My wife wants a small handgun but has had trouble with one hand having carpal tunnel. The other hand was injured years ago in a car wreck and she has no feeling in a couple of fingers. She does not like much recoil at all and does not like pulling slides back on autos. I was thinking of a Smith Air Lite 22 with Stinger ammo as an alternative. Have not seen much on TFL regarding these guns. Anyone have any experience good or bad? Thanks a lot.
air lite 22
- Thread starter seadog
- Start date
I'm a bit fuzzy, - is the Airlight the 317?
I bought one to check out. Worked extremely well, my bud bought one & I right-away got one for The Wife.
Tickled in every aspect except that you will keep checking to make sure the thing's still on your belt - weighs next to nothing. I find this a good thing for why we bought 'em.
They seem to be very ammo non-dependent = shoots everything to date just as well - certainly good enough. Coke cans at 75 yards pretty usual.
We've no hand disabilities, so your remarks don't apply to us. Actually, a bit heavier revolver would absorb recoil better than a more lightweight handgun.
I'd suggest getting with some friends & let her shoot some of theirs & see what it is she likes best. Only way to be sure. It'll be her gun afterall & she should decide what she likes.
Worst case though, you'll have a nifty li'l shooter that you'll like.
Get her her own! I can't tell you more emphatically.
As an aside, when sighting in my own, I noticed the bullets were keyholing at 7 yards (first shots). Yada, yada re "failure analysis attempt - turned out the barrel wasn't rifled! A first for me & The Smith "customer service guy" said that it "couldn't happen" due to all their QC/in-process-stuff ... right. Been there/done that in a past life & literally anything can (& will) happen.
Anyway, they fixed it - whoop & duh.
Good li'l shooter. I like mine/ours & so do all who use 'em.
Might not be the best for yours.
Let her pick her own by actually using what's out there.
Sorta sorry for the rambling .....
I bought one to check out. Worked extremely well, my bud bought one & I right-away got one for The Wife.
Tickled in every aspect except that you will keep checking to make sure the thing's still on your belt - weighs next to nothing. I find this a good thing for why we bought 'em.
They seem to be very ammo non-dependent = shoots everything to date just as well - certainly good enough. Coke cans at 75 yards pretty usual.
We've no hand disabilities, so your remarks don't apply to us. Actually, a bit heavier revolver would absorb recoil better than a more lightweight handgun.
I'd suggest getting with some friends & let her shoot some of theirs & see what it is she likes best. Only way to be sure. It'll be her gun afterall & she should decide what she likes.
Worst case though, you'll have a nifty li'l shooter that you'll like.
Get her her own! I can't tell you more emphatically.
As an aside, when sighting in my own, I noticed the bullets were keyholing at 7 yards (first shots). Yada, yada re "failure analysis attempt - turned out the barrel wasn't rifled! A first for me & The Smith "customer service guy" said that it "couldn't happen" due to all their QC/in-process-stuff ... right. Been there/done that in a past life & literally anything can (& will) happen.
Anyway, they fixed it - whoop & duh.
Good li'l shooter. I like mine/ours & so do all who use 'em.
Might not be the best for yours.
Let her pick her own by actually using what's out there.
Sorta sorry for the rambling .....
Kentucky Rifle
New member
Seadog (GREAT screen name!)
I've got some hand injuries too. (Including this damn arthritis.) If your wife is looking for a revolver with a little more "punch", I have two snubbies I like very much and would recommend. The first is a Taurus 731UL, .32 H&R Magnum that Tamara and Lendringser put me on to. It has an alloy frame, porting, stainless cylinder, nice, soft rubber grips, and weighs about 16 ounces. It has light recoil with Federal 85gr hollow points.
The second weighs one ounce more than the .22 you're considering and is also a .32 Mag revolver. It's a S&W 331 AirLite Ti. (The model 332 is a "hammerless" Centennial in the same caliber.) Being lighter, it has a little more recoil, but not much. I think maybe you feel the recoil of the 331 more because the rubber grips are harder and dont't cover the back-strap completely. (Maybe also because of that hot 100gr Georgia Arms ammo that I shoot. ) Both revolvers hold six rounds and are far stronger than a .22.
KR
I've got some hand injuries too. (Including this damn arthritis.) If your wife is looking for a revolver with a little more "punch", I have two snubbies I like very much and would recommend. The first is a Taurus 731UL, .32 H&R Magnum that Tamara and Lendringser put me on to. It has an alloy frame, porting, stainless cylinder, nice, soft rubber grips, and weighs about 16 ounces. It has light recoil with Federal 85gr hollow points.
