Opinions on .22 for personal deffense

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JAMMIN

JAMMIN

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Does anyone dare pack a .22 and feel comfortable that the gun and ammo have stopping power? I have a Maxpedition Jumbo Versa Pack, basically a shouldered bag that can conceal a handgun. At work I would feel more comfortable packing something small. I know about all the other calibers .25, .32, .380. 9mm but for conversation/argument sake lets here it.
 
I would never carry a 22LR for defense unless you have a physical disability that
inhibits you from shooting anything better/bigger. If that's what you have,
fine, but given a choice I wouldn't carry a 22.

IMO start at a J-Frame .38SPL and go up from there, Many J-frame sized
revolvers don't weigh that much (less than a pound) and conceal very well
on one's person in a variety of different carry modes.

-Mike
 
JAMMIN said:
I knew that was going to be the first response
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You knew that was going to be the first respose because you already know the answer. [rolleyes]

There is discussion ad infinitum about .25acp, .32acp and even .380acp pocket guns being largely ineffective as carry calibers, so what do you suppose that says about .22lr, being far smaller than any of the above loads?

.22lr is for plinking and varmint control, not much else.
 
If it were my only choice, it's better than a knife or a stick.

I'd prefer something larger like a .38 snubnose but a well placed close range shot or two to the squash with a .22LR would likely stop most people in their tracks.....ask Bobby Kennedy[smile]
 
Your right, your right, your right. With so much shit out there to purchase and I mean shit I guess I was just deluding myself. I have a HK USPC .40 and a G27 but I was looking for something small/new. I went to FS and tried the Sig P239 to heavy and the slide release was tough and the Walther P99C, shitty trigger guard, finger hits every trigger pull. I'ts hard to compromise when your favorite two are the ones I have. Talked to a rep from Para the other day and she said they issued the Carry 9mm and a .40 to the state for certification but no time frame. My next gun will be the Carry 9. Held the .45 at FS, BEAUTIFUL! A little expensive but it's better then an M&P 10 lb trigger.
 
Hey, carry a .22. I carry a .45 1911 all the time. Then once in a while, when it is super hot, or I can't hide it I carry nothing. And you know what? That is dumb. All the talk of a .22 not being enough is bs. It is better to carry something vs nothing.

I now have a Walther P22 and I love it. Not to mention, the .22 rounds I use are pretty hot. And they will definitely do damage, I'd still love to see someone take 4 or 5 shots of this stuff in about 2 seconds in the face and not go down. The fact is, I can put 6 shots touching each other at 9 feet, while in the same time i can probably just be getting off my second .45 shot. Especially if I just totally deafened myself or blinded myself with muzzle flash. The .22 has no recoil, I can get off the 10 shots in a nice 4 inch group in about 4 or 5 seconds. Plus if you've ever got a good hit on a coyote or something, you know that .22 will do its job if placed right.

If you want to carry a .22, carry a .22. It is better than buying something big and not carrying it at all.
 
.17 even better

watch
 
dvajda said:
Hey, carry a .22. I carry a .45 1911 all the time. Then once in a while, when it is super hot, or I can't hide it I carry nothing. And you know what? That is dumb. All the talk of a .22 not being enough is bs. It is better to carry something vs nothing.

I now have a Walther P22 and I love it. Not to mention, the .22 rounds I use are pretty hot. And they will definitely do damage, I'd still love to see someone take 4 or 5 shots of this stuff in about 2 seconds in the face and not go down. The fact is, I can put 6 shots touching each other at 9 feet, while in the same time i can probably just be getting off my second .45 shot. Especially if I just totally deafened myself or blinded myself with muzzle flash. The .22 has no recoil, I can get off the 10 shots in a nice 4 inch group in about 4 or 5 seconds. Plus if you've ever got a good hit on a coyote or something, you know that .22 will do its job if placed right.

