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my wife suffers from rheumatoid (sp?) arthritis, so has additional limitations aside from handsize.
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SWMBO also suffers from RA (BTW -- you spelled it right), and has smallish hands. She finally settled on a 4" S&W 15-2 (a DA revolver in .38 Spl, of course) that came with fairly slender aftermarket rubber grips, don't know what brand. Other than the grips, it is stock. The extra mass of the K Frame helps with the recoil (as opposed to a J Frame snub), and I reload her normal practice ammo -- light wadcutters. FWIW -- due to her arthritis, she just isn't able to operate autoloaders. She can't operate the slide, even given the "tricks", and she really can't load the rounds into the magazines -- not a problem with the wheelgun.
One nice thing about K Frames: There is a whole lot of aftermarket stuff for them including grips. If you don't like the fit, you can change it pretty easily.
Pax:
Unfortunately, she isn't here right now so I can't give any more specifics about the details of the fit and such. Let's just say that it fits her well and she likes it. About the recoil comfort level and round count: She really isn't comfortable shooting 100 rounds of anything because of her RA, even .22 lr. But, she is able to control the .38 Spl even when shooting +P SD ammo, at least for a cylinder or 2, and can shoot about a box of the light practice loads without flinching before getting tired. And that is about all that can be asked for given the medical situation.
Also FWIW -- she doesn't have any problem shooting our stock S&W 422, with the exception that I have to load the rounds in the magazine. Since it is a .22 lr, the main action spring is light enough so that she can even work the slide. Along with the model 15, it has become "her gun".