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Hi. I have a new customer/student that needs a home defense/EDC gun. Another dealer sold her a 2" 38 hammerless revolver and a SCCY CPX1. She can barely pull the trigger on either gun and neither will stay on target. The recoil on both is pretty stout especially in her hands. We settled on her husband's old EDC Browning 380. She can operate the slide sometimes, but it's still difficult. I don't know if to keep pushing her to practice with it and work on her hand strength or tell her to try another pistol. Any recommendations? I was thinking of ordering an LCR in 22wmr or 22LR. What do ya'll think? From what I understand, she needs it to be a bedside gun and EDC gun. I know 22 isn't a self defense round, but that's all I think she can handle.

Would the Shield EZ in .380 work for her. Pretty darned popular with the ladies. Or if that’s still too much for her a Beretta Tomcat in .32 caliber. I’ll never say a .22 LR or WMR won’t work but definitely my last choice if possible.

How about something in 17hmr. Imo it's a better round in close range then 22lr and 22mag.

My granddaughters both found the S&W EZ 380 easy to shoot.

oohrah wrote: Sun May 29, 2022 8:59 pm My granddaughters both found the S&W EZ 380 easy to shoot.

This is what I think is the best answer. It is the only gun I have found all these years that my wife loves to shoot and carry.

If she can control the 380 she has, could a slide racking tool help? Here is one example: https://www.amazon.com/Handi-Racker-Rac ... MD9U4?th=1

Ok, I think I'll order the Shield 380 EZ and see what she thinks.

srothstein wrote: Sun May 29, 2022 11:13 pm If she can control the 380 she has, could a slide racking tool help? Here is one example: https://www.amazon.com/Handi-Racker-Rac ... MD9U4?th=1

The 380 she has comes with barely visible sights and I don't think they're able to be changed.

SickSilverado wrote: Mon May 30, 2022 12:21 am

srothstein wrote: Sun May 29, 2022 11:13 pm If she can control the 380 she has, could a slide racking tool help? Here is one example: https://www.amazon.com/Handi-Racker-Rac ... MD9U4?th=1

The 380 she has comes with barely visible sights and I don't think they're able to be changed.

I have a Ruger LCP and the sights are horrible. The only times I have ever carried it was as a back up gun. I have stigmatism?, I think that is what they call it. I require lenses with three different prescriptions on the same lenses. The LCP sights are just terrible for me. I thought about putting a drop or three of florescent orange on the front sight but never did it. I think sometimes the smaller handguns can be harder to rack due to surface area of the slide. Years ago when my daughter was 21, I bought her an LCP. She hated trying to rack that thing. I then bought her a Glock 26 and made sure she racked it by holding the slide firmly and pushing the receiver forward. She liked it a lot better and IMHO the 9 mm G26 makes for a slightly better self defense platform. Once I got her using the hold the slide and push the receiver forward technique, she even got better with the LCP. She has MS by the way and one of the issues is extreme swelling and pain in her hands. I would never recommend any 22 caliber or smaller round for self defense. The BG may die but it could take a couple hours. Years ago I had a buddy who owned a Walther PPK in 380. If I remember right, it had slightly better sights and back then his seemed very dependable. It was also easy to rack the slide. I also have a KAHR P380 and it is and always has been a piece of junk. Jams, stove pipes and again, crappy sights and hard to rack slide. It makes for a better rock than a hand gun for self defense. I have a KAHR PM9 that has more than a thousand rounds through it. Dependable, great sights in a small handgun and again, not hard to rack slide. Bought it maybe 10 years ago. It was soon after it came out, when ever that was. Just some thoughts I had.

Concur with some of the previous comments regarding the S&W .380EZ. recoil is fairly light and the slide is as the name implies EZ to rack so give it a try. I have had a couple of students for whom even the .380 was more recoil than they could comfortably stand so, since the rule is any gun is better than no gun, next choice would be a Glock 44 in .22LR. Easy to handle and better sights than the LCP or Beretta Bobcat. I have had several students that were so recoil averse that they were all over the place in their shots. Using the Glock 44, with just a little coaching, all scored well over 200 on the LTC demonstration.

By the way, you almost described my wife, 70 yo, 110lb AND arthritis in both hands. With my Glock 19 she will get off one round and complain her hand hurts. With the EZ she will get through a mag. With the Glock 44 she will go against me on the dueling tree for several mags.

I know .22 is definitely NOT the preferred caliber, but if that is what the student can comfortably and accurately shoot AND not be concerned about recoil, I am not going to volunteer to stand in front of them and get shot with a .22.

AF-Odin wrote: Mon May 30, 2022 7:50 am Concur with some of the previous comments regarding the S&W .380EZ. recoil is fairly light and the slide is as the name implies EZ to rack so give it a try. I have had a couple of students for whom even the .380 was more recoil than they could comfortably stand so, since the rule is any gun is better than no gun, next choice would be a Glock 44 in .22LR. Easy to handle and better sights than the LCP or Beretta Bobcat. I have had several students that were so recoil averse that they were all over the place in their shots. Using the Glock 44, with just a little coaching, all scored well over 200 on the LTC demonstration.

By the way, you almost described my wife, 70 yo, 110lb AND arthritis in both hands. With my Glock 19 she will get off one round and complain her hand hurts. With the EZ she will get through a mag. With the Glock 44 she will go against me on the dueling tree for several mags.

I know .22 is definitely NOT the preferred caliber, but if that is what the student can comfortably and accurately shoot AND not be concerned about recoil, I am not going to volunteer to stand in front of them and get shot with a .22.

^^^this^^^

SickSilverado wrote: Mon May 30, 2022 12:18 am Ok, I think I'll order the Shield 380 EZ and see what she thinks.

Recommend finding an indoor range/gun store that rents to try it out before investing. That’s what we did (in New Jersey if you can believe that!)

I have a LCP and a LCPII. The LCPII has a MUCH better trigger and decent sights. It is still hard to rack.

I suggest taking her to a gun range that has a variety of rental handguns. The EZ models from S&W are certainly an option. It wasn't available when I took my wife to shoot several .380 models. We only rented locked breech pistols since recoil/blowback actions are much harder to rack. She narrowed it down to a SIG P238 and a Glock 42. She chose the Glock, which replaced her S&W 9MM Shield. She has small hands and limited hand strength.

I've also read good things about the EZ pistols and their being much easier to rack the slide etc.. It's sometimes hard to be a good revolver if one can be found in an acceptable caliber and size. Perhaps one in the newish .327 Federal, not to shoot the snappy magnum ammo but to shoot any of the 2 or 3 other .32 ammo options it handles? A bit more than a .22 but not overwhelming. Good luck figuring it all out.