Posted: 5/17/2013 5:39:42 PM EDT
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My Mother in law just bought an LCP at her local gun store. For some reason, she didn't hardly handle it. Long story short, she can barely rack the slide.
Is there a way to loosen it a little or did I just inherit a gun?? Thanks for any help.... |
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Can she not rack the slide because of spring tension or is it because of problems with her hands? I ask because, last year, my mother decided she wanted her CCW and bought an LCP. She had some trouble manipulating the slide at the fun store and I tried talking her out of it, but she was being stubborn and wouldn't hear it and bought it, mainly because it was small and light and she thought that the LaserMax laser was "cute". Typical mother, she wouldn't listen to what I tried to tell her and instead bought the BS from the salesman. Later, when dry firing it at home, she decided she couldn't manipulate the slide.
In her case, it wasn't spring tension, it was because she has arthritis in her hands and couldn't physically grip the slide hard enough to manipulate it. In her case, there was no way to use other techniques to rack the slide because she couldn't grip it hard enough to hold onto it while manipulating it without letting the slide slip through her fingers. To give her something to carry and shoot, I traded her the LCP for my S&W M649 revolver that I had the action worked over on. She can't reload too fast, but she shoots it pretty well (thanks to the weight of the all stainless steel construction and lowered DA pull due to the tweaked action) and no slide to manipulate. If your MIL can't do it because of spring tension, but has the hand strength to physically grasp the slide, there are techniques to overcome that. One of the best was as described above. Grab the butt in the strong hand. Grab the slide overhand with the weak hand, pinched between the fingers and heel of the palm. Violently drive the strong hand forward while driving the weak hand backwards. Get mean with it and do it like you really mean it. That should take care of the problem, unless she is weak enough that she probably shouldn't be shooting it anyway. The description isn't the best, but I can't think of any other way to describe it. It's easier to demonstrate than it is to describe. There are YouTube videos out that can give you an audio visual aid. Good luck. As much as I don't like recommending revolvers to newbies anymore, if she can't manipulate the slide, she may well be better off with something like a 3" medium framed revolver or a larger auto like a Glock 19 or something similarly sized. I can tell you this, though; if you end up inheriting the LCP, it makes a pretty good "gun for when I can't carry a gun". It is small enough for practical pocket carry and, although I don't carry mine this way, is so small that it should literally disappear when carried IWB. Bub75 |
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I've got strong hands and I still have issues with the LCP if I'm wearing gloves or it's hot out and I'm sweating. It's so small overall and the slide is narrow so it can be hard to get a good grip on it. This past winter I actually put some skateboard tape on the sides of the slide but I've since pulled it off as I usually pocket carry it and it slowed my draw. That said, my sister (younger than me) and my mother both have trouble with it but they can both rack the slide on my full sized guns.
My personal feeling is that for most folks who aren't shooters a revolver is probably a better choice. They aren't going to practice enough to remember to take a safety off, perform a remedial action drill, grab an extra mag much less reload under stress, etc. With the revolver they can leave it in a drawer and pick it up and pull the trigger until it goes click. Sadly, but it's kind of pointless to try to drill someone who's really not interested in understanding the gun and how to run it. 
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