OT - Moms 68 and needs a handgun

bsaride · Post by **bsaride** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 12:58 am

Went with mom and bro to the Bass Pro Shop here in SoCal
tonight. Got a chance to talk to her about what whe wants/needs
in a handgun. She moved away from us about a year ago to
better setup her retirement. Talked to her some about a shotgun,
revolver or semiauto. Explained pros and cons for different
features etc. I expect she wants a small gun for a house/car
gun when the need arises. 45 yrs ago she shot a 57 magnum, lol,
had to tell her it was a 41 magnum model 57.

Anyhow here's my question:

As she gets older and I know she has had some medical problems,
Will recoil become a problem?

I plan to take her out to the range and let her try a variety of guns
and let her make up her own mind (I'm kinda trying to lean her
towards a 38/357).

Jay

JReed · Post by **JReed** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 1:00 am

BSA not to steal your post but what did you think of the store? You live in the Ontario area?

I think you have they right idea of letting her shoot and decide what works.

bsaride · Post by **bsaride** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 1:10 am

First time in the store. Had seen other stores in catalogs, online, tv
commercials. It looked like the others sited, very impressive, but the
fine gun room was closed

I live in Orange County, went to bro's
machine shop and waited for mom to pick us up from there (she has
a fast pass). was 45 min there from shop and 1 hr return trip to home.
I have catalog ordered but hadn't been to the store before. I look for
value, distance compared to shipping, and availability from local small
companies before decision on where to purchase. These are the same
reasons I use a local gun shop that charges me $150 for each firearm
transaction (if they go under I'm not gonna be happy, been buying guns
from one or the other of their stores for 25 years)

Poohgyrr · Post by **Poohgyrr** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 2:04 am

For what it's worth, we've helped different women pick something and gotten each one as much training as we could. It does work much better when they pick the gun.

A snub Speed Six with .38s, a Hi Power, a Detective Special, a Colt .45, and a J frame were some of the pistols picked.

Others went for a Mini 14, a .30 Carbine, and a short .357 Lever.

Kurt · Post by **Kurt** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 2:41 am

My Mom bought a Taurus .38 Special after my Dad passed away. My Brother and I were with her, she looked at every thing and chose her own pistol. My Brother was so impressed with the Taurus he bought one too. The point is, Mom picked out what she wanted, and she has been extremely happy with her choice for more than 12 years now. I picked the shop and the ammo, though. Neither are available now, to my consternation.

rock-steady · Post by **rock-steady** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 8:28 am

S&W 642 with the Crimson Trace lasr grip.

I can hear the bad guys screaming "Granny's got a gun! Good God RUN!!!"

john4me05 · Post by **john4me05** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 9:27 am

I think even at 68 she could handle a fairly big caliber... Even a .357.. just teach her proper grip and stance and there will be hardly any felt recoil..

Tycer · Post by **Tycer** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 10:27 am

Let her shoot several.

With the new personal defense loadings, the 9mm is a very valid PD round.

Ruger, Kimber, Smith, Kel-Tec and others have small semi-autos that might fit her well. The Smith M&P and the Ruger SR9 have swappable backstraps for different size hands.

Remember, she needs to shoot a lot of rounds every month to be proficient and feel comfortable with the weapon.

Smaller and lighter may not be correct for her if she does not like the recoil.
The SP101 in 327 might even turn her crank.

Idahoser · Post by **Idahoser** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 10:28 am

jengel · Post by **jengel** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 10:31 am

My grandma used to live next to Interstate 70 in Colorado. We got her a cheap little .38 pistol that went bang everytime. Distances were going to be about 10 yards max. We figured that some little old lady with a shaking pistol in her hand would deter any bad guy out there. I would also opt for a SW 38 with Crimson Trace grip. Good luck.

stretch · Post by **stretch** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 10:46 am

My wife liked the big Ruger semi-autos in 9mm, so I bought
her one. She decided it was too big and heavy to carry in her
purse, so I bought her a Taurus model 85 (like SW J-frame).
It's a dandy little gun in 38 Special.

Those new Kel-Tecs are easy to operate if she is partial to
a semi-auto, and they're not too expensive. Makarov's are
also not a bad choice in terms of price, but being a blowback
action the recoil spring is a little stiff for some women.

