.22 for self defense

[greener]

Lighter is a matter of perspective. The SP101 looks like a little gun compared to my GP100

If you want lighter carry for SD only, I'd suggest a J-frame S&W like the 442/642 or the Taurus equivalent. I have a 442 and a pocket holster. Darned easy and comfortable to carry. If I carry in an external holster, then the GP100 doesn't bother me (just a bit hard to conceal in the summer). If you want to do more than carry for SD, I like the .22.

Handguns require a lot of practice to shoot accurately. The light, short-barreled handguns require more practice. My 442 with it's two-men-and-a-boy trigger pull surprised me the first time I fired it. Rounds were all over an 8/5x11 paper at 15 yards. It is the one gun I shoot every time I go to the range because I require a lot of practice to keep that one accurate.

If you want to do other things than just carry for SD, a .22 is a great choice. Practice ammo is relatively cheap, no recoil, and extra ammo isn't as heavy. My opinion is that 2-3 .22 rounds that hit the target will stop, or at least seriously slow down, an attacker. Bigger rounds are better but .22's will probably do ok.

 

[Tigerseye]

Keep shooting the attacker until breaks off the attack or kills you.

 

[docmagnum357]

The gun it's self is probably more important than the cartridge. Use whatever you can "point " well. If you can close your eyes, draw your weapon, and be reasonably on target, you have found a wweapon that will point shoot for you under stress. Most of these type of encounters happen so fast, and at such a close distance, that you will be lucky, or very well trained indeed if you ever see the front sight. I hat it when my students bring some itty, bitty, dinky gun to a concealed carry class. I don't care so much about the caliber, so long as it has adequate penetration, as was stated above. But when you can't get a proper grip on it, you are asking for trouble. If you can't hit anything with it, you are asking for trouble. If you don't know where to hit someone, you are in trouble.

All handgun cartridges are weak. Besides, what kills any animal is putting a hole in something they can't live without, such as the heart of brain. Putting a hole in a major artery or a lung, which will cause exsanguination, or hitting the medula. Brain is not good enough. A lot of people have been shot in the head and lived. There are no real pain receptors in the brain it's self, so they may not feel much. Brain surgery is done with the patient conscious many times. The medula or the top two or three bones of the spine will kill pretty much imstantly. The pelvis will put a man down like a sack of potatoes, but only the magnums will reliably break the pelvis, or any other bone for that matter.

Personally, I carry a 44 magnum loaded with really hot 44 specials or really mild 44 magnums, whatever you want to call them. They shoot a 240 grain bullet about twelve hundred feet per second. With the extra weight of the magnum revolver, recoil and follow up shots are about even with a .45 auto. For me , at least. I used to carry a 357 magnum, and still would feel comfortable with it, but I feel better with the .44. I would also feel good with a .45 long colt, or a .480 ruger if it was downloaded some. Big guns kick less, if you are smart about handloading. And that is my point. Learn how to handload, and the .38 can be loaded from lite target wadcutters
(a really good self defense load , by the way, ) to near 357 levels. The main thing i would sweat is drawing without snagging, hitting what i was shooting at repeatedly, and rapidly, and getting a gun that fit my hand. Silly people who shoot shotguns at clay pigeions spend thousands on a "bespoke" shotgun, I wouldn't hesitat to drop a good bit of money on a set of grips and a holster that made my gun come alive. I am not kidding about the grips. Even when you use the front sight, pistol shooting is 85% pointing. Same thing about drawing it. The faster you can draw, the more time you have to aim and shoot. I would feel better armed with a 22 with a good set of grips carried in a well designed holster than the latest, greatest 9mm wunderchunker in a 15 dollar holster. I happen to shoot "n" frame Smiths very well, so that's what i carry. If you don't, carry a .22 or .38, or a new .32 mag. The only thing you should be concerned with as far as cartridge size is penetration. I have eaten a lot of sausage that was killed with a .22 to the head. None of them moved very far from where I shot them.

 

[wep45]

get a S&W .38 special. you should be able to pick up a used one in excellant condition for a reasonable price.

 

[JT in VA]

I would rather someone miss me with a .38 than hit me with a .22

The 38 v. 22 debate is really a no brainer. Yes a 22 is lethal, but the 38 is more lethal.

 

[Ben86]

Seriously, go with the .38sp. A .22 bullet is anemic on humans, especially determined ones, unless you get a perfect shot. Under stress this is very hard. The bigger the bullet the bigger your margin of error.

I've been thinking of a .380 recently, maybe an LCP, but even then I am a little uncomfortable with that low of power. I would never imagine using a .22 for SD. Take the defense of yourself and others more seriously man. Save the .22s for the small varmints.

Could you ever hear yourself saying in a gunfight: "Gosh I wish my gun wasn't so powerful!" Not very likely. However you could hear youself say: "Dang I wish I wasn't so underguned!"

 

[C-grunt]

I wouldnt use a .22 for self defense if I had a choice. If its all you got or can handle, run it. But choosing a .22 over a .38 for self defense is really gambling with your life. Ive seen a couple guys shot with a .22 and while the wounds tend to be nasty, the victims werent that bad off, considering.

People always say "Nobody is willing to be shot by one." Yes thats true, but nobody is willing to let me stab them with a butter knife either. Does that make it a viable defensive weapon?

There is one HUGE flaw with the argument that multiple shots with a .22 are good. What if you only get one shot? If you get jumped from behind and stabbed and you only get one shot at a guy who is literally stradling you and stabbing you right then....which would you choose? That scenario is a little extreme but thats the kind of stuff that happens. Its not always going to be face to face.

