I came close to renting a .32 revolver for my wife, but was talked out of it when told the price of the ammo. We went ahead and bought the Bersa, instead. She loves it.

She didn't like the idea of racking the slide, or the casings flying out when she first started shooting my Ruger P89. But with a few trips to the range she began to gain confidence, and now can pretty much handle all aspects of shooting her Bersa without my assistance.

Good luck in your hunt.

WM

Well, mom fired my Bersa once and doesn't even want to look at it again. She would only fire one round out of it. The woman bought a single shot rifle so "there won't be any accidents." Only reason. So we have to work up to that level.

A 38 or 357 with 38 spl. loads or someones soft reloads,shouldnt be too bad but talk her into a dbl action for self defense,after all it can still be fired SA if she just has to...but in an emergency all ya gotta do is pull the trigger
If she still cant handle the softer reloads your kinda stuckwith a 22, I dont know anyone who makes a .25 revolver

Edit:http:
This is one alternative I guess,not a good one but......... http://www.naaminis.com/index02.html

Scooter, I was actually thinking of picking up one of those mini 22 Mags to see if she could deal with it. I'm trying to get customers to bring them in so I can try one first (I have offered to swap shots with my rifle for shots on one of these little things, they just always seem to come in when I'm off. LOL!). I may bring it up to her.

Have her try some .38 Special "cowboy loads". They're incredibly soft shooting. With her medical problems, would the heavy DA trigger cause problems?

I know Cimarron makes some shortened SA's. Ruger's .22lr Bearcat has a smaller frame but a 4" barrel.

J-frame(or equivalent) snubs aren't going to be pleasant for her to shoot regardless. I don't know how small you need to go. I haven't fired anything as small as those NAA revolvers so I have no idea how they shoot. Would the very small grips cause her issues? The NAA Black Widow might work.

Check down the page on the black widow and look at the folding grip/holster/trigger cover for the black widow. That may just be the ticket for her, giver a better grip and a smaller pistol.

I have a friend/neighbor in this situation: arthritis, can't pull a DA trigger, etc. She ended up with a .38 snubby, fired single action (using the LEFT thumb to cock the hammer, and the RIGHT hand to pull the trigger.) I gave her 5 of my scarce Nyclads to carry, and she practices with the WalMart 130 FMJ, which is very soft shooting.

The real key is the grips. Factory grips on most snubbies are just horrible -- it's like they were scientifically designed to hurt your hands. Pachmayr Compacs are the ticket.

Personally, I would have no problem with going down to a .22. Once you get below .38 Special, it doesn't make much difference whether you have a .32 or a .380 or a .22 or a .25. A body shot isn't going to stop anybody. Might as well go to the rimfire and save money on ammo.

The S&W snubby .22's are magnificent. The titanium guns are a dream to carry. She'd probably love it, but they are pricey.

I would have no qualms about your mother carrying a Ruger Bearcat -- small, light, single action -- provided she never, ever practiced shooting at the center of a silhouette, but only practiced shooting at the head. Forget 7 yards. Try 5 feet and 10 feet, head shots only. She can do it.

Tell her we're all proud of her.

I'm trying to get her to shoot my Smith with some .38s in it. It has the rubber grips, it has some weight to it, and it has that 6" barrel. It really isn't too hard on the joints. I was hoping if she could master him we could move to something a little smaller in time. The problem is convincing her that this won't feel the same as the little snubbie the range officers jumped to right from the .22 on her second time firing a gun.

Either way, even if she decides just to arm herself for SASS (which she is just itching to join and I'd like to get her going) and forget about concealed carry, I'm just so proud at how far she's come. At first she didn't even want to see my Sig because she was so anti-gun and now she's considering attempting to shoot it with some help. That is a long, long way down the line, though! And we'll start that out one round in the gun at a time. LOL! So I'm proud of my mommy.

Originally Posted by milquetoast

I have a friend/neighbor in this situation: arthritis, can't pull a DA trigger, etc. She ended up with a .38 snubby, fired single action (using the LEFT thumb to cock the hammer, and the RIGHT hand to pull the trigger.) I gave her 5 of my scarce Nyclads to carry, and she practices with the WalMart 130 FMJ, which is very soft shooting.

The real key is the grips. Factory grips on most snubbies are just horrible -- it's like they were scientifically designed to hurt your hands. Pachmayr Compacs are the ticket.

