{Of course, just one man's opinion}
Own several handguns, mostly Rugers.
Among them a Mark 2 22/45.
Too large for concealed carry, but if only one person broke into my house...maybe ,just maybe ,the 10
rounds might work.....if most hit.
22 long rifle rounds have killed way more people than you would expect, but Zero stopping power.
Usually just hurts and pisses them off first. usually hour(s) before they die.
An attacker is gonna be pumped full of adrenaline. Will feel less pain.
Bullet size and weight matters.
Although not a huge fan of the .380 round, still WAY MORE EFFECTIVE than a 22lr.
The goal of firing in self defense is not killing yer attacker, it is to stop him as fast as possible from killing you.
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For the gentleman that started this thread......some JMHO ADVICE....
Take her to the range ,let her fire her .22lr at the target all she wants,slowly, well aimed shots.
But end yer range day, having her fire one or 2 magazines....her choice...with a handgun with a
better defensive round...nothing over-powered...but again ,slow aimed shots.
As much time as she want between shots.....zero rush.
The first time, odds are her accuracy will not be good.
Tell her, cool that she fired them at all.
Do that for every range trip....her ''sensitivity'' to recoil will prolly diminish.
and ,her accuracy will improve.
I am not a fire arms instructor... I am a 63 year old man that bought my first handgun in 1981.
And no one to taught me.
Owned guns since 1978, .... in the...good lord...46 years later....ughh...63 now... man, typing that...feel old...
I have taught many a man, woman, and older teenager about guns.
Plenty of members on this site own way more powerful, harder recoiling handguns than mine..
My limit is 44 magnums ,own two... favorite is a scoped Super Redhawk/...one 6'' stainless GP100 .357 magnum...far from abusive...and a snub nose 2 1/4'' SP101 .357 magnum that made many a tough guy
say ''OUCH!'' when they fired it....lol
That said,
Moving up from a .22 long rifle rim-fire to a .380. or a standard 9mm is far from hard.
{purposely trying to sound sexist,even a woman can do it.}
LOL, ...decades ago, took my ex-wife to the range along with my Ruger P95, with the slightest instruction, and some patients, 4 trips to the range/250+ rounds, at 15 yards,her grouping was as good as mine.
At the 25 yard range using silhouette targets, lets just say...afterwords had no doubt she could more than defend herself, while I was at work.
I will agree with the posters that said a 22 long rifle is better than nothing, but..
IMHO, any woman or man can easily learn how to shoot a 9mm well.
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GhosT