41 Mag is, IMHO, a great and underrated caliber. Two strikes
against it for your purposes are the physical size of the gun
for the average woman's hands, and the price of ammunition
to feed the critter. The first problem is insoluble, but if you
roll your own, a 210gr. lead SWC over 7 gr. of WW231 makes
a terrific practice round, and at something like 1100 fps with a
wide meplat, a pretty good self-defense one, too.

Of course, if her hands are that big, just buy her a decent 45.
Plenty of stopping power, and relatively cheap to shoot.

My 2 cents worth.....

SmokeEater2 · Post by **SmokeEater2** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 10:48 am

After looking at revolvers and Semi-autos at the gunshop and in my assortment,My wife picked a Colt Police Positive in .38 Spc. That I had.
The small grips fit her perfectly and the recoil is at a level that she's comfortable with (meaning she will practice with it) She has gotten pretty good with it and I feel a Lot better knowing she has it when I'm away.
The .38 special is nothing to sneeze at as a defense round imho.

jazman · Post by **jazman** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 1:36 pm

Another vote for .38 snubby, whichever one she likes. Have her shoot a couple of different ones and pick the one she feels most comfortable with.
Than take her often to practice; good quality time with her and she will get good with it.

Post by **Ysabel Kid** » Sat Dec 22, 2007 12:34 am

I've taught several woman to shoot. Let her shoot several types. Sounds like a long gun is out - shotgun always being the first choice for home defense. Since she wants a hand gun, I'd recommend a 4-inch .357. She can shoot mild .38's through it for practice, and magnums through it for business. No safety to worry about, no slide, fewer things to go wrong. Unless she is willing to practice regularly, I just couldn't recommend a semi-auto in good conscious.

gamekeeper · Post by **gamekeeper** » Sat Dec 22, 2007 5:54 am

Ysabel Kid wrote:I've taught several woman to shoot. Let her shoot several types. Sounds like a long gun is out - shotgun always being the first choice for home defense. Since she wants a hand gun, I'd recommend a 4-inch .357. She can shoot mild .38's through it for practice, and magnums through it for business. No safety to worry about, no slide, fewer things to go wrong. Unless she is willing to practice regularly, I just couldn't recommend a semi-auto in good conscious.

+1

dkmlever · Post by **dkmlever** » Sat Dec 22, 2007 8:04 am

I bought my wife who really did not want to worry about racking the action, checking the safety, single action versus pulling the ahmmer back for double action, etc, so we bought her a 2 inch hammerless snubby from Tarus, no safety just pick it up and pull the trigger.

ihmsa70 · Post by **ihmsa70** » Sat Dec 22, 2007 2:09 pm

My sister is 80. I got her a Charter Arms snub .38. She has arthritis, but usually hits four out of five shot-gun shells at about 10 yards.
I load some pretty mild loads, told her if someone comes in the house at night uninvited, shoot five times, throw the gun at him, then run like hell!
Clyde

jd45 · Post by **jd45** » Sat Dec 22, 2007 9:10 pm

rock steady, I was gonna recommend what you did!.........I've got a 640 with the CT laser grip. I like the 640, cause you can run VERY STOUT .38 PD loads thru it, no problem, because of its internal strength, (no exposed hammer). In fact, the 1st Gen. of these had +P+ laser-engraved at the bottom of the cylinder frame, but, because people ran .357mag power loads thru it, the factory removed the engraving, tho the gun retains its strength. Its safety factor is that you must pull the trigger to make it go off. That's my 2 cents, jd45

Tommy Reb · Post by **Tommy Reb** » Sat Dec 22, 2007 11:19 pm

Both my wife and daughter carry Charter Arms 44 Special Bulldog Pugs. Compact, light weight and surprisingly accurate for snubbies.

bsaride · Post by **bsaride** » Sat Dec 22, 2007 11:53 pm

Yeah, played with a 44 CA Bulldog in the 80s that belonged to a friend of mine. I really like my Smith Lew Horton 624 that used to be my camp gun. Followed that with a crimson trace 640. Had to let those go a few years back and will end up with something like those or like my 3 inch 629 that I had for myself. I will let mom decide of course after considerable range time to let her decide which is best for her.

Dakota Mike · Post by **Dakota Mike** » Sun Dec 23, 2007 9:35 pm

You might look at the Ruger SP101 in 32 H&R mag. Or wait until the SP101 is out in 327. I have several 32 H&R Mags. low recoil quick recovery and very accurate. My reloads run an 85gr. hollow point at better than 1200fps from a 3" barrel.