Old Age, Arthiritis & Trigger Pull

[msjdgman]

We had gotten my wife an LCR 22 mag due her arthritus in her hands, and sure enough, she handles the gun quite well and the recoil is almost nothing. The trigger, while definately a little on the heavy side, was manageble for her. I have the LCR 38 +P model. I'd say the 38 trigger is just slightly lighter in pull weight compared to the 22 Mag, but definately different in overall trigger pull feel. I got snap caps for the 38 so that my wife can get dry fire trigger time in to keep proficient with the guns and to also build strength in her fingers. She definately is not up to the recoil of the 38 with any snappy SD ammo.

 

[dave201]

My wife likes the Mossberg 500 with 00 Buckshot. They are easy to handle and the noise from the racking is usually all that's needed. We are both at that age, so we know full well what works best for us.

 

[KSDeputy]

That is precisely why I am selling the S&W BG .380 I bought, without shooting it. Most every other gun I own is either a revolver, or DA/SA with decent trigger pulls. The new Ruger Custom LCP is DAO and has a decent trigger.

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

No interest in guns (not going to practice)
Physical issue limits strength to operate trigger.

At some point ya have to go with 'something is better than nothing'. Or go with nothing.

Here's what I'd do.
Get a Ruger MarkIII or 22/45 short barrel model.
Take it to the range and run a couple hundred rounds through it to make sure it works.
Take home and clean.
While empty, cock it and let the wife play with the safety to understand how it works. Let her dry fire to see how light and easy the trigger is.
Load it up with Minimags, chamber a round, engage the safety and place the gun wherever the wife wants.

Ruger is about as reliable as a rimfire autoloader gets, and is forgiving of limpwristing.

Who knows... with her own .22 maybe she'll want to go to the range.

Good luck.

 

[Louchia]

That is precisely why I am selling the S&W BG .380 I bought, without shooting it. Most every other gun I own is either a revolver, or DA/SA with decent trigger pulls. The new Ruger Custom LCP is DAO and has a decent trigger.

I and my wife both carry a Rugar LCP. It is a very reliable 380 with a 7-9 lb trigger pull. The weight of the trigger is enough to make it safe to carry without a manual safety, but light enough for someone with arthritis to pull. The problem may be in racking the slide. Very heavy pull and small surface to grip.
You may like to try a Bersa Thunder, Easier racking, good triger but slightly larger for CC.

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

When somone isn't going to practice and has physical limitations that won't allow for operating a revolver trigger, I doubt there is any autoloader that the person is going to successfully operate the slide in a self defense situation. I'd just chamber a round in an autoloader that the person is able to manipulate the trigger and be done with it. If the gun is ever needed and it fails to cycle on the second round that's the way it goes. At least one round got off instead of none with a revolver.

 

[shotgun693]

Sometime it reaches the point in a person's life that they just can not fend for themselves. My Son's mother is like that. However my Son breeds Rottweilers for a living. His mother now has a big male who sleeps with her, goes to the bathroom with her and sets with her in her chair. She's about as safe as she's going to get.