firearms for older folks ??

[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.

[JohnnyEgo]

Not meant to be a silly question, but does he have the hand strength to pull a DA trigger or cock a hammer? I have an acquaintance with MS who is confined to a wheel chair. He cannot work a DA trigger. He chambers a round a semi auto pistol by pushing the front sight against his wheel chair arm rest using his body weight. He is a young man with a sharp mind and no mental issues, but has a great deal of difficulty manipulating things. A small gun is out of the question for him for this reason. He uses a 1911 chambered in .38 Super.

[BlasterBob]

Alex, be sure to let us know what you finally decide to get for your Dad. OK?

[Seamonkey]

Have you thought about or looked into non-lethal products like mace or a tazer?

[alxone]

Alex, be sure to let us know what you finally decide to get for your Dad. OK?

im leaning toward a 22 if for no other reason than round capacity and loading . although a 38 does sound fun id be concerned about trigger pull ,recoil and reloading . being as he is not much of a shooter, its mostly so he feels safer when me and the lady are out .
yeah ill pick up a 22 for him and just toss a m1 carbine in his closet for the zombies

[Byte Stryke]

I would go with a 22lr

as far as a home defense round, placement over power. it wont do him any good at all to have a 38 or higher if cannot control it. However if he pouts 2-3 .22lr Hypers into an intruders center mass it will be more than effective at dissuading the intruder.

Little Byte Handles the P22 with a little help, recoil isn't bad for him... might check that out.
Let me know if you want to borrow it for trials.

[Zundfolge]

Well if .38 is too much for him, maybe look at a KelTec PMR30

Its light, more powerful than a .22lr and 30 rounds of .22mag should hold off the zombie horde.





And of course FN has been marketing the FiveseveN as a self defense gun for folk that can't handle the recoil of a larger centerfire caliber (but that may get into "bank breaking" range).

[alxone]

im sure most days a 38 would be fine but after a big ole dose of kemo and the mountian of pills ...uggg .... i can only imagine how defeating and powerless it would make a guy feel .

i might just take you up on that byte stryke

[stevelkinevil]

I know its expensive, but a FN FiveseveN may be ideal. Extremely light even fully loaded, very low recoil, high capacity, and can get the job done.