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Old January 10, 2018, 09:32 PM   #26
James K
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Too little information here. A DA revolver in .38 Special would be best (IMHO) and would beat any .22 for defense. But only if your mother can handle a DA trigger or learn to cock the gun, and learn to fire it. An auto pistol would seem best, but could she handle a misfire or failure to feed (does she have the hand strength to operate the slide?) Is she willing to spend time learning to use the gun, or will it just sit in a drawer (where did I put that gun?) gathering dust and lint? Ultimately, the question with many people has to be whether the gun will be more a danger to themselves or other innocent people than it will be a help in time of need.

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Old January 10, 2018, 09:38 PM   #27
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I have a ruger mkIII 22/45 that works well. Only problems have all been crap primer related from shooting cheap bulk boxes. Only issue is it might be impossible for them to clean it properly.

I do keep hearing good things about the S&W MP22. It definitely feels good in the hand.
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Old January 10, 2018, 09:53 PM   #28
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Ruger LCR in .22LR, they have a great trigger for a compact revolver, go try one.
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Old January 10, 2018, 10:08 PM   #29
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While I have a S&W Compact.22LR pistol and it has been flawless in close to 1,000 rounds, I don’t recommend a .22LR for SD. I,know it has been done, but the first thing to remember with any semi auto is manual of arms. Remember, Mom may not remember to flick the safety off, some, like the S&W have a mag disconnect.
The friends who ask me, I tell them the same thing. Buy a good revolver. So simple to operate, even a cave man can do it. No fuss, no muss, pull the trigger and go.
Caliber, that’s something only you and mother can decide. A good compromise might be, if you can find one, is a .32 Mag. They can be hard to find and may be expensive. Another option is a revolver in .22 Mag. A far better choice than the .22LR.
Get with your mom and let her handle various pistols and see how she does before popping down big bucks for something she doesn’t like.
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Old January 10, 2018, 11:02 PM   #30
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A few others have mentioned a larger caliber revolver. I feel like I need to pitch my vote with that crowd.

My take on it is a .38 or .45 Long Colt single action cowboy gun of some flavor. Seriously. I've put a fair amount of thought and trial and error into that decision. When I worked at a gunsmith shop, we had a number of customers who just reached that age where hand strength and ability to manipulate a semi-auto had just come and gone. Of the things we tried with the customers, what worked well, was the cowboy gun and cowboy load level ammunition.

Cowboy (single action Army clones) can come with a very generous and sometimes widened hammer spur that can be pushed downwards into the cocked position with the pad of the support hand and very little in the way of gross motor skills.

Cowboy Action ammunition is still larger diameter, usually heavy weight, and in my mind a better threat stopper than any .22 rimfire. The weight of the single action revolver absorbs what little recoil there is, and noise isn't hardly anything at all above the rimfires. Both the .38 and .45 Cowboy loads are low pressure and very mild to shoot.

It would be frustrating to get a semi-auto of any sort and find yourself unable to operate the slide, magazine release, safety, or even the loading of the magazine.
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Old January 11, 2018, 05:48 AM   #31
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Beretta 70S, long out of production but had the characteristic Beretta open top strap that nearly eliminated stove pipes...I didn't have it long but I don't remember a malfunction with this pistol, ever. About the size of a PPK.

This was a .32/.380 design and as a consequence had a front sight adapted to .22LR and the sight was high and rather sharp pointed. The pistol shot very high. I had to file down the rear sight to hit POA.

IME, there are NO completely reliable .22 auto pistols, except that Beretta and if I had it a long time there probably would have been some kind of failure with it too. Part of this could be .22 ammo. Millions of rounds produced, there has to be inconsistencies, etc.
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Old January 11, 2018, 06:30 AM   #32
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.32 hr or .327 revolver. If it has to be a .22 then the Ruger Mark 111 would be hard to beat.
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Old January 11, 2018, 07:05 AM   #33
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A revolver in .22lr or like Oldman suggested .32 cal would be a good place for her to start looking. I would take her to a range and see if you can rent one for her to shoot.
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Old January 11, 2018, 07:33 AM   #34
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1) A revolver firing 32 S&W long. It has the same lack of recoil that a 22 does, but slings a much bigger chunk of lead. Its ignition is more reliable. A revolver made for either of the 32 magnum rounds will also fire the longs.

