I took a lady friend of my wife's gun shopping last month. She got a SP 101 with the 4 inch barrel because she liked the way it balanced. She only fires it double action and has turned into an excellent shot after only 2 trips to the range and a beginning class. She practiced with 38 specials. I let her fire a couple of magnums just to see. Her carry ammo is .38+P.

One other option you might consider is the 101 in 9mm. We looked at one of those, but again she wanted the longer barrel.