SENIOR CITIZEN HANDGUNS

"It's not the age, it's the mileage," said Indiana Jones. In my case, it's also lack of maintenance. The fact is, though, that a lot of folks find in their older years that the favorite guns of their salad days no longer seem to work as well for them as they once did. For my part, I'm happy to have made it this long; it's the decrepitude, not the age, that bothers me.

The late, great Col. Jeff Cooper was well into Social Security age when he commented that as "geezerhood" approached, he didn't need a specific "geezer gun." I can understand that for a couple of reasons. One was that Jeff was still a big, strong, strapping guy for much of his Golden Years. Another was that his trademark pistol, the 1911 .45, was and is remarkably forgiving in older hands. The .45 Auto has mild recoil for its major power level; with its hammer back (relieving mainspring pressure), the slide isn't too hard for even somewhat arthritic hands to operate with the standard recoil spring; and its single action trigger pull is easy to manipulate.

Is that true of everyone? Well, it depends … and no, that's not a "Depends" joke. Arthritis hits different folks to different degrees. A lot of my friends who are past 60 have gone from .45 to 9mm, at least in part because it simply beats up their hands and wrists less in extended shooting sessions.

A student who trained with me many years ago returned to take a refresher a few months ago. In his mid-80s now, he was struggling to work the slide of his Colt Commander, and could no longer reload it with the lightning speed he had 20 years ago. Cumulative nerve damage and arthritis had taken their toll. .....