Welcome to Gaia! ::

I'm trading in the PT1911. Yes, .45ACP is awesome, as is the 1911. It's not quite so awesome that I can find more midget hookers than rounds of .45ACP in my tiny town, and the design doesn't work well with my shorter fingers. So, I'm trading it in. Though, the new pistol isn't really for me. It's for my mom, for her carry. $289 and $320, used and new, respectively. We stopped by the gunshop today ot talk business, and they let her handle anything that she thought she would be able to shoot or carry. I steered her away from the SIGs (HOLY ******** EXPENSIVE) and the ultralight revolvers (anyone who suggest an ultralight snub .357 for a woman's first gun is a ******** IDIOT. Common sense as to why.).
She found that the CZ-82 and the Walther PPK380 fit her hand the best, she could work all the controls, and both are DA/SA. She likes the PK380 better slightly, because it's lighter (polymer frame, duh, the CZ-82 is steel), but likes the sights on the CZ-82 better. Originally, she wanted a 9mm(luger), but Compact and Subcompact 9mms are rare as unicorns at any local shops. They had a single one, Taurus's copy of the Walther PPS, but the grip was too short and didn't fill the hand well. I would love if we could take both guns to the range, but while it wouldn't impact the cost of the CZ, it would impact the "new" status for the PK380, which I doubt the owner of the shop would like, even if he's the nicest guy ever.

What does everyone think?
Keep in mind, this isn't for ME, it's for my mother, who is almost 50, working on arthritis, and has weak hand strength. We all suffer from short fingers, but isn't a problem with these guns.

The surplus cash from the 1911 is going towards her carry permit class, whenever her schedule allows, and ammo in the caliber she buys.

She can work everything on both of them fine. I like the frame-mounted safety on anything better than a slide-mounted safety, but she doesn't have issues. She even figured out the paddle magazine release right off. It confused the ******** out of me for a minute or three when I first shot a P22.

Well, no gun is perfect when it first comes out. I'm sure guns like the AK and M1911 had issues when they were first released. It's a question of whether the bugs are worked out and how bad they are.

Case in point, the M-16. When it first came out, it had reliability issues (Though this was more a maintenance training issue than a weapon quality issue). The new ones, however, work just fine (if you take care of them).