What type of carry for a multiple handicap woman? Suggestions needed.

[Casual Carry]

Here's some basic background info; My mother in law has recently been threatened for her life and the life's of her family. She is looking to get something to carry as a precautionary self defense.

Normally I would take her to a gun shop and say get whatever feels best in your hands that you will be able to handle the recoil on, however I can't just do that this time. She needs something very compact with VERY low recoil.

She has had multiple knee replacements and none have taken well, so a cane is used in the right arm almost all of the time. Due to this the weapon must be able to be used nearly completely with the left hand. She does not have a very good grip with either hand so bigger calibers are out of the question. She also has problems racking the slide on most semi's. Her hands are also pretty small so a full size or even a mid size may be to big for her.

The gun shop that that I took her to had a tarus pt-22 which seemed to fit the requirements pretty well but I am worried about the caliber being enough to stop someone. Would you recommend a .22 for a carry pistol if it was the best fitting for you or would you rather have something else and if so what(Pepperspray, bear mace ect).

To wrap up the requirements would be:
Small
Very low recoil
Able to be operated mostly with left hand
Reliable
Easily concealable
Very little stregnth/grip to chamber

Thanks for any help you can give on this.

[Exbiker]

What about one of the super light 22M revolvers.

[PisnNapalm]

I'd suggest having her check out several different firearms.

Ruger LCR and Ruger SR22 pistol. It does not take very much grip strength at all to rack the slide on the SR22. The LCR has a capacity of 8 rounds when chambered for 22lr.

Do not knock the lethality of a .22 caliber pistol. While maybe not as ideal as a larger caliber it also has to be useable and controllable. IF all she can shoot is a 22 then by all means have her carry it.

The Taurus PT22 is very small and racking the slide can be a pain in the ass. My wife has the Beretta version, Bobcat. Please have her check out the Ruger SR22.

[Deleted]

If you stepped up to .380 perhaps the new Glock 42. Or perhaps the S&W Shield in 9mm.. both have easy triggers and are ergonomic shooters.

I do agree however that the .22's would be the easiest... But I don't (personally) like the .22 as a self defense round.

[TaePo]

Beretta has the small caliber semi-autos with a tip up barrel. Easy to arm or clear (make safe). Bobcat or Tomcats. Comes in 22lr, 25 or 32.

Taurus also makes a tip up barrel. I have seen it in 22lr but not sure if other calibers available. The tip ups are nice as you don't need to rack a slide. You tip up the barrel switch (springs open) and place one in the pipe directly and lower the barrel back down.

The other suggestions are fine regarding revolvers. Some are very light today. One must find ones personal balance between light/heavy, action and knowledge and kick per perceived kick (a slide moving back is not kick but will feel like it to the novice).

Small, light revolvers can be in 22lr or 38 special up to 38 +P even. Ruger's LCR are some such though Charter Arms have some too. Charter Arms even makes a 'lefty' revolver!

There are a lot of good semis in the .380 caliber, too though .380 ammo is getting hard to find lately. Sig Sauer makes a bunch as does Ruger. Don't forget the Walther PPK or PPKs. They are a little heavy but well machined and shoot nice. They also come in 22lr. Walther also makes the newer PK380 is lighter and a polymer and not all metal like the PPK.

There are also nice small 9mm pistols as well (equivalent to .38). M&P 9 Shield or LCP 9 by Ruger are not much bigger than the compact 380s.

There are a lot of choices in todays market.

[Casual Carry]

Main problem with racking the slide besides the grip strength required is she
would pretty much need to be sitting to rack it due to needing a cane to stand.

She liked the tarus because the way the barrel pops up to chamber the first round instead of racking a slide. Would you recommend .22 over spray/tazers?

[rob m]

If a revolver is an option you can always try a 38 special the recoil is not bad and no slide to worry about.

[knight0334]

Definitely a .22LR or Mag with the hottest solid projectiles you can find. Another possibility is a .32S&W, S&W Long, or .32H&R. With the .32H&R, I'd go with powderpuff loads.

[normanvin]

Maybe some pepperspray as the first option

[jthrelf]

I'm thinking a LCR in .22 Mag with some Gold Dots