A revolver for the wife.

[Barth]

OK you two, knock it off! And no name call'n either!
I've got a j frame airweight and it is Not a joy to shoot. My SP101 with 3" barrel has a better trigger and can be shot all day without any discomfort with 38s.

Anyway, see if she can use her other hand rather than trying to shoot with her previous strong hand. It only takes practice to get good enough for SD work at close range.

Same applies to my S&W 640-1 2.125" J-frame and particularly 65-3 3" K-frame.
Both have tuned triggers. But I'll put Special K up against any revolver.

[muggsy]

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!

Any new revolver that you purchase will need to have a trigger job and the action smoothed up. Even S&W's trigger pull is a bit on the heavy side. A good set of pachmyar grips and magnaporting will tame the recoil. Even a .22 in her purse is better than nothing.

[JFootin]

Any new revolver that you purchase will need to have a trigger job and the action smoothed up. Even S&W's trigger pull is a bit on the heavy side. A good set of pachmyar grips and magnaporting will tame the recoil. Even a .22 in her purse is better than nothing.

Muggy's right about the action job. And find a gunsmith who knows how to lower the pull weight substantially while not getting light strikes and misfires. I did. My S&W 638 Airweight now has a 4.25 lb DA trigger pull, and it has never failed to go bang. You probably could leave a couple more lbs in your trigger. My hands are mostly paralyzed, so I really need it that light. I have no problem with accuracy using that light trigger. I think the super stiff factory trigger is what keeps people from being able to shoot them well.

Knowing what I know now, I would have bought a 642. The 638 can be cocked and shot single action. But that is a hair trigger even before any trigger work, and definitely not suitable for use in an emergency situation despite how often you see someone cock a revolver for added effect in movies and TV shows. Just keep it simple with a DAO revolver.

The recoil is manageable, especially with standard pressure rounds. I put the one piece Hogue Bantam rubber grip on mine and I love it. Really secure handling the gun and it clears speed loaders better than the stock grips. The rubber helps cushion the recoil, too. The recoil doesn't just slam your hand strait back like a small auto does; it is a smooth rolling recoil that is not unpleasant.

[ltxi]

Never sell a .22 for self defense short. Can be quite deadly in competent hands. At the top of my list of never sell guns is a Beretta Minx that got me out a nasty scrape once.

[Planedude]

I shot a model 60 S&W with a 3" barrel in 327 federal. Can't imagin an easier to shoot magnum. Lots of noise, not bad flash and in that hefty(ish) stainless pistol recoil was a good bit less than my 3" J frame shooting .38spl.
Pricepoint used (Gunbroker) was aprox $600 for the one I shot (it was like new) and the box of JHP ammo came from Midway as I knew the gun was coming to a rangefest I was attending. Can't speek to your local ammo availablity but recently they did have it at my local Academy sporting goods store (no 9mm, 45acp or 40 S&W though).
Many others (two women) shot the gun that day with a number of different .32 types of ammo as the gun will shoot almost any type of .32 rimmed ammo.
If you can afford and find one, a stainless Model 60 in 327 Fed would be a great choice. Best of luck in the search.

[Armybrat]

I like Rugers and have several myself, but believe the J-frame Smith is the better choice for a small light .38 revolver like my Bodyguard Airweight:



And I have a Ruger SP101 .357 too.

[jocko]

oh that is just so sexy looking. I think I seen one of those in that ink blot test to. Nuttin wrong with the sp101 but this J frame eaks in looks and function to.

[AIRret]

I've never shot a gun with a port, and I don't know if they can put a port on a snub nose but maybe that would help her with recoil.

[Barth]

I've never shot a gun with a port, and I don't know if they can put a port on a snub nose but maybe that would help her with recoil.

They can.
Even an Air Weight.
Even my Titanium 342 38 can be ported.
http://www.magnaport.com/hgun.html

[newCW45guy]

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!

I'd rather my wife have a gun she can shoot well so I'd lean toward the .32. Or even a Ruger LCR .22mag with Hornady Critical Defense.

Charter and Taurus revolvers aren't for the most part any better than S&W.

Have her try a rental or borrowed gun before you buy a .38. Sub compact .38s really kick.

[newCW45guy]

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.....

Seriously point blank range with at least one reported head hit maybe the only one seems to me she missed more than hit. She was likely one miss away from an empty gun. Recoil takes a ton of training and capability.

Myself I'd favor more training and finding a recoil that's manageable by the user. All steel .38s still kick a bunch. The current trend of lightweights even more.

OTOH .22Mag loaded with Hornady Critical Defense which is designed for short barrels and six shots center of mass at short range comes easy.

My choice for my lady would be a LCR in .22mag (and she was a qualified 40/40 marksman in the Army). Handguns are another matter.

[addictedhealer]

+1 on the Smith J frames...They are a classic design and a beauty to behold....I only mentioned the Ruger to Tooexcessive because of the LCR trigger pull but IMO I'll take my S&W 642 airweight with a heavy trigger any day rather than a butt ugly LCR or anything else for that matter...

Oh as for whether it's a$$hole or A$$hoe it's MR. A$$HOLE to you brother!!!...

Hey watch your mouth! My lcr is not butt ugly! They look better than any hammer less s&w!

[mr surveyor]

in my opinion the best two choices of carry revolvers on the market are the Ruger (3" da/sa) SP101 chambered for .357 mag, and any of the all steel S&W .38 spl snubbies. I would stay far, far away from the airweights (any brand) for use by anyone (lady or man) with limited shooting experience.

Steel.... It's what real guns are made from.

[jocko]

PORT IT. then go light. Just sayin. neither is a peace of cake to shoot either, ..Probalby a gun that was made to carry far more than made to shoot..I got damn tired of carrying my Model 60 whenI had the lightweight ported model 342..

[stickbow9]

Okay I notice that you are not all sold on Taurus yet, but I will say I have two and their quality is increasingly better everyday. They have a new model that may be perfect for your wife, it is the M380 (assuming that .380 is okay for you). If she is just shooting for fun and to get used to the recoil this would be perfect. It is slightly smaller that the LCR and is hammerless too. 5 shot .380 and one of our members Ljutic has a site that he has done a two part review on it. PocketGunsandGear is where you can find it, and in his videos you can clearly see that the recoil is very manageable. I was thinking about this for my wife. I believe there are trigger kits for this pistol too. Plus a lifetime warranty and a free 1 year NRA membership. Hope this helps.