pistol for mom

so mom is 70 she has her revolver but has decided she wants a semi auto lesser upper body strength looking at atleast 9mm what ya all suggestions looking for something not overly hard to pull slide on.
I have my opinions now lets hear yours.
thanks

Glock single stack (42 I think). My wife had trouble with the slide on a Sig 232. No issue with the Glock. Small profile with no safety or decocker to think about when really needed.

My mom has carpal tunnel and has a hard time with slides. The only pistols that was easy for her to rack was the sig 238. The 9mm isn’t much harder to rack. The Glock was much harder to rack than the sigs.

Take her to a range that rents guns

Hammer less ultra lite colt in .38...

S&W Shield

This without any question.

Fwiw - I taught a 70+ year old woman with multiple sclerosis last fall. She tried several 9’s and settled on the M&P Compact 9 2.0.

fwiw - a mid-size pistol is easier to control than a subcompact. Folks show up with Glock 43’s or Shields and leave to buy G19 or M&P’s.

Great pistols, hard to rack the slide for a lot of ladies.

she can shoot so not horribly worried about the range
thinking more about hitting store to play w slides
also thinking a slide pull device

Yea I know for sure you can get charging handles for glocks. I’d bet a few guns have them

What caliber wheel gun is she moving away from? What is the purpose of buyin a semi-auto? Some of the guns that have been suggested only have 1-2 more rounds than the wheel gun. If the revolver is too much power than think about a light load for the revolver. If she is wanting a semi-auto for the ammo capacity then she needs to go with something larger, in the mid to full sized range. I second the need to go to a range and try out a bunch of different guns. It will cost more in the front end but she will know she can handle the gun in the long run. My recommendation would be a Glock 19 or something along that size.

For simplicity sake in stressful situations, my wife is staying with a revolver. It seems that my semi is too complicated, with buttons and levers and a magazine. Maybe the OP’s mom just needs a different revolver, like my wife did.

My mom is 70. She is still carrying the 22 Bearcat she’s carried for the last 50 years. She’s deadly with that little gun.

Striker fired pistol with short lop, large mag ready to go

No revolver

You will go with her to the ranger and practice sessions to work the gun. Once she is practiced up she has no reason to charge the weapon a bunch and it will be ready with 12+ rounds

Walter PK380

Nice ergonomics for petite hands but big enough to control.....one of the easiest slides to rack.

It is what I plan to get my daughter.

Your wife needs practice, not a simpler gun. It pisses me off how little credit people give their wives. Like they are too stupid to figure out a magazine release and a slide lock. Your wives some how managed to figure out how to drive a car, I think they can learn to change a magazine. My wife carries an lcp, and she’s shot and enjoyed every gun I’ve ever owned or rented at the range with nothing more than a 20 second explanation of where the controls are. Some ladies hands are too weak to rack a lot of slides, that’s fair, those ladies would probably be better off with a revolver, but otherwise, give them a chance.

Tff, do you really think that I haven’t given my wife a chance to shoot various pistols and decide what she wanted? Here you are making unwarranted assumptions about my situation. The wife has handled a small truckload of pistol types, and she wants a revolver. Therefore, she gets a revolver.

And I firmly stand behind my view that in split second stressful situations a revolver is very easy to use. The wife is a pretty good shot, but isn’t into shooting like I am. She won’t get the practice with a semi like she should, and we have our own rifle and pistol range right behind the house. I have quit trying to talk her into some semi she refuses to practice with.

So...calm down and don’t rant at me.

My apologies. You got caught in the crossfire. This same thread comes up every week, and every single week multiple people make the same comments, “my wife can’t figure out how to use a safety” “my wife can’t handle herself in a stressful situation” etc... most of these guys either aren’t giving their wives enough credit, or don’t want to take the time or energy to teach them. But saying your semi auto seems too complicated for her is a pretty belittling way to describe the situation. It’s 3 buttons. If she just doesn’t like it, and wants a revolver, that’s fine. But there isn’t anything complicated about 3 buttons.

tff, no problem. As for the wife and those 3 buttons, the problem is that she just wants a danged revolver. She just isn’t having any of the semi koolaid. I think “too complicated” isn’t the situation with her, but it’s more like “more complicated than I want to deal with”. Three years or so of having a semi that she has shot and shot and then rejected. We went to various funshops and she handled everything and racked slides and said she wants a revolver. I am tired of dealing with it. And the gun shop just called to say that the new revolver is in. I hope it’s acceptable to her. I don’t want to hear that:

Barrel is too long, or short
Don’t like stainless
Don’t like the sight, or the hammer
Don’t like the grips
Does it come in pink?

Somehow, deep in my brain, I think that a break-in is (to her) is like the lawn mower. She wants me to deal with it. And...I probably will if the situation demands.

Fair enough, and I like that you called the gun shop the funshop.

Freudian slip...

I don't think it's that wives/women CAN'T figure out semi-autos, it's that a lot of them they don't want to. My wife never thinks she'll need a gun, doesn't want to learn how to use it, doesn't enjoy shooting, etc... So she knows where one is kept in the house and it's a simple point and shoot with nothing to think about in case she ever has to grab it. She'll probably get shot if it comes down to it but I've got life insurance on her.

