[jyl]

Remember the difference between developing genuine proficiency in pistol target shooting vs developing minimal competency in a CCW context.

For proficient pistol target shooting, you need: stable stance, controlled rhythm/magnitude of movement and breathing, accurate sight picture, consistent grip and squeeze/pull, minimized involuntary inputs (not just flinching, but moving off target when squeezing), and a reproducible shot that you can adjust minutely as needed, all in a quiet, prepared, focused, mental state. And if you compete, do it one-handed. E.g. at the range, target at 25 yards, the last shot was 1" to upper right, you can straighten up from the spotting scope, resume the stance, make minute adjustments, and reliably bring the next shot 1" down and left. (I don't know pistol hunting or "action" shooting, but no doubt there are analogous requirements.)

For minimal CCW, you need: disengage safety, point, fire and hit somewhere in 24" H x 12" W at 3-5 yards, very rapidly (1 or 2 seconds), all in a very different mental state. E.g. at the range, close eyes, lower pistol hand to shooting bench, turn a little left/right so you're not sure exactly where you are facing, stand in a sort of random way, flick target movement switch to move target back/forth by some unknown amount, open eyes, raise pistol to target, without using the sights, fire 2X in 2 seconds, and do this one and two-handed. (I don't know if that is the "best" way to practice, but that's the best I could ever come up with in the context of pistol range safety rules, and even then I didn't do it when the range master was watching).

So, both require practice. But the practice for target shooting is, in my opinion, more interesting and more fun. If all you do at the range is point shooting at 5 yards, that gets boring fast and, again in my opinion, you lose interest in pistol shooting pretty quickly. So that is why I suggest getting her a brace of pistols that will encourage her to do both.

Time for a caveat: Like almost everyone on this thread, my "knowledge" of self defense shooting is entirely theoretical. On the target stuff, I've been shooting since I was 8 y/o and at one point was going to the range with my spotting scope 3X week, but I have never been a competitive shooter, so I can't pretend to know what a real Olympic or bullseye shooter does.