huntsman
Member
^ +1 on the SXS, I’ve got a BSS that will be my SD gun when confined to a rocker, I just don’t have the heart to take a hacksaw to it 
Input Requested: The Old Man Gun
- Thread starter stanley_white
- Start date
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great thread here. add firearms to the “getting old plan” list of finances, housing, etc. add life’s unexpected physical ailments at any age, and it’s sound to have a couple of “old man” guns at hand now.
as much as i love rimfire, dexterity issues might make handling small rounds problematic. that said rimfire has its place. i formerly placed heritage roughrider 22lr single action revolvers with my elderly aunt and mom. they were not gun people at all and both were living in safe suburban environments but they each wanted something at hand for protection that was simple.
what i will probably keep as i age out is one each ruger sr22, single six and bearcat, plus 3-4 taurus and s&w j frame 38sp 2” and 3” revolvers for home and vehicle. one 38sp is steel so it gets straight up ball ammo, the others are airweights, so wadcutters for them. the rimfires will hopefully keep me going out to the shooting range for a long while and have something to teach unborn grandchildren.
i also have a s&w shield ez 380acp, which is a home run design for seniors. my only issue with it is that i’m a revolver guy at heart.
as much as i love rimfire, dexterity issues might make handling small rounds problematic. that said rimfire has its place. i formerly placed heritage roughrider 22lr single action revolvers with my elderly aunt and mom. they were not gun people at all and both were living in safe suburban environments but they each wanted something at hand for protection that was simple.
what i will probably keep as i age out is one each ruger sr22, single six and bearcat, plus 3-4 taurus and s&w j frame 38sp 2” and 3” revolvers for home and vehicle. one 38sp is steel so it gets straight up ball ammo, the others are airweights, so wadcutters for them. the rimfires will hopefully keep me going out to the shooting range for a long while and have something to teach unborn grandchildren.
i also have a s&w shield ez 380acp, which is a home run design for seniors. my only issue with it is that i’m a revolver guy at heart.
dbluefish
Member
Well, well, well! Guns for the older folks amongst us, lol. Funny thing is I am finally selling my Molot VEPR in 7.62 x 54r BECAUSE the darn recoil was getting to me(I am a young 80 yo Marine). I find DA with my new Colt Cobra is easy and SA is unreal. For EDC I find my S&W M&P .380 EZ with good HP ammo works and is OLD FOLK certified. So, as I tread water in my golden years(lol), my suggestion is listen to your betters here!!!!
Semper Fi
paul
Semper Fi
paul
OP
OP
stanley_white
Member
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experiences Paul.
Several years ago and pounds ago I too wore the Eagle, Globe and Anchor.
Semper Fi.
-Stan
Robert Highhawk
Member
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2019
- Messages
- 25
Just went through all that. My single actions were too heavy. Sold my Ruger 3 screws, kept a Ruger Super Blackhawk just to have one and now am carrying Smith and Wesson 38 air weight double actions. Perfect fit for me
pairof44sp
Member
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2020
- Messages
- 783
This is my old man gun right now too!
6 weeks ago or so, I bought 4 of them because I misread what I was seeing online and thought there were only 4 left in the whole country. They were $335 each.
Well, I guess there weren’t a whole lot more than 4 left, because when I bought the 4, the price online shot up.
Now, just 6 weeks later, they are getting $520 on GB. $520 for a Charter! Can you believe it?
- BTW, you might want one of the new M&L holsters that they have on the Charter website. Super-high quality, and custom-fit to the gun. They will even do custom mods to the holster at no cost. The owner of the company calls you on the phone before he makes them.
Armored farmer
Member
Excellent.
Best idea yet!
CONGRATS, especially if you have wanted one for a while.
I'm 68 and have severe carpal tunnel syndrome - actual diagnosis - in both hands. Will get them both worked on this fall. Hopefully they will be a lot better then but as we all know, there's no such thing as a guarantee. And I understand from others, hand strength might not be the same after surgery. So this is a question of interest to me. I've got two contenders for my future handgun use. First is this bone stock but still nice Model 60.
Second option is this very finely tuned 686.
