Best SHTF firearms solution for the elderly

[Scan Monkey]

My parents and in-laws are getting up there in age and they’ve both indicated that they want to own firearms. Neither have ever owned any but with crime on the rise they feel like easy targets and know they have little choice but to arm themselves to have a chance to survive whatever situation arises. So, they asked me for advise.

My mind immediately jumped to a 357 revolver and lever action rifle combo allowing them to shoot both 38 and 357 ammunition. But before making that recommendation I wanted to know what everyone else is thinking.

My parents are in their late 70s my in-laws in their early 80s with no medical issues.

I'm a 77 year old fart, in reasonably good health, eyesight pretty good. My son hunts deer and wild boar, so he knows a lot more than I do. He suggested a shotgun for home defense. Was going for the Mossberg 20 gauge nightstick, but that requires a lot of practice to master. I finally settled on an Akkar-Churchill tactical 18.5" 20 gauge pump. I do have an old Winchester 94 30-30 carbine, but it's not ideal for home defense.

 

[huesmann]

With a long arm you need to worry about the strength of an elderly person to hold the barrel up. My wife (who just turned 30) prefers shooting our Tavor over the AR-15s, because her left arm gets more tired holding the AR-15. Because the weight of the gun is closer to you, and the right hand is further away, the amount of leverage needed is less with the bullpup.

"Revolver easy to load, easy to operate."

Understand easy to load and operate but I would worry about limited capacity, especially if aim is off. 6 rounds can go by quick.

How fast can an elderly person pull the trigger on a DA revolver?

 

[CrabbyTurtle]

For a new senior, why not consider .22LR revolver. It may be more natural for them to shoot it and holds more than 6 and can continue pulling the trigger on light strikes rather they re-racking.
If looking for a rifle, I would consider a 9mm carbine, something not as long as a shotty. I don't think anything with a long barrel would be good for a new shooter senior.
I would stay away from anything they would have to rack, especially if they had to re-rack in a hurry.
Whatever you get, please have them train with it weekly until they are very comfortable with whatever they choose.

Ok, after seeing that Rossi Circuit Judge, I'd go with that for a rifle for them.

 

[tjaw]

Keep it simple...

For a first gun, I might recommend a wheel gun or a short barreled 12 gauge.
Good wheel guns could be Ruger SP-101, or any of S&W/Colt revolvers in .38 SP . A good shotgun could be a Mossberg M590A with Low Recoil defensive 00 buckshot.

But bottom line, there are many variables that I do not know in this situation, therefore my suggestions are general in nature.

 

[Sloopjonb]

easy shoot

Agreed, that’s why I was thinking 357, use 38s but have option to shoot something heavier. Revolver easy to load, easy to operate.

Have a 20 Mossburg Pump a 9 and 380 EZ. I hunted with the Pump because my 12 gauge was killing my shoulder and the EZ's are just what they are EZ. Light recoil easy to load and so far no failures. I love to carry the 380 is light and easy to carry on my belt OWB under my shirt. Im 76 this year. My brother has a Sig he carry's IWB he's 72. I also carry a Micro 380 Kimber in my back pocket when I leave the house quick.

 

[Bohemian]

My parents and in-laws are getting up there in age and they’ve both indicated that they want to own firearms. Neither have ever owned any but with crime on the rise they feel like easy targets and know they have little choice but to arm themselves to have a chance to survive whatever situation arises. So, they asked me for advise.

My mind immediately jumped to a 357 revolver and lever action rifle combo allowing them to shoot both 38 and 357 ammunition. But before making that recommendation I wanted to know what everyone else is thinking.

My parents are in their late 70s my in-laws in their early 80s with no medical issues.

my grandfather had a .38 Special S&W Relvolver 4" barrel model 10 or 12 I think in a holster, hanging on the back of a chair by his bed till the day he died.

One of my sisters also became a fan of the .38 special revolvers as have my cousin's wife who are both small women.

IMHO there's two guns for home defense revolvers and shotguns.

I like the .357 for the nightstand because there's such a wide range of ammo for the .38 special/.357 mag it'll fire. AND it has no magazines that could fail to feed.

I also have a 14" pgo mossberg 12 gauge as well within reach.

For older people it's subjective as to what is too much gun, I'd say you start with a trip to a gun store with a shooting range that will let you rent guns like they sell.

Start off with a small caliber and see what they can work up to comfortably.

IF a 12 gauge is too much try lighter loads, if that's too much try a 20 gauge, and if that's too much try a .410 and a family member of mine killed a home invader at 12 years of age with a .410 so it will stop bad guys.

 

[bradg]

How about the new Taurus revolver in 327 federal magnum.
Seriously thinking about one of those for myself for the same purpose.

 

[Samlab]

Some good points here but when you open up a thread like this your going to get many responses so I will attempt to sort this out as educating you is everything. Rule number one if you have to pull or point your weapon at say an intruder inside your home you are going to pull the trigger! Period. You point and you pull till that mag is empty if necessary.

For your parents age group the most important factor is memory. At this age it’s very important they can as I say put two and two together especially in a moment whereby rote memory under significant pressure is fully functional.

There are indeed defensive loads now for .410 shotguns that drop a person. A possible purchase. Rounds may be limited if you miss.

I would move from the pistol idea and any heavy gauges like 12. Pistols and shotguns are too much recoil especially for the women in this age group. Hand strength is reduced and shoulders will need steroid injections from the recoil afterwords.

Mechanical guns such as a lever action are slowing the cycle of fire down so no.

