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BlammoDanno

BlammoDanno

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Aug 10, 2020
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Lexington
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Hello all! Before I start asking questions, here’s some background about me.

My name is Dan. I live in Lexington with my wife and three children… In a townhouse. A bit cramped.

I’ve had some firearms training and experience, including a little bit of IDPA, but I’m 37 and that was about 10 years ago. Mostly at the range I’ve had the fortunate ability to sample a wide variety of pistols, rifles, and shotguns.

Through my Dad and friends I’ve had experience with quite a few different firearms, but never owned one. That’s about to change.

Fast forward to the present time.

With the current craziness abounding, my wife and I want to get a pistol to fill all roles. Home defense, concealed carry, target/sport shooting, everything.

For reasons no doctor can attest, my left hand is now 80% weaker than my right. I didn’t make up that number. Test results confirm it. This has been within the last 3 years. With such a severe loss of grip strength I literally can’t rack a slide anymore. I still refuse to give up semi autos, so I won’t go with to revolvers.

I recently discovered something called a “slide pull“ or “charging handle“ that can be attached to some firearms as a replacement back plate for striker fired pistols. This would address the left hand grip problem, not interfere with holsters, and still allow for concealed carry.

Brass Stacker and Clipdraw make versions of some thing that’s like a ring attached to that back plate. Whether it be a solid machined piece, or silicone rubber, the effect is the same. I would be able to rack the slide again.

That slide pull is cool and all, but are there other options out there that would do the same thing? What guns do they fit? This is the rabbit trail I have been going down recently.

In short I’m not a complete noob, but I’m seeking wisdom outside of my own to help solve the problem I’m having.

***Please reply with pistol recommendations with a very particular set of qualifiers:

- 9 mm (cheap and plentiful)
- semi auto
- not tiny (I don’t like subcompacts in my big hands)
- has to be compatible with something that helps me rack the slide such as a slide pull or similar. Preferably that wouldn’t get in the way of concealment or holstering.
- which slide pull device works with that gun you recommended, and where can I get it?
- sub $500 new or used (I’m unemployed with long-term disability from my previous employer so money is pretty tight.)

I would be a fool not to seek wisdom outside my own. Please help me figure this out. Looking to expand my options to figure out what I should buy.
 
See what you can find in a 357 revolver with a 4" barrel.
That way you can shot 38 Special or 357 Mag as the need or desire calls for.
 
Hello from Raleigh. If funds are tight, consider police trade in pistols. I own a good number of them and they shoot great.
 
Not sure if a slide can be attached but a Canik might not be a bad choice. Not small, good trigger and not expensive.
 
ronn47 said:
See what you can find in a 357 revolver with a 4" barrel.
That way you can shot 38 Special or 357 Mag as the need or desire calls for.
Click to expand...
""I still refuse to give up semi autos, so I won’t go with to revolvers.""
No revolvers for him, I guess.
 
ronn47 said:
See what you can find in a 357 revolver with a 4" barrel.
That way you can shot 38 Special or 357 Mag as the need or desire calls for.
Click to expand...

my wife has a 357 revolver with a pretty long barrel. Easy to control and shoot accurately, but I’m trying to find options that I can also use for concealed carry. Plus I want to stick with a semi auto. Thanks though.
 
Amps 13 said:
Not sure if a slide can be attached but a Canik might not be a bad choice. Not small, good trigger and not expensive.
Click to expand...

Canik looks like a really good choice. I’ve already looked at a few of them in my FLGS, but I have the same problem. Can’t rack the slide. And they are new enough where I don’t know if there’s any aftermarket support for a slide pull yet.
 
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Button Pusher said:
Hello from Raleigh. If funds are tight, consider police trade in pistols. I own a good number of them and they shoot great.
Click to expand...

i’ll have to check that out. My in-laws side has some connection with law-enforcement, so maybe he can point me in a better direction to find some thing like you described.
 
Welcome!

Perhaps some of the 1911 crowd will chime in on what can be done to make one of those rackable (tm).

I shot with a fella at the lion's den in Wagram several times. If I'm not mistaken, and I may be, he had a 1911. He also had a just about completely fudged up left hand where years earlier, he had a pistol go full auto on him and a couple rounds went through his left hand. I'm thinking he only had maybe three fingers on that hand, but was able to rack the slide.
 
@BlammoDanno,

Welcome to the CFF family!!

index.php
 
So...you want a Glock 19 with something like this attached?

7A402C25-D26D-46F3-908B-7FE3D5AC4831.png

They also make these, but I think having it on one side would be uncomfortable and on the other side harder to conceal (or have cover garment get hung up when trying to clear it).

5642327D-2168-460D-A18F-52A46ACE8171.png
 
kcult said:
Welcome!

Perhaps some of the 1911 crowd will chime in on what can be done to make one of those rackable (tm).

I shot with a fella at the lion's den in Wagram several times. If I'm not mistaken, and I may be, he had a 1911. He also had a just about completely fudged up left hand where years earlier, he had a pistol go full auto on him and a couple rounds went through his left hand. I'm thinking he only had maybe three fingers on that hand, but was able to rack the slide.
Click to expand...

