Wife’s grandma is needing a house gun. She got arthritis and has trouble racking a slide on a Glock, sig, etc. Leaning towards the S&W Shield Ez in .380. Anything else that I’m forgetting?

Circuit Judge. Easy to handle, easy to point. Simple. Point & pull the trigger.

That’s actually not a bad idea for this scenario, but I did forget to add that there is a chance it will be carried in the car or to the store, etc. Probably won’t, but that needs to be considered too.

My son had a hard time pulling the trigger on a DA revolver when he was younger. If she has arthritis, it might be tough for her to handle a DA trigger depending on the weight. Might make sure that she has enough finger strength to pull a DA trigger. I do not know how heavy the Judge's trigger is.

I had a S&W 380 EZ that I got for the wife. She ultimately decided on a revolver (no switches and levers or mag). It was everything it’s supposed to be, but I decided to quit reloading 380, so I sold it. I got the one with the manual safety, which I’d recommend for the grandma. There is one thing about the pistol that I didn’t like, and that’s the grip safety. I had women here that couldn’t shoot the gun due to that grip safety. They didn’t squeeze the grip properly, and I thought that would be bad in a crisis situation. If you do get an EZ, get the one with the manual safety and tape down the grip safety. That will let Grandma flip off the safety and throw some lead. It really is easy to shoot well. I liked that.

Yeah, the weight of a full size DA rules it out, and the recoil/trigger/small grip of a j frame doesn’t work well either.

LCR is the best granny gun. Slightly bigger grip with a little more cushion than a j frame. Smoother and easier to pull double action trigger. No jamming. Factory 38 full wad cutters are very soft shooting and penetrate well. And if snakes are a possibility snake shot works without issue

I went through all this when my granny needed a gun, messing with a slide on any automatic was a non-starter, and the da on the Smith guns was just too heavy for her. But the LCR worked just fine

For what it's worth, the DA that my son had issues with was a smith j frame.

Be aware the grip safety on the Shield EZ can be difficult to engage. My wife had no-fire issues like 1 out of every 2 or 3 shots. Training issue or not, I have no desire to worry about whether a gun is gonna go bang if she needs it in a real life threat situation.

Ended up getting her a Sig P239 which she likes a lot.

We bought an S&W Shield EZ for my mom. However, her arthritis even made this gun impossible for her to reliably operate. Put a live round in the chamber so she didn't have to rack the slide.

Side Note: Teach her to rack the slide by holding the slide steady with her weak hand (no need to try and rack the slide) and with her dominant hand/arm push the lower portion of pistol (pistol grip / receiver) forward. This is more of a gross motor skill and easy solution to overcome difficulty manipulating the slide. No need to muscle the pistol with a gorilla grip when you simply can push it using entire arm.

Great suggestions here. Mine is the S&W EZ. I have two of them , one .380, one in .30 Super Carry. Love both of them. Since these EZ's came out, a couple other companies make an EZ rack pistol. Ruger and Walther come to mind.

I would suggest taking granny to a shop in Lubbock, let her handle them. Maybe even an indoor range where she could rent them and try them for real.

Show her how to bring the gun in close to her body and use the "push-pull" method of "pulling" the slide back while "pushing" the frame forward, trigger finger ALWAYS laying down on the frame. Sorry if you are way ahead of me.

The double action revolver is a good option, but the long DA trigger pull can be difficult to hold on target with weak hands.

Let us know what she decides and good for you to help her!

Excellent suggestion.

Sig P238 in .380 or Sig P938 in 9mm. Both are easy to manipulate with limited dexterity constraints.

P938 is my carry gun. It's a great gun, slim, and easy to shoot. The p238 is even easier to rack the slide. Single action trigger, safety, slide release, and mag release where John Moses meant them to be.

Ruger LCR in .22lr or .22 mag. Point and squeeze the trigger. Easy, nothing to fuss with.

I agree - this was high up on the consideration list for us as well.

There is a certain appeal to a revolver in a panic situation. The Ruger LCR series is what the women in my family carry. (357, .38 and .22) The LCR trigger is much better than the S&W. My wife has hers loaded with snake shot for the first round because that is her most likely threat, then 115 gr Critical Defense for the rest.

My mom has a Shield and got to where she couldn't work the slide on it. My dad put one of these on it and she's back in business.



SLIDE GRIP

For home defense for someone unlikely to spend much, if any, time practicing, a pistol is the hardest to aim and least likely to put the shot where it needs to go and delivers the least effective terminal results compared even to a light shotgun or small rifle that she can handle and aim.

