Pistol suitable for small hands.

I've been taking my nephew to the pistol range since he was 11 and letting him shoot everything in my collection.
He loves my Ruger 22/45 pistol, as the single stack narrow grip fits his hands quite nicely.
Lately though, he's really having a hoot firing my CZ75 SP01 Shadow.
This puzzled me, as it's a hefty all steel handgun.
According to him though, the grip dimensions make the pistol easy for him to hold despite having small hands.
I'd second the above suggestions of letting her try holding several pistols to see which one fits her hand the best.
As for the PPQ pistols, I'm seeing more of them at my range, and they have really easy to hold grips along with very nice triggers.
 
My 9 and 7 year old children shoot my Ruger MKIII no problems - and I have oversized grips on it due to my large hands.

Another vote for the Ruger Mark III. I have two of them. THere are a multitude of grip sizes available, so you can grow then gun with the children, or in the OPs GF case, find the right ones and stick with it. I use the factory grips on both of mine as they are for the Wife and children, who started at age 6 and had no issues with the Ruger.

I also have a SW 617 in .22lr. The wife loves how accurate it is and the nice crisp single action trigger, but its still a bit heavier for the kids.
 
I think one of the biggest issues for her is the fact that she finds wrapping her hand around the large grip makes it more difficult to pull the heavy trigger with her arthritis. She seems to think that a smaller grip might remedy that. Not so sure though.
 
I think one of the biggest issues for her is the fact that she finds wrapping her hand around the large grip makes it more difficult to pull the heavy trigger with her arthritis. She seems to think that a smaller grip might remedy that. Not so sure though.

Hard to say without knowing more about her specific limitations, but a lighter gun and lighter calibre will certainly FEEL more comfortable. You are on the right path with a .22.
 
Try a Beretta Neos.

I'm not a fan of it's looks, but I held one once, and have never forgotten how good it felt in my hand.
 
Small hands here, I shoot a shadow 1 with czc thin aluminum. It's a glove. I had the preb disco installed for reach reduction, as well as the competition hammer.

They have 22 lr uppers for CZ 75 frames
 
I think one of the biggest issues for her is the fact that she finds wrapping her hand around the large grip makes it more difficult to pull the heavy trigger with her arthritis. She seems to think that a smaller grip might remedy that. Not so sure though.

A short trigger on the 1911 would help.
The baby browning 1911/22 would be a good one to try as suggested above.
The Mod 71's are not everyone's cup of tea ascetically due to the long barrels we need in Canada..... but they are classic, well made and sweet shooting guns.
 
I have a Sig P226 Enhanced Elite that I bought specifically for my daughter to shoot as it has a small grip. I also have a Browning Buckmark URX with wood laminate grips which are pretty small.
 
...I don't want to spend big bucks on a pistol for her in case the novelty wears off real quick...

The cheaper the experience, the sooner the novelty will wear off. That is the very reason she didn't like your Norinco's trigger.

Rather than another cheap gun, why not have a pistolsmith put a new (short, light, and crisp) trigger in your Norinco? Couple that new trigger with new (thin) stock bushings and new (thin) stocks, and it'll be a different animal.
 
With arthritic hands, a heavier gun is better. I second the suggestion for short trigger and thin grips.
 
My wife has small hands and she shoots a Bearcat and a Browning 22-1911. She likes the ergos on them and do not feel a need for a larger calibre because of recoil. I tried convincing her to go up to the Browning 1911-380 which is the exact same gun as the 22-1911 except in 380 but she had a bad experience with my Walther PPK with slide bite, recoil and muzzle blast from the short barrel being a Prohib. If your wife wants a larger calibre than a .22, the Makenov is a restricted .380. You can't really beat a 9x17 in a single stack for size with any 9mm pistol.

For a 9mm, the ergos on the Tokarev TT is not that great but the grip is skinnier and smaller than a 1911. It makes my 1911 in 9mm and Browning Hi Power feel like tanks. In a side by side comparison, I would say that the Tokarev grip is a 1/4 to 1/3rd smaller than the 1911. The gun is all metal so it helps with recoil but many do not like the square grip. Norinco sells a copy with a much more comfortable rubber grip. All I did with mine is put a rubber grip sleeve over it and at a $200 price tag, I find little to complain about it... Oh wait, the 7.62x25 ammo is pricy, which is why I bought one in 9mm (Zastava m70a).
 
SW22 Victory with Tandem Kross grips.

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Copyright Oleg Volk.
 
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