Easiest Slide

[easyg]

Ruger P95.

Its the easiest gun to rack and the softest recoiling 9/40/45 that i have ever owned or shot.

+1.
With the P95 it is very easy to work the slide.

 

[General Geoff]

I've worked with her on the Cornered Cat methods. No go.

This is not an issue of ability. It sounds like she doesn't want to be able to rack the slide.

 

[Mosey]

I have 3 sisters, a wife and two daughters in addition to my mom. All shoot handguns to a least a basic level of proficiency. The thing that I have found with the slide-racking issue is that it is often not a question of strength but one of desire coupled with soft hands. In other words, if it hurts to cycle the slide, and motivation to do so is not very high, the lady might quit before she has used her full power in the attempt.

Most semi-automatic handguns have a bunch of sharp edges on the slide and most (not all) people do not have calloused hands. Bad combo.

A simple test might be to have your wife try to rack the slide while wearing a pair of gardening gloves. If she is able to do so you will have narrowed the search to guns with large smooth slides like Glock, Sig, Browning High Power, and 1911's. A "dehorn" or "melt" gunsmithing job should take care of the sharp edges and the large (tall) slide would enable her to grip it with her whole hand.

I would suggest that you try a 1911 in 9mm. The recoil springs are very light, the trigger is light and easy to reach and they have alot of slide to get hold of.

YMMV,
Mosey

 

[RonBernert]

If she's having trouble with a slide, try revolvers. If she then has trouble with the revolver, remember that if it's easier to pull the slide back, the recoil is greater. Soooo- Make it really easy to rack the slide, the recoil bops her in the forehead. With a revolver, you may be able to get her to fire it with 2 fingers in DA.
My example is my sister. She wants a CCW gun, but my .38, .357, .45....etc.. is just too big and SCARY (recoil, noise).. I'm going to get her a .22 WMR revolver. It'll shoot .22 long and .22 magnum. Recoil is very manageable, not scary or too intimidating for her to shoot and -believe it or not- it's very effective. It even beats swinging a big stick. Any gun ANY GUN on you and that you can use beats one left at home...

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

There is also the Beretta 86, a tipup barrel design that never requires racking the slide. But it is a 9-shot .380 the same size as a 16-shot, full-powered 9mm Luger Glock 19.

The S&W M&P compact is also a great gun.

 

[Mudinyeri]

With all due respect to General Geoff's psychology credentials ... I'm pretty certain that Mosey is as close as it comes to the root of the issue. Racking the slide is painful for her. Her hands and fingers are not used to handling hard metal objects with square edges.

I think she has some close-fitting work gloves that would be worth a try. Good suggestion, Mosey.

 

[Enachos]

STOEGER COUGAR!!!!!!

IMO, The stoeger cougar (and the beretta cougar) have the easiest working slides I have ever handled. You should definitely check them out!

 

[sideways]

Colt Mustang or 380 Gov I'd stay with checkered rosewood instead of fancy mother of pearl a lot easier to hold on to.Slide tension is very light but such a small pistol not a lot to hold on to thats why good grip material is important.

 

[General Geoff]

With all due respect to General Geoff's psychology credentials ...

I will readily admit that I am no shrink. I work by process of elimination. I know that any healthy adult human has ample arm strength to cycle the slide on most autoloading pistols (most six year old children can too). Since physical ability is not the problem, that only leaves a mental block.

I'm pretty certain that Mosey is as close as it comes to the root of the issue. Racking the slide is painful for her. Her hands and fingers are not used to handling hard metal objects with square edges.

Mosey's observations are spot on, IMO.

 

[Shadow 7D]

SO Far
gym membership, with focus on hand and arm strenght
practice with Cornered Cat's techniques (really should just get her to read the entire site)
try out a wide variety of handguns
get a good pair of SHOOTING glove, golf or baseball glove are ok, so to are some (car) driving gloved, the nice ones have gel palm pads, thin fingers and a special pad tip for your trigger finger.

And a few hours with a professional instructor (not you, to many fights, remember she will listen to everybody but you, you can tell her, but she don't get it, someone else mentions it in passing and they are a Sage)

 

[Nick5182]

Man...you guys are lucky...I've got to fight tooth and nail just trying to get my fiancée to even look at my handguns...

 

[Manco]

I'm trying to get my wife to consider carrying but she's a bit of a "delicate flower." We've tried DA revolvers and she can barely pull the trigger on most of them let alone shoot accurately while doing so. We've tried several automatics and she does well with trigger pull on most of the DA-only guns we've tried but she struggles to rack the slide on virtually every gun she's fired.

