22LR for concealed carry?

Status
Not open for further replies.
What is the reason why you are wedded to carrying mousegun (22 LR and 32 ACP)cartridges?
Click to expand...

The primary reason is that I'm 5' 10", weigh 160, and work in an office setting where no one knows I carry. So whatever gun it is, it has to be small and light. I refuse to wear a larger pants size. It simply looks stupid on me because I'm already too thin. So, anything larger than a LCP or heavier than a pound will not work for me in the office. I also don't like the LCP, P3AT, or NAA Guardian 380. Yes, got all three and it didn't pan out. I don't like the recoil from smaller pistols chambered in 380 or 9. It's not that I can't handle the pain or recoil. It's that a quick follow-up is not quick.

I don't believe in semi auto mouse guns any more. The short cycling of the slide makes them more finicky than full-size semis. When combined with shooting one handed (I'm realistic) in a panic situation from a non-traditional stance, it makes semi-auto mouse-guns even less reliable.

The other reason is that I know what adrenaline does to a person's shooting skills. 5 in a J-Frame isn't enough for me. I would rather have 8 little guys that give me better odds to hit the target than 5 38's that I have worst odds with.

Finally, it is a different story when I am at home. Jeans are much more accommodating when it comes to wearing mid-size to full-size pistols OWB. I OWB carry a full-size in the winter when out and about and at home.

If they ever make a 45ACP that shoots as soft as a 32ACP, weighs 11 oz, holds 7 rounds, & is the size of a LCP, I am all over it. Until then it's going to have to be an Airlite with a NAA Mini as backup or maybe a P32 with a NAA Mini as backup on workdays. Weekends and times away form the office have more flexibility.

One thing though. I'm glad I posted this thread. I feel better about my choice.
 
Jeff Cooper was of the opinion that if you could not carry a serious handgun (read anything wit a '4' in the front of the caliber) then using a .22 might not be a bad idea.

His reasoning?

If you can't take the large bore pistol then a .22 would allow you to practice and become very proficient. Proficient enough to hit a light switch at room ranges fast!

That way you could aim for the eye socket and always use head shots.

Not a bad idea really. There are some very accurate .22 pistols and you could literally use the same ammo for practice and defense all the time.

Deaf
 
Back when I was in HS, a business-owner friend of mine carried a S&W .22LR revolver (I believe 10-shots) for CC. Myself, no, I carry larger (9mm, .38 Spcl, .357 Mag, 10mm Auto, and 45 ACP), but I'm only 53 years young. I will say, I always will carry what I can handle effectively. If some day, all I can manage is a 10-shot revolver, in .22LR, you better bet, I'll still be capable of causing precious, life-sustaining fluid to leak from any fool who would cause me to believe that I or my family were in danger.

Geno
 
O.A.,

I hardly consider being 5' 10" and 160 lbs. as being too thin. If I only had your problem. ;-)

Office attire does present challenges but it is possible to dress around a larger caliber gun. I don't know what type of threat you are concerned about in your office (workplace violence such as angry former employee?) but often the shooter is well armed with powerful firearms and lots of ammunition. While most any handgun would be lacking against a well armed angry shooter a 22, 25 and 32 would be my last choices.

I use to have a coworker that c.c. everyday in a shirt sleeve type office. He carried a Walther .380 in a bellyband nylon rig that wrapped completely around his waist and secured with Velcro. The rig had a pocket and spare magazine holders sewn directly into it. He wore it low enough that with his shirt tucked in it was undectable. Of course it was slow to draw from as he had to unbutton his shirt first. With your build it would be a great way to carry (where in the world did you get the idea 160 lbs is too thin?)

With a active shooter you will have to take whatever shot presents itself. For example if the only part of his body is his leg what are the odds of a mouse cartridge injuring it badly enough to disable him? Odds are the 22 will cause some pain but not shatter a bone whereas a 380 will.
 
Last edited:
I sometimes carry a Beretta .22 short pocket automatic. It's decently reliable with some loads, such as CCI. It delivers about 35 ft-lbs of muzzle energy and has a 6+1 magazine. With proper shot placement, it will kill any living creature... man or beast... that currently inhabits this Earth.

And it's enough for me.
 
The misfires one gets in a .22 LR is often due to not having any priming compound in the rim area where your firing pin happened to hit. I've pulled many misfires and that is the reason most didn't go off. It is also the reason many of the shells will go off if reinserted and hit at a different location on the rim. Sometimes the priming compound never was distributed properly and you can see it floating the powder.

