SUGGESTIONS for Carry piece for Wife w/ "Pre-arthritic" hands.

[NSI]

Great deal on likely the best tool for the job here. Legal in CA?

-J

 

[TheGDog]

Not seeing the 30 super carry in their handgun roster. Would rather go with 9mm anyway.

Was wanting a more concealable option than the size of these Shield EZ's though. If I could swing it.

Doesn't mean I won't take Mama to go try these Shield EZ's though. Sounds like they made them specifically for persons with these types of hand-strength issues.

I'd just like the ending choice of gun to be somewhere in that 20oz or below range, if I can find one she operates well enough. And I'm thinking like your 3.xx barrel length so that she could potentially, if need, just put it within a sticky-type pocket-holster if need be.

Thing of it is... I'm figuring chances are high these other folks on these group hikes would freak-out if they knew somebody in the group was carrying. (The masses out here are brainwashed, the boob-tube, ya'know.)

So ultimately I'd like to find a gun I know she can operate without issue, that is easily concealable, and can handle up to 9mm +P type energy levels, and shoot LeHigh's without issue, as that'd be the round I'd want her to carry in the woods.

 

[NSI]

Not seeing the 30 super carry in their handgun roster. Would rather go with 9mm anyway.

Was wanting a more concealable option than the size of these Shield EZ's though. If I could swing it.

Doesn't mean I won't take Mama to go try these Shield EZ's though. Sounds like they made them specifically for persons with these types of hand-strength issues.

I'd just like the ending choice of gun to be somewhere in that 20oz or below range, if I can find one she operates well enough. And I'm thinking like your 3.xx barrel length so that she could potentially, if need, just put it within a sticky-type pocket-holster if need be.

Thing of it is... I'm figuring chances are high these other folks on these group hikes would freak-out if they knew somebody in the group was carrying. (The masses out here are brainwashed, the boob-tube, ya'know.)

So ultimately I'd like to find a gun I know she can operate without issue, that is easily concealable, and can handle up to 9mm +P type energy levels, and shoot LeHigh's without issue, as that'd be the round I'd want her to carry in the woods.

Off-body carry solves the size issue for hiking. It's really not that big anyway, and big helps with shoot-ability.

Sorry if I missed this - does your wife have the hand and wrist strength (and/or willingness to practice consistently to put multiple rounds on target in a lightweight 9mm?

A compensator might be helpful ... the radian ramjet is CA compliant since it doesn't use threaded barrel.

-J

 

[wesfromky]

I think if you can't get a p938, then having her run the p238 is probably best. Check out hill people gear kit bags for carry - they have some that look much less "tacticool" and more general outdoors, plus they work well with a pack, and you might be able to carry the spray as well.

 

[180ls1]

Went through similar with my wife and sister.

Go to a local range and rent as many as she likes. This could be 6 or more but it's only $10 a pop. Buy the one she is most comfortable with.

Funny enough, the guns my sister and wife purchased were NOT the ones they liked the most at the counter or ones I thought they would based on research.

 

[TheGDog]

I think if you can't get a p938, then having her run the p238 is probably best. Check out hill people gear kit bags for carry - they have some that look much less "tacticool" and more general outdoors, plus they work well with a pack, and you might be able to carry the spray as well.

Yeah, I'm figuring for now, just load the p238 w/ 90gr LeHigh Xtreme Penetrator. She does fine shooting it with your typical 90gr range ammo/fmj stuff.

Hrmm... Good call on that Hill People Gear upfront bag.

Yeah... I bet that wouldn't be too hard of a sell to get her to start wearing on the hikes, especially if she could just easily have the BearSrpay w/in it as well.

Probably make it handy to have snacks in up-front (GU Packets, maybe a trail bar) and like eyedrops/advil/chapstick/cellphone/wallet etc.

 

[wesfromky]

Yeah, I'm figuring for now, just load the p238 w/ 90gr LeHigh Xtreme Penetrator. She does fine shooting it with your typical 90gr range ammo/fmj stuff.

Hrmm... Good call on that Hill People Gear upfront bag.

Yeah... I bet that wouldn't be too hard of a sell to get her to start wearing on the hikes, especially if she could just easily have the BearSrpay w/in it as well.

Probably make it handy to have snacks in up-front (GU Packets, maybe a trail bar) and like eyedrops/advil/chapstick/cellphone/wallet etc.

My HPG recon kit bag is probably my most used bit of gear. So handy, and they have some brighter colors now that would be fairly low profile for a hiking group. Drop them a line and they can recommend the right size, though I think even the smallest one would handle a p238 without issue.

 

[rileybassman]

PDP-F is a great gun for the gals (and guys!) slide is easy to manipulate, and the slide release is super easy!

