My beloved 1911 is getting to be too much...

[L. Boscoe]

Recognizing all of us have different problems in old age, mine are arthritis in the thumb joint, making jar opening a problem. I had a small bone removed and that fixed that. As far as 1911, or 45acp,
if I had to shoot factory loads I would not have any of them; I have a good half dozen and load 750fps to 800fps loads with 185gr and you will find them easier to shoot than a Walther PPk with 380 for several reasons, mostly the weight. My pistols run in the 35 to 40oz range, with fat grips that stretch the old wizened 86year old
hands, and they like that.
my situation is not yours, but you might look into the above.

[Mannlicher]

I'm mid seventies and have a good bit of osteoarthritis. I'm still shooting my .45 ACP 1911s though. For CCW, I have moved on to a Glock 21 and a Springfield XDS compact. I can't see me ever wanting a mouse gun.

[41 Magnum]

I don't know if anyone here has tried Winchester Silvertips or not ? I bought several boxes of them, and keep my 617 loaded with ten of them all the time now !! I find them very accurate, and amazingly powerful !! To me, they feel way more energetic than Stingers. They are also a segmenting bullet, which will cause a more traumatic wound channel I.M.H.O.
I have no idea how they would perform from any given Semi-auto, but I really like them from the revolver a lot !!

[Linker]

Someone earlier said something about a 380 acp in the 1911 format. Well Rock Island makes one. I just saw it on gunbroker.com. I realize not too many people think highly of Rock Island but it is a 380 and it is a 1911.

[UncleEd]

Lesser recoil, excellent round, think 9mm.

It's a reason, among others, Bill Wilson of
Wilson Combat has been producing "1911s"
in 9mm.

All the major gun makers are making 1911s
in 9mm. Huge variety of loads exist.

Also, if leaning toward a .380, choose a
locked breech model gun, not a blowback
type such as a PPK or a Beretta. Blowback
models tend to be quite snappy. They also
have extremely heavy recoil springs making
manual operation of the slide difficult.

[Armybrat]

My 78 year old arthritic hands don’t like the big bore boomers these days.
Gifted all my 1911 & .44 magnum handguns to my sons.
Kept a Ruger SR9 for my nightstand gun and carry an LCP .380.
The latter is being replaced by an LCP Max which is easier to shoot.

[ballardw]

Originally Posted by Linker

Someone earlier said something about a 380 acp in the 1911 format. Well Rock Island makes one. I just saw it on gunbroker.com. I realize not too many people think highly of Rock Island but it is a 380 and it is a 1911.

Browning as well at a sort of 7/8th scale.

[Aguila Blanca]

Originally Posted by Linker

Someone earlier said something about a 380 acp in the 1911 format. Well Rock Island makes one. I just saw it on gunbroker.com. I realize not too many people think highly of Rock Island but it is a 380 and it is a 1911.

No, the Rock Island Baby Rock .380 is not a 1911. It's an almost exact clone of the defunct Llama Micromax (which, in turn, was a copy of an older Spanish Star pistol).

https://ezine.m1911.org/showthread.p...ock-380-Review

[CajunBass]

Thanks for the link to that AB. Like the author, I used to drool over the Shooters Bible and Gun Digest and just dream about all the guns I wanted. One that I stared at more than the "Playmate of the month" was that Llama 380. It was inexpensive enough that I could actually imagine being able to come up with enough money to buy one some day...when I was older of course.

Never did get one. I'm not sure I ever even saw one, but it was a neat dream.

[jar]

I have quite a few .380 pistols but at 80 years young I'll admit the S&W 380 EZ has really impressed me. I still carry and shoot heavy full size and commander 1911s but the S&W 380 EZ has been getting more than it's fair share of WalkAbout. I like it enough that it has its very own Privateer Leather (Wes Dahl) IWB Cutthroat holster.

[camsdaddy]

We have a gentleman in town who has always carried a 5" M&P or a Glock 34. I saw him yesterday at a local restaurant wearing a tucked in T and having a hard time walking. I have a feeling he has gone to carrying his wife with him (who probably has a larger handgun) and he is using an LCR as his back up. Time has a way of catching up with us.

[tarhealcracker]

Originally Posted by UncleEd

Lesser recoil, excellent round, think 9mm.

It's a reason, among others, Bill Wilson of
Wilson Combat has been producing "1911s"
in 9mm.

All the major gun makers are making 1911s
in 9mm. Huge variety of loads exist.

Also, if leaning toward a .380, choose a
locked breech model gun, not a blowback
type such as a PPK or a Beretta. Blowback
models tend to be quite snappy. They also
have extremely heavy recoil springs making
manual operation of the slide difficult.

Can you suggest a few models in .380 that meet your criteria ?

[Kreyzhorse]

If it's the "biggest" you can carry, shoot and practice with, by all means. A gun is still a gun.

[Aguila Blanca]

Originally Posted by CajunBass

Thanks for the link to that AB. Like the author, I used to drool over the Shooters Bible and Gun Digest and just dream about all the guns I wanted. One that I stared at more than the "Playmate of the month" was that Llama 380. It was inexpensive enough that I could actually imagine being able to come up with enough money to buy one some day...when I was older of course.

Never did get one. I'm not sure I ever even saw one, but it was a neat dream.

Rock Island still makes their copy. It's not especially expensive.

https://rockislandarmoryusa.com/bbr-...rd-380acp-7rd/