Part of the blame could go to how the ammo was handled. Dropping the cases when moved by careless store employees is a likely cause.

If you carry a .22 LR for defense the best choice is likely a double action revolver as a misfire can simply be overcome with another pull of the trigger. There are many small revolver that fill this niche like the Ruger snubs (LCR & SP's), Taurus 94's, S&W Kit guns, and Charter Arms. Some will give you as many as 9 rounds in the cylinder others 8 or the traditional 6.

The .22 is as lethal as any handgun with the proper bullet placement. There was a Cold Case tv show about 2 police officers that where killed with a snub nose .22 LR and the case was solved some 20 years later when the gun was dug up in someones back yard where the perp had thrown it after the crime. This did happen in the late 70's when the officers where not wearing body armor.
 
More people are killed with 22LR than any other round is what I saw in one article. I will try to dig it up. I think this was because of availability and popularity though, not killing power. I have **** a 22 WMR for years with no FTF's. Last year I bought two boxes of Wichester and two or three out of ten dont shoot. That is unacceptable for sure.
 
Bflee,
When you said Winchester, you said it all.
I would not trust my life on Winchester!
The picture is of Win Super-X .22 WMR unfired, with split cases.
Notice the split cases, worst case scenario is..... I didn't notice, and it did fire!
STW
 

Attachments

  • case split.jpeg.jpg
    case split.jpeg.jpg
    76.2 KB · Views: 24
I have at least 25 out of 100 in my closet with deep firing pin hits that did not go boom. I have never had a CCI or Hornady FTF.
 
Bflee,
Exactly what I said in a previous post!
Let us not blame the whole rimfire world on some ammo, Like mad it is NOT all created equal! I also have a Colt Jr. in .22 short I sometimes carry so long as it has CCI in it.
I inadvertantly bought some .22 short Remington goldens and 1 out of six wouldn't go boom on the first strike.
STW
 
Inazone writes:

When my wife got her CCW, for one reason or another, she decided the SR22 was *the* carry gun for her, despite me offering to take her to every gun shop in the area to find something more appropriate. She kept coming back to the Ruger..
Click to expand...

I'd feel better if my wife would carry even a .22 caliber handgun at least sometimes..
 
I'm pretty much against carrying .22, unless it's all you can shoot, or all you can afford.

That said, I did carry a S&W 317 for a short period of time to work. I only owned my S&W sigma, and couldn't afford another gun. I worked in an extremely anti gun company working my way through college, and needed something to carry that absolutely would not become visible at any point during the day. My mother's fiancé lent me the snubby, and it worked great for its intended purpose.
 
My Grandfather carried an H&R 9 shot 22 revolver with a 2 inch barrel for years when he went to sale his cotton at the gin. I wish he had not sold it I would love to have it.
 
My running gun is a NAA Mini Revolver in .22 Magnum. Not a .22LR, but with the 1 1/8" barrel, you're certainly not maxing out the .22 Mag's potential. It makes a good pocket carry as well.

Sometimes, I will carry my Beretta 21A as well. .22LR is not a great defense round, but that gun is easy to carry, and the tip up barrel can be helpful for administrative loading/ unloading.
 
Air America.....

In the late 1980s, I read a gun publication with a interesting article about how a helicopter pilot in the CIA covert Air America program flew missions in SE Asia armed only with a "Baby Browning" .25acp pistol. :eek:
I guess the CIA pilot felt like that's all he needed "downrange".
What someone chooses or why they pick it is up to them.
Id feel safer with a .40 or a .45acp sidearm, but that's my choice.
 
This article has statistics which show the 22lr is fine for stopping power over a large # of incidents.

http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/alternate-look-handgun-stopping-power

<<What I believe that my numbers show is that in the majority of shootings, the person shot merely gives up without being truly incapacitated by the bullet. In such an event, almost any bullet will perform admirably. If you want to be prepared to deal with someone who won't give up so easily, or you want to be able to have good performance even after shooting through an intermediate barrier, I would skip carrying the "mouse gun" .22s, .25s and .32s. - See more at: http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/alternate-look-handgun-stopping-power#sthash.LyyaxjrI.dpuf>>
 
Interesting article on BF. It makes me think about three people I know that were shot. One was shot point blank pinned against a wall with .357 magnum. Survived. Barely
Another with 12 ga at 10 ft. Survived.
Another hit in shoulder with 22lr while driving in car. Which died 1 hour later. The round had traveled into a artery near his neck.
 