2) A good 22 revolver. Some of them hold as many rounds as a semiautomatic anyway.

3) A Ruger Mark-whatever or a Browning Buck Mark.
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Old January 11, 2018, 07:50 AM   #35
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I wouldn't dismiss the idea of a 22 rifle either.
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Old January 11, 2018, 07:55 AM   #36
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I appreciate all of the advice. I already own a Taurus 22lr revolver (Model 9482). I have enjoyed the gun, but I think the trigger pull might be an issue with any rimfire revolver. The gun would be strictly for home defense, and would not be carried. I am fortunate enough that almost any non-custom 22 would be within my budget. After reading your posts, I'm am leaning toward the Browning 1911-22 (unless there are a lot of horror stories about the model that have not been posted yet).
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Old January 11, 2018, 09:09 AM   #37
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wmg1299
The gun would be strictly for home defense, and would not be carried.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mandolinman
I wouldn't dismiss the idea of a 22 rifle either.
I've discouraged older women I know from getting a pistol for defense from a home invader. Inside a closed room a 22lr pistol is going to be shockingly loud, and more difficult to get accustomed to in the meager range time one is likely to get an older woman to endure. Effective use of a pistol at more than punching distances takes a bit of hand strength; this can be an issue for older women.

My friends who study self-defense professionally hate the idea of relying on a 22lr because it can't mechanically incapacitate someone absent an awfully lucky shot. I think it is better than harsh language and that being hit by a dozen 40gr bullets would demotivate many people.

I like the idea of a 50 or even 30 round magazine on a basic 10/22; something that can be pointed at someone 15 or 20 feet away like bug spray.

These solutions are all compromises and you will have a sense of the compromises she needs.

Last edited by zukiphile; January 11, 2018 at 11:14 AM.
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Old January 11, 2018, 05:59 PM   #38
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I've never seen a .22 LR pistol that was reliable. The .22 semi-auto is the most unreliable of pistols. Never would depend on one for self defense. If you must use a .22 at least use a revolver. A Bursa .380 might work in this case.
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Old January 11, 2018, 06:10 PM   #39
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But only if your mother can handle a DA trigger or learn to cock the gun, and learn to fire it.
Danger, Will Robinson.

I know two cases locally where ladies were considerately provided with nice simple revolvers by their husband and father. They soon discovered that it was a lot easier to cock the hammer and get a 3 lb trigger pull than it was to drag through a 12 lb DA.
Unfortunately, if you cock the hammer and not need to shoot, you are faced with the problem of getting it down. One lady failed this test and dumped a round in the floor. The other shot a defenseless water bed.

I have seen about every possible recommendation, including 10-96's SAA and do not think anybody has The Answer. There are a lot of answers, but most of them call for commitment and effort by the user. Not common, as witness all the antique bureau drawer guns that crop up with little or no use. I have my own Mother's little M34 that my Father thought was self explanatory and never provided any attempt at instruction on.
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Old January 11, 2018, 06:12 PM   #40
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Ruger MK II, Browning Buckmark, Ruger SR22, S&W Victory would be at the top of my list. Use good ammo like CCI Minimags.
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Old January 11, 2018, 06:58 PM   #41
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The other shot a defenseless water bed.
Who in their right mind would ever buy a bed that could wet them?

(not an original joke...)
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Old January 11, 2018, 11:58 PM   #42
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Ruger Mark III with Pac-Sol barrel and Tandemkross internal upgrades. It has fired 5000 rounds without a failure of any kind. My Mark IV is getting there as well, With CCI-Mini Mags it hasn't had a failure in thousands of round. It doesn't like soft ammo right now but I'm working on a lighter spring.

Both guns group under 1 inch with Eley Match and Wolf MT ammo. A little looser with CCI Mini Mags but more reliable.
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Old January 12, 2018, 11:39 AM   #43
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I've put 20,000 trouble-free rounds through my Ruger Mk II .22 LR pistol since 1988.
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Old January 12, 2018, 11:47 AM   #44
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SD

Ruger MK I or II are excellent, reliable 22 semi-autos.