Some good advice on racking slides has already been given in this thread, and I'd like to add, based on personal observations, that even when your wife gets the hang of it, you'll want to make sure that she's had enough repetitions that she can consistently rack a slide after some time has passed between attempts.

As for DA revolvers, she could try placing her finger as low on the trigger as possible in order to get more leverage. If that's not enough, she could also try to pull with the first joint rather than the pad of her finger (might make learning trigger control more difficult, but it will give her additional leverage).

I've worked with her on the Cornered Cat methods. No go.

That's too bad, although honestly I find it kind of hard to believe in an absolute sense. If the main issue is her grip strength, then perhaps looking for the gun that has the greatest amount of slide grip would help. I don't know what gun that would be, but I've never racked a slide that has a more positive grip than the one on my M&P (on the other hand, it might be rough on her fingers).

The issue could be psychological, as it is with the not-so-delicate women in my household. Even for those who have an overwhelming amount of physical strength in relation to the task, racking a slide takes a certain amount of physical "assertiveness" in order to accomplish effectively. For most people it's not a problem, but some are a bit "shy" about applying force to small objects in the quick and hard manner that works best for this purpose. I've even seen some big guys struggle a little at first because they assumed that racking a slide takes almost no force or were trying not to damage the gun. Admittedly, I was guilty of the former myself as a rank beginner , although I had no difficulty powering it through once I realized how much force it really took. However, now that I have a good feel for it, I rack slides so sharply that I actually don't feel as though I'm applying any force whatsoever, ironically much like my initial, naive expectation--just BAM, and it's racked (a result of improved technique and a more experienced mindset).

I don't want her to have to think about cocking a hammer to be able to pull the trigger. Simple is best when under duress.

What if that's her best option overall? Simple is best, but training can overcome virtually any necessary and reasonable sacrifice in simplicity. With practice, one can fire a revolver in SA mode quite instinctively and rapidly by cocking the hammer with the "weak"-hand thumb and pulling the trigger with the "strong"-hand index finger. Both actions should be easy for anybody who is strong enough to lift a gun and fire it at all.

By the way, I'm almost ashamed to admit that the thought of making a "fanning gun" out of a single-action revolver actually crossed my mind (operated by thumb rather than actual fanning). That's probably not a good idea for a number of reasons, but it is a simple, workable solution nonetheless.

Thanks for the recommendations, from those who made them, on guns with lighter mechanisms. We'll take a look at them.

The easiest slide (or bolt) that I've ever racked was that of a Ruger Mark III, but I would suggest against a .22 LR semiautomatic for self-defense (not so much because of caliber but reliability). If you can find a .32 ACP that your wife can operate, then maybe that would be the way to go.

For those that have suggested smaller calibers ... I've considered that, but I'm not sure I'm willing to go there after only trying a handful of weapons.

Unfortunately, guns of the class you're primarily looking at are all largely similar in most respects, including the strength required to rack their slides (then again, it's more about technique and mindset than strength--if you can lift 15 lbs or so, then you can rack a slide).

 

[angus6]

And a few hours with a professional instructor (not you, to many fights, remember she will listen to everybody but you, you can tell her, but she don't get it, someone else mentions it in passing and they are a Sage)

This ^BTDT just built the wife a CCO and she was having a little problem racking it comfortably so I showed her to hold the slide and push the frame,,,, well why didn't I show her that years ago , tried to several time but this time she was willing to listen:banghead:

 

[searcher451]

My wife had all sorts of difficulties with the Walther PPK/S, S&W model, so I had her try an Interarms-made PPK/S. Same deal. I then had her try a Walther P88C, and she had no problems whatsoever with it. We next tried a full-sized P99 and then a P99C; same positive result. In my view, the larger the size of the pistol, the easier it becomes to rack the slide. That's not to say, however, that larger pistols make great concealed carry pieces.

From experience: Have your wife try any number of firearms, either borrowed or rented, until she finds that one that best fits her hand and eye and her ability to manipulate it easily. Picking one for her won't likely work for either one of you.

 

[usp9]

My wife has problems with all my major guns. I bought a Daewoo DH40 solely because it has a very easy action. The Daewoo did the trick. It's also an excellent pistol at a reasonable price.

 

[Mudinyeri]

From experience: Have your wife try any number of firearms, either borrowed or rented, until she finds that one that best fits her hand and eye and her ability to manipulate it easily. Picking one for her won't likely work for either one of you.

