[SouthernMoss]

Originally Posted by BigV

The only problem (if you want to call it that) is my wife can’t pull the slide back.

I have found it much easier to rack the slide using the method that Massad Ayoob recommends: the Israeli method, or "slingshot technique." Here's how he describes it:

The Israeli method has also been called “the slingshot technique” because it mimics the movements you would use to operate a slingshot. The gun arm stays locked, pointing the handgun at the target or backstop, while the free hand grasps the slide with the thumb forward. Pushing forward with the gun hand while pulling back with the support hand—digging in your rear heel on the strong hand side and driving your body weight forward, as if delivering a hard punch—makes this technique actually stronger than the American style. My little girls were able to work full size Colt .45 automatics with this technique when they were eight-years-old. Perhaps more important, the body mechanics of the Israeli technique keep the muzzle downrange in a safe direction during the entire operation.

Here's the article from which the quote came: http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/ayoob031207.html