de nada … I also deride the “range bullies” who ruin the fun.
Having said that, I’ve taken very petite female friends to the range (at their request), and they gravitated to the Model 29. As Paris Hilton would say, “it was hawt”, and they rocked that .44RemMag. I’ve also taken my nephew to the range, and he handled everything well, including my Glock G30 ( a compact autopistol in .45ACP).
If you start people with 9mm, .38Special, .357Mag, .45ACP and the like, they’ll acclimate rapidly, and use those critters as a recoil baseline.
Having said that, the first .44Mag that a person shoots should not be a SW Mountain Gun with a 3" barrel.
As for grip ergonomics, agreed. The first thing that I generally do is get Hogue monogrios for any pistol that I obtain. They make a huge impact in large bore, short barreled weapons, and in pistols whose grip profile may be too straight or narrow for many hands (think Beretta, M1911, Browning Hi Power).
As for preferring larger rounds, yes. The defensive weapon is usually used in relatively close range, with a brief engagement time. This isn’t Miami Vice, and most people aren’t Sonny Crockett making 40’ shots while rolling around with his Bren Ten. The first couple of shots need to count, and the person needs to be trained to rapidly acquire and nail a target’s center of mass, the first time, with capability for accurate second or third shots as follow-up.
That being said, .22LR and .380 aren’t generally good for single-shot disabling/killing shots.
The .38 Special and 9mm Parabellum were good rounds, for their time. In my opinion, the .357Mag replaced the .38Special, and the .40SW replaced the 9mm Parabellum. Although FN would prefer to replace the 9mm para with their 5.7mm round, the one that goes supersonic and punches neat little holes in body armor. It is chambered by the FiveSeven(Pistol) and the P90(Sporta Kinda Machine Pistol Thingy).