A gentleman here suggested an AR series weapon. He is correct. Lightweight, easy to use, 16” barrel, No noticeable recoil, major oh my gawd factor when pointed at you, point and shoot accuracy and if you have yet not needed, a mini flashlight then game over. Inexpensive and ease of use for both sexes. Your parents and In Laws
will both bond for Friday night date night at the range.

But the most important measure is the measure of surprise and an AR will do the trick. The key is range time. If you decide that a red dot such as a Romeo 7 set to mil standards is something they would like, then even more oh my Gawd moment when a tiny red or green dot is seen the intruder will know life as they know it ….we’ll just let’s say the Morgue wagon is needed for the intruder.

Lastly something to lock it in when they are out of the home besides their alarm system. Lastly an AR comes in many calibers yet 556/223 basically a hopped up .22 if it’s good for the US Marines it’s a good place to begin with for self defense. Affordable, functional, lethal, and has the Oh my gawd did I pick the wrong family factor.

PS yes it’s that easy to use and clean too. Hope this helps

 

[Pale Ryder]

We talken lasers or red dots now?
BTW a choice was made back at post #232.
Maybe not the consensus of the herd, but not an entirely bad choice. Pray they never have to test their decision.

 

[lazarus]

I think a handgun is an absolutely horrible idea.

Ditto.

My parents and in-laws are early 70s (well, 69 for my MIL). And in great physical health. I'd say they could handle learning a handgun. My Dad and my FIL at least have shot guns before, even if it has been more than 50 years since either have. My dad was going criminal justice and training to be a police officer and then some really bad experiences during his practicum back in the early 70s changed his mind. My father-in-law grew up running around with a 22 and .410 as a kid in 50s and 60s Long Island and owned a .30-06 for awhile until college and hasn't touched a gun since.

Anyway, seeing how my grandparents and my wife's grandparents went, sometimes you can go from great health and pretty physically capable to significant physical decline in just months if there is a real health concern, or a couple of years if there is no specific health concern, but you just hit that wall of old age.

If literally never having shot guns in their life before and you are talking home defense? I'd look at a .410 pump shotgun loaded with 000 or similar. Super mild recoil, not all that loud, generally should be able to operate the slide okay if sufficiently healthy to not really need in-home care or live independently. Harder to load than a 12 or 20, but not that hard to load either. Slap a red dot on it or just a tritium dot. Vision, so long as you CAN see, not that big a deal and aiming only of modest importance (obviously at a few yards, there isn't any real spread, but a long gun in general doesn't need much aiming at those distances).

 

[Uncle Duke]

The number one attribute of a handgun is quick accessibility. Of the handguns, the number one attribute of the revolver variety is simplicity. For 186 years and running now, the simplicity of the design has never been equaled.

Long guns are superior if and when accessible. If and when not accessible enough, due to the element of surprise or the state of sleep as but 2 examples, their superior attributes by definition can't matter.

In the hands of the untrained, give me 6 simplistic shots at five feet every day, and twice on Sunday.

If emergencies have one thing in common, it is that they don't tend to allow for the making of preparations. If awakened or otherwise engaged at spitting distance, you almost certainly have a problem of accessability that a long gun won't solve. Neither will a pistol, if a complete lack of training and 20 years laying on a nightstand means you fumble to operate it.

There's no perfect answer. I can only choose for me.

 

[cantstop]

Dang Inception!

The only really bad thing about this thread is it has me thinking I need a new rifle: Specifically, a new FN ps-90.

 

[Augustine]

Worsley,

Based on the information you shared in the first few posts (I did not read all 26-pages), my recommendation would be a .22 of some sort (even one of the lightweight rifles on the market). My logic: It would have an easy trigger-pull, almost no recoil, lightweight, fast follow-up shots for a novice user, and be fairly quiet. It wouldn't overwhelm or intimidate them. Granted, a .22 is not an ideal choice for most in a defense situation, but it can do some decent damage---especially several .22 hollow-points at defensive distances of 8-12 feet.

My secondary thought would be that going with a .22 might also inspire your parents to want to shoot and get some training. They might find it enjoyable. My mom got into it years ago with a .22 Ruger and moved to a G19. If she went directly to a G19 it would have likely become an expensive paperweight because she would have been afraid of it.

I know discussions about .22s aren't as engaging as those about stopping power and penetration; however, it's more of a realistic firearm that they would actually practice with and use. Of course, I don't know your parents and am only going on a limited set of information.

 

[jollymon]

With Federal's new "Punch" being there 22LR defense ammo , With 1070FPS Muzzle velocity out of a 2" barrel , Tells me that there Lawyers are very confident it would work .

 

[noddaz]

To Worsley, how has this worked out?

And I know next to nothing about self defense, but my step mom has a 9mm pistol and knows how to use it.

And based on that I would say a 9mm pistol and 9mm PCR with range time for both.

 

[Blacksmith101]

To Worsley, how has this worked out?

And I know next to nothing about self defense, but my step mom has a 9mm pistol and knows how to use it.

And based on that I would say a 9mm pistol and 9mm PCR with range time for both.

See post #232 for what they picked.

 

[Silver Fox]

I’d look at the Smith & Wesson M & P EZ in 380. The skid is like on butter. So easy to rack. I think it can be a good choice for someone who has list their gripping strength.

 

[Dovk0802]

Quick follow up to the past weekends Shooting session:

They all chose the Stoeger Coach SxS in 20 gauge, neither wanted to go the HQL route.

Thanks for everyone’s insight and recommendations.

Consider shortening the stock, adding a recoil pad (unless you got the Double Defense version) and a buttstock shell holder.

 

[Worsley]

Consider shortening the stock, adding a recoil pad (unless you got the Double Defense version) and a buttstock shell holder.

Good advice, definitely going to do that.