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CC,

I know this might seem counterintuitive at first from just looking at a picture of one, but I have found the 9mm HK P7 and PSP squeeze-cockers to be excellent guns for women, new shooters and those with small hands. Once the cocking lever on the front of the grip is squeezed to the firing position, the grip is quite thin and the excellent trigger is easily reached by shorter fingers. For those lacking a lot of upper body strength, the cocking mechanism is much more manageable than racking the slide back and forth on a full magazine. It also encourages keeping a good strong shooting grip. It is extremely safe to carry with a round in the chamber, yet it is quite possibly one of the fastest autos you can own when it comes to getting it out of a holster and putting a round onto a target.

The low centerline of the muzzle relative to your hand makes it one of the most natural pointing gun you can find for those just starting out, so I used it extensively when teaching women to shoot with great results. They are highly reliable, and extermely accurate by virtue of the fixed barrel and good sights. And, the weight of the steel construction really tames felt recoil. Finally It is (almost) stupid-proof in operation once you understand the cocking lever does pretty much all major functions except fire the gun.

Best of all, the market has really calmed down on these when you can find them. At one point right after HK quit making them, they were going for well over a grand, but these days its not unusual to pick a decent one up for $600-700. Just make sure it comes with extra mags, as those things are pricey, and the aftermarket ones are bad to the point of not being usable.