The Goldilocks Gun

[halfmoon]

Finding a handgun for the wife has been problematic the last few years. She has tiny hands and, since hand surgery following an accident a few years back, also compromised hand strength with severely compromised recoil tolerance.

Now she loves our .32 acp Colt 1903 but I've never been comfortable with her relying on it for home defense. With a steel gun she can handle up to .38 Special standard pressure in a J frame. I've been trying to get her into a .38 or .380 but it's been the three bears all the way: too big, too small, too heavy, too light, wrong sights, trigger too stiff, wrong grip, you name it...

Then yesterday, Viola! I got called in for a work emergency spiking our plans to go hiking. When I get home she says: 'let's at least go to the gun store and get out of the house'. We get there and browse a bit and her eyes land on a revolver - 'what's that?'. Now we've handled SP101's before but she's forgot and when she picks it up - everything's grins. I'm surprised but look it over - a 1989 built 3 inch .38 that could have come out of the factory last year: sharp clean bore and crown, bank vault lock up, and the best trigger I've ever felt on a Ruger DA ( wouldn't be surprised if it had a trigger tune up at some point). All through dinner afterwards the wife talked about it.

So I jumped out of work on the dot today, hustled to the store, and bought it. She's all excited and wanting to get to the range ASAP. Final ending TBD but I think Mission Accomplished! We'll see soon enough.

Anyone else had to deal with firearms accommodations for physical handicaps?

[ezekiel38]

Indeed, wife can't work the slide of an auto. Problem solved 3" SP 101 357 loaded down and instruction on where to point and how to pull. The 3" SP is a a great solution for a house gun as it is basically the size of a Colt DS 3". A good wadcutter loaded to 800fps is all she needs. Easy recoil, accurate and shoots close to point of aim, with a good recovery time.

38s are underrated, it was the RNL that was the weak sister not the cartridge.

[tinkerpearce]

Linda had a bum wrist and is recoil sensitive- and disinclined to obtain a new wardrobe and style to carry a large gun. She has a 3" Astra Police .38 for the house but carries a Colt Junior .25. I'm uncomfortable with this of course, but is it better than nothing. She's pretty insistent that if it doesn't drop in a pocket she probably won't carry it, and history bears this out. That limits her options to a .32, so we're looking into a Seecamp, but I'm not sure anything within her size parameters is going to work better than the Colt.

[ezekiel38]

Tinker: I have a good friend who purchased a Beretta Tomcat in 32 for his wife. She likes to shoot it and he carries it from time to time when he can get his hands on it.

[azshaun]

Jun 12, 2018 9:54:13 GMT -5 tinkerpearce said:

Linda had a bum wrist and is recoil sensitive- and disinclined to obtain a new wardrobe and style to carry a large gun. She has a 3" Astra Police .38 for the house but carries a Colt Junior .25. I'm uncomfortable with this of course, but is it better than nothing. She's pretty insistent that if it doesn't drop in a pocket she probably won't carry it, and history bears this out. That limits her options to a .32, so we're looking into a Seecamp, but I'm not sure anything within her size parameters is going to work better than the Colt.

Your comment reminded me of what a wise man once wrote:

“Keeping the velocity in the 900 fps range, I shot a number of rabbits with the .25 ACP and they died just like they were hit with a real bullet!

I really don’t recommend it, but as Mr. Keith said, it will work if you can’t carry a real gun. “

[dougader]

Even the little 32 auto can be snappy when the gun gets to be as small as a Seecamp or Keltec.

[halfmoon]

Other item with .32 auto is it's semi-rimmed. Depending on magazine and feed ramp you can hit issues like rim lock. In the 1903, we've found the solution is cartridges with long overall length. In our instance we've found PPU (FMJ or hollow point) and Remington (FMJ) hit the length the old Colt likes. Anything you buy will need experimentation since reliability of 32's tend to be very cartridge dependant. They're finicky like a cat.

I suspect the 1903 doesn't fall in the easy pocket fit category but I've seen two surface locally in the $500 to $600 range which is lower than many I've seen in recent years. Mine was only $150 back in the 90's but that was back when they were just shooters and collectors weren't interested.

