My mom insists on keeping a gun she can't operate.

[45bthompson]

Yeah I have a story like that.
I crushed my wrist in a turret overseas and a decided to ace bandage it and drink water. Now I'm out and the VA surgon dug all the dead bits of bone out of my wrist. If I shoot anything over 9mm I better not plan on doing anything else with my dominant hand for the day. I keep buying 1911's though. Its a damn shame really. I even have a desert eagle in .50AE. I shot it one time. That was stupid. I still enjoy taking the out and cleaning them. Plus I picked up a combat comander in 9mm so I'm good to go. I keep hoping it will get better but I think I'm just gonna let the VA fuse it and be done with it.

 

[230RN]

Have you tried teaching her the way the Israelis teach women ond children? You take the pistol in your strong hand, point it toward your off side. Place your off side hand on top of the pistols slide and force your arms together. It is ALOT easier to most than pulling the slide directly back.

I have to do that with some semiautos (arthritis and a hand injury). Kind of icky since the barrel is pointed out toward your weak side and right by your arm and you have to make sure it's pointed in a safe direction and then turn back to your regular shooting position.

Cocking it first, as someone suggested, is a help.

Blowback pistols are tougher because of the stronger recoil spring required. I have a Llama locked-breech .380 auto which is real easy to rack since it's a 5/8 scale model of the 1911, right down to the barrel link, but when I bought a blowback version of the same pistol, I had a hard time racking it and gave it away. (It was also heavier than the locked-breech version. You could see where they tried to increase the weight of the slide on it.)

A light DA pull on a gun is nowadays a prime requisite for me, unfortunately. "Light" ones I've found are my S&W 340 and my PF-9. Real easy. In fact, I put a laser sight on the 340 and it is now my everyday carry gun. (Side note about laser sights: you can hold the gun down low when firing it in poor lighting so that you will not be blinded by the muzzle flash.)

I have a Beretta P9 clone which I cannot use first-shot DA only because of the hard DA pull. It is for this reason that I will not buy a Glock, by the way.

Terry, 230RN

 

[ol' scratch]

My 84-year-old grandfather got a stainless Beretta Bob Cat in 32 ACP. It is easy for him to manipulate and conceal when on the property. He really likes the break barrel design. He has a large frame WWII era Star 9mm, but wanted the Beretta to fill a niche.

 

[IdahoSkies]

I loved my Beretta .32. If the frame hadn't cracked I would have it still.

 

[gym]

If it's in the drawer, why not chamber a round and then just have to pull the hammer back to fire it. It's been a while but I owned one for 20 years, I know it has a decocker, forgot about the slide not having a stop. But can she bull the trigger in the DA, or just cock it and place it in a holster with a strap between the hammer and firing pin, thus flip off the snap and fire it?
Is she too weak to shoot it in DA?
They used to make a lot of 1911 holsters that had that leather strap for the hammer for cocked and lodked, I know I had one for the ppk's, if I find it I can send it to you. In NY at the time 1970's, You only had 1 or possibly 2 guns on your carry license, so holsters were usually the only thing you could get to change thigs up.

 

[mljdeckard]

I am in a similar situation with my mom. She has a left wrist that was fractured and healed poorly. Now she can't rack most slides. (Yes, even with different techniques.) I got referred to a Walther PK-380, because it was designed with a very light slide pull, and I'm planning on getting her one. I'll have her load it with Double-Tap and practice when she can.

 

[ridgerunner1965]

my mom has several guns she cant locate her ammo for or even know what caliber they are.or even where the guns are right now.but she can shoot a 45 colt vaquero like a machine gun off the back of a running horse for her cowboy mounted shooting competitions. so i dont say much.

 

[Orion8472]

ridgerunner. . . . I think you win the "mom" story.

 

[JTHunter]

Orion - several years ago my stepdad died and my mother (in her mid 70's then) decided she should have a gun. I started her practicing with mt Ruger Convertible .22 S/A revolver. She could handle that OK and was a fair shot so we tried her on my .380. While she could fire it as accurately as the .22, she too, could not work the slide, even if already cocked. She had cracked her wrist over 25 years ago and it wasn't properly set and is slightly "off angle" and she's only a bit over 5' tall.
We happened to stop at a LGS about 40 miles south of her one day and they had 2 guns she liked. One was new and they wouldn't let her "test" it on the range behind the shop. The other was a Ruger SP101 in .38 Special. At 7 yards, her first shot was in the 10-ring and her second was in the 1" "X". She said excitedly "I'll take it!"
She is now past 80 and doesn't practice much but she knows how to use it effectively.

 

[230RN]

gym said,

They used to make a lot of 1911 holsters that had that leather strap for the hammer for cocked and lodked, I know I had one for the ppk's, if I find it I can send it to you.

I built a holster like that about 25-30 years ago and it's still my favorite "field" holster (even though I don't go "afield" any more).

The strap would go either over or under the hammer, and it was the only way I would carry cocked and locked --with some stout leather between the hammer and the firing pin. The design goal was to make a holster 100% out of leather, no metal or anything else. The thong would slip out of that slot in the strap quite easily and I could unstrap it and grab the gun in two smooth motions. As you can see, it's had a lot of wear and tear on it from [STRIKE]years[/STRIKE] decades of good and honorable service.

This was built waaay before everything got all tactical and technical, so it wasn't intended as a concealed weapon holster, but just for OC-ing a .45 around in the woods.

If you have a brand and model number for that ppks holster you mentioned, I'd like to know what it is.

Terry, 230RN

 

[Orion8472]

JTHunter, that may be an option, . . . but she's kinda spent her money already. My parents aren't all that wealthy. I'll just keep working with her on what she has. Maybe someday she'll decide to trade the Walther in on something she can enjoy operating. Until then, I will just do what I can to help her.