A revolver for the wife.

[tooexcessive]

I am looking to purchase a revolver for the wife. Some time back she was in an accident and severely injured and lost a bit of strength in her hand. She is unable to rack the slide on any pistol we have tried. In addition her index finger doesn't bend well and tends to get in the way of the ejection port. I considered a .38 special and we are getting ready to go shoot a friend of mines. I fear that the recoil is going to be a bit much for her judging from her reaction to shooting a .357 and 9mm. Thinking of a .32 or .327 but ammo seems to be an issue as well as I am not sold on Charter Arms or Taurus all that much. The only other option seems to be a quite pricey S&W. Any suggestions would be welcomed!

[Barth]

I am looking to purchase a revolver for the wife. Some time back she was in an accident and severely injured and lost a bit of strength in her hand. She is unable to rack the slide on any pistol we have tried. In addition her index finger doesn't bend well and tends to get in the way of the ejection port. I considered a .38 special and we are getting ready to go shoot a friend of mines. I fear that the recoil is going to be a bit much for her judging from her reaction to shooting a .357 and 9mm. Thinking of a .32 or .327 but ammo seems to be an issue as well as I am not sold on Charter Arms or Taurus all that much. The only other option seems to be a quite pricey S&W. Any suggestions would be welcomed!

Quite pricey S&W???
You should be able to get a 642 for ~$400 NIB.
Less used.
How much do you value your wife?

S&W M642 38 1 7/8 No Lock Stainless NIB Buds $379

[CPO15]

If recoil is an issue, I'd stay away from the Airweights; have a try with the all steel J Frames shooting .38s. And, if concealment is not involved, 3" or 4" 686 may be to her liking; again with .38s.

Good luck, try to shoot until she finds what she likes.

[chrish]

Have you considered .22 wmr. They are hard to find, but smith makes a nice model called the 351PD, and ruger now has one in the LCR.

http://www.ruger.com/products/lcr/models.html

For the recoil sensitive or in your case, somebody that may need lower recoil due to an injury, not too bad of a caliber to consider.

[jeepster09]

I would trade ya the wife for a nice revolver.....oh wait maybe I misunderstood your question....never mind

[Bill K]

Have you considered .22 wmr. They are hard to find, but smith makes a nice model called the 351PD, and ruger now has one in the LCR.

http://www.ruger.com/products/lcr/models.html

For the recoil sensitive or in your case, somebody that may need lower recoil due to an injury, not too bad of a caliber to consider.

+1

I think that Ruger wmr might just be the answer...

[CJB]

SP101 3"

Have the single action notch removed. The most dangerous situation is when shes holding a cocked revolver, and cannot safely decock it. DAO cures that.

[tooexcessive]

Quite pricey S&W???
You should be able to get a 642 for ~$400 NIB.
Less used.
How much do you value your wife?

S&W M642 38 1 7/8 No Lock Stainless NIB Buds $379

That is a model 642 .38, I was speaking of the model 632 .327 cal...it runs over $800. Sorry for the confusion.

[getsome]

Hi Tooexcessive and welcome to Kahrtalk, Stick around here and I promise that you and your wife will enjoy talking about Kahr's and other guns and you will make many friends here and feel right at home....

I have to agree with Bill K and go with the Ruger LCR revolver but in .38 special...
While it won't take home the pretty prize it's a great choice for an inexperienced shooter with a handicap like a bad hand....Rugers are tough as nails and they back them up with excellent customer service should something ever need repair...The LCR has a very nice out of the box trigger pull, is light weight and fits shooters with small hands very well...Train with her to shoot double action only at very short distances like 7-10 feet so she can see where the shots go and she will gain confidence that she will be able to hit a bad guy and defend herself well if God forbid the time comes...The LCR is priced right, is small and easy to carry and most women will be carrying in a purse so size/weight is an important issue for them ....

Have her shoot some standard .38 special target loads to get used to the recoil and it shouldn't take too long for her to get over being afraid of the weapon and become less recoil sensitive....For carry loads stay away from +P and load it with any decent .38 special JHP rounds like Speer Gold Dots or Winchester PDX and she will be good to go....

Good luck to you and your wife and have her post how she does with whatever handgun you go with...We are a family friendly site and encourage female shooters to join up and enjoy Kahrtalk....Happy shootin to ya'll...

[getsome]

One last thing, A .22 WMR might be the maximum she can deal with and if so a .22 WMR will have to do but I think a .38 special should be the minimum if the revolver is to be carried much and shot little....

We had a recent case here in Georgia of a woman at home with her two 9 year old twins and a burgler broke in on them while they were home...She managed to get her .38 special and hide with the kids in a crawl space but the burglar found them and she unloaded 5 shots of .38 special at point blank range and the guy went down but managed to get up and get to his car and drive off...He was later found bleeding profusely and arrested so don't count on even a .38 special getting it done...IMHO for what it's worth I would consider a .38 to be the minimum caliber I would stake her life on.....

[Bawanna]

I agree completely with both post. Well done.

[les strat]

I personally find the recoil on most small revolvers to be a bit more intense that that of a semiauto counterpart.

I know you said she can't rack slides, but has she tried a Glock 19? To me, they are one of the easiest to rack, has a great reputation, and 9mm+p SD ammo is on par with .40 nowadays. Recoil is negligible. Carried in a dedicated holster, it is one of the best concealable high-cap SD pistols IMO. A G26 is good too, but the 19 is a bit easier to be accurate with.

[OldLincoln]

My neighbor lady has the Ruger shown above and loves it. The trigger pull is not bad, but then she has the strength anyway. One very serious caution I have is to make absolutely sure she does not try to help her weak hand by supporting the gun over the barrel end of the cylinder. It would be natural to allow the weak hand to slip up a little but could get hurt very badly should that happen.

For a weak hand I'm inclined to think small .25 auto would be safer for her. It won't stop a determined thug but it will make them bleed. You have to match the gun to the capability of the shooter. Sometimes that may even be no gun at all (as my handicapped wife can attest).

[Yogi 117]

SP101 3".

+1, without a doubt, my wife's favorite handgun. Keep it loaded with .38sp and she can shoot all day...and fairly accurate at self defense distances too.

Pic of SP-101 3" & GP-100 4".

[tooexcessive]

Thank you all for your imput! Unfortunately the .38 I was going to have her shoot is the .357 airlite which would not be a good comparison to the Ruger you have suggested. This is one great disadvantage of living in a small Kansas town....no firing ranges to rent and "try out" a model you may be interested in. I will ask around to some of my friends and see if someone may have something similar, in weight, that she can give it a test drive. Thank each of you again. Cheers!