If you want to carry a .22, carry a .22. It is better than buying something big and not carrying it at all.
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I would agree that it is better then nothing and you can learn to put a bunch of rounds in a target very quickly. If carrying a .38sp or bigger is out of the question b/c of whatever reason then sure get a .22 and practice but go rent a larger caliber first and try it out.
 
There is just no reason to carry a .22 for personal protection.
There are a lot of J frame S&W revolvers available at reasonable prices.
Even a single wadcutter target load out of a .38 Special beats a whole cylinder of .22s.
If all you have is a .22, trade it in on a .38 snubby.
 
jhrosier said:
There is just no reason to carry a .22 for personal protection.
There are a lot of J frame S&W revolvers available at reasonable prices.
Even a single wadcutter target load out of a .38 Special beats a whole cylinder of .22s.
If all you have is a .22, trade it in on a .38 snubby.
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+1

Good pepper spray is better than a 22.
 
Old & much hackneyed but...

I've been taught that self defense calibers need to start with a "4".
 
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A .22 will kill someone... eventually. However, it is unlikely to stop an attack. You could hit a determined attacker COM repeatedly with a .22 and not end the fight.

If someone big is charging at you with a knife, a .22 is not going to stop him.
 
I do have a J-frame .22, but I also have a J-frame .38 that I'm confident enough that I can shoot roughly straight. I wouldn't mind carrying the .22 as a backup, on the ankle or something, to the .38, as its easily concealable, light, and accurate, but it would be my second to last choice among my handguns next to the Sigma (only because I've never been able to shoot the Sigma well).
 
First rule of gunfighting: Have a gun.

If your choice is a .22 or nothing, carry the .22.

'course, since there's a Keltec .32 for sale in the classifieds, you may want to look at that - looks pretty small to me!
 
dvajda said:
Hey, carry a .22. I carry a .45 1911 all the time. Then once in a while, when it is super hot, or I can't hide it I carry nothing. And you know what? That is dumb. All the talk of a .22 not being enough is bs. It is better to carry something vs nothing.

I now have a Walther P22 and I love it. Not to mention, the .22 rounds I use are pretty hot. And they will definitely do damage, I'd still love to see someone take 4 or 5 shots of this stuff in about 2 seconds in the face and not go down. The fact is, I can put 6 shots touching each other at 9 feet, while in the same time i can probably just be getting off my second .45 shot. Especially if I just totally deafened myself or blinded myself with muzzle flash. The .22 has no recoil, I can get off the 10 shots in a nice 4 inch group in about 4 or 5 seconds. Plus if you've ever got a good hit on a coyote or something, you know that .22 will do its job if placed right.

If you want to carry a .22, carry a .22. It is better than buying something big and not carrying it at all.
Click to expand...



The question was not "Is .22lr better than nothing?"

Of course it is. This is a foregone conclusion, which has zero technical or logical merit. A Crossman air pistol would be better than nothing, but it certainly does NOT qualify it as an effective self-defense option. In most people's hands, a dull butter knife is better than going unarmed, yet it is most certainly not a prefered or intentional self defense tool. Owning both a J-frame and a P22, there is functionally no difference in size (if anything the J-frame is more comfortable to carry IMO), and 5 .38spl+P rounds beats just about any .22lr loadout you'll find unless you're carrying a Calico M-100 and your "assailant" is duct taped to the floor.

But don't take it from me: There's about 6,024,153 tests, reviews, side by side comparisions and the like that have covered this in graphic detail and the answer is invariably the same:

With some very rare exceptions, .38 spl/9mm or larger is (are) the only effective carry caliber(s).
 
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I'm surprised nobody mentioned the .22 Mag. Most anything you can get in .22LR also comes in the .22 Mag, which is quite a bit more.
 
I saw a video of someone being executed with a .22

He took about 10 shots point blank to the chest and was still pleading for mercy... [thinking]
 
Fooped said:
With some very rare exceptions, .38 spl/9mm or larger is (are) the only effective carry caliber(s).
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As this range of caliber(s) offers the best chance of STOPPING an adversary, and statistics will likely back up this statement, I agree with your assessment, and in fact adhere to this concept in practice.
 
