TexasCHLforum.com

Zombified wrote:Try the walther pistols. My brother has a ppq that is incredibly easy to rack. My walther pk380 is also incredibly easy. I personally haven't tried the walther ccp, but it might fight your requirements.

Zombified,

I'll check out the Walthers.

Thanks,

Crash

The sig p238 works great for my wife. It is a bit heavy for the size of gun that it is (comparing to Keltec) but that allows for the recoil spring and felt recoil to be much less drastic.

FWIW, my wife had the same issue. We went through several semi's (added to my collection now) and as her hands got worse we would change weapons. Strange thing though, to me it seemed as the smaller the gun got, the harder it was to rack the slide. She finally settled on a revolver and she loves it.

My wife had that problem. We went to a gun show and tried every .380 in the building, and bought a SIG P-238.
Well engineered, extremely easy to rack, even easier to conceal.

The Walther PK-380 is easy, but not as easily concealable, and not as well machined.

That said, I would go for a revolver. Loaded with .38+P, with good shot placement, you won't need more than 5 rounds. Even straight .38 will get their attention. A 3 inch barrel is slightly better than a snubbie.

Zombified wrote:Try the walther pistols. My brother has a ppq that is incredibly easy to rack. My walther pk380 is also incredibly easy. I personally haven't tried the walther ccp, but it might fight your requirements.

I have to back up Zombified on the PK380. I was talking to the guys in my local guns store. You can rack the PK380 with your pinkie. Incredibly easy.

However, I like the suggestion of going to a couple larger guns stores with good inventory and trying the slides.

My Mom is 85. She chose my S & W 586 with a honed trigger. I bought low recoil Federal HXTs for her. She is comfortable with the selection.

maverick2076 wrote:Walther CCP was going to be my suggestion for a single stack.

I had a Walther CCP in my hands at a gun store and it is very easy to rack and recoil is supposed to be mild as well due to its blowback system. It is 9 mm single stack. There are also plenty videos about it on youtube.

Beiruty wrote:consider a small revolver.

RPBrown wrote:FWIW, my wife had the same issue. We went through several semi's (added to my collection now) and as her hands got worse we would change weapons. Strange thing though, to me it seemed as the smaller the gun got, the harder it was to rack the slide. She finally settled on a revolver and she loves it.

Exactly. The smaller the HG, the more difficult it is to rack, typically. What is the biggest you can conceal? Have you tried a G43 or a G19?

My customers found that the Ruger LC9, Walther PPS or CCP, were easier to operate than the S&W Shield. The .380 are usually much smaller these days so require stronger recoil springs and thus are it is much harder to operate the slide.

I can't speak for the Sig p938, but as lama mentioned above, it's little brother, the p238 is a breeze to rack, like butter.

The P938 does require more force to rack than the P238, but neither is particularly difficult because of the locked-breach design.

Both have an added advantage of a "ledge" rear sight. That allows you to rack the slide by hooking the rear sight on just about anything, including your belt.

P938 is easy to rack. My wife normally carries an XD9SC but wanted something smaller. The XDS didn't fit her right so we tried a bunch of different guns. When she racked the P938 I knew the search was over. She tried to like the Kimber Micro 9 but it was too hard to rack.

There has been a good deal running on the BRG Two-tone. Sportsman Outdoor Superstore has it on for $534 and free shipping. That's about as cheap as I have seen a 938 in the last couple of years.

The two tone BRG is not on the Sig website so it may have be a special run or something.

Sig P938 Two Tone BRG

I stumbled across another store that had it for a few dollars more but I don't remember who it was so.

Lynyrd wrote:My wife has problems with racking the slide, also due to arthritis in her hands. My suggestion? Go to the biggest gun store near you and test the guns in YOUR hands. There is no way anyone you describe this problem to can tell how strong the spring has to be before it gives you trouble.

Just my 2 cents.

I tried to reply to your post right after you wrote, it but my internet quit. My wife has similar issues and even using the push-pull method she has trouble with her 9mm Shield. That's when we went to a range with a large selection of rentals. My wife ended up going down a caliber to .380 Glock 42 after she tried just about all the recoil and locked breech .380's. Except for a Kimber Micro and Browning 1911-380 I think we shot them all. She got down to the SIG 238 and the Glock, but she favored the Glock. My advice is to stick to locked breech actions. They will almost always be easier to rack than recoil/blow back autos.

If the hammer is exposed, then cocking it first can make racking the slide quite a bit easier.

Jeff

Quote: Or even a 9mm snubbie? Ruger LCR 9mm.

Had one for a while but sold it at a loss. And told the buyer why. Due to light weight, great trigger and good 9mm velocity, I thought it was the perfect 5-holer. But bullet in the 5'th cartridge in chamber waaaaaaay too often jumped the crimp, sometimes stopping rotation. Happened frequently with aluminum cased ammo. Open cylinder and bullet and gunpowder fall out on bench. When fired extensively with even some brass ammo, a few bullets slipped crimp enough that it made me dump the 9mm and keep .38+P version.