When I was in the Army I carried a .22 pistol sometimes. I was well trained, experienced and had the know how to bring some pain to a bad guy. Then I became a cop and know see that it wont always happen in a clean cut manner. What if your shot first and only have a few seconds before you pass out to protect your family? What if after the first exchange of rounds your gun gets hit and is now broken?

If I had only one shot from my pistol to stop a homicidal attacker, I want something that I can count on to break through that ribcage, or go through that forearm to hit my target. For that reason, you cant count on the .22 to be a good carry caliber.

A .22 is a great round. Out of my 5 rifles I have, 3 of them are .22s. But you have to realize its limitations.

 

[PRM]

.22? Not a first choice but it will work.

I would not pick it as a first choice for a defense round, but I am far from counting it out. I grew up in a rural area where just about every farmer and boy had a 22 rifle in their pick up. If you were fortunate you had a 22 pistol. I grew up shooting and hunting with this calibre. On the farm it did everything you needed a gun to do (squirrels, rabbits, varmints, hog killing, coyotes (mostly coy-dogs bothering livestock), and any thing else that needed shooting) . Given a choice for self defense - I like bigger, but I would also be confident in my 22. By the way, it's not a single shot!!!

 

[BADUNAME37]

S&W 642 Airweight

38 caliber (+P)

 

[22-rimfire]

Me too! It is one of the reasons that I am comfortable with a 22. It may not be my first choice, but it is far from my last choice.

My first good 22 handgun was a 4" Colt Diamondback. When you shoot a while and you pretty consistantly hit the target with about a 1" or so group at 10-15 yds, you get confident. Yes, things like, I'll aim for the head pop up in your thought pattern.

Yesterday afternnon, I was doing some work in a seedy part of Atlanta. I was alone and there were no houses or people (only deserted buildings on a one way deserted street) around.... a "typical" gangbanger car pulls up with the usual occupants. They were probably up to no good. They left. Yes, I was armed. Yes, I felt better with the gun in my pocket. It is an equalizer. I have no desire to fight a couple of young "punks". I finished up as quickly as I could always watching my back. They probably thought I was a cop.

 

[Webbj0219]

MLJDeckard Posted this "Look at this clip. This guy was hit repeatedly. I never heard what the gun was, but I'm going to go out on a limb and guess it wasn't a .38. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SFTi7fFmJc "

This got me thinking I remember a story a coworker told me at Uhaul. Back when they used to hire felons.
This man had gotten outa prison a few years back. He told me about a big prison riot they had once. In that situation the safest place was to be back in a cell. Even if the door was open, that way nobody dould come at you from behind. He was running toward a doorway where the cells where and right near the doorway is this man swinging around a lawnmower blade. He runs right by the guy ducking to avoid getting hit. When he gets safely into a cell all the guys are looking at him funny. Like "dude your gonna need some help" and "that guy just nailed you with the lawnmower blade". So he suddenly starts to feel that his shoulder is all wet and this throbing pain starts to emerge from hisw head. He puts his hand up and can feel blood gushing out of his head like a faucette.

Addrenaline can be a powerful thing. If a man can take a lawnmower blade upside the dome and not feel it. There are probable circumstances where someone can get shot and not feel it. They would both be in need of amediate medical attention, yes. But they may be able to attack for a bit without feeling anything.

 

[mljdeckard]

Doesn't mean anything. ALL head wounds bleed a lot, because there is a cushion layer of blood between the scalp and the skull. If you get a nick in the head, it will always bleed.

Look at the video clip, watch the gun. There's almost no recoil. If it's something other than a .22, It's not a load I've ever seen.

 

[Papa smurf]

.22 cal defence?

Papa smurf here with my two cents------Think of a 22 as a long range ice pick. If used properly it can be quite nasty,however I would like a bit more IF given a choice.

 

[tipoc]

Folks hunt squirrel with a .22. No one, if given a choice, would hunt hog or even deer with one. There is a reason for that. The .22 has no smackability. A baseball bat would be better.

tipoc

 

[Joshua M. Smith]

Then there's this do deal with...



These are not for serious purposes, so no real harm done. One cost me a squirrel, but no biggie.

True, these are cheap, but I've experienced this once or twice with CCI as well.

Josh <><

 

[jjohnson]

38 beats 22

Indeed. And having gone through several bricks of 22 ammo this summer in my effort to shoot up the "older stuff," I found way more duds than I'd ever expect (like 2 or 3 in each box for several bricks ) of different brands.

THAT alone is enough reason to go centerfire - as another poster put it, just the reliability of ignition is a big factor.

But yes, by all means, the 38 that lots of us don't really like all that much is a better choice than 22. Bigger bullets leave bigger holes - and that's a good thing.

Sure, the ammo is more expensive, but you can shoot a lot of lead wadcutter reloads out of your pocket gun when you're at the range, then put top quality hollow points in there on the way home. The 22 is fun and great for practice, but you don't even see police in Europe carrying 22s, do you?

I'd look long and hard at my budget - used 38s aren't that expensive - and get the 38 first, THEN buy the 22 that you'll want anyway.

 

[DMZ]

Indeed. And having gone through several bricks of 22 ammo this summer in my effort to shoot up the "older stuff," I found way more duds than I'd ever expect (like 2 or 3 in each box for several bricks ) of different brands.

That is why fresh highend ammo and a DA revolver with a 9 shot capacity is the best choice.

 

[harmonic]

Do you think that a .22 is enough to take someone down

Probably better than trying to stick your finger in his eye.