I definitely do better with a handgun that has a grip that reaches all the way to firmly brace against the “heel bone” area of my hand. Better accuracy, all along, and, better for my aches and pains, as I have aged. The Ruger SP101, for example, largely put my S&W .38 J-Frames out of business, especially for right-handed shooting, by 2002, when I was age 41. (The recoil-damping weight was part of this equation, too.) Actually, .38 J-Frames were annoying to my hands, even before then, but I remember buying my second SP101 in 2002. I do like one J-Frame, today, but, it is solid stainless steel, shoots .32 ammo, and has round-to-square grips on it.
I am not saying that J-Frames were what wrecked my right hand. I believe the J-Frame was simply acting as the canary in the coal mine.
By age 56, I had to stop shooting Glock G19 pistols right-handed, while the longer-gripped G17 remained “orthopedic.” The back strap area of the G19 grip does not reach the “heel” of my hand, whereas the grip of the G17 does reach that far, and has a gentle, supportive shape. I traded-away three Glock 19 pistols, in 2020, after not shooting them since 2017, when I was 56.
Again, I am not saying that shooting Glock 19 pistols caused my hand health problems. They were the coal mine canaries.
Switching to a lower-recoiling cartridge does help, I believe. I was so very glad to be able to transition to a 9mm duty pistol, in 2015, from the previous-standard .40 S&W, when my chief authorized 9mm to be an alternative duty cartridge.
I also believe that using a pistol with a lower bore axis is helpful. A high bore axis is a factor in muzzle flip. When I transitioned to a 9mm duty pistol, in 2015, as mentioned above, I also switched to the lower-bore-axis Glock, retiring my SIG P229R .40 S&W.
Full-sized 1911 pistols are good for my hands. (Others’ hands may vary.) Steel, as mentioned above, damps recoil. The full-duty-length grip braces well against the “heel bone” area of my hand. The 1911 has a relatively low bore axis, compared to some pistol designs. The original .45 ACP accelerates rather gently, compared to some cartridges. When my above-mentioned SIG P229 duty pistol, firing .40 ammo, started vexing my right thumb, hand, and wrist, as I approached my 50th birthday, I pulled my 1911 from the safe, and took it to the range. I learned that the operation of the 1911 was still well-drilled into my brain, and, that shooting .45 ACP, with the full-Govt-sized 1911, did not hurt. (Knock on wood!) I still had to carry a .40 duty pistol, while at work, but could carry the 1911 during personal time. I trained with the 1911, rather than the SIG, for auto-pistol skills, and trained with a K-Frame .22 revolver, to maintain long-stroke double-action skill, because a SIG DAK trigger is very much like a the trigger of an S&W K-Frame, in operation, if not in mechanics. Several years later, as mentioned above, I was able to switch to a 9mm duty pistol, the Glock 17.
Many, of course, have embraced the 9mm 1911, as a good handgun for aging hands. I have yet to acquire a 9mm 1911, but probably will, sooner or later.
I am left-handed, but right-armed. I tend to use small tools lefty, and larger tools, that require serious arm motions, right-handed. I chose to carry on my right side, when I started a police academy, almost 40 years ago. I shot big-bore Magnums mostly right-handed, in the Eighties. I was a believer in big-bore “stopping” power. By about 1990, I realized that N-Frames were too big for my hands, and that it was a terrible idea to hold N-Frames with an off-set grasp, in order to get enough finger on the trigger. I believe that shooting big-bore Magnums, in this way, is largely what wrecked my right thumb, hand, and wrist. I did much less damage to my left hand, because I was more likely to practice with milder back-up weapons with my left hand. Plus, range sessions with big-bore Magnums could make it difficult to hand-write my reports and other paperwork.
Today, I will still shoot such truly useful weapons as baby Glocks only left-handed. Full-sized guns are my right hand’s friends.
I still shoot full-pressure .357 Magnum ammo, but in low volumes, and only left-handed, with guns that I can grip properly. My only remaining big-bore Magnum revolver, an S&W Model 58, .41 Mag, is retired. (It is too “loose” to keep shooting it, anyway.)