This is what we've been doing, but I was hoping to narrow the field a little.

I'd like to thank those who've made specific suggestions.

 

[FLAvalanche]

I had this problem with my ex-wife before she became such. Tried many semi-autos and we finally settled on the Bersa .380. The controls seemed to be smoother and she was able to rack the slide and use the slide release. Another benefit was that smacking the mag into a Bersa with the slide back will release the slide so when at the range or doing a reload she didn't need to operate the slide release.

 

[Mudinyeri]

Update: After working with my wife some more she can now rack the slide on my Beretta 92FS. It's my easiest slide but she still struggles with it. I need to find her some tight-fitting gloves to see if that helps with some of my other guns.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

 

[killchain]

My wife is 125lbs and 5ft 10in. She always had trouble racking the slide until I found a handgun she liked. Then the problem magically went away.

I've used the suggestion in this situation of using what I call the "push-pull." Push the lower as you pull the slide. Also, if you put all of your fingers on the grip instead of the "indexed finger," you get the extra strength of the index to help with the push. That isn't really a "train as you fight" idea but at the range it could help her out some.

Also, instead of the pinch on the slide, you could try a palm-down "combat rack" idea. Gotta be careful with slide bites though, and on some autoloaders it can cover the chamber.

Me personally, I index my trigger finger and do the pinch, and I always turn my pistol 90 degrees to the left. I live the "rack and roll" clearing technique.

 

[harmon rabb]

she's not racking it right. you have to be pretty strong to rack some slides using the slingshot method. if she racks it overhand, she can rack anything.

my fiancee is all of 5'2" and can rack the slide on anything i own this way.

 

[Taurus 617 CCW]

Mom had the same problem while shopping for her gun too and she's left handed to boot! We found the Beretta PX4 storm 9mm to be the easiest. She can also rack a broken-in Beretta 92FS but it's too big for carry. She shot my Glock 19 well but the mainspring was still a little stiff. There are outfits that offer lower power recoil springs for the compact and full size Glock pistols that make it easier to rack the slide but I caution you not to use hot ammo if you go that route. I gave her a gyro ball (made by dynaflex)for mother's day to strengthen up her forearms so she can rack the slide better.

http://www.rei.com/product/787691?p...-36A9-DE11-93DB-0019B9C043EB&mr:referralID=NA

If you have a Big 5 Sporting goods in your area they are under $20. Otherwise you could check Dick's sporting goods or REI like the link.

 

[9mmepiphany]

I gave her a gyro ball (made by dynaflex)for mother's day to strengthen up her forearms so she can rack the slide better.

it has been my experience that this is an excellent tool, but i've also seen it as an exercise in frustration for folks who just can't get them started

 

[Skylerbone]

Kimber pepper blaster II. No gun. Wouldn't even consider it. I love my wife, I wish she would shoot, she has no interest. That may change and she is more than capable of racking all of my pistols.

If your better half lacks the physical strength or psychological determination to operate the gun's mechanics, what makes you think it won't be in an attacker's hands in short order?

Pepper spray puts 'em down period. My father still holds the record in a city of 100,000+ for people sprayed (unofficially of course and including other officers). In contrast, he fired his weapon three times over a 30+ year career which included 5 years in a major East Coast city, 24 in a decent sized Midwest city and 3 years at a govt. facility.

If you insist, and I pray you don't for now, then bite the bullet and send her to Gunsight for instruction from a female instructor. If it's a mental thing rather than physical having a group of women watching her might just do the trick. I've yet to see a woman back down from such a challenge in the presence of THEIR peers.

 

[Guns and more]

I'd suggest she forgo the 9mm. and take a look at the Sig 238. (it's a .380) Not only is it the easiest slide in my collection to rack, it is a soft recoiling firearm and actually fun to shoot at the range. Couple that with the small size as well as real night sights, and I think you have the perfect carry gun. Your list includes a Beretta 92, a fine firearm, but don't you think that's big and heavy for a lady to carry? Most likely it will sit unused, and how does that enhance safety?
Shooters poo-poo the .380, but I've never found anyone willing to be shot with one.
"Lady, is that only a .380? Ha, go ahead and shoot me, the bullets will just bounce off!"


But then guns aren't for everyone. Does your wife want to have a gun with her?

 

[Ronsch]

I have found the slide on the P1/P38 to be fairly easy to rack. My daughter is able to do so, and she is fairly small and a little weaker (she is 5'1" and 112 pounds.)