Trunk Monkey
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She's grown mind your business
My mom insists on keeping a gun she can't operate.
- Thread starter Orion8472
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dagger dog
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How about one of the 3032 Beretta Tomcats ? They have the advantage of the tip up barrel so loading is easy,is single action capable with the exposed hammer, and are double action also. The 32ACP with modern expanding hollow point ammo ain't nothin' to sneeze at either.
Perhaps you can make a device to aid her with the slide. A stand with a muzzle hold and hole in it to craddle the muzzle and she can just push the gun against it to operate the slide. Or something mounted on the slide to help grasp.
The Taurus 94 has a necessary heavy DA pull. It is what it is because of its mechanical disadvantages. That said ,I mounted a side hammer extension on my aunts 94 and her 941 and she operates them SA. She is 86 by the way.
Where there is a will, there is a way.
The Taurus 94 has a necessary heavy DA pull. It is what it is because of its mechanical disadvantages. That said ,I mounted a side hammer extension on my aunts 94 and her 941 and she operates them SA. She is 86 by the way.
Where there is a will, there is a way.
Orion, thanks for clarifying that we're not talking about SD/HD. Without that more pressing use, I think your options might be more open. It bears repeating that if she'll take some time to browse around the cornered cat, that would be a wise investment for her, and it might help you approach the problem in a more female-friendly way.
Deltaboy1984
Member
Get her to work it with out the ammo till she can do it.
She knows what she shoots well and what she doesn't (or can't under certain circumstancs), so have her cock the hammer on the revolver, keep a round in the chamber of the walther, and keep the gun she shoots well loaded too. Let her pick which gun to use, which she's gonna do anyway.
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paintballdude902
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my old man is 72 and has this idea that if someone breaks in he is going to grab his antique cap and ball pistol....... but i think i have convinced him to walk to 10 more feet to my old bedroom and grab one of my rifles or shotguns. heck i left the bayonet on my enfield for him, just as a joke of course but i think it got the point across
MedWheeler
Member
Pretty close would be the Bersa Thunder 380. Not "delayed" blowback, but a thicker slide for better grip purchase, and definitely lighter than I remember my Interarms/Walther PPK/S being to rack, plus the same DA/SA mechanism platform to which she is already accustomed. It's also got the serrated front of the trigger guard; perhaps she could get used to putting her finger there if you can't get her used to putting it alongside the frame.
But, as you said, she loves the Walther (and there are reasons to.) So, like others opined, just leave the first round in it for her. Does she go to shoot it much and, if so, without you or another person?
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Let her try a Judge DA, my wife is 71 and bought one, it is now her favorite as she can DA it without a hitch. For a .22 semiauto, let her try one of the small Berreta Bobcats, put the clip in. tip up the barrel, insert a round, snap barrel down and ready to go.
Wife with her Judge:
Wife with her Judge:
Looking at the Wolff gunsprings website, comparing factory standard spring weights...
-Walther PPK has a stiff 20# recoil spring
-3rd generation Glock 17 is 17#
-Sig 229 is 16#
-S&W 3913 has a 15#
-Beretta 92 is just 13#
Yes, you can have her practice proper technique, but fact is some pistols have a stiffer recoil spring and will take more strength to rack. If the pistol jams, she must be able to operate the slide to clear the jam. There are choices available that would take 25% (or more) less force to operate all things equal.
The S&W 3913 and Beretta 92 not only have the lightest recoil springs, they also have a slide mounted safety (like the Walther) which may (does) provide additional leverage.
That being said, my 8 year old son asked to see my Glock 27 (I was about to install a NY trigger), after double & triple checking again (teaching safety) to make sure it was not loaded I let him pull the trigger; he subsequently completely racked the slide several times, snapping the trigger each time (after I had installed the NY trigger spring). I did not instruct him on racking the slide, he was watching me do it and copied me.
-Walther PPK has a stiff 20# recoil spring
-3rd generation Glock 17 is 17#
-Sig 229 is 16#
-S&W 3913 has a 15#
-Beretta 92 is just 13#
Yes, you can have her practice proper technique, but fact is some pistols have a stiffer recoil spring and will take more strength to rack. If the pistol jams, she must be able to operate the slide to clear the jam. There are choices available that would take 25% (or more) less force to operate all things equal.
The S&W 3913 and Beretta 92 not only have the lightest recoil springs, they also have a slide mounted safety (like the Walther) which may (does) provide additional leverage.
That being said, my 8 year old son asked to see my Glock 27 (I was about to install a NY trigger), after double & triple checking again (teaching safety) to make sure it was not loaded I let him pull the trigger; he subsequently completely racked the slide several times, snapping the trigger each time (after I had installed the NY trigger spring). I did not instruct him on racking the slide, he was watching me do it and copied me.