Made to fit smaller and weaker hands.

 

[Matt5266]

Many beat me to it but I was going to recommend the shield ez in some flavor

 

[TheGDog]

Sorry if I missed this - does your wife have the hand and wrist strength (and/or willingness to practice consistently to put multiple rounds on target in a lightweight 9mm?

Willingness to practice is, of course, "a challenge". When she gets home she's drained from work and dealing with OPP (she's a Human Resources Director, so ya know, people tend to go see HR ...AFTER.. their shift is done.)

RE: Hand/wrist strength to shoot a micro-9. Not sure yet.

She's shot my Ruger Security Six w/ fullhouse .357 loads. But that's a heavy revolver.
She's shot +P's out of the 3" S&W Mod 60, without much issue. But that's 23oz gun.
She's even taken a few shots with my G29. Just to try it out.

But even if she ends up later-on griping that a micro-9 hurts her hand and decides to drop back down to .380acp... I wouldn't mind because I can then also use it for CCW at some point. (haven't bothered getting my CCW yet, but eventually want to since I'm getting older and all my injuries in youth are catching up to me).

And I've already got .380acp covered... so I'm not gonna boohoo if we buy a 9 and it ends up being just a hair too much for her. Plus... if +P 9mm ends up being too much for her, then I could just get with it and custom hand-load up 9mm just a little less stout. Ya know, experiment with how fast it has to be to reliably work the action, then go from there.

 

[KenLee]

Not seeing the 30 super carry in their handgun roster. Would rather go with 9mm anyway.

Was wanting a more concealable option than the size of these Shield EZ's though. If I could swing it.

Doesn't mean I won't take Mama to go try these Shield EZ's though. Sounds like they made them specifically for persons with these types of hand-strength issues.

I'd just like the ending choice of gun to be somewhere in that 20oz or below range, if I can find one she operates well enough. And I'm thinking like your 3.xx barrel length so that she could potentially, if need, just put it within a sticky-type pocket-holster if need be.

Thing of it is... I'm figuring chances are high these other folks on these group hikes would freak-out if they knew somebody in the group was carrying. (The masses out here are brainwashed, the boob-tube, ya'know.)

So ultimately I'd like to find a gun I know she can operate without issue, that is easily concealable, and can handle up to 9mm +P type energy levels, and shoot LeHigh's without issue, as that'd be the round I'd want her to carry in the woods.

I've carried a little Diamondback DB9 every day for over 6 years. It always shoots and weighs 11 ounces empty. Very thin profile and shoots very accurate for what it is. Don't know if she can rack the slide though. Worth a try.

 

[TheGDog]

PDP-F is a great gun for the gals (and guys!) slide is easy to manipulate, and the slide release is super easy!

Made to fit smaller and weaker hands.

Yeah...Nope.. Not on Roster.

Only thing on Roster from Walther is that piece of isht P-22, which I own and would NOT recommend to anyone, finnicky about ammo. Bulk ammo sometimes doesn't extract, etc. Bulk ammo having issues with primer strikes not igniting them, etc.

 

[TheGDog]

Sorry if I missed this - does your wife have the hand and wrist strength (and/or willingness to practice consistently to put multiple rounds on target in a lightweight 9mm?

Willingness to practice is, of course, "a challenge". When she gets home she's drained from work and dealing with OPP (she's a Human Resources Director, so ya know, people tend to go see HR ...AFTER.. their shift is done.)

RE: Hand/wrist strength to shoot a micro-9. Not sure yet.
She's shot my Ruger Security Six w/ fullhouse .357 loads. But that's a heavy revolver.
She's shot .38spl+P's out of the 3" S&W Mod 60, without much issue.
She's even taken a few shots with my G29. Just to try it out.

NOTE: on the sig P238, when I at first had Rosewood grip scales on it, she complained that the backstrap of the pistol was hurting tween thumb and index. Switched to the Hogue wrap-around rubber grips, she liked it then.

But even if a micro-9 ends up being too much for her, recoil-wise... I can at least have the option of seeing if my son would then want to instead carry the semi-auto 9. And I wouldn't mind having one in the household that could be put to CCW work eventually (haven't bothered getting my CCW yet, but eventually want to since I ain't gettin' any younger).

And I've already got .380acp covered... so I'm not gonna boohoo if we buy a 9 and it ends up being just a hair too much for her.

 

[bnsafe]

30 super carry is easy to find on line. dunno bout ordering it it cali tho. I will find out what her gun is for sure but its a 380. Her hands are terrible but this actually worked better than the shield ez

 

[bcv]

I'd suggest a S&W Shield with a slip on Hogue grip with finger grooves.

