Injury has made my primary hand very weak

[Vicnchan]

I severely injured my right wrist in February '23 (I am right handed btw). I have had 2 surgeries since then, and I am about to have a third to fuse the wrist. I have also lost about half of the strength in that wrist.
I am a retired Deputy Sheriff and spent more than 2 decades of that as a firearms instructor. I always taught my guys/gals to be able to shoot, and operate/reload the weapon off hand. That being said, I am proficient with my left hand , BUT what if I lose use of my left in a fight? I need to be able to quickly go to my right and stay in the fight. With that being the case, I need to modify my carry for the weakest link... my wrist.

My thought process is to downgrade to the lowest recoiling, heaviest hitter I can find. A Doctor friend of mine and avid shooter knows the details of what happened and the extent of the injuries. He is suggesting staying away from my 45,40, 357 revolver, and compact 9mm. I tried working the action on my 380 lcp max, but can not.

My thought now is either a high capacity 22LR, a hcap 22Mag, or the new Smith&Wesson M&P 5.7x28. I prefer the idea of the 5.7 because it's center fire and the new smith is supposed to have reduced recoil due to the tempo barrel.

Any other suggestions or ideas? Any advice will be welcomed.

 

[jmr40]

Can you load a semi-auto magazine with the damaged wrist? If you can't work the action on the 380 my 1st thought is a revolver.

 

[TRX]

Losing the use of your good hand in a fight would be bad... but I would accept the risk and continue using a gun with a reasonably effective cartridge.

The FBI collects all sorts of statistical data on gunfights. They may have already collated data on how many times a shooter had to change hands in mid-fight due to injury.

 

[gc70]

Look at some of the mid-sized locked-breach .380ACP pistols like the S&W Shield 380 EZ and Ruger Security 380. The larger size and extra weight of the pistols make recoil very manageable and the guns were designed for low-strength manipulation.

My wife had reconstructive surgery on her hand. Loss of cartilage results in bone-on-bone pain from recoil, but the .380s are tolerable. She also has very limited grip strength, but can easily rack either of the above guns when other guns are impossible. I can rack the S&W using only the tip of my little finger on the front sight.

Both of the guns mentioned are a couple of inches shorter than the S&W 5.7, as well as not being as tall.

 

[603Country]

I bought the wife a 380EZ. It’s really easy to shoot, the mag is real easy to load, and recoil is low. The only thing I didn’t much like was the grip safety. She didn’t always grip it properly, though it takes very little grip strength.

 

[TunnelRat]

While I understand your reasoning, I wouldn’t personally trade using say a 9mm for a 380 ACP on the off chance that my newly dominant hand/arm could be injured and my support hand wasn’t strong enough. By that logic a person with one hand/arm shouldn’t carry a firearm at all.

I think you could explore having a backup 380 as an option. I’d also give yourself some time to see if your previously dominant hand might be able to function with that 9mm in an emergency setting, while understanding it couldn’t or shouldn’t shoot 9mm extensively.

 

[Aguila Blanca]

Smith & Wesson has an entire series of "EZ" pistols intended specifically for shooters who have difficulty racking normal slides.

https://www.smith-wesson.com/products/shield-ez

 

[44 AMP]

I need to be able to quickly go to my right and stay in the fight.

OR (and no one wants to hear this) accept the fact that if your primary "goes down" you are now OUT of the fight. Time to hold ground or even disengage and retreat. Your backup and CYA weapon needs to be something you can operate with one hand, your worst hand. And its function is to protect you as you get the heck out of Dodge to a safe location.

Its not modern, doesn't hold lots of ammo, but a .38 Special revolver still works, as it has for well over a century.

 

[Vicnchan]

I have been carrying my 3" ruger SP101 and loaded it with 158gr semi-wadcutter hp 38 special ammo. I can shoot that revolver very well and that slow, heavy load doesn't kick bad. Perhaps I am thinking about this all wrong. I am still thinking of pressing the fight. I am old and retired now, maybe I need to start just thinking of a defend, break contact, and escape edc. Thanks!!

 

[tangolima]

I will make left hand my new primary and right hand my new off hand. I make my living by moving computer mouse all day. I lost that skill with my right hand to carpal tunnel. I must stop using right hand till it recovered. With no choice I trained myself using left hand in about a week. Now I'm fully ambidextrous, using mouse only.

Have you considered porting, compensator, or muzzle brake? They may help. How about the new frangled calibers? 5.7mm, 22TCM etc. They may not be glamours as the big ones, but they are quite effective. Don't rule them out, or you may short changing yourself.

-TL

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[jar]

I own the three major easy or light rack pistols and in .380 so can offer at least a little experience.

The three pistols are the S&W 380EZ, the Rugger Security 380 Lite Rack and the Walther CCP M2+ 380.