I like 1911’s quite a lot. Don’t much like the idea of just 7 or 8 rounds before mag change. That’s why I’d only carry one if I could get it cheap and carry a second mag.

The double stack 1911’s are too fat to conceal carry without difficulty. There’s also the problem of 45 caliber ammo price and availability. This is why I chose 9 mm. Wide selection of guns, wide availability of cheap ammo, aftermarket support, blah blah blah.

I’m not saying it’s out of the running, because I do like them, but I’m trying to be smart about this and stay within this poor man’s budget.
 
Welcome and thanks for joining up with us here. I'm hoping you'll find this to be the very best internet hangout ever and please reach out to others to join up with us here also.

And thank you for posting inside this thread so all of us can extend a welcome and get to know you !

We're SO MUCH MORE than a firearms forum !
 
Walther CCP. Uses the Delayed gas blowback of the H&K P7. Downside is it gets hot fast.

Upside is that the design makes it much easier to rack(less force needed to rack), softer shooting, and more accurate(fixed barrel).
 
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BigWaylon said:
So...you want a Glock 19 with something like this attached?

View attachment 237411

They also make these, but I think having it on one side would be uncomfortable and on the other side harder to conceal (or have cover garment get hung up when trying to clear it).

View attachment 237412
Click to expand...
BigWaylon said:
So...you want a Glock 19 with something like this attached?

View attachment 237411

They also make these, but I think having it on one side would be uncomfortable and on the other side harder to conceal (or have cover garment get hung up when trying to clear it).

View attachment 237412
Click to expand...

yeah the ring at the back is the slide pull I was referring to in my original post. The whole point that was me trying to see if anybody else knew about more options. Glock is a solid option for sure, and they’re aftermarket is insane for the choices you can pick from. But there are cheaper guns out there. Still trying to stay within my poor man’s budget.

Here’s another thing that I saw:
upload_2020-8-10_21-21-13.jpegupload_2020-8-10_21-21-13.jpeg
 
Maybe this is a dumb (or naive) question or thought, but could you (can you) fire left handed? I mean, work the pistol in your left hand so you rack the slide with your right? Obviously would take some adapting and practice, but is that a viable option that would avoid an attached gadget? Of course, if your left hand strength doesn't permit a sufficiently strong firing grip, then the idea is dead from the start. I'm really just asking out loud ... not trying to pose a "do this because I'm an armchair expert."

I thought of this as I am right hand; left eye dominant and normally wear progressive lens so aiming a rifle has its challenges: I've wondered about retraining myself to work a rifle left handed vs. just sticking with how I started and what is natural and compensating.
 
GreatGazoo said:
Maybe this is a dumb (or naive) question or thought, but could you (can you) fire left handed? I mean, work the pistol in your left hand so you rack the slide with your right? Obviously would take some adapting and practice, but is that a viable option that would avoid an attached gadget? Of course, if your left hand strength doesn't permit a sufficiently strong firing grip, then the idea is dead from the start. I'm really just asking out loud ... not trying to pose a "do this because I'm an armchair expert."

I thought of this as I am right hand; left eye dominant and normally wear progressive lens so aiming a rifle has its challenges: I've wondered about retraining myself to work a rifle left handed vs. just sticking with how I started and what is natural and compensating.
Click to expand...

Firing left-handed is going to be a big fat no. My wrist points downward (a different issue. Bones are fused. Since birth), the recoil might snatch the gun out of my hand from the weak grip, and dexterity has diminished as well on that left hand since all these new medical issues have begun piling up.

I can switch hands temporarily to hold the pistol grip with my left and rack the slide with my right but that is clunky and definitely not ideal under pressure.
 
^^ About the only other contribution I would have then is to ask whether you've ever see the guy at the Youtube Channel "guns gear and on target." He has a congenital deformation in his left hand, but maybe his situation is very different from yours. Might be worth watching though e.g this one you can see his hands fairly well:
 
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Millie said:
Where is that, pray tell?????
Click to expand...

I don't think the place is there anymore. And lion's den was sort of a nickname. I'm not sure what the actual name was.

I found a YouTube vid from 10 years ago. That would have been about the time I was shooting there. Maybe @Wolffy knows where it was.



Sorry for the slight derailment @BlammoDanno
 
GreatGazoo said:
^^ About the only other contribution I would have then is to ask whether you've ever see the guy at the Youtube Channel "guns gear and on target." He has a congenital deformation in his left hand, but maybe his situation is very different from yours. Might be worth watching though e.g this one you can see his hands fairly well:
Click to expand...

I’ll check him out. Thanks for pointing me to that. apart from the lack of strength and dexterity, my left hand isn’t all that different from most peoples.

At birth I had a big fat tumor in my left forearm, non-cancerous, but it was fibrous and highly calcified. all the crazy shit I ever did as a kid, never broke a bone once! At least I have strong bones!

Everything from my elbow to my wrist would be described as abnormal. Think like Popeye but with fingers pointing towards the bottom of my wrist, and I can only straighten out my hand a little bit. Not completely straight.