The blind assumption that a revolver is a substitute for practice to attain proficiency is sorely misplaced, actually dangerously misplaced.

Accuracy matters - a whole lot - and the average unpracticed user of a revolver is less likely to actually make a well placed shot than they would with a mid-sized semi-auto like a G19 or M&P Compact and even a modest amount of instruction and practice.

Those putting revolvers in the hands of wives and girlfriends, please try going to a range and shooting the CHL/LTC proficiency test with a lightweight snubnose 38 and see how it actually works out - that is shooting against a clock.

Then try drawing and shooting against the clock for an even more realistic assessment.

If you are struggling with it, how do you think the wife or girlfriend is going to do?

Revolvers require some real effort to attain even minimal proficiency.

Add on that the bullet coming out of the 38 snubnose is very tepid, and it is a poor choice for many to most users.

For those really wanting a revolver for women or those with weak hand and arm strength, take a look at the 327 Federal Mag with a 3” or 4” barrel.

It is an odd bird, a 357 mag scaled down to .32, firing 85 - 100 grain defensive loads at up to 1300+ fps depending on the load.

It brings more velocity to the table to aid penetration compared to the snubnose 38 load, but with less blast and recoil than a 357 mag.

It will take the very mild .32 S&W for practice, and then use the full power 327 mag loads for carry, if they can be mastered.

Ammo has spotty availability, so stock up on it if going this route. It is available from Midway and the other online vendors.

Still, my suggestion is to work with the shooter to master a 9mm semi.

Bottom line - let them try a variety of pistols and see which one they like, not you.

Also, if it is for home defense, consider adding a light like a TLR 1 to the rail.

The weight will help tame the recoil, and she also will always have a light somewhere handy if needed.

Let them pick out one of good quality, smile, pay for it and be happy.

I’m not the OP, so I hate to be doing so much “talking”. I went and picked up the new S&W 686 this afternoon. Got home, put up the splatter targets, grabbed a hundred reloads, called the wife, and we went to shooting. As always, she shot real well. She did better with the Python, but almost as well with the 686. She did gripe lightly about the 686 hammer, and prefers the one on the Python. The Hogue grip on the 686 was preferred. The trigger pull is better on the Python. I asked if I should go get the Beretta semi, and she said NO. And that’s that....

As mentioned, let them pick what they like. There are no fleas on a Python, 686, S&W 19 or several other mid- and larger revolvers if they can shoot them double action, fast, and accurately. My main issue is guys buying their wife or girlfriend a 38/357, a box of shells and thinking they are ready to go to a gunfight.

p.s. Your wife has impeccable tastes.

Jeffbird, the wife has a snubby 5 shot Charter Arms and she can’t hit diddly with it. She’s been after me to sign us up for CC, which is why I bought the Beretta in the first place. She just doesn’t like handling/shooting it though she shoots it real well. We looked at Sigs, Rugers, and anything else I could think of and she rejected them all. Well, she can’t take the class with that snubby, so now she can use the 686 and i’ll use the Beretta.

The 686 is a nice pistol. The most important thing is that she feels comfortable with it and will learn to shoot double action. Buy a few speed loaders for it and have her practice shooting and reloading. fwiw - the Federal American Eagle 38 Special is decent practice ammo at a reasonable price. If you are near Austin, I am giving a LTC class Sunday.

so if I can find something that works for her mom will get a semi. just even more concerned with clearing jams also, that can be even more difficult. I am picking up dads revolver its a full size s&w and she says its too much
she has smaller ruger it is in 38 and she may end up with another if she would rather have that but she came to me asking for semi auto so I will try to help her out have a trip coming to take her out.

Move been buying the heck out of the monarch 38 special at academy. Been on Sale for over a month at $12.99/50. We’ve shot 400-500 rounds of it in the last few weeks. Shoots great.

Do you mean your sweet little Mom carried illegally for years? I'm shocked, shocked I tell you.

The best gun to carry is the gun you can best hit your target with.

God Bless our Momma's.

For the OP. Let your Mom play with as many as she can. Hope she finds something she'll like and shoot. Another option, and I know this isn't a caliber you mentioned, but maybe the Beretta Tomcat. Tip up barrel. Keep us posted and happy shopping!

I know several ladies that have always carried.

My wife's (not at 70 yet) firearm is the Bersa Thunder .380 (older model) she's tried dozens of other firearms in the past decades and always goes back to it. At the range she likes the lower gun blast and recoil of the .380 cartridge, the way it fits her hand, the double/single action. I had a trigger/action job 25 years ago or so, just to smooth it out a bit.



https://www.luckygunner.com/labs/self-defense-ammo-ballistic-tests/

took mom out after a quick safety/ function orientation we hit the range just kinda went thru what I had brought some were small w too much recoil. she did really well w full size 1911, and did good w a couple polymer guns and her revolver
ultimately I advised her to work w what she has before we focus on learning another system. since she is comfortable w the revolver I would like to get her another revolver.

3 38s+p revolvers

I got a pmr30 for mine and she loves it. Extremely low recoil, light weight, 30 rnd capacity. Good luck

yep I was thinking pmr 30 too buddy has one gonna play w it soon

That’s actually a pretty great option.