It was a grip full, for sure
That's the one hand grip to use..
Maybe your hand and your P-232.
Mine is a new one, and still so hard to rack it takes two hands and gritting your teeth to rack it without cocking the hammer first!
I can rack my locked-breach Kel-Tec .380 one-handed easily, as well as all my other locked-breach handguns.
My P-232-SL recoil spring though, is beyond my 66 year old hand strength so far!
...
To be clear, mine was the SL model, heavy, which was fine with me and, yes, a new return spring stays stiff for a long time being it is for blow back action..
And, it was for my wife and like you, my 58yr old hands, at the time, were talking to me as well.. lol and she had no chance of clearing such a jam.. even with younger, 46yr old hands, as racking the slide was her, threshold, max limit. no joy
But as I said, round counts didn't lie, it was a guaranteed jam, any mag, any type load, after 230 rounds (pure spent powder/black on the feed ramp, within the chamber and down in each mag) and JHP's was risky above 180 rounds, this, as I said, thru 1450 rounds of new, good WWB USA and Federal, along with Federal HS 90gr JHP's.. It just wouldn't go any farther, round count wise - clean her up, not too much oil, never had her wet, just bi-weekly tune-ups/new fresh oil with total cleanings of feed ramp, barrel chamber frame inside and out, and interior of mags and mag springs - just a must, she "demanded" thru 1450 rounds.
Beautiful gun, no taking that away from them, but double jams, which was the case, every-time, were a time-eating nightmare and as I said, one need not remove the mag as it was faster to just get the mag down "a tad" to take off the pressure, turn gun on its side and while holding slide all the way back, shake those 2 bad-boys out (worked fast every-time) then while reforming a proper grip just pop the slide (still in) up and in, sling shot the slide and return to POA - POI.
I found that, in a rush (if mag was taken completely out) that "slight angle" it takes to "get the mag started, as in up, then in, then push it up and all the way in took far more time..
And, always knowing I had 5 good bullets left, it seemed the better, faster, road to take, "in the event" then re-cert reserve mag with 7 more rounds if need be.
But, sold it, never looked back (except how beautiful it/they are) and went with the SA EMP which is far far more forgiving in all areas of a gun with more power and the same size, relatively speaking, least for me and my needs.
Oh, and for the OP, make sure you "note" in the owner's manual, that the return spring has a small end and a larger end and is not easy to see, but its there and the small end goes on first, leaving the large end to butt up against the front muzzle within the slide just over the muzzle hole.. key
Not to mention, can't recall what it was called, but on the left side of the frame there is a piece that can easily fall out when disassembled.. Study it, learn it, as to how it comes off, but way more important, how it goes back on..
When I had it for sale at my range, they let some PO test fire it and he took it apart and tweaked that part putting it back in. Oh the gun still functioned but it never had that friction on the slide (what was a very smooth) action and I took it apart, saw that it had been bent/forced back in (wrong) and I simply straightened it back up, put it back in "right" and it worked 100% and I took it home then and there and sold it over in the Beretta Forum to another member who met me at my range and when it saw it and cycled it, his eyes went
SOLD!
I even brought 200 rounds and asked him, "do you want to shoot it first while we're here?"
"Nope" he said, and he was dishing out the cash (got top dollar for her) as it was a gem in all respects and I told him about "the round counts" and that as long as he cleaned her up on or before 230 rounds she would run fine.. Just watch the round count, especially if using JHP's.
And now these 61yr old hands remember, fondly, of that gun and thank me when I pick up the SA EMP 9mm 1911..
so soft (recoil spring) so forgiving of a gun, now thru 7500 rounds and jams (not many and only FTFC type now and then) but I love mags, and a upper mag button that, when pushed, the mag/s just pop/fly out, freely, and go straight up and in fast and clean, no angle at fist - so these old hands and fading eyes can do it blindfolded anytime/every-time.. real fast and effortlessly.
And, technically, being the_wife's gun, she's in Heaven with it as well, in any, and all, formats or requirements needed.
Looking back, it must have been too tight of a gun - demanded perfection (clean being one) and I hope all with one, that it runs and runs, unlike mine - ours was - unforgiving in to many ways.
Ls