I had two de-bulking surgeries when I was still quite young, and all of the tumor is gone, but my forearm and wrist are still deformed.

Despite this I still worked with my hands for most of my life until recently when these brand new issues cropped up out of nowhere.
 
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BlammoDanno said:
I’ll check him out. Thanks for pointing me to that. apart from the lack of strength and dexterity, my left hand isn’t all that different from most peoples.
Click to expand...

Well, good luck. Looks like a lot of others with far more experience than I are helping out.
 
Scsmith42 said:
Welcome.

I have a set of True glow TFX sights on a Walter PPQ. The rear sight is designed with an angled front so that you can rack the slide against your pants, etc, and don’t have to use a second hand at all. It works extremely well.
Click to expand...

tried it before while standing in my local gun store. True it works OK, but I’m not too comfortable about the idea of doing that with live rounds in the magazine. Very mindful of my trigger finger being outside the guard I’m still a little uneasy doing it that way since it pretty much points the pistol at my own leg.
 
Welcome to the club. You do realize that a "Jack of all guns" is going to be master of few situations right? I understand that finances may hinder the best possible solutions, but in my opinion if I was in your situation before I would pay $500+ for a Glock 19 or similar I would pay half that for a carry gun and the other half for a gun much more suited to home defense. One example might be $220 for a Taurus G2C (or similarly priced revolver) and the rest on an inexpensive used pump 12ga shotgun. Shotgun ammo has not exploded in price and demand like pistol and semi auto rifle ammo has I don't believe. 9mm is not "cheap and plentiful" anymore!
 
Flashpoint said:
Welcome to the club. You do realize that a "Jack of all guns" is going to be master of few situations right? I understand that finances may hinder the best possible solutions, but in my opinion if I was in your situation before I would pay $500+ for a Glock 19 or similar I would pay half that for a carry gun and the other half for a gun much more suited to home defense. One example might be $220 for a Taurus G2C (or similarly priced revolver) and the rest on an inexpensive used pump 12ga shotgun. Shotgun ammo has not exploded in price and demand like pistol and semi auto rifle ammo has I don't believe. 9mm is not "cheap and plentiful" anymore!
Click to expand...

Jack of all guns master of none, maybe. Just trying to get the most out of what I’m gonna buy. Maybe a better way to phrase it would be “home defense pistol that I could also conceal carry”
 
Welcome!

I recommend a 9mm PCC. Basically an AR pistol. 5" if that's your thing. Fits all your needs perfectly except one.

You'd have to get a different gun for conceal. Now isn't a good time to buy guns or ammo,unfortunately.
 
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Welcome to the forum first off!

As similar to what scsmith suggested but using other objects and your concern to not have it pointed at your leg. There is some decent ideas in this video I saw on youtube which i am sure would need some practice but might give you some other ideas.

 
Here's my take on racking an auto used for defense. I personally don't see racking being a huge problem except once when it is initially loaded. I would be way more concerned about which gun I and/or my wife or girlfriend could shoot well than how hard the slide is to rack. When it is ready for defense, the racking is done and even in an altercation, you would not need to rack the slide again because when the mag is empty, the slide will stay open. Slap in a new mag, hit the release and it is done. Weak hands probably won't make a difference as long as you can operate the release. Even if I had to get someone to rack the slide for me initially, I'd still go for the gun that I could shoot the best. Yes it may be a hassle at the range when practicing, but when the need comes, the racking should be done. I would neve have a gun for defense and the chamber not loaded. Just my .02 worth
 
BlammoDanno said:
Jack of all guns master of none, maybe. Just trying to get the most out of what I’m gonna buy. Maybe a better way to phrase it would be “home defense pistol that I could also conceal carry”
Click to expand...
You definitely can do so, nothing wrong with going that route. I assume this will be for yourself and your significant other? Long arms are significantly easier to hit what you are aiming at with and not insignificantly, allow you to manage recoil much better so you can shoot something more powerful and/or more rapidly and still be reasonably accurate. A smaller pistol is going to recoil more than a larger one which may be an issue for the lady. It's always a tradeoff between size/weight and capability.
 
Flashpoint said:
You definitely can do so, nothing wrong with going that route. I assume this will be for yourself and your significant other? Long arms are significantly easier to hit what you are aiming at with and not insignificantly, allow you to manage recoil much better so you can shoot something more powerful and/or more rapidly and still be reasonably accurate. A smaller pistol is going to recoil more than a larger one which may be an issue for the lady. It's always a tradeoff between size/weight and capability.
Click to expand...

I’m only going this route first since I’ve got to start somewhere, and I chose to start with a carry gun. The second gun I plan to go for would be an AR style 12-GA shotgun with home defense as its primary function. Then I’d like to take my time building an AR to round off the 3-gun setup.

Anything I do get, I’d like my wife to be proficient with as well. Both of us should be able to use any of them.
 
I agree with a couple earlier posts. It seems to me you’ve precisely described the S&W M&P 9mm Shield EZ. I have the .380 version and the slide is the easiest to rack among all pistols I own.

 
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