Fishslayer
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Texan Scott
Member
You seem to have accepted the fact that she's going to keep it; that's good. She's your mother, and she's 70. She's not going to listen to you. She potty trained you, and if you make her, she WILL bring that up. So, you need to vent, you might be hopng for a gem of advice, but probably just a healthy bit of comiseration. Grown men need that, too.
Man, my mother doesn't have a gun, of which I'm glad. Some people shouldn't have them. She's one. My mother still insists on driving. It's not so much that she's getting too old to drive (though maybe that, too) as that she's been a menace to public safety and order in a motor vehicle her whole adult life. Some of my earliest memories involve lying flat on my back in the back end of a Buick station wagon, pirouetting and generally renacting Disney On Ice all over Abeleine. Being removed from a destroyed Geo Metro through the rear windscreen on a board by firefighters hasn't persuaded her to put away the keys, so I'm pretty sure I have no hope.
What you have going for you is that it sounds like, if you left her alone about it, your mother wouldn't go to the range by herself. She's not likely to TRY to shoot it. If you're really concerned she'll hurt herself, or that an intruder could take it from her, and all loving appeals to reason have failed, you might offer to 'clean' it for her, and grind down the firing pin. At least then noone's going to get hurt with it, and if you don't take her shooting, she'll never know. Alternatively, if she goes shooting and it won't fire, maybe you can talk her into buying something 'more reliable' instead of 'throwing good money after bad' by 'trying to have it fixed'.
Man, my mother doesn't have a gun, of which I'm glad. Some people shouldn't have them. She's one. My mother still insists on driving. It's not so much that she's getting too old to drive (though maybe that, too) as that she's been a menace to public safety and order in a motor vehicle her whole adult life. Some of my earliest memories involve lying flat on my back in the back end of a Buick station wagon, pirouetting and generally renacting Disney On Ice all over Abeleine. Being removed from a destroyed Geo Metro through the rear windscreen on a board by firefighters hasn't persuaded her to put away the keys, so I'm pretty sure I have no hope.
What you have going for you is that it sounds like, if you left her alone about it, your mother wouldn't go to the range by herself. She's not likely to TRY to shoot it. If you're really concerned she'll hurt herself, or that an intruder could take it from her, and all loving appeals to reason have failed, you might offer to 'clean' it for her, and grind down the firing pin. At least then noone's going to get hurt with it, and if you don't take her shooting, she'll never know. Alternatively, if she goes shooting and it won't fire, maybe you can talk her into buying something 'more reliable' instead of 'throwing good money after bad' by 'trying to have it fixed'.
dprice3844444
member
you can always tell a woman,but you can't tell her much
Captain Brown Beard
Member
Something I realized after arguing at length with my girlfriend about my LCP being unsafe because it doesn't have a manual safety... sometimes its best to just let the horse die and move on with your life.
CharlieDeltaJuliet
Member
Have you tried teaching her the way the Israelis teach women ond children? You take the pistol in your strong hand, point it toward your off side. Place your off side hand on top of the pistols slide and force your arms together. It is ALOT easier to most than pulling the slide directly back.
Taurus 617 CCW
Member
I bought a Walther Pk380 for my mom. We just took it to the range last weekend and she absolutely loves it. It has one of the lightest cocking efforts of any .380 I have tried and it shoots pretty good. Not a single malfunction and the trigger is light enough for even the weakest hand.
speedway
Member
Get her a Beretta with a tip up barrel. No need to rack the slide, and the hammer pulls back easily.
Byrd666
Member
I can understated wholly, completely, and with malice, of sorts. I own a revolver I can't hit the ground with, but, I'll be damned iffin' I ever get rid of her. That one revolver holds more meaning and feeling for me than a whole catalog of whatever brand, style, or caliber.
Just get her another for SD/HD and call it good.
Just get her another for SD/HD and call it good.
DammitBoy
Member
I can't even convince my 84 year old mother I know which aisle at walmart has the socks on it. 
Good Luck!
Good Luck!
I went through this with a disabled buddy. I told him "the gun is loaded and all you have to do is pull the trigger. After that inserting another mag is easy and releasing the slide. This was with a 45, so the chances of him needing more than 2 mags is pretty slim. In his frail condition he would no longer be standing if he missed that many times. He wanted a shotgun ,but there is no way he can even raise one let alone shoot it. Load up Moms gun and let her keep it, get 2 mags full of good ammo and the worse she will have to do is release the slide. The gun will chamber the round for her, No more problem.
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Orion8472
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No, I will have to release the slide for her. PPK/S doesn't have a slide release, and the slide is too hard for her to pull back, . . . .and if she manages TO release it, she's still gripping the slide and follows it back into [sort of] battery. I told her to pull and release it, but she wasn't getting it.
My brother gave her an Arcus [9mm HP clone] to use, and she is able to work that slide properly, so she is excited to have it. Probably will just keep the Walther for looks, at this point.
My brother gave her an Arcus [9mm HP clone] to use, and she is able to work that slide properly, so she is excited to have it. Probably will just keep the Walther for looks, at this point.
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