Is it ok to store a gun like this in the safe?

I do not advise that. With someone who has not mastered proper gun safety or the ability to properly utilize a firearm you are setting yourself up for a negligent discharge. What is the difference between a fully loaded weapon and one that will be fully loaded when the slide is released? I think bear spray would be a better defense for your wife.

George Dickel said:

I do not advise that. With someone who has not mastered proper gun safety or the ability to properly utilize a firearm you are setting yourself up for a negligent discharge. What is the difference between a fully loaded weapon and one that will be fully loaded when the slide is released? I think bear spray would be a better defense for your wife.

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I agree. Leave it ready to go or not. Buy a revolver and some training? Trigger discipline is absolutely important. Perhaps more than the combo to the safe. I bet she doesn’t start backing up without looking.

Likely no issue with the gun itself.. however, your plan is suspect.

It sounds to me like you're posing a less than satisfactory scenario. Why not get another gun for her that's easier for her to operate and have her train to be comfortable operating it, shooting it well, and in the end be a competent, responsible and safe handgun owner and operator? Please don't take shortcuts out of perceived necessity. They've been known to get people hurt. The few $$ spent on the proper firearm for her are $$ well afforded and spent.

Google "Jimmy John's Robbery" and watch the video. This is what happens when someone unfamiliar with proper handling of firearms trys to load a gun under stress. If you need to use a gun, it needs to be ready to go.

reddog81 said:

Google "Jimmy John's Robbery" and watch the video. This is what happens when someone unfamiliar with proper handling of firearms trys to load a gun under stress. If you need to use a gun, it needs to be ready to go.

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I dunno it seem to work pretty good for the bad guy. The clerk could care less. He was staying chill.

Go revolver for her then would be my plan. No need to rack a slide. Easy manual of arms. Heavy DA trigger.

The TP9 series has too light of a trigger for a rookie as well.

That's just my thought.

Training over everything though. Maybe a stun gun, if she doesn't want to practice.

Racking the slide is a matter of technique, not strength.

dekibg said:

she doesn’t have a good finger discipline

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Then she either needs to develop it or keep her hands off guns all together....

bdickens said:

Racking the slide is a matter of technique, not strength.

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I beg to differ. I own a couple I'd challenge you to try; well, maybe not you yourself, but a woman with small hands and typical female hand strength.

I lost the strength in my hands and decided to buy the Smith & Wesson EZ-9. It really is a breeze to rack the slide on. I had to sell my older autos because they became impractical.

I do keep a .38 revolver loaded as well. No thought, just pull the trigger. It's always ready.

dekibg said:

she doesn’t have a good finger discipline

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She needs to develop said finger discipline. It's a habit that takes work to develop.

Mechanically there is nothing wrong with storing a gun that way. A better solution to your wife's problem is threefold: get her experience at the range to build up hand strength. Teach her the proper method to manipulate the slide (push with strong hand, pull with weak). And finally, get her a gun that is specifically for her to manipulate. The Smith and Wesson EZ models have already been mentioned. Walther CCP is also a good choice for weaker hands. Another option is finding an older tipup model firearm like the Beretta Tomcat or 84.

Bad idea imo. Get something the wife can safely operate and some training.

for similar reasons I put a large can of defense spray on top of my safe.

Agreement: Get an easier gun to manipulate. Having had hand problems, by the way, it's easier to rack it if you cock it first, so you're only working against the recoil spring, not the recoil spring and the hammer spring at the same time.

Also, blowback guns are harder to rack because they usually have stiffer recoil springs than locked-breech actions.

If you can obtain another recoil spring, try cutting off one to three turns and thoroughly testing it out for reliability. You can stretch the cut-down spring to near original length. Don't cut if you don't have a spare spring ready-to-hand if the experiment doesn't work. It might require lighter ammo. You can also buy internal recoil buffers, at least for the 1911; I don't know about other models.

Some people might poo-poo this idea, but you never know until you try it and re-prove the gun's reliability. .

I liked her remark about abuse: "Every shot is an explosion anyway."

Terry, 230RN

REF (example):
https://shopwilsoncombat.com/Shok-Buff-Recoil-Buffers-1911-Package-of-6/productinfo/2B

I would not store a gun that way for a number of reasons.

Here’s one of them: if she is not proficient is the nuances of handling that firearm , expecting her to chamber a round in an emergency is not realistic. If she were to fumble with it or hesitate while facing an armed bad guy she is up against a losing proposition.

As others have said, go the revolver route. Much simpler.

If she can’t rack the slide on a semiauto pistol, she might not be able to pull the DA trigger on a revolver, either. See if she can rack the slide using proper technique, then start down the path of other guns. But she absolutely needs to learn safety FIRST.

wiscoaster said:

I beg to differ. I own a couple I'd challenge you to try; well, maybe not you yourself, but a woman with small hands and typical female hand strength.

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Perhaps you should differ with all the petite little women with small hands on YouTube showing you how to rack a slide properly. I'm just going by what they say....

dekibg said:

...problem for my wife - I am also not comfortable with her just grabbing a gun ( if needed ) , and it is already fully loaded , she doesn’t have a good finger discipline and rarely goes to the range. This way she just needs to release the slide stop and gun is ready

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Sounds like U have multiple things going on at the same time and ALL can be fixed with a simple review of the pistols instruction manual, a slight change in priorities AND thinking, and a wee bit confidence moving forward.

In the manual you will find gun handling safety rules. Keeping the gun unloaded until ready to fire is one of them, this gun I presume would be used for self defense, therefore, would be LOADED AT ALL TIMES. Ok we blasted past the round in the chamber/racking the slide issue right quick! The beginning portions and ending portions of your complaint are resolved.

As afar as safety 'grabbing a loaded gun outta the safe,' place it inside a holster perhaps? That keeps that ol' finger off the trigger; just like holstered on your belt. And, just as fast to place into action as it would be out of the belt. I presume that solves the good trigger discipline issue.

Range time, well, your ''sell'' is, we can't go to the range ammo costs too much and can't replace it. Again, consulting the safety portion of your manual; while manipulating the gun at home for ANY reason, eg. dry fire or i.e. cleaning, make SURE the gun is unloaded, and, no ammo in the area. The ages old sage advice, on ANY good day, DRY FIRE AT HOME. Backed up with (of course) LIMITED range bang-bang-smoke time. Does she know and/or understand point shooting, may be time to do an indoor range session coupled w/ coffee, or dinner (or other fav activity) (note: don't blame me if it blossoms into a purse shopping extravaganza I DIDN'T SAY IT LoL)

You are attempting to provide a safety AND emergency answer to a very rare 'what if' scenario. If a HOLSTERED LOADED gun is pulled it ELIMINATES some what ifs (what if I finger the trigger? W. if I can't rack the slide?).IN ALL MATTERS, SAFETy, SAFEty, safETY....SAFETY 1st!!

Got a P365 for the wife and had per practice with snap caps until she was handling it safe, then off to the range. It was hard for her to cycle at first, but with some practice she got good at it. She now shoots my 1911 and my little Colt Cobra (although she doesn't like it's recoil). It is hard for her to load the P365's mag, but I got a mag loader that helps with that.

dekibg said:

You guys make sense. I am planing to get a 38 special revolver anyway.

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Before buying a revolver take her to a rental range to see if she can actually shoot a revolver with a heavy DA trigger pull. And let her handle any gun before you buy it. You might think that J frame 38 is fantastic, but she will probably hate it.