The second weighs one ounce more than the .22 you're considering and is also a .32 Mag revolver. It's a S&W 331 AirLite Ti. (The model 332 is a "hammerless" Centennial in the same caliber.) Being lighter, it has a little more recoil, but not much. I think maybe you feel the recoil of the 331 more because the rubber grips are harder and dont't cover the back-strap completely. (Maybe also because of that hot 100gr Georgia Arms ammo that I shoot.
) Both revolvers hold six rounds and are far stronger than a .22. KR
Get her the 317!
Mine is several years old now and about 2 thousand rounds fired and going strong.
I sent it in to S&W for service, (I was unable to reassamble it after a detail strip) and it came back with a nicer, lighter trigger.
It goes everywhere, shoots anything and is always ready. If she can't pull the DA trigger, she can cock the hammer.
Believe it or not, Jeff Cooper wrote the following:
It has long been our dogma that stopping power is an essential element of the defensive triad, and this remains true as ever. However, the purpose of defensive combat is to stop one's adversary, and a 22 rimfire hit in the tear duct will stop any fight of which we have knowledge. Thus we do not push the 22 pistol as a defensive sidearm, but we do insist that perfect placement with the 22 is decisive. There is a place for the miniature 22 pistol, as long as it is well crafted and easy to use. It appears that most defensive confrontations are terminated solely by the display of a firearm. This cannot be proven, but the mass of street experience suggests that it is true. Nobody wants to get shot with any sort of pistol, which brings us around to the first principle of gun fighting, which is "Have a gun!"
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On the subject of wheel guns, I tend to fancy the feather-weight 22 introduced last year by Smith & Wesson. At risk of sounding loony, I maintain that the 22 long rifle is a considerably more practical cartridge than the 38 Special, or for that matter almost any other handgun cartridge. The advantage of the 22 is that you will shoot it a lot, and thus learn to hit what you are shooting at. While stopping power is certainly an essential of a sidearm intended primarily for defensive use, we must remember that a 22 in a tear duct tends to stop more decisively than a 9 in the wish-bone. Of course to use a 22 in a combat mode, the shooter must be well trained and in total charge of his nerves, and that may be too much to expect. However, as we have often taught, more than half of handgun confrontations are successfully concluded by the appearance of a handgun, rather than the shooting of one. Nobody wants to get shot with anything, and most people cannot tell one handgun from another. The 1911 still constitutes the defensive handgun of choice, and the more sea stories we get back from the wars, the more this point is proven. But in the big picture it is attitude that wins fights. Naturally we want the right equipment, but what we need is the right attitude.
Mine is several years old now and about 2 thousand rounds fired and going strong.
I sent it in to S&W for service, (I was unable to reassamble it after a detail strip) and it came back with a nicer, lighter trigger.
It goes everywhere, shoots anything and is always ready. If she can't pull the DA trigger, she can cock the hammer.
Believe it or not, Jeff Cooper wrote the following:
It has long been our dogma that stopping power is an essential element of the defensive triad, and this remains true as ever. However, the purpose of defensive combat is to stop one's adversary, and a 22 rimfire hit in the tear duct will stop any fight of which we have knowledge. Thus we do not push the 22 pistol as a defensive sidearm, but we do insist that perfect placement with the 22 is decisive. There is a place for the miniature 22 pistol, as long as it is well crafted and easy to use. It appears that most defensive confrontations are terminated solely by the display of a firearm. This cannot be proven, but the mass of street experience suggests that it is true. Nobody wants to get shot with any sort of pistol, which brings us around to the first principle of gun fighting, which is "Have a gun!"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the subject of wheel guns, I tend to fancy the feather-weight 22 introduced last year by Smith & Wesson. At risk of sounding loony, I maintain that the 22 long rifle is a considerably more practical cartridge than the 38 Special, or for that matter almost any other handgun cartridge. The advantage of the 22 is that you will shoot it a lot, and thus learn to hit what you are shooting at. While stopping power is certainly an essential of a sidearm intended primarily for defensive use, we must remember that a 22 in a tear duct tends to stop more decisively than a 9 in the wish-bone. Of course to use a 22 in a combat mode, the shooter must be well trained and in total charge of his nerves, and that may be too much to expect. However, as we have often taught, more than half of handgun confrontations are successfully concluded by the appearance of a handgun, rather than the shooting of one. Nobody wants to get shot with anything, and most people cannot tell one handgun from another. The 1911 still constitutes the defensive handgun of choice, and the more sea stories we get back from the wars, the more this point is proven. But in the big picture it is attitude that wins fights. Naturally we want the right equipment, but what we need is the right attitude.
kahr Carrier
New member
S&W 317 22lr Great gun light no noticable recoil ,GET IT you wont be sorry.