Have good leather for both.
Would use .38+P in whichever one I decide on. I'm leaning in the direction of the 686, even though it is larger (negative) and heavier (positive for comfort and shootability, negative for carry). The 3" barrel on the 686 is also a positive compared to the 1.75" on the 60. 686 also has a fiber optic front sight, the 60 does not. The 686 has a MUCH better trigger, both SA and DA.
Thinking this through I think the smart money is on the 686. The model 60 is lighter and easier to carry but other than that it's not showing much in the way of advantages. And to me I prefer to keep one gun in the front of the line. Thoughts or suggestions from the THR other old guys?
Second option is this very finely tuned 686.
Have good leather for both.
Would use .38+P in whichever one I decide on. I'm leaning in the direction of the 686, even though it is larger (negative) and heavier (positive for comfort and shootability, negative for carry). The 3" barrel on the 686 is also a positive compared to the 1.75" on the 60. 686 also has a fiber optic front sight, the 60 does not. The 686 has a MUCH better trigger, both SA and DA.
Thinking this through I think the smart money is on the 686. The model 60 is lighter and easier to carry but other than that it's not showing much in the way of advantages. And to me I prefer to keep one gun in the front of the line. Thoughts or suggestions from the THR other old guys?
LUCKYDAWG13
Member
I would love to have the 3" 686
But I would carry the model 60 because of the weight and smaller size
But I would carry the model 60 because of the weight and smaller size
chicharrones
needs more ammo
Keep both. One for light carry days and the other for heavier carry days or for the house.
I've added fiber optic front sights to some of my handguns over the last couple years. I've replaced the tritium front sights I've had in the near past as they are just too small and dim for my middle aged eyes to see anymore, even when new. The fiber optic isn't a help to me at all in low light, so I've painted the front sight white around the fiber optic area to help a bit when there isn't enough light for a fiber optic.
Since I'm near sighted, if I take off my glasses I can see handgun sights perfectly. Which could work around the house, as my eyes are still good enough to ID a target. However, I'm really going to have to lean on gadgetry in the future, such as laser grips. I have one pocket revolver with a laser grip and I can see that easily, with or without glasses.
I'm not quick enough finding a red dot on a handgun, plus the fact that if I'm not wearing my glasses a red dot is a huge blur.
Armored farmer
Member
..how old? Lol.
You know I refuse to quote the tired old, oft repeated line.....
But smaller carries easier, thus more likely to have it when you need it.
If your choice was mine to make, I would choose both.
The model 60 for discreet urban carry.
The 686 would get a woods duty, trail gun, shooter role.
Just my $.02.
I agree with those who have posted that we age differently, as individuals. Not only that, but our left and right hands do not, necessarily, age the in the same ways. I am naturally left-handed, but have always thrown right-handed, and have tended to use larger tools, that require the whole arm to get heavily involved, right-handed. This has resulted in my more-fine-motor-skillful left hand being spared much of the cumulative wear and tear damage that has been inflicted upon my right hand/wrist/arm/shoulder. Plus, some of my right hand’s apparent nerve-damage may actually be at the spine.
An excellent “old man gun” for my left hand is a single-action revolver. My more-dextrous left thumb has always meant that I have preferred left-hand use of single-action revolvers. My right hand does not always do what my mind is telling it to do, but it has no trouble, thus far, handling nicely-large .45 Colt cartridges, for reloading the chambers.
I still find large auto-pistols good for right-hand use. My left hand is better able to manage the running of a slide, while my right hand remains able to grasp the weapon, and pull the trigger.
Muzzle flip is the nemesis of my right hand, thumb, and wrist. High-bore-axis pistols, all else being equal, are bad for me. Combine a high-bore-axis pistol, with a snappy, whippy cartridge, such as the .40 Snap & Whip, and we have a weapon that hates me. I loved SIGs, from my early-Nineties P220, to the several .40 P229 pistol I used for duty and much carry, 2004-2015, except that they became torture devices, starting in 2011, the year I reached age 50. I might have retired, by the end of 2015, except that my chief OK’ed 9mm as an alternative duty cartridge, and I discovered Gen4 Glocks, which fit my hands better than Gen3 Glocks. (Glocks have a lower bore axis, relative to SIGs.) Being able to switch to 9mm Glock duty pistols extended my policin’ career by two years.
