Best pistol for person with a hand injury.

bsolo · Apr 7, 2013

So seems on most forums, whenever someone has a malfunction, the members automatically go to the limp wrist excuse. Which sometimes is the issue, but what if you have had a serious hand injury and tendon damage? I realize revolvers don't have these problems, but what semi-auto can be "limp-wristed" and not have these kind of malfunctions all the time? I know all semi-auto's need to be held well, but what is the least likely gun to have this problem?

My left hand has had reconstructive surgery, but I don't believe that it effects my pistol grip, but recently I had a new Ruger Sr45 give me trouble, while my Taurus works without issue.

Netspirit · Apr 7, 2013

(EDIT: oops, my bad - saw the title and rushed with a reply)

bsolo · Apr 7, 2013

yeah, gotta love jeff's videos, but he doesn't address the weak grip malfunction of any of the guns he is showing off, just the ability to rack the slide.

Nwcid · Apr 7, 2013

Charging the gun is NOT the issue the OP reported.

I would say talk to someone that shoots or builds competition pistols. From the factory guns are set up to be able to handle most ammo and be reliable. Many times in competition the shooter pick the load they want to use then "spring" the gun to match it. Something like this would very likely work for you.

timac · Apr 7, 2013

Are you right or left handed?

bsolo · Apr 7, 2013

I'm right handed, and here is my left post surgery

Trailboss · Apr 7, 2013

bsolo said:
yeah, gotta love jeff's videos, but he doesn't address the weak grip malfunction of any of the guns he is showing off, just the ability to rack the slide.

The semi autos most prone to weak wrist malfunctions are the ones that have the heaviest slides. The lighter the slide the less chance.

timac · Apr 7, 2013

Is your Taurus a 45 also? If you had no issues with the Taurus, maybe its just getting accustomed to the Ruger.

bsolo · Apr 7, 2013

The Taurus is the Millennium PT-111 Pro (9mm) a shorter barrel but smaller caliber then the Sr45. I just went ahead and called Ruger, they had me send it back. Guess we'll see what they say, there was some other issues that needed to be dealt with, like the barrel had a burr on it and the front frame pin started to travel right away. Seems mine didn't get a good Q.C., I still consider a steel frame pistol for CC, but think I might go with a small Kahr or Kel-tec when I want a pocket pistol.

Gunfan · Apr 7, 2013

Have you considered a .38 or .32 revolver with a "tuned" trigger? It doesn't take that much to have one lightened up sufficiently to have a nice, smooth double action. (I have a stock six shot .32 H&R Magnum S&W Airweight, concealed hammer model that's hard to beat!)

"God blesses those whose cause is just, but thrice blessed is he who gets his blow in first!"

Scott

Nwcid · Apr 7, 2013

Again you say "problem that is associated with limp wristing". This leads me to believe that you are failing to eject or stove piping.

When the gun fires it creates energy that moves the slide back against the recoil spring. For this to work right there has to be a certain amount of pressure on the back (grip) of the gun. If there is not enough resistance (limp wrist) or the recoil spring is too heavy there is not enough energy for the slide to come all the way back to eject or load the next round.

IF that is your problem one of the ways to fix that problem is get a recoil spring that is lighter and matched to your load.

timac · Apr 7, 2013

bsolo said:
The Taurus is the Millennium PT-111 Pro (9mm) a shorter barrel but smaller caliber then the Sr45. I just went ahead and called Ruger, they had me send it back. Guess we'll see what they say, there was some other issues that needed to be dealt with, like the barrel had a burr on it and the front frame pin started to travel right away. Seems mine didn't get a good Q.C., I still consider a steel frame pistol for CC, but think I might go with a small Kahr or Kel-tec when I want a pocket pistol.

Maybe the pistol was the issue, if the burr was in the chamber area. A 45 acp cal pistol takes a lot of practice to become proficient, I'm sure Ruger will get you right.

bsolo · Apr 7, 2013

Nwcid, no it was failing to feed, and jam the round between the ejector and the top of the barrel.. but I was talking about failures in general for semi auto, not necessarily for me but my wife or other users who want a semi-auto without the worry of a ultra firm grip to not have malfunctions.

and Timac, yeah I have my faith in ruger to make right what was wrong.

With this thread I hoped to get some info about what small semi-auto would be a good reliable gun CC for the light grippers. But not afraid to share my recent issue.

(also concerning my experience I tried multiple types of ammo, and was sure of my grip) but like i said that's not where i was going with this thread.

BillM · Apr 7, 2013

"Limp wristing" is more likely to occur in a gun with a light frame/heavy slide. A heavy (steel) frame
gun will tend to cycle with a lighter grip--it's simple physics. OP didn't mention weight being an
issue, so I would go with a 5" 1911. If the 45 is a bit much, get one in 9mm. My wife shoots a
couple of them in USPSA Single Stack Division. Her guns have 11 lb recoil springs,
17 lb mainsprings. She has tiny hands, a bit of arthritis, not a lot of grip strength and not much
upper body mass---and the guns run 100%. I've shot them with a 2 finger grip and upside down, still 100%.

Gunfan · Apr 9, 2013

bsolo said:
Nwcid, no it was failing to feed, and jam the round between the ejector and the top of the barrel.. but I was talking about failures in general for semi auto, not necessarily for me but my wife or other users who want a semi-auto without the worry of a ultra firm grip to not have malfunctions.

and Timac, yeah I have my faith in ruger to make right what was wrong.

With this thread I hoped to get some info about what small semi-auto would be a good reliable gun CC for the light grippers. But not afraid to share my recent issue.

(also concerning my experience I tried multiple types of ammo, and was sure of my grip) but like i said that's not where i was going with this thread.

I'm sorry, but your original post hadn't mentioned an autoloader. This is why I suggested the revolver.

Scott

Bill Siegle · Apr 10, 2013

My experiance is that the lighter weight guns tend to have more issues with limp wrist type problems. Id suggest an all steel 1911 or an older S&W.

Phillyfan · Apr 10, 2013

bsolo said:
The Taurus is the Millennium PT-111 Pro (9mm) a shorter barrel but smaller caliber then the Sr45. I just went ahead and called Ruger, they had me send it back. Guess we'll see what they say, there was some other issues that needed to be dealt with, like the barrel had a burr on it and the front frame pin started to travel right away. Seems mine didn't get a good Q.C., I still consider a steel frame pistol for CC, but think I might go with a small Kahr or Kel-tec when I want a pocket pistol.

I had a PM40 and my brother-in-law has the CW9. Both were very prone to fail when limp wristed. We would purposefully do it to see if it was the cause and it sure seemed to be. Would not recommend Kahr for anyone who may have grip strength issues. Great guns otherwise.