Hey, if you must carry a .22 for personal defense, you might want to try what I read in an old Mafia novel: carve an "X" in the nose of your lead bullets, and stuff the crevices with garlic.

The novelist claimed this makes the ammo much more deadly.





I don't think so!
 
Coyote33 said:
I'm surprised nobody mentioned the .22 Mag. Most anything you can get in .22LR also comes in the .22 Mag, which is quite a bit more.
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Not in a snubby, it isn't.

The .22 Mag is a loooong cartridge for its diameter and needs a rifle barrel to burn its propellant. Fire it in a snubby and all you get is a fireball and a very loud report.

You might scare your attacker to death, but you won't kill him with the bullet. Without that long barrel, the .22 Mag bullet won't do anything the plain .22 LR wouldn't. I saw this proven with a pair of Taurus 3" revolvers; one in .22 Mag and the other in .22 LR. There was NO difference in penetration of the flakeboard; a huge difference in the muzzle blast.
 
derek said:
I saw a video of someone being executed with a .22

He took about 10 shots point blank to the chest and was still pleading for mercy... [thinking]
Click to expand...

Yet the Mafia finds it a marvelous choice for "hits."

Of course, the practice there is a shot to the back of the head.
 
And forget about the .25 ACP, it actually has less energy than a .22LR.

.32 is small, but also not much better than the .22 and there have been reports of hollowpoints in a .32 getting caught up in heavy clothing and never even reaching the target.

However, if you do get the Kel-Tek, Dwarven1 mentioned above, you can always use the ideas HERE to improve the firepower. (^_^) Nothing like a 10oz pistol that fires a modified .30 carbine cartridge.

A good .38 special is your best bet. One of the new airweight j-frame snubbies weighs almost nothing. I'd avoid the .357 Magnums. I swear the recoil on those is actually worse than my .500.
 
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Here's the short list of illogical responses to this question that you'll find on almost any gun forum (apologies to those that have posted these):
  • It's all about shot placement.
    Really? Wow! Thanks for this info! Who would've thought that you actually have to hit something!
  • If all you have is a .22, it's better than nothing.
    Fooped put it very well - If all you have is a butter knife, it's better than nothing. However, neither a .22 nor a butter knife is adequate.
  • A hit with a .22 is better than a miss with a .45.
    What makes you think I'm going to miss with a .45? In fact, I'm more likely to miss with a .22 because I hardly ever shoot them.
  • The .22 has killed more people than any other caliber.
    Yup, days later... from infection. If I'm facing a determined attacker, then I probably won't have time for the microbes to do their dirty work. Also, there are more .22s than any other caliber. Therefore, one would expect more shootings (and killings) with a .22.
  • Mafia hitmen use a .22.
    I'll keep this in mind if I ever decide to change careers; also whenever I can get the bad guy to kneel down and let me put the gun up to his brain stem while he begs me to spare his life. Fuggetaboutit.

Nobody wants to get shot by a .22. However, it is unlikely to stop a determined attacker. Consider this... Let's say some miscreant was raping one of your family members, you are armed with a machete, and there's a guy with a Walther P22 between you and the rapist. Is that .22 going to stop you? I thought not.

I know, It's a stupid example - none of us will be acting as a bodyguard for a rapist. But think about it; if someone is still willing to come after you once you've pulled a gun, you gotta figure that they're pretty determined. Carry a .22 if you want, but I'm with MrTwigg in carrying a caliber that starts with "4", or 10(mm).
 
pipmaster1971 said:
Ewwww...that's pretty farked up right there. I imagine it wasn't a rental from Blockbuster?
Click to expand...

It was tough to watch. It was one of those death/accident DVDs. A druglord was executing one of the guys who had stolen $$ from him. Apparently he recored all his executions to scare his workers from stealing from him.
 
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