Grandma Needs a Gun

[TPMD Hunter]

SP101 has much easier trigger pull than the LCR. That’s what I bought my wife and daughter years ago.

My wife who shoots a 3.5" sp101 and absolutely loves hers and has small hands and lacks the coordination and strength to rack a semi auto.

She loves her little XDM 3.5" but I have to rack it for her. She keeps the XDM in the nightstand and the Ruger in her purse.

For elderly people who can't rack a semi auto there's a simple solution, keep it racked for them.

[muddydog]

House gun. Youth model 410 or 20 ga. Shotgun. Pistols are usually worthless and dangerous unless they are willing to constantly practice and become proficient. The sight of a scared women with a shotgun in her hand will stop alot of scenarios without firing a shot.

[Leverhunter]

Tip up barrel gun like Dave said or look at brassstacker for Glock. It’s a loop that attaches to back of slide and makes it a lot easier to rack. Friends wife with arthritis had the same problem and the brass stacker solved it.

[Pushbutton2]

One thing to consider is with some of the semi aito pistols with the easy pulling slide if you limp wrist it there's not enough momentum to completely cyclcw the next round in.

I say this from experience. I worked at my buddies gun shop and helped him on range day when they held the Concealed carry class. Old people would buy the Glock 42 and they would have a Failure to feed or a failure to eject malfunction. My buddy or I would shoot the pistol without issue. We'd watch them and they'd have a low grip and the muzzle would flip up almost vertical. We'd have them choke up and it'd would help lots. There was still for issues they would need to work on.

[Pushbutton2]

OP have you tried something like this?

https://handiracker.com/

Another technique we taught was to hold the pistol in your dominant and place the fingernails of the hand against their chest. Making sure barrel is not pointing at you. Take the weak hand and place it on top of the slide.. grasping it with meaty part of your thumb and the pads of your fingers over top of the slide with the thumbs pointing ant each other. That way you use your biceps to rack the slide.

[Chase4556]

The long and often times heavy pull of a DA only revolver can be difficult for many. My wife can shoot my 642, but she isn’t accurate with it at 5yds. She can pick up my p320 and keep them on target at 10yds though. A .410 shotgun is what her “primary” home defense gun is.

I have an old mossberg hs410 that is perfect for her. She has the revolver in the night stand. I always tell her if someone is in the house to put the first round into the floor before she even encounters someone. Odds are, they are making a hasty exit from the house at that point. Then move to the closet and get the shotgun. She can post up in our bedroom and cover the hallway so no one can get past to the kids rooms, and call 911.

I don’t think you can find them anymore, but I see they do make a 590 in .410. The one I have is small, I can’t even get a proper cheek weld on it, but that makes it the perfect size for her. I remember shooting it as a kid with my grandfather and I couldn’t even pump the thing, he had to do it for me.

[Chase4556]

The ol’ Mossberg HS410

[Bill]

I saw a Kel-Tec PMR-30 .22 Mag pistol at a sporting goods store here in Montana and thought it would make a great woman's home defense weapon. Lightweight with 30 rounds of .22 Mag, I'd tell her to point it at the threat and keep pulling the trigger until it stopped going 'bang'. If she has trouble racking it, maybe you could rack it for her and then it stays in her nightstand or dresser drawer and hopefully she never has to use it.

[Billy Bad Bass]

A few years ago my wife and I went down the path. Semi-auto to difficult for her to rack. Double jointed thumps impeded her ability to thumb cock. Recoil was "scary" to her. Enter the Ruger SP101 38 special. Lightened the springs, smoothed out the the inside and added Hornady critical defense light 38 special , 90 gr. The double action works like a charm. Handles nicely and she is not afraid of it. Hopefully will never have to test it under duress.

[Rango]

Had to solve a similar problem for my Mom(80). Smith revolver in .38 was the answer... weak hands and coordination to handle the auto pistol ruled that out. I let her shoot a Glock, BodyGuard .380, P365 and a couple of revolvers... She picked. I know she can keep pulling the trigger until the problem is solved. No malfunction drills or other complications.

[TacticalCowboy]

UPDATE:

Went with the shield ez in .380. She shot several mags through it this weekend and liked it. I’m very impressed with how it shoots and handles.