Grandma wants a home defense gun

[Barth]

Merry Christmas friends

My dad has a Ruger (I think it's a Speed Six) 4" 357 loaded with 38+P ammo.
Don't think it's been shot in 30 or 40 years.
I suspected some really old ammo was in it.
So a brought over some Federal Micro HST 38 ammo.
While upgrading the ammo I couldn't help but notice the gun was unloaded!
My Dad swore it was loaded I told him like that it's just a crappy club.
My mother is 86 years old, maybe 5 foot tall and weights about 100 lbs.
She has little hand strength and feels the Ruger is too heavy to operate.

With all this talk of gifting my Grandson a HK VP9 she has become interested in one too.
I'm taking mine over there to see if she likes it.

I don't own one.
But off the top of my head was thinking maybe a S&W Shield 380 EZ might work for her?
Thought I'd ask the crew for advice on options.
Suggestions, thoughts, ...

Thanks much, Barth

[King Rat]

Personally I would like to try out the New Taurus Home Defender.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=af-qyZYYyhw

[kenemoore]

So...my wife's home defense gun, was a 4" Model-10 S&W, with an action job. Plain old wadcutters as ammo. She did not practice, and was therefore not up to speed on clearing malfunctions in an automatic.
But.. the lady that cuts my hair, got one of the .380 EZ's and can rack the slide, and shoot it decent, she could not do that with the little LCP she had before.

If possible, take her to a place that has rentals, and rent one of the EZ's, before you buy.
A Ruger LCR, very light, and nice trigger from the factory, with wad cutters, (not +P), still may be too much recoil.


My Mom is 84, and she has a cheap little .22 Revolver, that she won on a punch board at a service station, back in the Sixties, made in Germany, banned after 1968 (aka Saturday Night Special). Accurate to about 8-10 feet. But, Recoil is very manageable, maybe an LCR in .22LR would be a good option.

[berettabone]

I had a speed six with a trigger job. Smooth as silk and a trigger real close to a Kahr. No malfunctions and easy to load for Grandma..........

[dao]

Barth, we owned an EZ 380 and I think it would be good for your folks. They are extremely easy to rack, large enough to get a good grip on, but light enough for those with diminished strength, and also to soak up some recoil. And of course the 380 is more forgiving in that way too. One caveat though is that you may need to load up the mags for them. They are a bit difficult to fill up. But once done, and inserted into the gun everything becomes much easier, including trigger pull.
The only reason we sold ours is that my wife felt it was too large for concealed carry. She's not a big gal and there are much smaller packages out there for her. She's also a good shot with any gun I've put into her hand, regardless of size or caliber, so we have a couple of smaller guns for her.

[DavidR]

With regard to the EZ 380, it’s possible that the grip safety may give them problems. It takes a high and tight grip to disengage the safety. The Ruger Security 380 is worth checking out.

I own a 380EZ and love it. Have never held or fired a Security 380.

[dao]

That is true, but can be easily mitigated with a strip of leather and some glue, to create a bump on the rear of the safety. Or even to look online for a way to disable it altogether. Lots of shooters pin the grip safety on their competition 1911's so that it doesn't impede hammer fall.

[DavidR]

Unfortunately, the EZ380 can’t be taken down without the grip safety being engaged. Pinned won’t work. There is no way to get around having the safety functional.

I personally have no issues with the grip safety but have read reports of others struggling with it.

[Bawanna]

I wouldn't even consider anything but a revolver with a decent trigger. Most in this situation don't practice or care about the gun except for having it. Easy to check for loads and simple. The trigger generally sucks so some help there would be needed. Racking the slide is always an issue, simple mag changes which generally would never be needed are a challenge. My wife who is very fit for her 68 years can't rack the EZ 9. I was shocked, figured it was the ticket other than being too large for her to carry. She carries a S&W 638. I've tried other options but she so far wants to stick with the Smith. Again the trigger isn't great but with a little adrenaline I guess it works.
At 86 I pray grandma will never need a gun for defense. If she just loves guns like me and then more power to her.

[Barth]

I wouldn't even consider anything but a revolver with a decent trigger. Most in this situation don't practice or care about the gun except for having it. Easy to check for loads and simple. The trigger generally sucks so some help there would be needed. Racking the slide is always an issue, simple mag changes which generally would never be needed are a challenge. My wife who is very fit for her 68 years can't rack the EZ 9. I was shocked, figured it was the ticket other than being too large for her to carry. She carries a S&W 638. I've tried other options but she so far wants to stick with the Smith. Again the trigger isn't great but with a little adrenaline I guess it works.
At 86 I pray grandma will never need a gun for defense. If she just loves guns like me and then more power to her.

Thanks to everyone for their time and input.
Took a variety of handguns over to my parents for Christmas day for my 86 year old mothers review.
I've got two 18 grandchildren myself.
Making my mother a Great Great Grandma.
Very likely they (my parents) will soon live to be Great Great Great Grandparents!
How do you say that anyway - LOL! 3X-great-grandparents?!?

Anyway, watching my mother handle handguns it was immediately
crystal clear to me that Colonel you are absolutely correct.
Don't know the history of the Ruger.
But it's buttery trigger rivals my S&W guns with trigger jobs.
It may be a little heavy.
But with no training or practice a revolver seems like really the only proper option.
Bars on the windows and 911 on speed dial seems like a much better solution to me

It's good to have good friends.
Everyone have a Happy and Safe New Years!
Barth