Unless you go to the gym regularly (and most of us older guys don't), as we age our muscles weaken, and if you have an arthritic hand some of us will not be able to cock a new SP101. There was a recent discussion of this (which I can no longer locate) and several of us had this problem. One solution is lighter springs, someone said. So I took it to the lgs, where I bought the gun, because they have a skilled, experienced gunsmith, and had him install lighter springs. These made the difference between not being able to cock the gun and being able to cock the gun. Still not as buttery-smooth as an old Model 36,but certainly doable. The gunsmith, noting that it was unfired said, "Shoot the hell out of it. Should get smoother and DA and SA should become easier." I forgot what the factory specs are for DA/SA. Does anyone know so I'll have something to compare the new measurements to?