While the term “lady guns” isn’t a real thing, it is the best way to describe the firearms that are recommended to women. I can guarantee that an image of a small, 6- or 7-round-capacity pistol with a short barrel and probably a thumb or grip safety (or both) has already popped into your mind. I’m here to tell you that smaller isn’t better for anyone, but especially for women. Smaller guns can have more felt recoil, and most women don’t have as strong a grip as men do, making it uncomfortable and miserable to shoot.
I have taught hundreds of women how to shoot and have instructed many who have received their concealed carry permit after taking one of my classes. Almost every single one of these ladies showed up with a tiny, micro-compact, super low-capacity handgun that was unpleasant to shoot. I don’t think I’ve had any woman bring a gun with a barrel longer than 3 inches. I ask every single one of my female students what prompted her to own such a small gun, and the answers were almost unanimous.
Most said their husband, spouse, significant other, boyfriend, or family member purchased it for them. The majority of ladies who purchased the gun independently reported that the gun store employee recommended the pistol, saying that its small size and tiny barrel are perfect for women to carry. With that said, it is time that women start to explore bigger carry guns and make their own decision on what gun works best for them.
Lady Guns Manufactured and Designed for Women
In the last few years, there has been a surge in the gun manufacturing world to focus on women, as this demographic has surged in gun ownership over the last several years. According to the NSSF First-Time Gun Buyers Report 2024 Edition, women comprised nearly three-quarters (70.5%) of first-time gun buyers sampled, as compared to 2020, when women were slightly less than half (47.1%) of the sample. Nowadays, there are dozens of firearms designed intentionally for women, some with input directly from women. Below are my favorite concealed carry handguns recommendations for women that I have carried myself, enjoyed shooting, and would trust my life with.
Striker Fired or Train Often
Striker-fired handguns are what I recommend to anyone who plans to carry a gun, but doesn’t have the time to train or practice as often as they should. The reason I recommend striker-fired handguns for carry is that all you have to do is point the gun and pull the trigger for it to fire. Most striker-fired handguns do not have external thumb or grip safeties, but are still designed with internal and trigger-shoe safeties. I do not recommend hammer-fired guns with grip safeties or 1911-style handguns with grip and thumb safeties to people who do not dry fire, live fire, and train with these platforms often. I especially don’t recommend striker-fired handguns with external safeties, as that defeats the purpose of having this type of action, in my opinion.
I have seen far too many women and men come to one of my classes or attend a training class with me and forget to disable a safety or both safeties due to a poor grip. In a real-world scenario, that moment of forgetting to disable a safety can cost you your life. So be honest with yourself on whether or not you will dedicate time and ammunition to dry fire, live fire, and train with your carry gun of choice. That will determine the best option for you.
My Top 5 Recommended Lady Guns for Concealed Carry
1. IWI Masada Slim Commander Elite
The original Masada Slim pistol was my carry gun for almost two years. I still have that gun as a backup option, but the new and improved Commander Elite is what I carry now. The Masada Slim Commander Elite features a new grip module from Mischief Machine that adds an aluminum frame and G10 grips, making it heavier (which you want for less felt recoil) and more comfortable to hold. This updated model also features an updated barrel with a longer feed ramp to maximize feeding reliability across ammo types. Because there are hundreds of loads of hollow-point ammunition, each with varying overall lengths and bullet profiles, it’s important to have a feed ramp compatible with a wide range of ammunition.
The capacity of this pistol is 13+1 rounds or 17+1 rounds, depending on what magazine you choose to use. The 17-round magazine can be harder to conceal, which is why the gun ships with both magazine options. The barrel is 3.4 inches, and the frame is “slim” to make it easy for women to grip and conceal. The Picatinny rail on the grip module allows for a light to be attached. The slide is already cut from the factory with the RMSc Shield footprint, so you can use tritium night sights and a red dot optic.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how easy it is to modify a pistol with aftermarket slide cuts, barrel porting, and internal parts to make a gun shoot flatter. The Commander Elite shot great as is, but I wanted a more custom firearm, so I sent my gun to Pro 2 Customs for cerakote, barrel porting, and slide cuts. While guns come anodized or cerakoted from the factory, it never hurts to have a professional cerakote your gun. This protects the gun from rusting and any finish marring.
