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I met a skinny lady with bad arthritis whose son bought her a S&W Shield 9mm for home defence.
She has a hard time hanging onto it. Racking the slide, or loading the magazine, are difficult.
I think she needs a Ladysmith or some other small revolver.
What do you guys think?


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Automatics of any flavor are likely a no-go for her. Maybe a weak-springed .380, but nothing larger.

Frankly, in helping a few elderly folks select handguns (including my own mother), I have found that larger framed guns, not smaller guns fit and feel better. My mom couldn't operate any automatic effectively and ended up with a Ruger GP 100 .357 Magnum. She shoots .38's out of it pretty comfortably.

If your lady has trouble with recoil, then suggest a Simth 48 .22 WMR. The cartridge is not a great choice for home defense, but at least you're following Rule #1 for being in a gunfight (Bring a gun).

Good luck!


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I am in the same boat. You might look at a Sig 320 compact. .I was able to rack that slide quite easily and the trigger was better than average. If you go with a DA revolver, have trigger job done


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My aunt has an old J-frame .38 S&W (not special) which has sentimental value to her .. not exactly a high-performer. I don't really approve of the lead round nose ammo, either. I was going to hook her up with a S&W M60 3 inch .357 with adjustable sights and Ladysmith grips, then sort through light-recoiling .38 special factory ammo to see if something would work. Her hands are so weak, she can't fire her gun DA and requires both thumbs to cock the hammer. Fuggit. Love my aunt, but she's past being able to use a firearm to defend herself effectively. She's just going to have to hope the door locks hold long enough for the cops to get there. She is too slow, someone with bad intentions would just take the gun away from her before she could ever use it. Brutal truth.

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Originally Posted by whelennut
I met a skinny lady with bad arthritis whose son bought her a S&W Shield 9mm for home defence.
She has a hard time hanging onto it. Racking the slide, or loading the magazine, are difficult.
I think she needs a Ladysmith or some other small revolver.
What do you guys think?


Some of my favorite revolver setups for a smaller statured person with weak hands.

Ruger SP-101: The factory grip on this revolver is just incredible for people with smaller hands. I would always recommend a highly tuned action job to reduce the DA trigger pull as much as possible.
TALO SP-101 with Novak sights…VERY nice!
[Linked Image]

S&W K frame with round butt: Typically in 3”, but 4” is fine too. The round butt allows you to install Pachmayr Compaq Professional grips (the one with the open backstrap). That grip on the K frame round butt just fits smaller statured people/hands exceptionally well. Again, follow up with a highly tuned DA action.
[Linked Image]

S&W M12 – Do a round butt conversion on a 4”, or buy a round butt 2”. Again, Pachmayr Compaq Professional grips, highly tuned DA action.

K frames with heavy barrels, can be easily retro-fitted to accept a 1911 tritium front sight.

Here’s a 3” Heavy Barrel, Round Butt K frame with round butt Magna stocks and a Tyler T-Grip
[Linked Image]

Of course, never forget the Colt D Frame revolvers. They’re less common, cost more, but they are straight up world class revolvers.
[Linked Image]

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There's a better than average chance she doesn't need a handgun of any flavor. If she's just needing a gun for the home, something like a Ruger 10/22 Compact with an extended 15/25 round magazine would likely be a lot more useful.

Last edited by 41magfan; 12/07/17.

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My wife has bad arthritis and 41magfan is the only one in this thread that listed a firearms that she could shoot. She choose a Berreta TomCat in 32 ACP. It has a tip up barrel so no slide racking required. The Berreta is something that she can shoot well and operate it also.



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Originally Posted by whelennut
I met a skinny lady with bad arthritis whose son bought her a S&W Shield 9mm for home defence.
She has a hard time hanging onto it. Racking the slide, or loading the magazine, are difficult.
I think she needs a Ladysmith or some other small revolver.
What do you guys think?

If it's for home defense, why handicap her with a small revolver? Why not a medium frame revolver? Most find them much easier to shoot than a small one, and make it all steel for more recoil absorption. Then make it a .38 Special with a three or four inch barrel.

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Originally Posted by 41magfan
There's a better than average chance she doesn't need a handgun of any flavor. If she's just needing a gun for the home, something like a Ruger 10/22 Compact with an extended 15/25 round magazine would likely be a lot more useful.
Think along this line here

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If her purpose is home defense, I would suggest a small ga. Semiauto or pump shotgun, not any handgun. If i recall correctly, one 12ga. Buckshot round fired 9 shot the size of a .38, with aiming less critical. Most folks are smart enough not to argue with a shotgun.


