Rethinking my Wife's HD gun

[rdtompki]

Environment - 2 acre zoning outside a small town in Idaho's Treasure Valley. I'd think "low threat", but these days you never know.
Occupants - Older (think mid-70's) husband and wife.
Training - I've had a decent amount of single-day tactical training and many tens of thousands of rounds of practice with 9mm 1911, platform of choice. Wife has no tactical training, but equal experience with 9mm 1911; now shoots Ruger 22/45 Lite in steel challenge with optics. Additional training is problematic with her bad hip.

Current HD scheme: bedroom provides no possibility of retreat. My bedside handgun was a P2000 with 18+1 capacity with option to stand a 9mm SBR next to the bed (I'm going to get religious about this). I'm transitioning to a 1911 bedside with TLR-6 trigger guard mount. Wife had been using an iron sight 9mm Kimber 1911 bedside; about a year ago I mounted a Hologun 507K on one of our Kimber 4" 1911s since she is currently shooting only optics.

We went to the range a few days for a very, very rare trip with our HD guns. Also brought one of her old iron sight competition 1911s. Here's what eventuated.

1. She shot the iron sight full-size better than the red dot Kimber. The Kimber trigger at 4-1/2 lbs. is heavier than what she is used to and that could be remedied.
2. She can't rack the Kimber. The gun at bedside is kept in condition 1 so she shouldn't have to rack the slide, but any sort of malfunction manipulation is out of the question (She's never done a mag change under stress in any event).
3. Finally, I'm not sure practicing steel challenge with an RDS-equipped rimfire handgun from low ready translates very well to real world self defense use. In steel challenge you're coming up from low ready and transition (nearly) in a plane to a succession of targets. In the real world your flopping out of bed in the dark, maybe kneeling behind the bed. What are the chances the dot may be hard to find?

When we went with the RDS I wasn't even aware of weapon light solutions for non-rail 1911s, but I'm now leaning toward mounting a TLR-6 on one of her full-size 1911s which already has night sights. We can clear the house and guns of all live ammo and simulate reacting to a break-in under various lighting conditions. I'll add that since I'm retired and no longer travel I'm always home at night, but my wife will sometimes be home alone during the day; when she's in her office at the opposite end of the house there is a 1911 in a lock box in a bedroom next to her office.

Any feedback on my thought process would be greatly appreciated.

[scw2]

For HD is there any reason a long gun wouldn't work? I've seen complete newbies love to use something like a 10/22 since they hit where they aim fairly well at closer ranges and it has very little noise or recoil. I'd think something like that or a M&P 15-22 with a red dot or laser could be very effective with much less training requirements to maintain accuracy. Obviously investing time in safe and proper manipulations is going to be a downside if she's more familiar with pistols.

[Blades]

What does your wife want to use?

[Duelist]

What does your wife want to use?

This +3000. It sounds like she is on-board with having weapons around to use. She should be the one to pick which, especially if she transitions to actually carrying one in the house (better to my thought processes than in a lockbox in another room).

[Clusterfrack]

Does your home have an alarm? If she's home alone, her chances of arming herself and being prepared to respond to an attack may depend on having the gun on her body or very close.

Fighting with a long gun inside a structure is not simple, and unless she had training I would not choose this option for my wife.

A high-capacity 9mm handgun is hard to beat. Maybe with a WML laser?

Edit: the VP-9 seems to be easier to rack than some of the other options.

[JCN]

20 gauge Mossberg shockwave?

As for racking the slide:
Lighter RSA and pre-cocking hammer would help.

Who cares if the frame gets battered a little with a light RSA if it helps perform during self defense.

Grip tape on the slide or using the optic helps a ton with racking too.

Also, for an HD gun for someone without a lot of practice on indexing, the 507k is a pretty small window.

I would consider something large like a DPP or SRO to make finding the dot easier under duress.

[RevolverRob]

Does her Steel Challenge gun run without issues? When it malfunctions, presumably she can clear the malfunction and drive on?

Why reinvent the wheel? Shoot the gun she shoots the most.

Is .22LR ideal against a threat? No. But if Mrs. puts thousands of rounds through it regularly it's going to be the gun she knows well and is able to run, without concern.

I'd take a load of experience running one gun well than switching back and forth trying to secure a better ballistic advantage.

A paddle holster that holds her Steel Challenge gun clipped onto her waist in the morning will make sure she is armed in the event she needs the gun right then.

[Chuck Whitlock]

What does your wife want to use?

This here is the $64,000 question.
Her competition 22/45 is certainly an option if she is confident and competent in it's use and manipulation.

[*]She can't rack the Kimber. The gun at bedside is kept in condition 1 so she shouldn't have to rack the slide, but any sort of malfunction manipulation is out of the question (She's never done a mag change under stress in any event).

Can she rack it using the optic against the edge of a table? Mattress? Arm of a chair or sofa?

When we went with the RDS I wasn't even aware of weapon light solutions for non-rail 1911s, but I'm now leaning toward mounting a TLR-6 on one of her full-size 1911s which already has night sights. We can clear the house and guns of all live ammo and simulate reacting to a break-in under various lighting conditions. I'll add that since I'm retired and no longer travel I'm always home at night, but my wife will sometimes be home alone during the day;

If you do go with the TLR6, one with a laser wouldn't be a bad combination.

[BehindBlueI's]

Don't overthink it. The threat level is low and the concern is random violence. She isn't going to be room clearing in an active shooter situation or facing suicide attackers. If the weapon is available and reliable, that's the vast majority of the hardware side of the problem. Having access, attacking from surprise/ambush, and being willing to pull the trigger is the vast majority of the software side. Long guns have a slight edge in my statistics, but anytime someone attacked with a functioning weapon from surprise/ambush they won. People lost by not pulling the trigger, running into the intruder in a surprise and fighting over the weapon as a result, etc.

Layer the security. Alarms, dogs, etc.

If someone knocks on the door, don't pretend to not be home. Most non-dope related "home invasions" are burglaries first, not purposeful residential robberies. The purposeful ones probably don't apply to you. Your house looks like the dope house down the street. You're the towns' well known jeweler and rumor says you have a lot of diamonds in your house. Crazy ex-GF's cousins have beef with you. That sort of thing leads to purposeful home invasions, very few are actually random and those tend to be sex crimes with a younger female demographic. If a stranger knocks, let them know someone is home without opening the door and without disabling the alarm.

[Blades]

This here is the $64,000 question.
Her competition 22/45 is certainly an option if she is confident and competent in it's use and manipulation.

My wife has severe Rheumatoid Arthritis and I wanted to upgrade her house gun(she has an S&W 2214). We went to the gun store so she could hold a Kel-tec CP33 but the grip is too big for her hands. She can't rack a slide to clear a malfunction or push a magazine release. The odds of her needing her house gun are rare, but I liked the idea of 30+ rounds of .22lr over 8 rounds of .22lr.
We did a virtual shoot and she did very well with their Glock 19 so I thought the Glock 44 would be better than the 2214 but she doesn't want "a $500 gun". So, no Glock 44.
Anyways, if she likes the 22/45, can hit what she's aiming at, then buy a second one and she can have a NY Reload.