Pro 2 offers different options of slide cuts and barrel ports, so I chose what I prefer. Barrel porting allows gases to escape upward out of the barrel, which drives the gun down during recoil, significantly reducing muzzle flip. Anytime you can add a barrel compensator or barrel ports, it makes a drastic difference in reducing muzzle rise.
2. Walther PDP-F
The Walther PDP-F Series of handguns are Lady Guns through and through. The “F” stands for “Female” as Walther designed this series of guns around women with smaller hands. It is offered in several versions, including Pro, Pro-E, and Pro-X PMM, but I own the Standard 4-inch and 3.5-inch barrel guns. These offer 15+1 rounds of capacity, which is excellent compared to similar firearms.
The main benefits of the PDP-F series are the reduced-circumference grip, which fits smaller hands, and the reduced trigger reach, which optimizes finger placement. I’ve seen plenty of guns that women can grip, but can’t reach the trigger, which is also a factor in selecting the right carry gun. Walther was intentional about designing a gun that would allow women to do both.
I am not a great example of keeping guns in their stock configuration. I love the aftermarket, love cerakoting guns, and appreciate some color. For my favorite PDP-F, I added an aluminum magwell and an aluminum backstrap from LOK Grips. I even swapped the factory magazine basepad for a purple basepad to match the backstrap. I used aluminum to keep the gun light, but the brass options from LOK Grips can add weight, which helps reduce felt recoil.
3. Taurus GX4 Carry or TX9
My favorite carry gun that Taurus makes is the GX4 Carry. There are over a dozen options, but as the title of this article implies, smaller isn’t better. I like the GX4 Carry T.O.R.O. Compact because it is optics-ready, has a 3.7-inch barrel, is 5.16 inches in height, and holds 15+1 rounds. In comparison, the Micro-Compact T.O.R.O. has a 3.06-inch barrel, is 4.4 inches in height, and holds 13+1 rounds.
The Compact pistol has a Picatinny rail for mounting a light, whereas the Micro-Compact does not. Both guns have an overall width of 1.08 inches, making them even thinner than the Walther PDP-F. The GX4 Carry also comes with three backstrap options, so you can swap to the smallest size if need be to reach the trigger properly.
I had to mention the new TX9 line of firearms from Taurus, released earlier this year, and shown at SHOT Show. I was able to get my hands on all three sizes: Full, Compact, and Sub Compact. I shot all three variations and determined the Compact is the perfect size for concealed carry. The full-size shot great, but it was way too big, and the Sub Compact would occasionally malfunction without a really strong grip.
To dive in, these pistols still feature the T.O.R.O. System, so you can mount a red dot optic right out of the box. The Compact version has a 4-inch barrel and a capacity of 15+1 rounds. There are four interchangeable backstraps with these guns, so you can tell Taurus has been listening to customer feedback to improve the fit for everyone.
4. Heckler & Koch CC9
I have had the HK CC9 pistol for about a year now and have used it as my primary and backup concealed carry pistol. When I say “backup,” I will carry it in a CrossBreed Holsters Modular Holster, velcroed into my Gun Tote’n Mamas purse, as an off-body option. With a width of less than 1 inch, this is at the top of my recommendations list of lady guns for concealed carry.
The CC9 comes with a 10-round magazine (pictured below) that fits flush with the pistol, but it also ships with a 12-round magazine that I prefer, as it adds a little more length to the gun for a better grip for my hand size. This pistol also features mirrored ambidextrous controls, including an ambi slide stop and magazine release. You can attach a light via the Picatinny rail.
The Heckler & Koch CC9 comes with a High-Vis tritium front sight and blacked-out serrated rear sight. It comes optic-ready from the factory with the RMSc footprint. My go-to carry optic is the Holosun EPS Carry. There are so many versions to choose from, including different reticles, various size MOA dots, and your choice of red or green.
The EPS Carry is an enclosed emitter, which means dust and debris can build up on the optic (and they will) without blocking the reticle. On open emitter dots, debris, dirt, mud, and even rain can block the emitter, distorting the reticle or preventing it from projecting at all. Overall, this is one of my favorite carry gun setups.
