Grandma's .22

[Bergeron]

I believe that she’ll carry, we did speak about the necessity of training and classes.

I think once every 3 months is more likely than once a month, and my buddy hopes to include her in doing the whole “laser-dry firing” events at his house. Those will be easier with a .38 revolver than anything else.

I’m happy to hook her up with the lightest .38 loads that I can find, and I wonder if there’s anything else that could replace that EZ9 that’s really not working for her. I promise to stay away from blowback 380s.

[BillSWPA]

Am I the only person that finds a .380 with a blow back action, to have a harsher recoil than a 9mm? I have several .380s and find them to not be pleasant to shoot for an extended time. Those include a Walther PPK/s, a Beretta 81 clone and a Ruger LCP Max. The Max has the least felt recoil of those three and the Walther has the harshest.

I’m not sure I could recommend a .380 to someone that is recoil sensitive. A .32 S&W long, .32ACP or a 38 with standard pressure rounds or reduced recoil loads (Hornaday makes such a round) would be the way I’d go.

A Beretta Tomcat with its tip up barrel and.32ACP FMJ or LRN, might be the perfect pistol for this application, if the trigger is decent.

I agree completely about straight blowback .380's, but I do not see a single straight blowback .380 recommended in this thread. The S&W EZ, Sig P365 .389, Sig P250, and Glock 42 are all tilt barrel designs, just like most 9mm pistols. Your LCP Max is also a tilt barrel design, which is why it has less recoil than the straight blowback designs you mentioned.

[Half Moon]

Am I the only person that finds a .380 with a blow back action, to have a harsher recoil than a 9mm? I have several .380s and find them to not be pleasant to shoot for an extended time. Those include a Walther PPK/s, a Beretta 81 clone and a Ruger LCP Max. The Max has the least felt recoil of those three and the Walther has the harshest.

I’m not sure I could recommend a .380 to someone that is recoil sensitive. A .32 S&W long, .32ACP or a 38 with standard pressure rounds or reduced recoil loads (Hornaday makes such a round) would be the way I’d go.

A Beretta Tomcat with its tip up barrel and.32ACP FMJ or LRN, might be the perfect pistol for this application, if the trigger is decent.

As a generality subtract 10 to 20% in perceived recoil with a locked breech plus the bonus of generally easier slide operation than a blowback (known a couple elderly shooters with issues working a slide). A lot of other factors play into perceived recoil though like grip design and material. Perceived recoil of my Model 12 revolvers is less than a heavier all steel j frame which I believe is down to a full size grip to leverage your pinkie against. A PPK/S can leave my hand tingling for hours. Bad ergonomics on the way the tang hits my hand.

FWIW, of the cartridges you mentioned, .32 ACP has significantly less free recoil than the others but is also the most questionable of the three for self defense. (It's what my wife's injured hand prefers though).

[1Rangemaster]

I believe that she’ll carry, we did speak about the necessity of training and classes.

I think once every 3 months is more likely than once a month, and my buddy hopes to include her in doing the whole “laser-dry firing” events at his house. Those will be easier with a .38 revolver than anything else.

I’m happy to hook her up with the lightest .38 loads that I can find, and I wonder if there’s anything else that could replace that EZ9 that’s really not working for her. I promise to stay away from blowback 380s.

Good for you for working through this. I would encourage the live fire, but I’ve recently been re-inspired on dry practice. Briefly I had a health issue which put me at home for a few days. Coincidentally, “tactical professor” Claude Werner put up a Patreon program of snub dry practice. I won’t steal his program, but dry practice-20 or 30 snaps every few days was very helpful; mildly surprised it helped the pull on the 317 I was working with. No doubt it would help with any revolver. The key is to SCHEDULE the session and stick to that; doesn’t have to be much.
Best of luck…

[Joe in PNG]

If I was asked to loan one of the guns I currently own to an older family member with hand issues, I'd probably go with my Beretta 87 in .22lr.

-It's fairly small & light without being too small

-It has an external hammer which can make racking the slide a bit easier- and it's not an especially heavy slide to rack

-It also has a traditional style safety, if they're comfortable with 'cocked & locked'... and double action if they can handle the trigger

-It's also a rather nice looking little gun

[Moped]

I agree completely about straight blowback .380's, but I do not see a single straight blowback .380 recommended in this thread. The S&W EZ, Sig P365 .389, Sig P250, and Glock 42 are all tilt barrel designs, just like most 9mm pistols. Your LCP Max is also a tilt barrel design, which is why it has less recoil than the straight blowback designs you mentioned.

Thanks for passing on the knowledge! I must confess that I’ve never been a fan of the .380 auto, yet I find myself in possession of three of them now! In the past, I’ve had 2 others one was an old FID Spanish made Mustang that I hated with a passion and the other was a SIG P230, which I also found to have some pretty strong recoil, much like the PPK/s. My almost daily carry is the LCP Max, due to size and capacity. It rotates with a S&W 442, which I find is a great shooting snubbie, even with +P loads.

[Moped]

As a generality subtract 10 to 20% in perceived recoil with a locked breech plus the bonus of generally easier slide operation than a blowback (known a couple elderly shooters with issues working a slide). A lot of other factors play into perceived recoil though like grip design and material. Perceived recoil of my Model 12 revolvers is less than a heavier all steel j frame which I believe is down to a full size grip to leverage your pinkie against. A PPK/S can leave my hand tingling for hours. Bad ergonomics on the way the tang hits my hand.

FWIW, of the cartridges you mentioned, .32 ACP has significantly less free recoil than the others but is also the most questionable of the three for self defense. (It's what my wife's injured hand prefers though).

I too enjoy shooting the little .32acp. I have or had. KELTEC P32, that my oldest daughter has taken over from me. It was a great little hiking companion for several years, until I decided to upgrade to a 357 revolver. While certainly not a one shot man stopper, I felt it was better than a .22Lr or magnum or .25ACP.

[Jim Watson]

.22 he said, .22

My S&W M&P .22 Compact is 100% on Mini-Mags and after some use, has worked with nearly anything else except some leftover Wolf MT low velocity.

A P322 has a better trigger and twice the capacity which would make it tough to come up against, once proven reliable.

Otherwise, there was a batch of Model 81 .32 Berettas brought in not too long ago. Double stack, they are no slimmer than the .380 but will have less recoil in blowback and centerfire ignition vs even a good .22.


Oh, yeah, revolvers. While acquaintances had those ADs whilst using revolvers in single action, there was once a coach who told how to do it, for a student who had only a SAA. Cock and fire as required. When the threat has abated, if you are left with a cocked gun in hand, do not attempt to decock it while under stress, just put it down. It isn't going to go off by itself.

[revolvergeek]

Ruger LCP Lite Rack .22 with frickin green laser & 10 Punch or Velocitors.

My personal experience the LCP 22 is great, very neat little gun indeed, but the Veridian green laser is horribly unreliable and has to be rebooted by removing the battery and then putting it right back every couple weeks. Their website suggests this is normal. Phooey.

[jandbj]

I love all things rimfire and all things revolver too!

But, In the oddball recommendation category… keep an eye out for a KelTec P17.
They’re around $220, come with three 16 rd mags and shockingly… just plain run.

I bought one on a lark and the dang thing just keeps chugging along with plain old bulk pack plated .22 ammo, even Remington golden bullets.

It’s keltec ugly but I can’t argue with the utility of the little bugger.
Mine is presently on loan to a friend that teaches introductory shooting classes.


It’s as easy to rack as the lcp22 and has a better trigger than all the round gun options.