“It is good that you reported this on FR. We have to learn from such incidents. Many of us have bobbled a gun in the field or have made handling mistakes. I’m sorry you received a grievous wound. Prayers for a complete recovery.”
I used to shoot competitively, combat pistol craft... I got into it after some time involved with Force Battalion duties. Those days are long gone... I shifted to revolvers primarily because there were people in my household that could not or I did not feel comfortable with them juggling around an automatic.
I lowered the common denominator, taught them best practices and relieved the pressure of rote auto-pistol proficiency by using K or J frames. It worked.
I was taught that the only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way to the shotgun, and that was pounded into my thick head at Force Battalion School.
I think along the same lines. I fixed my wife up with an airweight J-frame 38 with a 3-inch tube. That Smith likes Winchester 110 grain Silvertips. It is an old one but has a new mainspring.