First, the recoil on all three is really almost at 22lr level and slide rack levels on all three are lighter than the trigger pull on most of my revolvers. I use a loading aid with all of the magazines but it's possible to load them all without an aid.

The Walther with it's fixed barrel is by far the most accurate of the three. Field strip is easy but reassembly requires lining the piston up to get in the cylinder and that can be challenging. It's more a dexterity issue than strength related.

The Ruger has the largest capacity of the three and the widest grip. It seems to be the most forgiving when it comes to limp wristing.

The S&W Grip safety is a potential issue. It really needs to be fully depressed for the gun to fire. I haven't had any issues but two people I let shoot it did find it a problem.

I carry the S&W in an IWB holster from Privateer Leather, the Ruger in an IWB from Mitch Rosen and the Walther OWB in a High Noon Holster Tomahawk.

 

[seanc]

Since you already own an LCP Max, I assume you're good with the .380ACP as an SD option, if you can find the right gun. Have you tried the Beretta Cheetah's? They've got some heft that can help with recoil along with nearly full size grips, without a grip safety. You'll also get a little better performance out of your .380 ammo out of the slightly longer barrel. Not a 9mm, but gets you a little more out of the .380.

 

[Vicnchan]

I tried a friend's S&W 380 ez but I had issues gripping tightly enough to consistently depress the grip safety. Hadn't considered the other 2. Today I played with a Bersa 380 "combat" that holds 13 rds. Slide is easy to rack. Grip is a bit wide but the trigger is decent. I have no idea how the recoil impulse will be.

Has anyone ever shot the ARX or those other super light blender rounds? How is the recoil on them?

 

[Vicnchan]

I have not thought of that but I will look into them.

 

[TruthTellers]

What's the concern here? That you need a lower recoiling pistol to shoot with the right hand or you want something with an easier to manipulate pistol to be able to rack a slide, change a mag, etc.?

Until you have recovered from the upcoming surgery and know exactly what the condition of your hand strength is and its capabilities, we're just speculating, so I'm going to focus on calibers because once you've got a gun ready to shoot with you need to be able to do so effectively with follow up shots with a smaller caliber.

If looking at revolvers, the lowest recoil with effective ballistics is going to be a .32 Magnum, extra light .38's don't penetrate well. You seem more apt to semi autos and your options are going to be limited to larger sized .380's with a locked breech like the Ruger Security 380 that was posted above. If you don't mind spending triple on ammo for the foreseeable future, there's always 5.7, but the long grip frames of them may cause discomfort for your hand, so I would definitely try to handle one before buying.

Avoid .22 rimfire unless you find you can't handle the above options.

 

[gc70]

Has anyone ever shot the ARX or those other super light blender rounds? How is the recoil on them?

I tried the ARX ammo when it was introduced and sold under the Ruger brand. I don't recall any noticeable difference in recoil compared to more common, heavier loads. The tradeoff is a lighter bullet at a faster speed. I also don't remember anything objectionable like excessive muzzle flash or report.

 

[smee78]

Sorry to hear of your current limitations, I hope you heal up well.

I currently have an injury from a car accident on my primary arm/wrist and am currently forced to use my other hand. For now, I am carrying my Keltec PMR-30, while I prefer a center-fire round, I am using what I already own and am familiar with. I did see PSA had their version of the 5.7 gun on sale for $399. If that is a caliber you are looking at getting into. I also have the Beretta Cheetas in 380 and 32acp if I wanted to run those but I figure 30 rounds beats 12 on most days. I guess it depends on where you live and what you have available. I believe being able to hit your target and having a gun when you need it is more important than what caliber it is. Good luck with your wrist.

 

[CDW4ME]

I carry a 2nd gun in my weak hand front pocket; it affords the option to put my hand on it without revealing I'm carrying, which I can't do with the Glock I've got AIWB.

A LCP 380 is difficult to shoot versus a Sig 365 in my dominant hand. LCP 380 one hand weak hand? I've done it and did not like it.

Couple days ago I did one hand weak hand shooting.
Kahr PM9 - challenging but better than a LCP 380.
Sig 365 - easier to shoot one hand weak hand than the PM9
If something happened to my dominant hand I have the head start of already having a pistol that works one hand weak hand.

 

[Vicnchan]

I love revolvers but only have a few left. I have a 1968 44spl bulldog I used to carry daily. I know they are fusing my wrist and severing another nerve (at least I won't limp wrist anything lol.)

Maybe I have just been a fighter for too long. I have been on a two way range a few times, but I never had the option to retreat. Now that I am a civilian again, perhaps I need to change my focus to fire and retreat to safety instead of hyper aggressively closing distance.

Maybe my mindset needs to modify more than my caliber. IDK

 

[Mosin44az]

Regarding the ARX load, I had some in .40 caliber and the felt recoil was noticeably less than regular defense loads. Light bullet helps is my guess.