 

[COJoe]

I went through this with my wife also. She could only rack the slide on the Glock 43 and the Ruger LC9. Bought the Ruger LC9 because it had a safety which is what she wanted but not sure they still make that model. It weights 17 ounces unloaded but being so light it is a little tough on follow up shots I thought. It sits in the safe now because her health deteriorated too much and she couldn't handle it at all. I had bought her the SW Mod 60 357 3"inch but it was way too much for her plus the blowback in your face was a bit rough I thought, especially with +P rounds. I carry an older SW M+P Shield 9 that weights 21 ounces and shoots very well. It's 7 + 1 though so limited on rounds but a very nice little gun. Good luck with your search.

 

[TheGDog]

STATUS UPDATE: OK... weird, so check this out... Mama comes to me this evening, with a checklist card she'd remembered she had from when she'd attended an LSL (Ladies Shooting League) event at the local shooting range. This checklist card had several categories of pistols they'd apparently given all these ladies a chance to fire.

And among one of the type of firearms this checklist showed was a Glock 17, and the card had a check on "Yes" among other things, for a Glock 17!!?

Confused by this... in light of the experience we had at the LGs the other day... I immediately took her and demonstrated with my G29 how you'd simply pull back slightly on the rear of the slide to release it from being in the locked held-open state, and she seemed to be able to do that fine!!?

Then... showing her the technique of one hand holding the slide with all four fingers pressing into her palm, that hand just holding the slide still... against the pushing force of the other hand grasping the grip and pushing forward, to rack the slide back... and she seemed to be able to do that too!!?

I told her if she can do thos functions with this G29, she should be able to do any of the models we'd inspected the other day.

To which she replied that her hand, that other day, was sore already because we went to the LGS directly AFTER we'd left the shooting range.

So I'm guessing she has a narrow window of how many shots her hand can take consecutively, before it starts getting inflammed and becomes painful or something?



Sooooo... what I think I'm going to do is tomorrow in the PM when she gets home, verify again with the G29, (this time working cautiously with loaded mags) That she can load in a mag, and rack the top round into battery. THEN... I'll drop mag and clear the weapon, then lock the slide back and ask her to load a mag and release that slide, the same way I showed her today. And see if this PM's success is repeatable.

Then.. if it is.. I figure eventually I'll take her back to the same LGS we'd gone to. And retry her attempting to manipulate the firearms we'd initially chosen. See if it's any different with a "fresh" hand that hasn't shot a bunch yet.

But it'll have to wait a bit til another free weekend day comes up. She's gotta bunch stuff on her calendar for this upcoming.

But hey... now at least there's some hope though!

FYI: Dang it.. doesn't look like the Shield EZ is on that stupid roster.
I cannot tell you how much countless inner-rage I feel at the existence of that unconstitutional POS Roster and how they use it to extort money from manufacturers and simultaneously ROB me of my rights and freedoms.

 

[TheGDog]

I went through this with my wife also. She could only rack the slide on the Glock 43 and the Ruger LC9. Bought the Ruger LC9 because it had a safety which is what she wanted but not sure they still make that model. It weights 17 ounces unloaded but being so light it is a little tough on follow up shots I thought. It sits in the safe now because her health deteriorated too much and she couldn't handle it at all. I had bought her the SW Mod 60 357 3"inch but it was way too much for her plus the blowback in your face was a bit rough I thought, especially with +P rounds. I carry an older SW M+P Shield 9 that weights 21 ounces and shoots very well. It's 7 + 1 though so limited on rounds but a very nice little gun. Good luck with your search.

Aw Damn man... sorry to hear about your Mrs there.

 

[TheGDog]

I'd suggest a S&W Shield with a slip on Hogue grip with finger grooves.

Ok so then Question... to those HORRIBLY gritty triggers they while sitting in the LGS... do they loosen up and become smoother with wear and use then? Cause on previous visit solo, I'd asked to checkout a Shield.. and the gritty-ness of the trigger was atrocious.

 

[BrBa]

VP9SK is on the California roster. Seriously, if she holds one, she might not want to put it down. They ship from the factory with the medium back strap and medium side panels, so keep in mind the grip can be made smaller (or larger) side to side and front to back.

Trigger is pretty good, similar to a Glock. Forgot to mention they have these tabs on the back of the slide that make it easier to grab and rack the slide. I found them unnecessary for my needs so I removed them, but those would be very useful for anyone with reduced grip strength. It's also a bit of a chunk weight wise, but that helps tame recoil. Mine shoots 124 gr and 147 gr equally well. Standard pressure HST is all anyone needs for a self defense round.