Consider a 32 ACP pistol. Recoil is little and the gun would be controllable for follow-up shots, if needed.

There are many 32 ACP offerings out there that give this much overlooked round excellent performance for SD.
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Old January 12, 2018, 12:30 PM   #45
Jim Watson
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Yes, but there are not many new .32 guns.
A Walther PP .32 may well be a better gun than the .380, but not to be had.

For that matter, the .32 Hand Ejector would be a fine choice for the "Get the little lady a revolver so she doesn't have to rack a slide" school of thought. S&W sold many of them for the purpose in a bygone day. For that matter, Teddy Roosevelt thought the .32 New Police was plenty for NYPD when he was police commissioner.
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Old January 12, 2018, 02:20 PM   #46
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After reading your posts, I'm am leaning toward the Browning 1911-22 (unless there are a lot of horror stories about the model that have not been posted yet).
My 1911-22 was less than satisfactory, especially considering the price. It has acceptable reliability with mini-mags, and really nothing else. The shrunken grip/trigger dimensions and sights are also sub-optimal, though the grip issue would presumably be better for someone with very small hands. The concept seemed neat, but as a practical matter it didn't meet my expectations. In terms of value, it's been one of my worst handgun purchases.

Personally, I would have a hard look at a Ruger MK IV lite, checking to see if the grips fit the relevant hands. Also, as someone else mentioned, a 10/22 carbine might make sense as well. I'd definitely avoid anything made by Umarex.

I agree with an earlier poster who recommended the Beretta 71 -- I've had astonishingly good luck with both of mine. Broad-spectrum ammo reliability is a thing to behold. It's everything the 1911-22 might have been in a perfect world. Similar statements apply to classic Colt .22's (e.g. Woodsman, Huntsman). However, recommending a used gun to people who aren't really gun-people always seems kind of risky to me -- you have to account for the possibility of acquiring someone else's lemon, and the non-existent customer service and limited parts availability might become issues. For those reasons, I'd look at the MK IV lite first.

I do think .22 is highly under-rated. See, for example, the shooting study at: https://www.buckeyefirearms.org/alte...stopping-power
You do pay a price for stepping down in power to .22LR, but the difference is far smaller than you'd expect, and one could easily argue that gains in accuracy/speed for a particular shooter might be far more important.
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Old January 12, 2018, 03:08 PM   #47
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Everyone keeps mentioning the Ruger MKs II,III, IV but the original Ruger standard models work just as well as the newer versions. I have two left of all that I have owned. One with a 4" barrel that has never to the best of my memory ever failed in any way and a second one with a 6" barrel that I bought NIB off GB that no one but myself bid on.

I haven't fired that gun yet but I do not expect any problems at all. I expect it will run perfectly right out of the box. And I only paid $225 for the gun with the box and all the paperwork.

And I agree with the others that suggested a revolver. A .22 revolver is good. A .32 long revolver is much better. More reliable, and a little more power.

Or like James K said a good ol' 38. A model 10 loaded with light recoiling 110gr bullets. My mother is 79 years old with weak arthritic hands and still keeps her heavy barrel model 10 loaded and ready to go. The same gun she wore for 18 years as a jailer in the Tarrant county jail.

Last edited by ThomasT; January 12, 2018 at 03:41 PM.
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Old January 12, 2018, 03:13 PM   #48
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If you decide to go with a revolver, I would suggest a S&W 10 shot model 617.
If you would rather buy a semi-auto, my vote would be for a S&W M&P22 with 12 rd magazines. It points well, it's reliable, the slide is easy to rack and accuracy is acceptable.
My recommendations are based upon personal experience. I own both of these handguns.
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Old January 12, 2018, 04:10 PM   #49
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Everyone keeps mentioning the Ruger MKs II,III, IV but the original Ruger standard models work just as well as the newer versions.
Some of us prefer the later models if only because they have the bolt "hold-open" feature after the last shot is fired.
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Old January 12, 2018, 04:51 PM   #50
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Some of us prefer the later models if only because they have the bolt "hold-open" feature after the last shot is fired.
OK I understand that. Its just never been an issue to me. And I didn't think of that either.
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