Need a light recoiling carry gun for mom

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DMK

DMK

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Mom has a carry permit and is looking for a pocket gun to carry concealed. She wants something compact and very light. She thinks the steel framed J-frames feel like a brick. I know that if she doesn't feel comfortable carrying the gun, she'll leave it at home. :rolleyes:

She has fairly weak hands so racking the slide on an auto is out of the question. She can't handle a .38 J-frame with standard 158gr. ball ammo at all. Just to get an idea of her tolerance level, she tried my Dad's Kel-tec P32 and even that recoiled too much for her (although it's awfully small and light).

She handles her Model 15 K-frame .38 target gun well, but it has a big, soft rubber grip on it (I wish she'd carry it, but it's too big and heavy). She can shoot .22LR from a small gun really well, but I'm just not at all that comfortable with her using a .22LR for a carry gun.

I'm thinking maybe a lightweight J-frame in .22mag or .32H&R might do the trick.

Any suggestions? Has anybody else gone through this type of thing someone? It's kind of tough because you can't exactly try before you buy.
 
I know you've ruled out the autos, but you might have her try a Kel-Tec P-32 and a Colt Mustang if you can find one. They are surprisingly easy to rack and aren't at all bad in the recoil department. My wife can easily operate and shoot either although she has a medical condition that results in low hand strength and poor tolerance to recoil.

The .32Mag Airweight isn't too bad for recoil and is very light, but she needs to shoot one to determine if the recoil is ok for her. You'll probably have to do something about the trigger as the stock trigger is pretty stiff--she'll probably have to use two fingers to operate it.
 
I'd take her somewhere with .32 J frames for rent and let her try one.
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Yea, that would be ideal. Unfortunately that's not an option around here. I know of only one range that rents guns and they don't have a very large selection.

One concern though: in a lot of cases where somebody can't deal with recoil, they ALSO can't deal with a DA trigger. You need to check for this by having her dry-fire a standard DA snubby of some sort.
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Good point Jim. Strangely, that doesn't seem to be a big issue with her. She handles the DA trigger just fine. I think most of her problem is in her wrists and forearms.
 
DMK:

I am thinking about selling my S&W model 12. It is a K frame and it weigh 18 oz. unloaded would this work for her?
 
Definitely have her look at the Beretta Tomcat. They weigh something like 14.5 ounces empty, are nice and flat and the barrel tips up to load the chamber. The 60 grain .32 ACP isn't a huge bullet, but it's better than a .22. They sell a version with a tritium big dot front sight and XS express rear that would be my choice if I were getting one now.

Mine has had a few hundred rounds through it, mostly PMC fmj and Gold Dot. Function has been perfect.
 
Don't some of the .32 Berettas have a tip-up barrel?
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Yeah, the model 86 is mid-sized with a tip-up barrel. It's large for a .32, so it has little felt recoil, and even someone with very weak hands can load it via the tip-up barrel. It's not listed on Beretta's website, so it may have been discontinued, but there are several available on Gunbroker.
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A very relevant constant of concealed carry...

When carrying, it can't be small enough or light enough. If needed, it can't be big enough or powerful enough.

Brad
 
A very relevant constant of concealed carry...

When carrying, it can't be small enough or light enough. If needed, it can't be big enough or powerful enough.
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Excellent point and true enough.

However, there's the flip side:

Eight hits with .22mag are much better than 5 misses with 38 Special.
 
The Beretta 86 (pictured above) is actually chambered in .380. It's a very nice gun and easily operated by the recoil shy and those with low hand strength. The only downside to the 86 is that it's rather large--which of course contributes to lower recoil than what you'd expect from a blowback action.

There is a Beretta tip-up in .32, but I don't consider it to be as user friendly as the 86. On the one I handled, the barrel release lever was very hard to operate, and the trigger wasn't as nice as on the 86.
 
J frame airweight Target bullets

For an officer friends mom I recommended a Smith J frame airweight and I loaded her a good supply of 148 Grain Hollow base wadcutters loaded backwards explaining she could fire it in her apartment with less chance of injuring someone in apartments on either side or above or below hers and that suited her just fine after some range practice against a silhouette target.

Fitz
 
Good point Jim. Strangely, that doesn't seem to be a big issue with her. She handles the DA trigger just fine. I think most of her problem is in her wrists and forearms.
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Then the 8-shot lightweight Taurus 22mag is *definately* worth thinking about.

Her forearms are where her finger strength is, and those seem to be fine if the DA trigger doesn't cause issues. Most likely she's got worn out wrists - or there's something funky at her elbows? Recoil will punish both. 22Mag in an 18oz gun will NOT be painful unless she's in very bad shape indeed.

Random thoughts:

* Women usually don't do on-body carry. They either run a purse or (better yet) a fanny pack. Which means that a semi-auto's "flatness" isn't as big a benefit as it can be on a guy doing IWB or similar. The only exception is if they do a thigh rig under a dress.

* The tip-up barrel idea is fine until she has to clear a jam and can't rack it :scrutiny:.

* The "last gun somebody can shoot" with damaged hands/wrists/arms is a lightweight full-size 22LR semi-auto in an alloy frame...Browning Buckmark or similar. While bulky, don't discount the value of 10+ CCI Stingers planted rapid-fire into some late-night creep. It sounds like your mom isn't at the point where this is all that's left, not if she can still work a DA trigger.
 
You know, I knew the 86 was .380, guess .32 got stuck in my head searching Beretta's website for a pic. :banghead:

* The tip-up barrel idea is fine until she has to clear a jam and can't rack it .
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Doesn't matter anyway -- the 86 doesn't have an extractor. If it misfires, you have to open the barrel and pull the dud with your fingers. Then put a fresh round in, or close the barrel and rack the slide.

If you're uncomfortable with .22 mag, go with the .32 Mag. Or hunt up a Terrier in .38 S&W, or a .32 Detective Special. :)
 
Doesn't matter anyway -- the 86 doesn't have an extractor. If it misfires, you have to open the barrel and pull the dud with your fingers. Then put a fresh round in, or close the barrel and rack the slide.
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Ummm...and when it stovepipes?

Or you get a failure to feed - there's rounds in the mag but none up the pipe. The fast way to charge it is to rack it.

Believe me: if it's a semi-auto, it can fail in ways that require racking to clear. And if she can't practice that, and then needs to in a combat situation, she should NOT have been carrying that particular gun.

-------------

Some of the semi-auto 22LRs have extremely light "rack actions". Others (the Rugers) do NOT. That's why I mentioned the Buckmark over any Ruger for "seriously weak hands" situation.
 
Hello. I'm new to the group. I am a big revolver fan. I only own one semi-auto and several wheel guns.

I've read that even a .22 can be very effective if the shot placement is accurate. So I'd think a .22 magnum might deter somebody, especially if you're aiming for the upper part of their body, like the face.
 
For an officer friends mom I recommended a Smith J frame airweight and I loaded her a good supply of 148 Grain Hollow base wadcutters loaded backwards
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Hmm, Mr. Jones brings up and excellent point. Maybe I'm going about this all wrong. Instead of getting a new gun, perhaps we should just try some lighter loaded ammo in the gun she already has.

Is this worth considering? Is a very light load .38 better or worse than .22Mag?
 
Better or worse for effectiveness or recoil?

I'm guessing the light 38 special will be more consistant where as the 22 mag will have more potential for a stop.

For recoil the 22 mag will be roughly half of what a light 38 load would be given the same weight gun.
 
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