Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Which handgun for my mom--seriously!

Hellfire, Dirtfarmer, I learned this the HARD way. I trained a lot of gals "my" way before I realized how badly it was failing. The first one who really got me to wise up was my ex-wife, who was simply too stubborn to let me teach her anything... so I watched one of my compadres basically do just as I've outlined, and she ended up picking a 38 snubbie as her personal protection firearm.

Based on that experience, when my younger daughter decided she wanted a PP handgun (she was already pretty solid with a .22 revolver and a .22 semiauto, not to mention long arms) I took her out with a bunch of revolvers and fully expected her to pick one or another of 'em. Nope. Before the day was done we had to go back to town to get other guns from my safe and from the gunsafes of two of my buddies. She settled on a S&W 6906.

I could go on and on. I've had the privilege of helping several fairly notable ladies in selecting their PP handguns, including a couple of bestselling authors FWIW, and they've all picked handguns I would not have predicted. All of 'em are good shooters with their pieces, too.

Like all things with women and horses, your best chance of success is not to try to force 'em into your idea of what they should do, but offer them some good choices and and let 'em have their heads.

You are spot on, Doc. As you know my preference is toward the bigger bores as I very much like 45's. Women that are getting a personal protection firearm for the first time generally want a small one. Also older ladies with arthritis have difficulty with a lot of double action revolvers (not able to pull the triggers double action comfortably) Just let them choose and they will be much more likely to shoot and learn to use the weapon as well as keeping it handy

I'm glad I didn't have to read through all the responses to get to someone else with this idea. I like them SO much better than the Smith and Wesson Bodyguard with the laser. My limited experience with both guns, tells me that the Ruger may be tougher over the long haul. Further, as Oregon mentioned, the trigger seems lighter on the Ruger.

Good Luck to the Lady!

Ya got alot of good advice here, hows about this ?

Download the 45ACP to about 700 fps or so, then give her your Kimber. Bet she would love it.


Swifty

If you are watching your/her money, get her a Taurus 85UL. It's rated for +p 38 ammo. I picked up a SS, last week for $279 + tax. It's very handy, and light weight. Just load it with standard 38 ammo, and she'll be fine.


maddog

Your post makes me grin, Wade. I'm tickled that she wants a handgun for burglars. Good for her. My grandmother got a pistol from my dad to protect herself when she was about 70.

I've met Wade's Mom. Nice lady. Don't think you'd want to mess with her however!

A great lesson in listening.

Some years ago, I was seriously in the cattle business. I bought up a bunch of ground around my folk's place, had professional management, was into A.I., even embryo transfer, right there on the place. After my Dad passed, I was leasing the home place from my Mom. She was a fine Christian lady but had her own opinions about most stuff, including cattle farming. My people constantly had problems with her and I got so aggravated by all these goings on, that I asked an old time cattle man in our community to go lease her holdings. He went to see her and made the deal.

Later, I asked him how he did the deal so easily. His response, "I listened". Wow! We were constantly trying to tell her all sorts of stuff, but weren't listening. This wise, old gentleman sat there, listened to her, drank her coffee, ate her cookies and made the deal. She was pleased as she could be and they leased the place for many years.

Your approach brought all that back to mind. Quite a lesson to be learned by us all.

DF

Some general thoughts for the OP. I start with the assumption that your mother is a novice handgunner, otherwise she would know exactly what she wants already :-)

1) First, I second DocRocket's thoughts about letting her try a few handguns to see what she likes best. And best means not only what she shoots best, but what she feels most comfortable with in terms of "administrative handling," i.e. loading, unloading and manipulating the firearm, the safety, if any, etc..

2) An intermediate size, weight and power handgun is probably the best bet. Too light is hard to hold steady especially when adrenalin kicks in, and too heavy is, well, too heavy. Also, a light handgun kicks more - .38 Special +P in an alloy frame revolver can have a sharp, uncomfortable recoil especially in arthritic hands, and a couple of cylinders of .357 Magnum in a Ruger SP101 steel frame revolver will more than satisfy many a novice shooter's recoil quota for the day. A small, short sight radius is difficult to shoot accurately and a long sight radius is harder for old eyes to see both front and rear sight relatively well - one reason why older target shooters often prefer shorter barrel lengths in their target guns.

3) A swing-out cylinder double action revolver is the easiest and simplest for loading and unloading, making sure the firearm is unloaded, etc., which can make it the best choice for a "non-dedicated user" who doesn't want to spend the time and practice to make the more complex manual of arms of a semi-auto reflexive. On the other hand, the relatively stiff double action trigger pull may be difficult for arthritic hands to shoot well. Of course a double action revolver can also be fired single action, which gives a nice, light trigger pull, but if the need for shooting passes, one has to decock the hammer.

4) A single-action semi-auto (e.g. Colt 1911 pattern or Browning Hi-Power) is easiest to shoot well but has a more complex manual of arms and the slide can be difficult to manipulate for loading and unloading for someone with hand arthritis and decreased hand grasp strength.

5) A semi-auto with external hammer is easier to manipulate the slide than a striker-fired semi-auto because you can first cock the hammer before jacking the slide. Obviously this should always be done while pointing the handgun in a safe direction in case the hammer should slip, and a firing-pin block such as the Colt Series 80 model has is a nice additional safety feature if this procedure is done on a regular basis.

All of these factors need to be considered when choosing a suitable handgun, in addition to how well it shoots, which is why it is important for the prospective owner (your mother) to try them for herself.

I am currently teaching several women in their 60s, 70s and one in her 80s about personal protection with a handgun. After shooting a variety of handguns and calibers all have chosen .22s.

Two in their late 60s both are using S&W 4" kit guns... One has a 63 and the other a nickel 34. They shoot monthly at our clubs tactical shoots that includes both scenario shooting and usually 100-150 rounds of exercises. They both hold their own.

Another in her early 60s has a Glock 19 but does 95% of her shooting with an Advantage Arms .22 Conversion. When she carries or the gun is loaded for self-defense around the house it is in the 9mm mode. She does 95% of her practice with the .22 Conversion but always finishes up the session with 1-2 mags of 9mm. Her husband is in his late 60s and carries a Glock 17. He also has a .22 conversion but shoots 75% 9mm....

Two women I am working with right now are about to start the NRA Personal Protection In The Home Course in two weeks. One is in her 60s the other 82. They both went though the Basic Pistol Course in January and as part of the course shot a variety of handguns from .22 to .45. Neither had guns so I gave them the choice of one of mine...both chose the Beretta Cheetah in .22....luckily I had two of them and a friend has another so I borrowed his magazines so each has three.

Regardless of age, sex, height, weight, dexterity, health, everyone is different. I've seen grown male LEOs who can't handle anything more than a .38 whereas I've had women 5'1" 110 pounds who can do a head shot with a .45 Defender at 25 yards... Besides ability, as in physical, there has to also be the "desire" and that is all mental.

Do you and mom a favor...send her to a good shooting class and let her make up own mind...no class...no gun. And it can't be just a class on shooting and gun handling. If she is going to keep this gun for self-defense then she is going to have to do what it takes to make the mental adjustment it takes to survive the encounter and the aftermath...that can be worse than the incident if one has not prepared for it.... Then let your mom choose the gun.

Bob