5. CANiK METE MC9 Prime
Last, but not least, on my “Lady Guns” list is the CANiK METE MC9 Prime pistol. CANiK makes some of my all-time favorite handguns. I have personally shot the CANiK SFx, Rival, and Rival-S in shooting sports competitions, and they all served me well. The value CANiK offers with each of its firearms is what blows me away.
I have seen their handguns ship in hard cases, with molded IWB holsters, cleaning kits, spare fiber-optics, different-size backstraps, multiple magazine-release buttons, and more. They rarely skimp on iron sights, and they were among the first brands to make their pistols optic-ready from the factory, before that became the standard.
As I mentioned earlier, a compensated barrel or barrel porting can reduce the felt recoil of a handgun. The METE MC9 Prime has a compensated barrel and slide with an integrated expansion chamber, reducing the muzzle rise. The flat-face trigger that comes standard on the Prime is one of my favorite factory triggers. I’m a fan of flat triggers over curved, and the 90-degree break on the Prime trigger is excellent.
There is a low-profile beavertail and a low-profile magwell, which are ideal for concealed carry, reducing the chance of printing. The Night Fision sights come installed on the gun along with an optic-ready slide. I can’t recommend CANiK pistols enough to folks for carry, competition, duty, or home defense.
Let’s Recommend Proper Lady Guns to Women
Now that it’s 2026 and gun manufacturers are making more female-friendly firearms than there have ever been on the market, let’s come together as a community to recommend lady guns that have more capacity, aren’t micro-compact, and are more pleasant to shoot.
Let’s advocate for giving ladies options rather than choosing a gun for them. Encourage women to attend public range events such as The Gathering, CanCon, Gal’s Day at the Range, and other events where women can try hundreds of guns, optics, and suppressors. Check with your local range to see if any manufacturers host demo days. If your local range rents guns, have the ladies in your life test fire a bunch of guns so that they can try before they buy. And remember, what works for you might not work for them.
The only person who should choose the right gun to carry is the person who plans to carry it.
In a digital world plagued by amateurs and hobbyists you have written an excellent and informative article, to the point. Very good reporting. Photos are excellent.
RE: “Let’s Recommend Proper Lady Guns to Women”
Let’s Don’t…
https://youtube.com/watch?v=1CefL56hIw0&si=LDGkBQ_KGkYx1vf1
Thank you very much!
For people that don’t practice much a double action revolver is hard to beat.
X, for people who don’t practice much anything is easy to beat.
You beat me to it, or you could choose an SA/DA. You can get those without a manual safety if you don’t want one. It would be safer for the person carrying it and for those around them.
Obviously I meant a DA/SA. The long DA pull is safer for a novice than a modern striker without a safety.
I was a professional firearms instructor for 25+ years. It was my experience that most people were best served with a medium frame, medium caliber handgun. Revolver or semi-auto. Male or female.
A revolver is safer for a novice in my opinion.
Case in point I know of an individual who purchased a semi automatic stiker fired handgun and shot himself upon clambering a round
That’s hard to do loading a revolver.
None of the guns mentioned have “cocking ears” as does the S&W EZ or Ruger LCP MAX. I have both and the ears are not noticeable; but make racking the slide a lot easier for senior citizens be they male or female. There may be a reason the “ears” are not standard for these tiny ears would make racking easier for all.
While I don’t disagree, I note that the marketing of guns to senior citizens follows a predictable path of giving them what it appears that they say they want.
Those things are 1911’s and revolvers. Neither is gonna get “ears”.
It would take in-depth marketing research to get past this stereotype and no one’s gonna invest that kinda cash on people who’s life expectancy isn’t long enough to produce an ROI worth discussing.
Hush,
I am confident that 99% (or greater) of the adult population can rack the slide on pretty much any common / popular pistol if they use proper technique.
Saying it another way, 99% (or greater) of the adult population who struggles to rack the slide on a pistol are using a bad technique.
I personally observed someone who was struggling to rack the slide on a pistol and then racked it easily after I showed them proper technique.
Proper technique:
1) Hold your pistol CLOSE TO YOUR BODY AND BELOW YOUR BELLY BUTTON , pointing in front of your toes.
2) Squeeze the pistol’s slide between your finger tips AND YOUR PALM.
3) Keep your hand that is holding the pistol’s slide STATIONARY.
4) Drive your hand that is holding the pistol down toward the ground.
5) Let go of the pistol’s slide when it is all the way back.