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It's been my experience teaching handgun classes that women seem to be drawn to k frame size handguns. Course most of them had the grips replaced to smaller rubber either Pachmayr or Hogue grips. I agree with GunGeek on the SP101 with Hogue grips, or any of the guns he suggested. Will make a big difference but as he said they need a trigger job. But any of the six series I think the Speed Six was one of the most popular, or a round but smith model 10 and such. There are a lot of good ones out there but may need a spring replaced, or trigger job, but most need different grips. Doesn't matter if it's a 2-3/4, or 3" or 4" probably the 4" would make them the most comfortable. My wife has a 4" Blue Speed Six next to the chair that she reads in, with Pachmayr compac's. She likes it. But if I was going to pick one that should work the best for her it would have to be the Ruger LCRx 3" 38 special. Nice and light yet big enough to feel like you have something substantial.


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Originally Posted by whelennut
I met a skinny lady with bad arthritis whose son bought her a S&W Shield 9mm for home defence.
She has a hard time hanging onto it. Racking the slide, or loading the magazine, are difficult.
I think she needs a Ladysmith or some other small revolver.
What do you guys think?


I'd take a DA revolver over to her and make sure she can manage the trigger.


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In my e perience old, small women with arthritis can’t pull a DA revolver trigger very well. My wife certainly can’t and that’s why the Berreta Tom Cat in 32 ACP made sense for her. The barrel tips up for loading and no slide racking required.



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Originally Posted by jwp475

In my e perience old, small women with arthritis can’t pull a DA revolver trigger very well. My wife certainly can’t and that’s why the Berreta Tom Cat in 32 ACP made sense for her. The barrel tips up for loading and no slide racking required.


The tip-up Berettas are the shizz for that particular set of problems. I still see a few Model 86 380's around but they somehow achieved 'collector' status and are stupid expensive. Still, if that's what works, you pay the toll and drive on.


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I've had a bunch of older students with the same problem and almost all of them ended up with the same gun...a Beretta 87 Cheetah.

The gun is a traditional DA but has the option of being able to be carried cocked and locked. If your friend's arthritis is too bad for her to fire the first round DA then teach her to carry it with the manual safety on just like a 1911. And I have not met anyone yet who can't rack the slide especially when the hammer is cocked first.

And yea it's "just a .22" but my last three shooting as a LEO were all "just .22s" and everyone was DRT...DeadRightThere.

Bob

Last edited by RJM; 12/08/17.

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Originally Posted by RJM
I've had a bunch of older students with the same problem and almost all of them ended up with the same gun...a Beretta 87 Cheetah.

The gun is a traditional DA but has the option of being able to be carried cocked and locked. If your friend's arthritis is too bad for her to fire the first round DA then teach her to carry it with the manual safety on just like a 1911.

And yea it "just a .22" but my last three shooting as a LEO were all "just .22s" and everyone was DRT...DeadRightThere.

Bob

Didn't they make a .380 ACP version of that gun, also with a tip up barrel?

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Originally Posted by The_Real_Hawkeye
Originally Posted by RJM
I've had a bunch of older students with the same problem and almost all of them ended up with the same gun...a Beretta 87 Cheetah.

The gun is a traditional DA but has the option of being able to be carried cocked and locked. If your friend's arthritis is too bad for her to fire the first round DA then teach her to carry it with the manual safety on just like a 1911.

And yea it "just a .22" but my last three shooting as a LEO were all "just .22s" and everyone was DRT...DeadRightThere.

Bob

Didn't they make a .380 ACP version of that gun?


Yes, the Beretta 85 Cheetah. Nice little gun, but definitely a harder slide to retract than the 22 Model 87.

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Yes..I think it was the 84. There was a tip-up barrel model also. The manual safety also acted as a decocker but not so on the .22s...


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Went through this with a lady friend this summer. She had a Lady Kahr (K9 with light springs) and a Charter snuby and was having trouble making either function for her. Went to the LGS and tried em all, she ended up with a SIG P238. She can load, rack and fire it accurately better than anything else.


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Beretta announced a couple of years ago that they were going to discontinue the gun...guess they changed their mind as there are 34 of the for sale over on GunBroker...

Find a nice used one like this...save some money...

http://www.gunbroker.com/item/725398163

http://www.gunbroker.com/item/722725902

They are not cheap but beautifully made... I've had four over the years three of which ended up with students who needed them. I have one left and it is one of my regular woods/neighborhood carry guns.

Last edited by RJM; 12/08/17.

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