Henry Rifle Forums

I am looking for a new EDC for the wife. She has problems with her wrists and has issues using a .380, 9mm and my .38 j-frame.
I was thinking that the 327 firing 32 S&W long or 32 ACP for a lighter recoil........Thoughts or suggestions.

Thanks to everyone.
Mike

I shoot 32 SW long in an old colt. It is pretty easy on recoil. However, it is nasty on noise level.
In a modern revolver, like the Ruger, I expect it would shoot very comfortably.

I personally would not go lighter than .32 H&R Mag. There are some really good defense loads in that caliber. Rather than go too light in caliber I suggest she try a heavier gun. A steel SP101 shooting the above ammo will be very easy to handle. A super light LCR, not nearly as much.

Most Ruger revolvers need trigger work to be fun and easy to shoot, just installing lighter springs does wonders. If that isn’t good enough, shims and light polishing will make it great. I can’t comment on an LCR trigger since I have never shot one.

BTW my daily carry gun is a SP101 4.2” with hot .327 Federal Mag ammo. But I plink with Trail Boss cowboy loads that are super mild. If you hand load you can taylor the recoil of her range ammo to her comfort zone, but for self defense that is a bad idea.

There are a few “easy operating” medium frame .380s available, have you looked at something like the M&P Shield .380 EZ? These guns are specifically intended for people with poor strength, injury or recoil sensitivity.

https://www.smith-wesson.com/firearms/m ... hield-ez-0

https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2018/ ... shield-ez/

You and she will be amazed at how easy the slide is to operate. Load one up with this magic ammo and she will be well protected.

https://www.underwoodammo.com/collectio ... 5708179513

John Davies
Spokane WA

If she's having issues shooting a 380, then it's going to get right down to heading to the range and seeing what works for her. If all else fails, there's always the 22 mag. Be my last choice for SD work, but there are some self-defense loads for use in small revolvers, now, in that cartridge.

A big plus one on the 32 H&R, though. It is a more modern version of the old 32 S&Ws and a wonderfully pleasant and easy to shoot cartridge. In fact, it's a personal favorite for this gal. Have it now in a custom Contender barrel, but have shot it in a variety of revolvers. Also shoot the 327 in a Contender, but, in my opinion, the 32 H&R is the best balanced of all the 32s in terms of performance versus ease of shooting.

North Country Gal wrote:If she's having issues shooting a 380, then it's going to get right down to heading to the range and seeing what works for her.

A point I forgot to mention is what kind of .380 did she shoot? If it was a little 8 ounce BUG like a Kel-Tec P3AT then that is no true test, nobody really likes shooting those snappy little toy guns. They try to leap out of your grip. Even the later types like my LCP-II, which is way better engineered and a lovely little carry gun, is pretty snappy.

If she can't shoot a (relatively) large and heavy .380 like a Bersa Thunder or the S&W I mentioned above, she is going to have trouble handling and reloading any handgun. I don't care for any rimfire for self defense, but it may come down to that, or a Pepper Blaster II in an IWB holster. .. Or a steel revolver with a lightened trigger. An SP101 (27+ ounces) would be fine but a GP100 in .327 (40 ounces!) would be like shooting an anvil. I doubt that it would recoil at all. Hard to carry tho!

John Davies
Spokane WA

I've shot .32 S&W long out of my Ruger LCR. It shoots about as light as a .22. I don't think it would be bad for defense with the right loads. I use 2.0 gr of Bullseye with a .90 gr Sierra JHP. Easy to tear up the target center at 7-10 yrds.

She fired about 5 rounds out of a Browning Model 1922 I own and would not try any .380 after that.......most likely my fault, not the best of weapons for her anyway.

Well, it sounds like she is either really sore, sensitive or just not very open minded. Get her to a nice comfortable indoor range, rent a bunch of guns starting with a Ruger SR22 and let her work her way up in caliiber, avoiding any light-for-caliber or physically small models. At some point she will pick what works for her. Which might indeed be a .22 LR, or a pepper spray. Or nothing at all.

She will have to make the choice. Which is the way it ought to be. If she is resisting too hard, it means she really doesn’t want to travel the road you are headed down. My wife of forty years tolerates my guns and can shoot them accurately, but really has zero interest and won’t ever carry. It is what it is.

If she doesn’t want to carry a handgun or spray, see if she will consider a stout defense cane (Cane Masters). They are excellent quality and can be effective at close range, but are awkward to use often, but OTH you can take them onto an airplane without any concerns. They make a great hiking stick too. In winter I add a rubber tip with retractable carbide ice spike. My wife and I each have one.We are headed to New Zealand next year and will take them with us.

