I posted this on the AR15.com General Firearms Discussion, but CockedAndLocked invited me over here, so here goes again:

I am trying out revolvers as a self defense gun for my wife. She is accustomed to shooting my Glock 23 and is quite good at it. She finds the Glock very "comfortable", a very important criteria for her.

However, I am concerned about the extra work involved in operating a semi-auto in a dark and stressful situation, and want her to try out revolvers, principally for their simplicity.

The problem is that all the revolvers we have tried out at the rental gun range have:
A very heavy trigger pull in double-action mode, so heavy that accuracy is greatly reduced.
A very light trigger pull in single-action mode, so light that I personally find it scary (and yes, I know about not putting your finger on the trigger, etc, but in a stressful situation, I don't want accidents to happen).

Is there any middle ground? Is it possible to lighten the double-action trigger pull so that it is closer to the pull of a Glock? Any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

The idea on a self defense revolver is not so much in lightening the trigger pull, as evening the pull so that there is no "hesitation" in the trigger. Stoning and polishing will accomplish this. I have done it myself on my plinking guns, but had a gunsmith do it on my carry gun.

C&L.......some real good advice......might I just add......practice...practice...practice................if a 38 or 38+.....isn`t enough at close range......then nothin` is.........

This is going to sound like a sour note in the otherwise friendly discussion but I have to ask. If your wife is "...good at it." and "She finds the Glock very 'comfortable'..." why on earth are you trying to get her to use something else.

I don't understand this ..."extra work involved.." with the semiauto. With the revolver you pick it up and pull the trigger. With the Glock you pick it up and pull the trigger. What extra work are you talking about?

PS: Both my wife and my sister carry Glocks. They do not think there is any extra work. They just shoot them better than revolvers, which after all is the bottom line.

I can't believe I'm gonna say something positive about Glocks, sheeesss...but, as DaveT pointed out, if she's good with and comfortable with the Glock, why change?
It is often more of a training issue than one of reliability or simplicity of use.
One common complaint is the strength required to retract the slide to chamber a round or clear a malfunction.  Your wife can be trained to grasp the slide and push the frame to make this easier to perform.
Safety of the Glock?  She needs to learn and also practice keeping her finger outside the trigger guard at all times until aligning the sights on her intended target.  A correct holster or purse will provide protection for the Glock's trigger during carry and storage.
What other issues are you concerned about?  Are there some that could be addressed by her training or practice?
Now with that all said, there is nothing wrong with a revolver for self defense and is in fact my wife's choice and she has been around most of the popular duty and defense auto for the last 20 years.
Good luck, whatever you and she chose.

Try to find an OLD S&W for her, preferably from 1950 or before. I think you'll be shocked at how smooth they are.

Polish the rebound and get a Wolff replacement spring (rebound). Some cut up to two coils off the orginal, but go for the new one, Brownells. You can make it like butter, work on the sear is nice, but get it done, don't do it yourself.