A semi-auto shotgun with light 20 gauge loads or even a semi-auto 28 gauge will increase the odds of her being able to place the shot in the middle of the chest and will change the attacker's attitude in a hurry.

If she is in a rural area, an AR with a red dot in .223 or .300 BO with an attached light will be easy for her to handle, easy to aim, and far more decisive than a pistol.

Also, Bob the Bad Guy seeing Granny with a shotgun or AR is more likely to have a mind changing deterrent effect just by seeing it rather than a pistol.

For carrying, that is a very different discussion. I teach a handful of older women each year. I once had a woman in her upper 70's with some neurological decline causing her to have decreased grip and arm strength along with some mild tremors.

With some instruction and practice over a few sessions, she became comfortable with both the regular M&P 9mm and 380 EZ. She ultimately went with the .380 and passed the LTC proficiency exam with an almost perfect score.

Among the absolute worst choices is a .38 snub nose. I truly loathe these things. I have had women show up with one for a lesson because their husband/boyfriend told them that is what they need. I've watched a woman miss a full size B-27 target at 3 yards trying to shoot these snubbie revolvers. First off, they are loud with lots of muzzle blast with most defensive type loads. Second, they are loud, which causes a tendency to flinch which coupled with the typically heavy triggers makes reliable shot placement challenging. They almost always have poor sights, and are just hard to shoot with reliable shot placement. On a couple of occasions when their partner was insistent the woman use the .38 snubbie, I have asked the husband/boyfriend to shoot a few drills with it. After they tried shooting a few simple drills, they quickly decided it was not a realistic option.

Also, when a revolver locks up - and they do - trying to clear it and get it back in action can be a challenge. Talk with older cops that actually carried revolvers in .38 and they have story after story about them literally not penetrating through clothing or layers of blubber and the aggressor continued forward without any apparent ill effect.

If you decide to go with a revolver, for this profile of user, the .327 Fed Mag is worth a look. Bullets come in 85 or 100 grain weights, comparable to .380 loads, but pick up the velocity to 1500 fps in a 4" barrel, which will produce better penetration with a bit more energy without too much recoil.

Hanging a TLR on a .380 EZ produces very low recoil and an easy to control pistol. For this type of user, a thumb safety probably is a negative best skipped.

Keep in mind, Granny will do best by not letting someone get within arm reach of her.

If he is able to grab her, he will be in control, not her.

Distance is to her advantage.

So, what will she be able to use to most reliably place a decisive shot to repel and turn an attacker away at say 15 - 20 feet or more when he kicks in a door and is coming down the hall?

Bottom line - home - semi-auto 20 or 28 gauge or an AR.

EDC - .380 EZ or G25. The G25 is comparable in size to a G19 and easier to control than the sub-compacts.

Another option is one of the Beretta models with the tip-up barrel.
Working the slide is not necessary to load the 1st round.

P.S. The S&W EZ's magazines are extremely EZ to load. Lighter spring weight and "wings" on the follower to aid grip.


the Walther is the PD380

First off… I really thought I was getting into a NYT article when I saw the length of that post

But I agree with a whole lot of what you’re saying. She lives in a retirement-age apartment building, so there are plenty of neighbors nearby. She damn sure isn’t quick on her feet or rear or anything else, so I don’t think manipulating a long gun would really be an option inside the house. She came over to visit yesterday and brought her S&W 638 (which was loaded but she had never fired.) We went out back, she shot it once, and left it with me. I had her try my wife’s P365x, and she nearly got the slide racked, but much preferred the grip, trigger and recoil to the snubbie, which makes me think the EZ would be damn near perfect. I’m really just wondering about the EZ 380 or a LCR in 22 mag at this point.

FWIW I’m a master class USPSA shooter, shot a lot of 3 gun, etc. I’m no stranger on running a pistol or teaching others to do so.

Shield EZ .380 is probably the ticket, my wife loves hers. It's only downside is low capacity, but being hammer fired it has a decent trigger and good accuracy and fun to shoot. It did take around 200 rounds to break in, but after that has never had a malfunction. There is the Equalizer that's basically a doublestack EZ but it's in 9x19 only. If .380 is too much, maybe something like a Ruger Mark IV standard loaded with Interceptors would work. There are the new S&W .22 Magnum and 5.7x28 semi-autos, not sure what their reliability is though.

Hi TC,

for .22 mag, S&W makes a M&P model in .22 Mag that has a 30 round mag and is optic ready that might also be one to include for consideration. Good luck and glad you are helping her.

https://www.smith-wesson.com/product/mp-22-mag