We've recently taken Kathleen's Mom to the range. She's about 68, diabetic, some arthritis, small hands. She hasn't shot anything since a .22 rifle many years ago. I rather expected her to take to my little S&W Model 34 kit gun. But she liked a new Ruger .22/45 that I just bought.
I had a bunch of guns with me for her to look at. My late mother's 1907 Savage .32 auto (this one made in 1914) is a ten shot .32 that seemed to fit her hand OK, but cocking the hammer is far beyond her strength.
So we'll continue to encourage her with the Ruger .22 while I watch the development of the Kel Tec PMR-30. My limited experience with .22 WMR is that it recoils very little more than .22LR, but makes a lot more noise. Assuming the relatively new Kel Tec gets past the usual teething problems (some buyers have had great luck, some bad, but Kel Tec stands behind their products), a relatively light 30 shot .22 magnum with high visibility sights, a rail to mount a weapon light, and stuffed with Winchester's hottest hollowpoints, still wouldn't be a major caliber, but it would sure beat throwing rocks.
She did also express some interest in a shotgun. Kathleen's boys (soon MY boys, once the adoption goes through) are growing; I'm thinking about a youth shotgun, like the Remington Youth 870 in 20 gauge that I gave my daughter a few years ago. I think there's also a Youth 1100, or used to be. That might be even better for the recoil sensitive shooter.
But back to handguns: I regret losing my aluminum framed orginal Ruger Bearcat in the divorce. It always seemed to me tailor made for people with tiny hands. The current iteration has a steel frame and isn't quite as light.
I couldn't talk Mama into trying Kathleen's Airweight Magnaported Centennial -- almost did, until she saw it fired with Kathleen's +P carry loads. And she almost tried my .38 Colt Diamondback. Past experience with another petite friend: She liked a buddy's 3" heavy barreled Model 60 with adjustable sights and Uncle Mike's grips (I know, that doesn't sound like a Chief's Special but they did make a few), and she loved my 4" Diamondback with Pachmayr Compac grips. They only way I got it back was to find another at a show, and they haven't been making them for a lot of years.
The little Phoenix .22 would fit Mama's hand, and the pistol shoots fine, but I would NEVER take one for defense. This thing was designed by a product liability lawyer. It has TWO safeties, one on frame and one on slide, and more slide latch, magazine, safety interlocks than you can make sense of. The manual or arms is best described as a Royal Pain... For defense, you want simple; grab it and go bang.
I think the tip-up pocket pistols have merit for those with small/weak hands.
Past experience with ladies who are not avid shooters suggests that having the right grips is quite important. It's amazing what a difference a nice cushy Hogue Monogrip can make on a Centennial, or a Pachmary Compacs on small frame Colt or medium frame S&W.