6) Raise pistol back up to “low ready” or shooting position.
Thus the three key factors in proper technique are:
1) Holding the pistol close and low, pointing in front of your toes.
2) Pinching the slide between your finger tips and palm.
3) Pushing the pistol away rather than pulling the slide back.
What I have seen are people holding the pistol up high at chest level and out away from their body, more-or-less in the shooting position. That is a bad position (in terms of body mechanics) to rack the slide. Then they try to pinch the slide between their finger tips and thumb tip where they lack enough strength to hold the slide. Finally, they try pulling the slide back where, wait for it, they lack enough strength in their outstretched arms and outstretched finger tips and thumb tip.
Only someone with a severe debilitating condition is unable to rack the slide on common pistols.
I’ve got an 18lb spring in my 1911 and I can’t rack the slide holding it at arms length.
I grip the slide with an overhand hold and drive the pistol forward.
When I was 40 it didn’t matter, 35 more years makes a difference.
I’ve noticed my grip strength started fading when I quit jacking off so much.
I guess it was to late because I started going blind around 70.
Tap( with a cane) Rack( the picture of the girl on the porn site) Bang( the reason I’m going blind)
Xdduly E O
Now I know why I couldn’t pass the eye test to renew my drivers license 2 years ago! I now have a state I D card instead.
Some people have health issues that make racking the slide more difficult. Also, we’re talking about people who aren’t going to train, no matter what you tell them.
My experience with this suggests that a proper grip-to-hand ratio is almost always the issue and for women a mid-sized grip is usually appropriate. G19/VP9/Masada or similar sort of size. The guns listed here fit that bill.
It’s not too big, so they don’t have trouble applying grip strength while reaching the trigger and it’s not so small that they have limited area in contact with the grip, which requires even more grip strength to use effectively. Goldilocks.
Good article.
That said, #1 is the Masada? gOt yoUr 7000 gOibUx, huh? ROFLMAO.
strych9 & uncommon_sense
Thanks for the positive comments and I am in full agreement with the methods you referenced.
From my perspective, my problem is that I no longer have the strength in my hands to rack the slide quickly as may be needed in the heat of the moment. Age does attack physical strength and the ears are a huge help for me. I can rack the slide without the ears; but not quickly.
I have senior friends who have arthritis in their hands that prevents them from holding and manipulating a fishing rod/reel and makes racking a slide near impossible(note near impossible). The lady I have been happily unmarried to for 24 years who is 9 years younger than me(83) could not rack the slide on my Glock 43 until I added the Vickers Tactical slide assist. She can rack the slide on our S&W EZ or the Ruger LCP MAX both of which have the ears.
Slide assist apparati are not for everyone or every gun; but they can be a nice help to certain members of the POTG community. When the ears are incorporated into the rear of a slide they are not intrusive and hardly noticeable, e. g., the S&W Shield EZ or Ruger LCP MAX. When younger I could do a lot of things without assistance; but, these days there are things I can’t do even with assistance, I wish I could, if you know what I mean, and if you keep living you will be able to relate in your golden years.
I don’t disagree with your claims or your logic. Mine is a criticism of the gun market.
I’m simply saying that the gun industry isn’t going to broadly adopt things that come at expense that they don’t feel will pay them back. Guns that have “ears” will continue to have them, those that don’t mostly won’t unless they’re popular enough (like Glocks) to drive some level of aftermarket product that can be listed as “tactical” to drive sales. Which, IIRC, is how the Vickers slide assist is marketed, mostly about allowing one handed slingshotting of the slide. You know, if you’re wounded but still in the fight. That’s not marketing aimed at old people.
Shoveling ammo and other stuff at younger YouTubers who advertise to an even younger audience is where they’re putting their cash. Just check out the difference in production quality and *type* of content from a channel like BrassFacts, or HonestOutlaw or a dozen other popular channels and Massad Ayoob.
Ayoob ain’t getting adbux shoveled his way and it shows. The reason can be seen in who attends SHOT. As many people have pointed out, 10 years ago it was OFWGs at SHOT, now it’s heavily tilted towards younger guys who are jacked.
That’s one of the things that really sucks about Paul Harrell’s early demise. That guy reached across a lot of lines.
