Easiest 9mm Slide to Rack

[cal3gunner]

Glock 17, 34, or 17L with a reduced power recoil spring is pretty easy. I've never had any problems with the girls that shoot my guns.

[bohoki]

i vote for a used p-89 they are often pretty loose the hammer drag is insignificant and there is a lot to grab

[Rivers]

While the price is definitely higher than the others mentioned so far, what about the HK P7M8 squeeze-cocker? Very soft-shooting, good slim grip size for smaller hands and concealment, extremely accurate. I know my HKs (USP and P2000sk) are very easy to rack. I would expect the P7M8 to be even nicer in that respect.

[domokun]

While the price is definitely higher than the others mentioned so far, what about the HK P7M8 squeeze-cocker? Very soft-shooting, good slim grip size for smaller hands and concealment, extremely accurate. I know my HKs (USP and P2000sk) are very easy to rack. I would expect the P7M8 to be even nicer in that respect.

The P7M8s still have a pretty firm slide rack. The only advantage of having the squeeze-cocking setup is that you don't have to pull back on the slide or push the slide-lock down to chamber a round after a fresh reload.

[Blue]

My Beretta 96 is a dream.

[Sobriquet]

The P7M8s still have a pretty firm slide rack. The only advantage of having the squeeze-cocking setup is that you don't have to pull back on the slide or push the slide-lock down to chamber a round after a fresh reload.

+1. My P7M8 is far more difficult to rack than a USP series pistol.


To the op: Please have your wife read this regarding women racking a slide:

http://www.corneredcat.com/RunGun/rack.aspx

[D53]

After my first surgey before my second i was not able to rack my XD40 (5" slide) or my glock 22. But i was able to rack a Glock 19 and Glock 26 fairly easy with my bum hand, just my 2c

[sammy]

The easiest slide to rack I have found was a Browning High Power. It is possible the example I tried had a weak spring but it was way easier than my Ruger MKII.

[toneman]

Beretta 92 is very smooth, But because of the size, the grip might too thick for her,
Maybe little smaller caliber like .380 or 9 makarov ?

[CrippledPidgeon]

+1. My P7M8 is far more difficult to rack than a USP series pistol.


To the op: Please have your wife read this regarding women racking a slide:

http://www.corneredcat.com/RunGun/rack.aspx

+2 on the P7M8.

The USP uses a double spring, with max at 12 lb. The reason why it's so easy to rack its slide is because the large, weaker spring is fairly light, and by the time you engage the heavier spring, you've got momentum in your favor.

The P7M8 uses a 21 lb spring, so despite not having to overcome the hammer mainspring (eg. racking a decocked 1911 is fairly hard compared to when it's cocked), it's still quite heavy.

And in my experience, guns that shoot .380 don't necessarily have weaker springs than 9mms because they tend to be blowback (rather than short recoil) and need decently strong springs to prevent case ruptures.

The best thing for racking the slide is to do it in as sharp and quick a movement as possible. Usually when I see people having trouble with racking slides (both male and female), they're babying the gun and fighting the spring tension every step of the way. Racking quickly and smoothly allows you to use the momentum of the frame to help overcome the spring more easily. Having strong hands to get a good grip on the slide serrations helps a lot more than strong arms (I also highly recommend that she read Cornered Cat's recommendations as was written above, because she has some really good suggestions.

And when it comes to safety demonstrations, it helps to have a friendly and understanding ffl. When I bought my P7M8, neither the FFL nor I could figure out how to lock the slide back during the demonstration, so we ended up stopping to read the manual.

[12voltguy]

Beretta 92FS

[RangerRoy]

slide

A sensible suggestion is, providing you find an accomodating gun shop or range with a good assortment of handguns is to let her physically try with dummy rounds of course. Fit and ergonomics will not be determined of course by advise and opinions no matter how well intended or means or no matter how high the level of expertise of the advisors are. Only her alone will be able to detrrmine that. Not only is the lb. strength of the spring important but also the shape, serration location and angle that a slide is handled that will determine her proficiency with the firearm. Hope this helps, I have taken a lot of women and even young girls shooting and had to learn to teach them how to adapt to what's available to us as much as they can.

[cush]

Another suggestion : Bersa UltraCompact Thunder 9mm, well lubed with Slideglide.
My DW loves her's. It's easy to rack, has soft recoil and ambidextrous controls.
First time she tried and could lock the slide back left handed got a big smile.

Another place to ask this question is: http://www.womenshooters.com/

Since ranges have a limited selection for rent maybe Calgun members can help out.
I know I would be willing to meet at a range to let her try what I have.
You might PM those who's suggestions you find appealing.
-cush

[eccvets]

get a custom 1911, I have seen people use 2 fingers to rack those smooth as butter customs! they will run you about 3-5k though...

[BigRich]

Have her try a Ruger P95 series pistol. They are not elegant but they work. When I had my shop that was always one that was easy to rack. Women that could not cycle other slides could do that one easily.