My wife really liked the Taurus 85 38SPL revolver. We were in San Diego at the time and two week waits applied, except if you purchased at the range, you could use it on premises. She did. The nice, soft trigger pull turned out to be a defect. 3 out of 5 had light taps on the primer, but failed to ignite. It was now a "used" gun, so off to Taurus for "repair". It came back 5 weeks later. A very heavy trigger pull, but 100% ignition. A very disappointing experience.
The Ruger LCP smacks my hand too hard. The Ruger LC9s is comparatively easy to shoot accurately. The S&W M&P Shield 9mm is even better than the LC9s and much easier to take down without extra tools. Both have good holsters and are easy to carry. Tagua makes a nice belt slide OWB for the Shield that rides high enough on your belt to nicely disappear under your jacket.
The S&W 640 is a nice snubby in .357mag. Enough mass to avoid smacking your hand too hard. Shrouded hammer, so pocket carry is possibly. My principal objection to the J-frame is having my finger pinched behind the trigger. Just bad geometry for my hands. L-frame optimum, N/X frame usable.
Thanks for that. The S&W snubbies are a little pricey. I don’t really want an auto. Leaning towards a hamerless snubbie. Maybe the Charter. I’m still looking.