Firearm for my disabled mother.

[poweraddict]

So I'm looking in to a firearm for home defense that my disabled mother would be comfortable operating. She has shot gun before, but she has not had a lot of experience with them. I've owned two different xd 45s(the service model & the tactical 5 inch barrel) and she's shot them both, but she did not feel comfortable with their size in her hand.
She has really bad back problem(spine and nerve issues) so a shotgun is out of the question. I even suggested a 20 gauge but she's uncomfortable with even the thought of firing a shotgun.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I plan on taking her to a LGS in the next month to check out some options and see how they feel to her. I don't want something that's going to intimidate her. Nor do I want something underpowered.

 

[17 squirrel]

I would take my mom to a range that rents lots of different revolvers and let her shoot a few different small and medium sized revolvers.

After I find out what she can easily handle and shoot well, I would buy her one and a few boxes of cartridge's for it.
And take her shooting as often as she would go.

 

[MCgrease08]

Glock 42 and Bersa Thunder .380 are both probably a good size for her hands, while also being fairly soft shooters.

I would also recommend she look at a 4 inch barrel .357 (k frame). She could load it with light .38 spl rounds. It would soak up recoil well.

 

[AngryRooster]

Just went through something similar. Parents have a Glock 30 and while they both shoot it well the slide was too much to pull back for my mother. We went to the LGS and checked some things out, told them what the problem was. They handed her a Walther CCP (single stack 9mm). It was easy to pull because of the unique design and has great ergonomics. Fit in the hand was great and it turned out to be very accurate. There are a couple of things that need addressed with it but they are minor. The factory sights are plastic, thus susceptible to wear. It does come with 3 different heights of front sights if needed. I was told that Trijicon is now making sights for it. The other thing is the disassemble/reassembly. It's a bit tricky until it gets broken in a bit and you have some practice with it. Overall it turned out to be just what she was looking for.

 

[OutdoorDad]

The Bersa keeps coming up on these type threads.

If .380 is enough, and we aren't talking about making things small for deep concealed carry, I can't recommend anything better.

Its like a PPK, except it eats everything and is far more reliable. Oh, and costs far less with its improved reliability.

 

[17 squirrel]

I have two questions here, Why do so many guys put autoloaders in the hands of ageing and elderly family members.
A revolver is so simple to learn and use, one button and push open, told up and hit ejector rod then put in new bullets. And in 99.99% of the time reloading is not nessessery. If it don't go bang, pull trigger again.. Easy peasy


Automatics come with two to three levers, older citizens have a difficult time pulling back the slides, what lever releases the slide again ? Is it on safety ? What's that button for again, as the magazine hits the floor.
If it jams or stovepipes with most non gun people the firearm is now worthless, when its most important, its now worthless.

I really find it interesting that some here would rather give mom or gmom a 380 auto than a 32 Mag or a 38 special revolver.

And I find it really difficult to believe that a bersa 380 will feed anything and be more reliable than a Walther Pistol.. Got any proof to back that up ???

 

[halfmileharry]

I have been dealing with this for a couple of years now.
I have a decent collection of old quality revolvers.
MY MOTHER is in her 80s and can NOT pull the trigger double action anymore. I even had one gone through and lightened up thinking it would do the job. NOT!!!
WE...WE...Ended up with an old Glock 17 that looks to have been drug behind the station wagon by Clark Griswald.
It is light and smooth.
She CAN NOT run the slide BUT....In full run mode she has 19 rounds (extended mags) of 135gr Fed HShock to make an impact. Shes not going to win any awards shooting paper but she'll do what's needed.
Revolvers are great and I'm sure they're for someone's mother in this scenario. They just didn't work for us.

 

[AA&E]

I'd vote for a double/single action revolver. They are functionally easier for non gun people... especially those with no previous semi-auto experience. I prefer double/single action revolvers myself because they allow for a single action trigger pull if you have time to cock the hammer. Your mother might not be able to keep sight alignment through a long heavy trigger pull.

 

[AA&E]

I have been dealing with this for a couple of years now.
I have a decent collection of old quality revolvers.
MY MOTHER is in her 80s and can NOT pull the trigger double action anymore. I even had one gone through and lightened up thinking it would do the job. NOT!!!
WE...WE...Ended up with an old Glock 17 that looks to have been drug behind the station wagon by Clark Griswald.
It is light and smooth.
She CAN NOT run the slide BUT....In full run mode she has 19 rounds (extended mags) of 135gr Fed HShock to make an impact. Shes not going to win any awards shooting paper but she'll do what's needed.
Revolvers are great and I'm sure they're for someone's mother in this scenario. They just didn't work for us.

Just read your post after I made my previous comment. That was my concern, the double action trigger being too much for an older woman.

 

[IndyDave1776]

We can sit here, speculate, and offer pet preferences, but all said and done, the only real answers will come from, as previously posted by 17squirrel, taking her to a range and putting lots of guns in her hands, and figuring out what works for her.

 

[trophyhunter]

I've been down this road with my mother, she can't pull the trigger on any DA revolver made and you can forget her remembering to remove a safety under duress. Given a zero stress situation and a try or three she can work the slide from a closed position on most modern autoloaders but again the aged mind is a deal breaker with any safety lever on the frame or slide.

She has a loaded Glock 19 with her always, the 4th gen factory trigger breaks nice and light and the recoil springs are so well engineered in that pistol she can dump the mag into the head of a silhouette target at ten paces and I wouldn't say she ever could shoot any pistol at any point in her life with any degree of repeatable accuracy.

She can change mags in a hurry with it pretty well to with the slide locked open, seems easy enough for her to tug it back so it releases and chambers the round even with pretty severe arthritis in her hands. She can't load the mags past a couple of rounds even with the factory mag tool but so long as they are loaded and ready she can do the rest.

Suffice to say I have an extensive collection of pistols and nothing else worked for her, the trigger safety lever on the Glock works well in this case.

I'd try and borrow one for her to try, long as it's loaded and ready to go there's really nothing else that works easier for a senior. I know Smith and Ruger make (made?) similar guns with trigger mounted safeties but have no idea how their trigger pulls are.

 

[poweraddict]

Thanks for all the input everyone. She did have a hard time pulling the slide on my xd. I'm going to have to talk with her and see about putting her in a beginner's class and I'm just going to have to have to take her to a gun store and have her see what works for her and see if they'll let her dry fire and try the triggers out.