firearms for older folks ??

[bchase75]

A .38 seems like the way to go, but I'd steer clear of the ultra-light models. A buddy of mine bought a LCR for his wife, and recoil with standard 158 grain ammo is sharp to say the least. Tolerable with lighter bullets, but still not a gun for a novice or anyone with any sensitivity to recoil.

Ruger SP101 with a three inch barrel might be a good choice. Not heavy in the hand, but you can shoot .38 special all day comfortably.

[Mazin]

Ruger SP101 with a three inch barrel might be a good choice. Not heavy in the hand, but you can shoot .38 special all day comfortably.

The Sp101 is a good gun and low felt recoil but is a little heavy (trying to put it in perspective of a weak hand). Very good shooter and resonable cost.

[bchase75]

Yep, the Ruger website lists the 3 inch SP101 as weighing 27 ounces, which is about 3 ounces more than an unloaded M&P.

[Zundfolge]

A .38 seems like the way to go, but I'd steer clear of the ultra-light models.

110% agree here.

I have a S&W M&P 340 (J frame, airweight .357mag) .... even with .38s it bounces around a bit.

A steel frame .38 with a 4" barrel will make an excellent home defense gun (that could be carried if need be ... if he's going to CCW than maybe a 2 or 3 in gun would serve him better).

Another advantage of a .38 revolver is that you can get a wide variety of stocks for it, so you can really tune how the gun sits in the hand.

[BlasterBob]

Alex, my vote would be for a nice little .22 handgun. Recently, I picked up a little Beretta Bobcat, Model 21A which shoots the .22 Long Rifle cartridge. It is a double action and/or single action and if you so desire, the barrel will tip up to chamber the first cartridge instead of having to pull the slide back for the first shot - IF pulling the slide back is a difficult thing to do. A .22 LR Hollow Point can still do some damage and is still capable of discouraging the bad guy to leave Pop alone! Also, a guy can get pretty proficient with the little .22 due to a lot of practice will not break the bankroll.
This is just a worthless opinion of another "old" guy also fighting cancer, which does take a whole lot of power out of a guy. Been there, done that!

[hghclsswhitetrsh]

Sorry to hear about your father. My suggestion would be the s&w 380 bodyguard. It weighs 14 ounces loaded. Has a conveniently located button for the laser.