Pistol choices for someone with numb hands

Ammo Jon · May 3, 2018

Atrox88 said:
Take her to an indoor range that rents handguns and let her try a few.

Just not to Continental Arms.

Biggfoot44 · May 3, 2018

If having totally no sensation in trigger finger , shouldn't be using any firearm .

I don't have any knowledge of peripheral neuropathy. I do have partial numbness on part of one finger due to injury( not an index finger ). It has little sensation on the surface , but with more force applied/ used , I have feedback from the underlying tissue and muscles . If this finger were a trigger finger , I would be confident with DA Revolver , or std weight Glock .

Or my injury based example could be totally different from this neuropathy stuff , and this post irrelevant.

davsco · May 3, 2018

sgt23preston said:
This is the absolute TRUTH

let's see how she does at the rental range, trying a variety of handguns, under some competent supervision, before we just take away her rights. if she finds a gun that works for her, and is comfortable and can demonstrate proper trigger and firearm control, then great.

maybe try a pistol caliber carbine also? not sure if having front and back support would help in her situation?

if that doesn't work out, just like taking the keys from gramps when he can't back out of the driveway any more, she should find an alternative means of defense.

ezracer · May 3, 2018

Sorry, this person should not own or handle a firearm. She will be a threat to herself and everyone in the vicinity
( except the perp) :facepalm:

I have no other answer for her predicament other than a trained attack dog. :thumbsup:

Sundazes · May 3, 2018

Ammo Jon said:
Just not to Continental Arms.

They already have enough holes that aren't supposed to be there....

Ammo Jon · May 3, 2018

sundazes said:
They already have enough holes that aren't supposed to be there....

They fired most of them!

balttigger · May 3, 2018

Thanks for your responses Swinokur and John from MD. I was hoping a couple people with this ailment would respond. I forgot about the limited hand strength, which is what prompted me to think about the LEM trigger to begin with. Have either of you found trigger weight differences or shapes (curved vs flat) to be a hindrance/help?

swinokur · May 3, 2018

Obviously the SA triggers are easier but they also make it easier for a ND because of the reduced pressure needed to pull them.

In my case I have Glocks, S&W and H&K SA/DA pistols.

For me it doesn’t seem to matter but trigger discipline no matter the gun is the key to safe use

John from MD · May 3, 2018

balttigger said:
Thanks for your responses Swinokur and John from MD. I was hoping a couple people with this ailment would respond. I forgot about the limited hand strength, which is what prompted me to think about the LEM trigger to begin with. Have either of you found trigger weight differences or shapes (curved vs flat) to be a hindrance/help?

I have to change my suggestion some as I forgot that my Kahr takes some doing to rack.

When I was actively doing instruction, I found most women who were just being introduced to guns found that they were more comfortable with revolvers. My wife for a long time used a S&W 686 .357 until she changed to a S&W .45 Mountain Gun. While she was capable of flying jet aircraft, she could not get used to racking the slide and the functions of slide lock, safety, take down lever.

The triggers on most revolvers today are smooth and about 3/8 inch wide which gives a great trigger pull. Taurus has five shot .38 or .357 that have polymer frames so they are not that heavy. The DA trigger pull usually comes in at 9 to 10 pounds. They are also pretty cheap considering what Smith and Wesson's go for today.

S&W now makes a EZ Shield .380 for people who have problem racking slides. I haven't held one but I'm sure the trigger is similar to the M&P series.

balttigger · May 3, 2018

swinokur said:
Obviously the SA triggers are easier but they also make it easier for a ND because of the reduced pressure needed to pull them.

In my case I have Glocks, S&W and H&K SA/DA pistols.

For me it doesn’t seem to matter but trigger discipline no matter the gun is the key to safe use

Oh, I have been hammering the basics of firearm safety to her for quite a while. Finger straight out until muzzle is on target and you have made the commitment to shoot. And when we go to the range, it will be continued practice. And when she does home practice, it will be reinforced more and more.

Mightydog · May 3, 2018

Is she stuck on a semi? Plenty of good wheelguns out there. Nice Rugers, S&Ws. Like was stated...you need to take her shopping so she can get the “feel” of the trigger pull and hammer drop.

nomade · May 3, 2018

ezracer said:
Sorry, this person should not own or handle a firearm. She will be a threat to herself.

