Visited LGS after work

Status
Not open for further replies.
I've taught folks with weak hands to rack a slide. It seems to work best with a full-size 9mm. The real problem IMO for the LoL (Little old Lady) crowd is inserting cartridges into magazines. Even with a loader it can be a PIA and require significant hand and finger strength.
 
My daughter, who is.....well late 30's......wanted a handgun a fre years ago, and we started with a S&W Model 36. She had difficulty with the trigger in DA, so we went to a Walther PP in .380, and she had difficulty in racking the slide. Now, she's in excellent shape, runs marathons several times a year, but simply doesn't have a lot of strength in her hands.

So the next step was to try a Colt Government Model in .380. My reasoning was that with the Walther, the full-length powerful spring was just too much for her. The Colt utilizes the same design as the 1911, with a short recoil spring and the barrel locking into the slide until the pressure drops so the sluide is much easier to rack. That did the trick and she loves the small size which is easily concealable.

So there are a good many women I'll wager with the same problem she had. Sometimes a small .380 is just the trick. These women simply need to try different designs until they find one they can work successfully.
 
When you encounter people with weak hands that are having trouble with racking the slide...think about a hunting bow...

Have them push the body of the weapon with their strong hand, while holding still, or pulling the slide back with their off hand. Most people can push harder with their strong hand than they can pull with their off hand. (One caution, make sure they keep their finger off the trigger when they do this....)
 
When you encounter people with weak hands that are having trouble with racking the slide...think about a hunting bow...

Have them push the body of the weapon with their strong hand, while holding still, or pulling the slide back with their off hand. Most people can push harder with their strong hand than they can pull with their off hand. (One caution, make sure they keep their finger off the trigger when they do this....)

I don't disagree with your advice, but the analogy to a bow is off. You don't hold the bow with your strong hand and you don't push the bow forward. That's why they call it "pulling back"

Edit: Sorry if that is too off subject or nit-picky
 
Thank you Al Thompson for the "Cornered Cat" link. My wife's reading it right now.

She can't seem to rack my XD 9 or LCP. I took her to the LGS to try a few different firearms and the salesman there wasn't much help. I read that article before I sent it to her and I think the answer is there.
 
The clerk told her that she could just leave one in the pipe and her son could clean it for her.
How do you know that isn't a viable option for her? My mother never drove a car. (Between my dad and five of us kids - of which I am the youngest - when we got old enough to drive, she went anywhere she needed to go. :D) It never even entered my mind to tell her, "Geez, Mom, why don't you get a driver's license and drive yourself?" (If I had, there would have been hell to pay! :uhoh:) Instead of grousing because Grandma didn't buy the gun you think she should have, be happy she got one. Believe it or not, probably the majority of gun buyers are non-enthusiasts, and may not even have heard of THR. :what:
 
Last edited:
I saw my local gun store sell two elderlly ladies two really old 25 cal pistols, not colt or Smith, some junk with euro mag releases. They couldn't get the mags out or fire the guns, they were beat. The guy came back and showed one of them "real fast" and left. I spent a good half hour explaining how to load and chamber a round in these junk guns, "it was a while ago". I didn't say anything to the owner, they are the kind that would tell you not to come back, and there isn't another range around for at least 1/2 hour farther. But I did tell them to return the guns ,"as these were useless" and he just robbed them.
A small revolver was what he should have sold them, they couldn't make the gun function, in their 60's and 80's, looked like spinsters, maybe a mother and daughter. It really pissed me off, they did the same thing with a rifle that they don't even stock, I asked "how much for a transfer" the woman said ,"you mean you want to buy a gun from someone else and have it sent here?" I said yes since you won't even order it. She said $100.00. The 2 gunshops near my home do it for $25, its a shame that some folks don't care about customer relations. How do you get mad at a customer when you won't even order a gun for him? They wouldn't be stay in business, other than the fact that they know somone on the city council, and have a monopoly.
 
JayBird said:
This is why when my mom(mid 60's) decided to get her first gun, I talked her into a 38 wheel gun.

Same problem. When my Mom was young, her dad tried to teach her to shoot. Not really interested even though she was a "tomboy".
About 8 years ago (she was mid-70's), she realized that she needed something and had me teach her and we started with my .22LR/Mag SA revolver. She tried my .380 but couldn't rack the slide. We found her a used SP101 in .38 Special and she does pretty good with it.
She also has a .22 rifle with a cheap holosight and uses it to pop the turtles and muskrats burrowing into the dam. Now, she likes to shoot! :D
 
This makes my blood boil.

I was a counter jockey for 4 years. Selling an object with such inherent potential dangers and safety considerations as a firearm is SUCH a serious business. Factor in the human element (both seller and end user) and there is a mind-boggling amount of possible scenarios, both positive and not so much, as we all know.

I loved it when elderly folks came in.
Firstly, a lot of them were in the very least, concerned and sometimes downright visibly frightened for their safety. Some had just had their house burglarized or the one next door had just been. There were also some pretty bad neighborhoods near the store that weren't so when they moved there years ago.

To the point, since these folks were at a tactical disadvantage because of age-related issues, I always first established what they could operate within their limitations. It was actually fun and helpful to a lot of the old ladies to learn how the different actions did their thing. That way, when you then handed over the gun in question, they knew what it was they were doing (i.e. pull this "thing" back, let it go, and the gun's now loaded.) That was also a good time to plant the seed re: The 4 Rules through the course of the interaction.

Through the process, you can notice the degree of difficulty they experience with each action and get a better idea of what's best for them, which is why they came to you to begin with.

A lot of older folks are more familiar with the revolver scenario than younger people, which I thought was great because selfishly, I'm revolver-biased myself, anyway. After we'd finished and started looking at models, if there was a used-but-serviceable S&W revolver in a reasonable caliber in the case, I went straight for that first. Saves them cash on a quality weapon that they can use.

In fact, arthritis was a consideration more often than not and I can't count how many times the store's gunsmith (a great guy and a gifted 'smith BTW) installed an 11 lb. Wolff trigger rebound spring (from a personally-owned stash that I bought and kept in the store) in a used S&W free of charge so these old folks could have a still reliable, but lighter trigger.

The thought of handling this situation any other way is, IMO, taking someone who came to you for help with a possible life-and-death situation and knowingly putting them in a position that could result in indirectly assisting in their deaths. It's elderly abuse. Reprehensible. Abusing an elderly person is no different than abusing a child.

I miss that job sometimes. But there's no way on gawd's flat earth that I'd ever do it again at a Gander Mountain.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top