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Old 02-17-2014, 2:28 PM
Asphodel Asphodel is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 12yak View Post
My wife is petite and she has some arthritis developing in her hands and therefore has a really rough time racking a slide and doing a long DA pull on a trigger. She wanted a gun that would be gentle at the range but also effective if needed for HD when I'm not there. Recoil isn't a big issue for her but she's also not into taking more punishment than the target.

I recently got her a Ruger Vaquero SA six gun in 38spl/357 so that I can supply her with light reloads for target practice and load it up with 357 magnums when it's in the bedside safe. Sure, it's only got six rounds but they're 357's and very effective. The trigger is easy to fan or thumb, the SA trigger is light, the grip is small and easy to grasp, the heft of the stainless steel gun with its 5.5" barrel minimizes recoil and provides a long sight plane, and there's no slide to mess with. It's the first handgun she's used that she actually enjoys shooting. That'll go a long way to getting her familiar with the gun and how it shoots.
Just as one person's opinion.........I'd never discount the old-style single-action as an effective and reliable self-defence weapon.

The current version of the Ruger, unlike the old Colt, can be kept loaded with all six, safely. Unless the potential victim has seven or more very brave and determined assailants, six rounds, used properly, will settle any reasonably plausible situation, with grim finality.

A 38spl, particularly the +P version, at close range, is more than adequately powerful to 'stop the threat', if its user has practiced enough to hit 'centre of mass' quickly and reliably, under the level of stress unavoidably present in such a situation.

(with this caveat.....if one's assailant is a large feral dog, large wild pig, mountain lion, or similar life-form, then the full-charge .357 is 'just barely adequate', if the victim can remain 'cool' enough under stress to place their shots accurately)

The important consideration......in this one person's opinion, anyway...... is the 'practice, practice, and more practice' to develop the 'muscle memory' which enables the person to fire quickly and accurately, if the decision to fire is made.

Its the issue of evaluating the situation, and making the seriously 'fateful' decision 'to fire or not' which is the real, grim, and serious challenge in any self-defence situation.

The idea of practice, practice, practice, to develop so-called 'muscle memory is that, in any potential self-defence situation, making the decision to 'fire or not' will completely occupy the potential victim's thought process, so if the decision to fire is made, the actual process of presenting the weapon and firing with reasonable accuracy is 'automatic', from 'muscle memory'.

Its purely a personal decision as to whether one should invest the practice time, to be adequately capable should a real, unavoidable self-defence situation be forced upon the victim, which may happen only once in one's life-time, or may never happen.

Hopefully, the ability to be able to present the weapon quickly, and allow the home invader or other assailant, that 'second of decision' to stop, turn, and run away, will result in the threat being resolved without having to fire.

cheers

Carla
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