[deaconkc]

New guy here but have seen several folks with weak hand strength really like the Sig P238. An easy rack slide and with the extended magazine very easy on recoil.

[warhawk]

My wife has some of the same issues. She is tiny, with tiny hands and not much strength. We’ve been thru the “try every gun imagineable” deal.

For a Revolver she likes the Ruger LCRx in 38 Special. We have a 2” and a 3”. Light weight, nice DA trigger, easy to load and unload, but they have more recoil than she’s comfortable with. So I load 148 gr wadcutters for her. She carries with a 125 gr hollow point, usually the Hornady “ladies” load wit( the pink plastic tip.

She could manipulate the slide on the little SIG 380, P238? But it didn’t matter, she is not comfortable carrying an exposed hammer gun cocked and locked.

She likes everything about her Walther CCP except the trigger. The slide is extremely easy to rack, it’s been 100% reliable, even with her limp writing it. But the trigger pull is long and gritty, not exactly a confidence builder.

A couple weeks ago, I I brought home an M&P 380 EZ. I think Smith has a winner, easy to rack the slide, easy to load the magazine (something she can’t do on any other auto), nice trigger and it has a thumb safety. The M&P 22 compact is a virtual Twin to the EZ, so we bought one of those too. She hasn’t shot either one yet, I’ve shot the 380 and it’s a sweet shooter. I predict Smith is going to sell a bunch of them.

[halfmoon]

Got to the range tonight and the results are in! 85 rounds of 125 grain FMJ before she stopped. Hand worn out from the weight but no pain along the way. Double action she's got some work to do but is still in love and wanting to master it. Single action, she couldn't quite hit the bull's-eye but kept circling the edge of it at 7 yards. Importantly at home defense ranges, DA or SA, she can keep it on a man sized target even if right now they look like shotgun patterns more than groups. Think it's a start and a winner!

[magnumwheelman]

I'm naturally a revolver guy... but did carry a Taurus TCP in 380 for a couple years... totally reliable & super easy to shoot... I bought it because I took up rollerblading, & I'm not very good at it, & didn't want to fall, & break an expensive gun... still worked fine, when I decided I needed more "horse power" for a daily carry gun...

those Tom Cats listed above, are the one the barrel pops up, so you can insert the cartridge, & cock it eliminating the need to rack the slide... right??? I've heard them recommended for those who have issues racking a typical slide

[contender]

As a longtime NRA Women On Target clinic instructor,,, we have had MANY, MANY ladies take our class with all of the above issues. This is why we try HARD to have a variety of firearms for them to try. Even the same guns, with different grips. Makes a huge difference. I always stress; "Fit & Comfort" for a handgun. once you find one that fits a hand, is comfortable to hold, then move to the shooting. At that point,, ammo selection can be the next thing to make or break a deal.
What we have found over the last 16 years of teaching is this;
Fit & Comfort first.
Most ladies won't spend the time to get motor memory skill friendly with a firearm. Make sure the firearm is easy to operate.
Make sure recoil is comfortable as well.

So, with those things, a quality DA revolver, usually in 357 can fit the bill.
Why?
MANY, MANY models to choose from.
The fewest controls to operate, so it requires less thinking to operate.
Grip options make it easier to fit different hands.
Recoil can be managed with light 38 spl loads, and if comfortable, 357 loads for self defense.

I'm glad to see your wife was able to finally find a gun to fit her & her abilities!

[bigbrowndog]

I completely agree with Contender, FIT is so often overlooked. Many many times fit, actually helps with recoil management and comfort greatly.

BTW, I misread this topic title, I thought it was originally about your choice of gun FOR the three bears,..Black, Brown, and Grizzly..............which my choice would be
my, “black, riled up mule” as mister Ralston put it.

Trapr

[halfmoon]

bigbrowndog

But what about Polar? :-P

[bigbrowndog]

Halfmoon, I’ve always had a soft spot for Polar bears, maybe it’s because they’re the icon associated with ICEE’s, a South Texas summertime treat.

Trapr