Good luck.

John Davies
Spokane WA

My wife refuses to even hold my guns let alone shoot them. Maybe yours just leans that way as well.
If she carries a hand bag...maybe at least get her some potent pepper spray...good luck whatever you decide!

markiver54 wrote:My wife refuses to even hold my guns let alone shoot them. Maybe yours just leans that way as well.
If she carries a hand bag...maybe at least get her some potent pepper spray...good luck whatever you decide!

She has no problem handling, firing or packing a firearm. She had her CCW in Oregon and exercised her rights to carry.

It's just that over the last few years she has developed a few medical issues that make it hard to handle the recoil. I have had to retire her .38 j-frame and need to replace it. I think I am going to try her on a larger frame with a few low recoil rounds before buying anything.

Renting from a range is a great idea but is a bit of a drive to get to a range that rents in this area.

We shall see...........

I think I’d find a .327 mag in a Ruger LCRx an interesting proposition.

Last week we were looking at Ruger semi-autos. Were considering a nice little compact .380, but it became clear with that pistol and several other similar semi's that she has trouble getting the grip right so that the back of the gun grip safety disengages. Ah Ha moment. Don't need to be fussing with the grip getting the pistol to shoot in a dire situation. We'll be looking for D/A revolver.

My take...FWIW is that in a SD situation, very rare IMO. There probably will not be more than a couple shots before the confrontation comes to an end...good or bad. A bit of recoil should be of no concern to me as long as the first shot or two are delivered. Is a sore wrist worth more than your life. Ill take the sore wrist!. Carry what is concealable and gets the job done!!
Point and shoot in a SD situation. Target shooting....now that's a whole different thing! Priorities! What do you really want your firearm for? Sore wrist won't matter if you can't use it anymore anyway!

markiver54 wrote:My take...FWIW is that in a SD situation, very rare IMO. There probably will not be more than a couple shots before the confrontation comes to an end...good or bad. A bit of recoil should be of no concern to me as long as the first shot or two are delivered. Is a sore wrist worth more than your life. Ill take the sore wrist!. Carry what is concealable and gets the job done!!
Point and shoot in a SD situation. Target shooting....now that's a whole different thing! Priorities! What do you really want your firearm for? Sore wrist won't matter if you can't use it anymore anyway!

Sore wrist isn't the big issue with the recoil she cannot control or place her shots with any accuracy. Since shot placement is important she needs a firearm she can control.

We are headed to the range in the morning to try out some low velocity .38 specials from Buffalo Bore. Even at a lower speed a Lead Flat Point 148 gr.
should give better performance than .22lr rounds.........

I can tell you that a 148 grain wadcutter over Trailboss shot from a 4" Model 10 has about as much recoil as a .22lr. Of course, it is pretty slow, data shows it in the 600s. A little experimenting could probably give a nice compromise between power and shootability.

They don't have that much more from the Pup's SP101 3" barrel. FWIW, the trigger on hers is not too bad after a couple hundred rounds to break it in. A little heavy, but relatively smooth and crisp. That little extra barrel length over a 2" makes it much easier to hit accurately, and gives a little more mass to soak up recoil.

327 has some pop to it more than a 380 for sure. I might suggest a 9x18 Mak ina steel framed semi auto like the CZ82.

Well we made it to the range finally this afternoon. The Buffalo Bore ammo was at 700fps per the online info on the cartridge. She was able to fire more rounds before her wrist started swelling but still not enough to keep in practice for accurate shot placement. She was using a S&W Model 64-3 4inch barrel, it is still lighter in weight than a GP100 or GP101 so I think she needs to try one of them......

I know the follow up on this has taken a bit but we finally hit on a solution. My wife has settled on a S&W 380 EZ. We took hers to the range this morning and had very good results. The weapon seems to dampen a lot of the recoil, combined with the light springs it also made the racking of the slide fairly simple.
We had heard a lot of complaints about failure to load or eject issues but found that in my wifes case if was a matter of her limp wristing on discharge. I know it was a user issue because I did not have a single failure and by the end of the trip she was also not having issues.

Thank you all for the assistance and suggestions!

Mike C

Nothin wrong with the 380. There are some loads out there that make good self defense rounds.

Not surprised...good little pistol and a good choice!..now practice, practice and practice, whenever she can!
We all need to know our guns well...glad you made a good decision IMO!