

I assume that you have already dismissed 9mm revolvers.
 
As the husband of a serious pistolera who's had hand surgeries, and a long time LE firearms trainer, I could write you a five-page dissertation on training and equipping female shooters.

Instead I will just cut to the chase. Get her a M&P Compact, with the safety if that is appropriate for your situation.
 
Of the usual polymer pistols (glock, Xd, Xdm, FNP/FNX, etc), the S&W M&P has mild felt recoil. My full size 9mm M&P with safety has milder felt recoil than my Glock 34, Xdm 3.8, Walther P99, and Kahr K9.
If the trigger reach is OK for her hand size, then M&P maybe the way to go.
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I use to not like the M&P. As I use it more at the range, I am liking it more. Mine has an Apex sear and Apex firing pin block. The OEM trigger setup was OK -- the Apex FB allowed for a smoother trigger pull. The Apex sear allowed for a better/cleaner/lighter trigger break.
 
To fit within the parameters listed I would have to say a 9MM 1911.

But when you say it will be only for home defense I would add "She should get a rifle.

8 hours of training on a handgun is very little and will not put most people into a class wherein they will do well in a life and death fight so armed. Handguns take some serious time to master in comparison to rifles.

Give a woman 8 hours of good instruction with a semi-auto rifle and she is going to VERY dangerous to anyone coming into her home and/or threatening her family.

ALL armies of the world issue rifles for offence and defense.
There is a VERY good reason for that.
 
9MM/With Safety

IMHO my Ruger LC9s is a candidate here.Starting with 600+flawless rounds,accuracy,total of zero issues.I do not want Anybody messing with my manual safety !!In 50+years big,small,running,or flying,No game has escaped due to a manual safety.Hopefully you guys can try the LC9s.Best of Luck,Skeets.9
 
Thanks again for all the suggestions. So much good stuff here, as always!

To answer a couple questions, she is very new to handguns but not a complete novice. Someone mentioned a revolver and I love that idea but she doesn't. To each their own.

Someone mentioned getting her a rifle, and I agree with that. We've already got a .22 she can use well and a 12 gauge she can use if she must. I'd love to add something in .223 but that may be further down the road. She's pretty deadly with the .22, but she also wants to get comfortable with handguns because she wants to be able to handle whatever I have in the house (which is really impressive to me). I'd just like to get her a handgun of her own that she can shoot really well.

Also, I totally agree that she'll need to handle it herself and make sure she can rack the slide, etc. But she won't want to try every gun at the counter like I would, so narrowing the list like this really helps.

You guys have done it again.
 
Not that they are bad guns but Star and Gen 3 S&Ws have no form of warranty or manufacturer support. Something to consider.
 
Light recoil means metal frame/slide and not plastic frame
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I'm not sure that is always true. Polymer frames are said to flex under recoil and thus soften the force transmitted.

Not to flog the horse, but I have shot my 92FS and my daughter's PX4 Compact side by side, and the PX4 has lighter recoil in a lighter pistol. Whether that is due to the rotating barrel or the polymer frame or, perhaps most likely, a combination of the two, the PX4 feels like the softer shooter. My 92 will never leave me while I have a pulse, but in the hands of me, my daughter, and my wife, the PX4 is the easier gun to shoot by a slight margin.
 
Try the Springfield RangeOfficer 1911 in 9mm. Another soft shooting gun is the HK p30sk V1. It comes in either a safety, or a decocker model. Another small gun with surprisingly light recoil is the Kimber SOLO. It is also very accurate. I usually shoot mine single handed and it's almost as accurate as the RO shooting double handed.

There are a zillion nice guns that fit your parameters. I have a fondness for both SIG and HK; either of which have several models to suit almost anyone.
 
Surprised no one has mentioned the Walther CCP.

It was designed by Walther to specifically reduce recoil by incorporating a gas piston system in the pistol. Walther calls it their SoftCoil system. Supposedly reduces recoil by 30%.

It also has an external safety and everyone raves about how good it feel in your hand.

From everything I've read early production guns had some problems with reliability but those problems were corrected in guns with serial numbers above 18,000.

http://www.waltherarms.com/handguns/ccp/
 
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