I have no other answer for her predicament other than a trained attack dog.

I agreed.
Practice shooting is ok. But home defense... if she can't feel the trigger..... its to risky.

balttigger · May 3, 2018

Mightydog said:
Is she stuck on a semi? Plenty of good wheelguns out there. Nice Rugers, S&Ws. Like was stated...you need to take her shopping so she can get the “feel” of the trigger pull and hammer drop.

Pretty much. Then again, there will be plenty of variety for her to try out at the show so maybe her thought patterns will evolve. It's all going to come down to what she feels most comfortable with. Then we will go from there.

lazarus · May 3, 2018

Occam said:
She may not like SA/DA, but she'll like it a lot better than accidentally killing someone. Sorry to hear she has that challenge, but it's better than a legal challenge with her liberty on the line because a sensitive striker fired gun "went off" in her hand.

Have her handle a Springfield XD-E. Not only does it have a pleasant SA/DA trigger, but it's flexible in terms of its safety features ... and because it's hammer operated, the slide is a lot easier to operate with compromised hands. But mostly ... be very, very careful here. You could get swept up in her liability if she mishandles something you helped her pick and showed her how to use, knowing the problem she wrestles with. This is life and death stuff, here. That completely eclipses a preference on her part for sticking with the "simpler" operating system of the SA-only striker guns. Be very careful.

Yeah. This. My Glock 17 has a relatively light trigger pull and frankly I’ve accidentally doubled tapped a couple of times because the reset isn’t necessarily all THAT long and reset and pull are relatively light. I haven’t had that issue on a regular SA or DA/SA handgun before. Not that I can claim to be a huge expert as I doubt I’ve shot more than 10 different handguns before and probably not more than 800 rounds through then total.

The pull is heavy enough I wouldn’t be too worried for ME on an accidental initial discharge, but if I am not somewhat mindful of my pull and release...

No DA or DA/SA revolver I’ve tried seems like that would ever be the case and also none of them seemed like there would be any real concern about an accidental discharge even if you couldn’t feel the trigger unless it had the hammer already cocked. The pull is long enough and heavy enough you’d still have to be pretty intentional.

lazarus · May 3, 2018

One other thought, is she dead set on a handgun? What about a SxS shotgun, especially a 20ga with low recoil buckshot. And especially one with external hammers.

Or alreantelt something like a mossberg 500 Batam in .410 if really recoil adverse or looking for something really light. OOO buck .410 is somewhat worse than taking a .44 mag.

balttigger · May 3, 2018

lazarus said:
One other thought, is she dead set on a handgun? What about a SxS shotgun, especially a 20ga with low recoil buckshot. And especially one with external hammers.

Or alreantelt something like a mossberg 500 Batam in .410 if really recoil adverse or looking for something really light. OOO buck .410 is somewhat worse than taking a .44 mag.

Hard to CCW a shotgun.

Doco Overboard · May 3, 2018

Get a single action Colt grind the sear down and teach her to fan it.

Biggfoot44 · May 3, 2018

No, no, no . Teach her to Slip fire .

Yes , I'm being humorous, but Slipping is a real thing, and is exponentially more practical than fanning .

Bob A · May 3, 2018

Biggfoot44 said:
No, no, no . Teach her to Slip fire .

Yes , I'm being humorous, but Slipping is a real thing, and is exponentially more practical than fanning .

OK, what is this technique? I can't seem to fond anything about it, aside from bumpstocks and ceramic glaze.

Biggfoot44 · May 4, 2018

On SA Revolver. Conventional trigger is either removed, tied back, or held back by trigger finger . In any variation , the normal trigger does not engage .

Draw hammer back with thumb of shooting hand, hold back in more or less full cock position . When ready to fire, let the hammer spur * Slip* from under thumb .

Dedicated slip shooters will have specially shaped hammer spurs for this purpose . For that matter, a dedicated slip gun will have no trigger .

Elmer Keith explains this at length in Sixguns by Keith . One of his friends was a skilled slip shooter, and could be as accurate as average shooter using trigger . But very quickly.

Pistol choices for someone with numb hands

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