Personally, I would have no problem with going down to a .22. Once you get below .38 Special, it doesn't make much difference whether you have a .32 or a .380 or a .22 or a .25. A body shot isn't going to stop anybody. Might as well go to the rimfire and save money on ammo.

The S&W snubby .22's are magnificent. The titanium guns are a dream to carry. She'd probably love it, but they are pricey.

I would have no qualms about your mother carrying a Ruger Bearcat -- small, light, single action -- provided she never, ever practiced shooting at the center of a silhouette, but only practiced shooting at the head. Forget 7 yards. Try 5 feet and 10 feet, head shots only. She can do it.

Tell her we're all proud of her.

I'm not sure I agree with some of this. You don't really think that a .22 is as effective as a .380 for self defense? While I agree that a head shot would be better than a body shot with a .22 (or anything else), I have little confidence that the BG is going to stand there while you shoot at his head. The key is to hit him, so I would say shoot for the torso and keep shooting.

If one were to insist on a .22 for self defense, I think I would go with the .22 mag as a minimum.

Originally Posted by Snowman

I'm not sure I agree with some of this. You don't really think that a .22 is as effective as a .380 for self defense? While I agree that a head shot would be better than a body shot with a .22 (or anything else), I have little confidence that the BG is going to stand there while you shoot at his head. The key is to hit him, so I would say shoot for the torso and keep shooting.

If one were to insist on a .22 for self defense, I think I would go with the .22 mag as a minimum.

Seriously, I really do think that. I have very little faith in stopping power of any pistol bullets. I have known people shot -- solidly -- with .45's and .40's, and stay on their feet. The guy with the .45 did not know he had been shot! Friend of mine took two .44 Mags through the chest. Fell down, but stayed in the fight. Another friend of mine got shot in the face with a .410 shotgun last November. Didn't stop him. He was able to draw his Glock, but the shooter ran away.

I have little faith that a center-chest shot with a .380 will make anybody incapable of fighting. It could happen, but I wouldn't bet my life or anybody's mother's life on it. The difference between .22 and .22 Mag is irrelevant, IMO. Head shots are hard, but many things in life are hard. I carry mouseguns sometimes, but when I do, I just accept I will have to try for head shots only -- as many as possible.

Also, in many true justifiable self-defense situations, head shots are not all that hard, because many of them are at rape/stabbing/hacking/choking distance. Shove the gun up his nostril and pull the trigger until the bangs turn to clicks.

Taurus Model 941, 8-shot .22 Magnum revolver, single/double action, can be had with a 2-inch barrel. Used ones can be found at reasonable prices.

Someone mentioned a Ruger SP101 in .32 while I was work today. Does that exist? If so, still made? I've never seen one.

Check out here (3 1/16"):

http://ruger.com/Firearms/FAProdView...=5748&return=Y

or here (4"):

http://ruger.com/Firearms/FAProdView...=5748&return=Y

WM

a person who is afraid of their weapon is not good....... my suggestion is to get her an old colt .38 spl snubbie det spl...... my spousal unit has her dads colt snubbie he carried when he was a cop here in town an she really likes to shoot it with the mild reloads i build for her..... they are mostly 148 gr. wcs over 2.8 grs. of bullseye.... your mom should get out with you and shoot up a box or two of ammo or more to get her used to the noise and recoil of shooting....... a rubber more hand filling grip would be a good idea on a small gun like that for sure.... for home or self defense i realy wouldn't go any smaller than .38 cal............

How does one find the lower powered ammo? She's wanting to join SASS and most of the members of SASS I've talked to tell me they used lowered powered rounds. I think if she tried them out she'd like them.

Originally Posted by SuckLead

How does one find the lower powered ammo? She's wanting to join SASS and most of the members of SASS I've talked to tell me they used lowered powered rounds. I think if she tried them out she'd like them.

They're called "cowboy loads". They're designed for rapid target shooting in SASS type competitions. Very soft shooting.

CCI Trailblazer Cowboy 158 gr LFN:
http://www.sportsmansguide.com/cb/cb.asp?a=221032

Winchester Cowboy 158gr LFN:
http://www.sportsmansguide.com/cb/cb.asp?a=280227

Ultramax Cowboy:
http://www.cowboyneeds.com/Ammo_Ultramax.html

Meister low recoil:
http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpag...eitemid=239917

Basically anything that says "Cowboy" on it. The SASS members should be able to help you find some locally.