Another thing I have found, that my aging, aching right hand needs, is a grip frame that bridges all the way to the “heel bone” of my hand. My right hand started disliking rounded-butt grips and grip frames as long ago as the Nineties. By late 2017, my right hand started demanding that the grip extend far enough to brace, firmly, against the heel of my hand. I have not fired a Glock G19 right-handed, since 2017, when I qual’ed with my pair of G19 pistols, at the police range, and experienced discoloration, swelling, and pain. I had to wait 2+ weeks, to qual with my all-steel, full-sized 1911 pistols, and full-sized Glock G17 pistols, which did not cause pain or swelling.
My ideal ambidextrous handguns are medium and medium-large DA revolvers, with square-butt grips, to allow my aging right hand to shoot relatively pain-free. Long-stroke DA trigger skill is the least-perishable of my trigger-manipulation skills, so, my DA revolvers have become my default pandemic guns. (N-Frame revolvers are nice, but my index fingers are not quite long enough to properly reach the face of an N-Frame trigger, in DA mode, while maintaining an ergonomically-proper hold.)
I am not a doctor. I did study life sciences, and Anatomy & Physiology, in college, before turning my attention to police work. I self-studied kinesiology, while considering a second career. So, I am a layman, while discussing these subjects.
I hope that something that I have typed might be useful, to someone reading this.
An excellent “old man gun” for my left hand is a single-action revolver. My more-dextrous left thumb has always meant that I have preferred left-hand use of single-action revolvers. My right hand does not always do what my mind is telling it to do, but it has no trouble, thus far, handling nicely-large .45 Colt cartridges, for reloading the chambers.
I still find large auto-pistols good for right-hand use. My left hand is better able to manage the running of a slide, while my right hand remains able to grasp the weapon, and pull the trigger.
Muzzle flip is the nemesis of my right hand, thumb, and wrist. High-bore-axis pistols, all else being equal, are bad for me. Combine a high-bore-axis pistol, with a snappy, whippy cartridge, such as the .40 Snap & Whip, and we have a weapon that hates me. I loved SIGs, from my early-Nineties P220, to the several .40 P229 pistol I used for duty and much carry, 2004-2015, except that they became torture devices, starting in 2011, the year I reached age 50. I might have retired, by the end of 2015, except that my chief OK’ed 9mm as an alternative duty cartridge, and I discovered Gen4 Glocks, which fit my hands better than Gen3 Glocks. (Glocks have a lower bore axis, relative to SIGs.) Being able to switch to 9mm Glock duty pistols extended my policin’ career by two years.
Another thing I have found, that my aging, aching right hand needs, is a grip frame that bridges all the way to the “heel bone” of my hand. My right hand started disliking rounded-butt grips and grip frames as long ago as the Nineties. By late 2017, my right hand started demanding that the grip extend far enough to brace, firmly, against the heel of my hand. I have not fired a Glock G19 right-handed, since 2017, when I qual’ed with my pair of G19 pistols, at the police range, and experienced discoloration, swelling, and pain. I had to wait 2+ weeks, to qual with my all-steel, full-sized 1911 pistols, and full-sized Glock G17 pistols, which did not cause pain or swelling.
My ideal ambidextrous handguns are medium and medium-large DA revolvers, with square-butt grips, to allow my aging right hand to shoot relatively pain-free. Long-stroke DA trigger skill is the least-perishable of my trigger-manipulation skills, so, my DA revolvers have become my default pandemic guns. (N-Frame revolvers are nice, but my index fingers are not quite long enough to properly reach the face of an N-Frame trigger, in DA mode, while maintaining an ergonomically-proper hold.)
I am not a doctor. I did study life sciences, and Anatomy & Physiology, in college, before turning my attention to police work. I self-studied kinesiology, while considering a second career. So, I am a layman, while discussing these subjects.
I hope that something that I have typed might be useful, to someone reading this.
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