Some folks would carry a howitzer if they could. meaning....bigger is better.

I`ll go with , what ever will get the job done. if that`s a 22 . Then so be it.
 
I have carried a Beretta 21A and did carry one daily for a few years. I quit when it became unreliable in that I had failure to fires. I recommended them to folks before that and had good luck literally for years. Certainly it could have been an ammo problem. I had the opertunity to go to a .32 that was not significantly larger and after firing it a bit, you basic 200 round no failure break in, I retired the beretta. If the Beretta was all I had I would do some ammo research (or I would have before the draught) and still carry it.

BTW the M21a with 40 grain HV solid ran around 740-780 fps over my Dillon Chrono. I used solids because they were more reliable feeders and I believed would penetrate deeper.

I have also carried .38 snubbies, .380 midsized guns, Star PDs, and Officers Model .45 and service pistols in 9 silly meter and .45 ACP concealed. I think that you carry AND that you can use what you carry is more important than WHAT you carry.

A friend that has now passed carried a Beretta 950 in .22Short. It was what he could carry in his work place where carry was forbidden. He made the discussion to do so because he had cancer and a swollen Spleen. He was told by his doctor that even a punch to his belly could thus be fatal, so he carried what he could to avoid having to fight bare handed. His theory was that if he had to fight someone he would rather fight someone leaking from a number of .22 caliber holes than an otherwise health thug.

One day we went to the beach, a beautiful day on the North Gulf along the "Red Neck Reviera" where he had spent most summers as a youth. We where in trunks and t shirts and just sitting on our towels admiring the scenery as they strolled by in the then popular two piece near nothing style swim suits. I planned to swim but he was concerned about being slapped by a rough wave ( the swelling was very bad at this point). Some youth that had noticed an NRA sticker on the car strolled over and engaged in a Y chromosome based discussion of things weaponry. We tried to be polite but not encouraging and finally he asked "What are you carrying?" Well my friend replied he carried a .22 Short. There were snorts and laughter and then a statement that he carried a .357 "like a real man". I had planned to answer "Nunya" as in Nunya business, but decided to see where this went. My friend asked to see it while slipping his hand into his bathing trunks pocket. The manly man announced that if we would come to his car he would show it to us as that was where he kept his gun (seems he though car carry was carry) My friend smiled and half drew his beretta and said "mine is in my hand, yours seems a bit far off, looks like a .22 short beats a .357" The guy left, not just the beach, but got in his car and left.

A .22 ain't much, but it can be with you when little else can and something beats nothing to most folks.

-kBob
 
I have not read all of this thread but here is a practicable example of the 22lr. Some 50+ years ago my Mother was home when 2 hop heads broke into her house in the early afternoon. Four shots later from an old H&R 22 the two went directly to the morgue. She had not fired the gun in many years but at one time was able to shoot rabbits for food with it so she had good muscle memory and it worked for her. I like big holes but shot placement is most important.
 
FlinnComm, I checked the site before linking it (post 67.) Had no issues. Not the first time it's been linked here, but the first time I've heard anyone have issues trying to view it. It's a few years old. Too bad you couldn't read it; it's kind of a neat account, though it's also a review of the guns used (Beretta Models 70 and 71.)
 
Last edited:
MedWheeler said:
FlinnComm, I checked the site before linking it (post 67.) Had no issues.
Click to expand...

Yup, not accusing you of posting dodgy links :) I just got a warning, for an unknown reason, so thought that in the interest of the community it would be better to flag it.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

F
  • Locked
"Trail Gun"
2
Replies
43
Views
3K
fxstchewy
F
ACP
  • Locked
22LR companion gun for main carry gun?
2
Replies
40
Views
3K
orionengnr
O
Legionnaire
  • Locked
CCW: How many have you actually carried ... at one time?
2 3
Replies
65
Views
4K
Optical Serenity
O
Baron66
  • Locked
What is the best and most capable .22lr handgun for concealed carry?
2 3
Replies
54
Views
9K
Robert
Robert
O
  • Locked
Ruger LCR 22LR -OR- S&W 43C Airlite 22LR
Replies
0
Views
545
Onward Allusion
O
Back
Top