In actual sales nationwide 1911s are currently nearly dead. The Tisas and other poorly made copies sell but never would I bet my life on such a gun. Revolvers are popular with those who fire the gun once and put it in the drawer. This author hit the nail on the head with every point.
I’ve not found any Tisas that I’ve had experience with to be poorly made.
RE: “The Tisas and other poorly made copies sell but never would I bet my life on such a gun.”
Well rambo wannabe if a perp pointed such a gun at you would you bet your life such a gun would not go bang? My money is on such guns that have proven their worth and left hearsayers eating crow.
Tu quoque, red herring, begging the question, loaded question, and shifting the burden all in a single sentence. Impressive.
You obviously failed logic and philosophy but I bet you got straight A’s in Advanced Idiocy and Being an Unlikeable Asshole.
My wife has fallen for the hype.. I try and try to get her to try 9mm but she’s convinced its gonna kick way harder than her sig p238. The 238 aint a buckin bronco but its a lot less comfortable than any of my nines.
I like mine because it’s so easy to carry in the summer. It goes in the pocket holster, and I practically forget it’s there.
Depends on hand shape/size but yes the 238 does appeal to the ladies although it is often more controllable than a 38 snubby especially the lightweight ones they tend to buy. VP9sk seemed a good option overall for our end.
…more controllable than a 38 snubby…
Oh, great, now you’ve gone and blasphemed against the Holy Church of Wheelgun.
Don’t particularly support Vatican 2 so heresy is nothing new to me.
Women have a tendency to place extra value on guns being small and therefore convenient to carry (or lose in their purse, depending on the woman in question).
That frame of reference contains a lot of unstated assumptions but I doubt they are often even realized to exist. For such people gun = gun.
On the plus side, your wife carries. Statistically, that’s what matters most.
My wife *started* with an XDs in .45 because it was very easy to carry around campus (when that was legal) and hard to get caught with compared to borrowing my G30. Her original “threat matrix” was mostly getting jumped in the parking structure by a rapist or mugger and she figured six rounds of .45ACP JHP would get things sorted out.
It wasn’t until she had multiple instances of physical run-ins with groups of Leftists that she talked to the campus police who recommended to her that she pack more than six rounds. Volume being volume in the physical universe, she moved to 9mm in an FNS-9C, running 12+1 with a 17 round backup mag.
As a side note, it’s interesting that Antifa is “just an idea” yet that idea can try to recruit some girl and, failing that, follow her around and the “idea” ends up getting arrested for entering a secure lab while attempting to assault her. Then other parts of that “idea” try to follow her home and almost get bushwhacked by her husband.
Must be one heck of an “idea”, eh?
Mostly avoided that idea……… mostly. Funny how they will ignore someone in a gas mask + hoodie when the description otherwise matches though. 2020 riot season/struggle session was a fun time.
The livestreams were lit.
They never really approached/fucked with me. They went after my wife pretty hard. Minority female, kinda obvs, really.
Operationally speaking they were not very smart and did not display great powers of observation. However, all indicators in recent years are that they have improved quite a bit.
Absolutely, compared to the clown show I saw during occupy wall street (or the G20 protests before that) they are an entirely different level. Even compared to 10 years ago the logistics, legal support, and messaging obviously did some productive after action reviews and thoughtful refinement of their systems especially command and control.
Assuming that the author of this article is the lady in the photographs, first and foremost I commend her for applying herself to learn and master firearms and for acquiring enough mastery to teach others.
Having said the above, I noticed something incredibly basic and yet very important: she is almost universally leaning backwards in her shooting stances. A far superior stance is leaning slightly forward (upper body slightly forward) with outstretched arms. Ideally, that means one foot slightly forward to support your upper body’s weight leaning forward. If you absolutely must shoot in the “isosceles” stance, then that means slightly squatting in order to pivot your torso at your hips and enable your upper body to lean forward while your derriere sticks out backward.
That previous point, while subtle, is an important detail in a true self-defense situation. Leaning backward makes you much more prone to fall down backwards on your derriere for various reasons in a fight. Leaning forward makes you much more likely to stay upright on your feet and able to move defensively–in spite of the various reasons that would make you fall if you were leaning backwards.
Are we looking at the same images? looks like a good firing stance to me.
Hey Sense read her biography then invite her for a contest between you and her with money on the table.