The Annoyed Man wrote:Hi Paul,pfgrone wrote:I knew someone could not keep from suggesting a larger caliber. When my 70 year old hands with arthritis finally could no longer take the recoil from my dearly loved 38 Spl snubby, I downgraded to 380. By the time my hands were 75 years old, I had tried 4 different 380's and couldn't grip them tight enough to keep from getting stove pipes, etc.. So I am now down to a 32 acp and glad I can shoot it. In five more rears, I may be shooting rimfires. We do what we can.WildBill wrote:I think that after all of your calculations you will come to the conclusion that you need a larger caliber.
I wonder if you might not be better served by a pistol shooting .22 LR or .22 Magnum? I can certainly understand how arthritis can limit your choices. I use different carry alternatives these days because of my back, and I tend to carry lighter pistols than before too. But the reason I mention .22 LR is that it actually has pretty decent penetration for its caliber, and you wouldn't have to deal with painful recoil at all. And I don't know that it is any less effective than .32 would be in most defensive applications. I could be wrong, but that's what comes to mind.
Just a thought. And I meant no disrespect with my "P" joke (above).
I am also a revolver fan. If it's the recoil that you can't handle, rather than the trigger pull, there are some nice .22LR revolvers available. I believe that there is one that holds nine rounds. P.S. People tend to forget that recoil is a function of the weight of the pistol vs. the weight of the bullet x velocity [momentum] rather than muzzle energy. Also the perceived recoil is a function of the grip area. .32ACP guns tend to be very light weight and thin.
The shape of the grip also effects perceived recoil. In my experience, a S&W Model 29 .44 Mag hurts a lot more than a .44 Mag Ruger Blackhawk.
