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My Dad asked me for some help/recommendations on a home defense weapon. He is mid 70's and has never owned a real gun. He asked about a pepperball pistol advertised on Hannity but then said he was sure he couldn't hit anything with a pistol.... ironically enough with a Red Rider BB gun he can shoot bottle caps with ease and handles the platform well. He joked that if it were more powerful, he'd be fine. SO... my first thought was a henry lever gun with .38 spl. I then found out that henry also does a 410 lever shotgun. These are basically the grown up's Red Riders.

It was a pretty helpless feeling to have Dad admit he was scared and knew if anything happened he could no longer protect Mom. I didn't want to knee jerk out a suggestion, so I look to you guys for some guidance, or to confirm that the levergun may be his best option.

What have you guys done or what do your elderly parents do for HD?

Thanks for any help!

Edited to add:
My other thought was one of the pistol caliber carbines... lower recoil, easy to handle and most seem very easy to use. I could teach him pretty quickly. The thought with that was follow up shots- much faster than the levergun but still a basic rifle.

I had a Rossi lever gun in 357/.38, with 38. Specials it had a very mild recoil and report, with the longer rifle barrel you'll get about 200fps gain! Since your father has very little gun experience, i'd go with the lever gun, and take him to shoot it!

Grab a gun has this Henry lever action .410 in stock now:
https://grabagun.com/firearms/shotguns/ ... bl-wd.html

And this Henry lever action 357 mag/38 Sp :

https://grabagun.com/firearms/rifles/le ... rms-5.html

If your dad is already familiar with the platform, either of these will make a good HD weapon. They are also fun to shoot. get both parents to shoot it, in case one is home alone, when evil comes to call. JMHO

I would probably be steering him towards a pump shotgun loaded with buck shot.

I'd steer him towards a shotgun also. Lever action rifles are nice and easy. But shaky hands due to nerves and age coupled with low light conditions and 70 year old eyes make accuracy a little difficult. Empty nesters have less to worry about from friendly fire issues. As long as your mom is behind him.

After spending a day doing maintenance on my Harley Ultra Glide, I read your subject line as Harley Davidson for the elderly.

I was going to say the new Tri Glide is beautiful.

The lever action is his only familiarity so the lever rifle or lever shotgun seemed easiest. But a quick follow up shot or 2,3,4 may not be so quick with a lever, under stress, so I thought maybe a 9mm or .40 PC carbine.

I don't like a pump any better than a lever gun for him since it's not something he's ever used. As for lever shotgun vs lever rifle- inside their home, even with a cyl bore it won't spread more than an inch or two.

This is pretty much a Dad only gun since Mom's RA has crippled her hands to the point she probably couldn't hold a gun, let alone operate it with any reliability.

Thanks for the suggestions, keep em' coming.

For my 86 year old father, I bought an S&W M&P9 M2.0 Compact 4" which he carries in a Safariland 7TS ALS. He is accurate and surprisingly fast at self defense distances. I'm 68 and carry my M&P9 5" openly at 3 in a Safariland 7TS ALS. We all have our individual limitations and abilities, but age does not have to be a limitation.

Would an auto shotgun be easier for him?

My Auto5 is a heavy beast, but shots 2-5 are no problem.

I would lean toward an AR pistol or SBR in either a pistol caliber or .223/5.56. 30 rds, little to no recoil, light weight, mounted flashlight, red-dot sight or iron sights and a green laser. I'm not a fan of lasers, but indoor, especially at night, it might be just what he needs. (A Form 1 SBR "build" doesn't take long for approval. It could be a pistol until paperwork is approved.)

Chas.

I am with Rob72, something like the PC-9 is the way to go. If he is that good with a Red Rider, it would be an easy jump across. Honesty a pistol AR9 with brace wouldn't be bad either (and possibly less expensive and a bit more maneuverable ), but I think the PC-9 would be the most similar to what he is already used to.

I'm in my early 70s can manage handguns, rifles and my Mossy pump 12 gauge. So age could or couldn't be an issue, all depends on physical capability and/or willingness to learn. Charles mentioned an SBR, I'm thinking that would be my ultimate home defense weapon. That's on my next to acquire list.

A shotgun with those new 1.75" shells would give a lot of capacity and lighter recoil. A semi-auto would eliminate the need to work out pumping too.