Aguila Interceptor 40 grain solid. They clock 1000 fps out of my little LCP II and are accurate and reliable. With ten of them on board I feel protected as well as I can be with such a small gun.
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Aguila Interceptor 40 grain solid. They clock 1000 fps out of my little LCP II and are accurate and reliable. With ten of them on board I feel protected as well as I can be with such a small gun.
I have 2 semi-auto range toys Ruger SR22 and Walther P22. Both are very reliable even with standard velocity ammo (CCI). If I forced to carry one of those my preferences would be toward Ruger, just because on Walther one can pull trigger while safety is on (hammer will drop on block which might be confusing on why there's no bang)
My opinion: any well made, trusted revolver, with CCI Standard MiniMags, or Stingers.
You could always train with a 22, and carry a 38 in same basic handgun.
S&W317/S&W642
That's actually what I do myself! I have two 3" steel J-frames, one in 22LR and one in 357mag, with the same grips, same holsters. There are other guns that do many things better, but they are some of the best general-purpose easily-carried guns I have ever had the privilege of owning.
I have 2 "car guns" both Phoenix arms HP-22's. One with 4" barrel, one with 6". Both are in zippered bags, with 2 loaded mags, and a 100 round box of .22lr copper plated hollow points.
For actual carry I prefer .22 mag or .32acp/.32sw long.
I have 2 NAA revolvers in .22 mag, and at close range, 10 feet, both do well.
For longer range my 32's will do better at 20 feet than the little NAA's do at 10.
But any of the above is better than nothing. Which is mostly what I carry. Nothing. But I like having one close at need.
If you can keep your cool, smaller is more accurate IMO.
At the range 9mm and bigger tends to ring my gong some. In a tight situation I'd rather not have to worry about my gun or my shooting. YMMV
there are actually quite a few documented assassinations by mob figures and others though the years who's preferred weapon is the Ruger mark I and mark II. however, there is one pretty well know case during the Philadelphia mob wars were an extremely hardheaded Individual was shot in the head by a 22lr more than once, survived and became a govt witness.
I also like my Beretta 950 Minx in 22 Short. Since we are talking about the LR round, I would choose my 21A, which is but a bit chunkier than the Minx. For the 21A, I recently ordered, directly from Federal, their new 22 LR defense load, the 22 Punch.
Federal’s idea was to get the best defense performance possible from a 2 inch barrel and they ended up with a nickel plated 30 grain flat point bullet. They claim 1070 fps from a 2” handgun and 1650 fps from a 24 inch rifle barrel. Haven’t tried it yet, but want to test it along side Mini Mags and Stingers.
Interesting article. I would not have expected 12" of penetration from a .22 out of a short barrel.
But I have seen 125 lb deer run over 25 yards with its boiler-room shredded by a hunting rifle using jacketed bullets....and other times DRT. Can't figure it out. I suppose some deer are a lot tougher than 200 lbs BG's....but that much tougher???
Just too many unknowns to say "yea" or "nye" about what is adequate. Is the bag guy looking for an easy victim and prone to run away if injured? Or is he a "peaceful protester" fueled by rage and hatred (maybe drugs) who wants to kill you. Or an ex-lover on a mission?
I know for certain, putting hole in the boiler room of a deer means a dead deer. It can die within a couple of feet or run well over 25 yards. I suspect putting a hole in the boiler room of a BG means death too...but he is typically less than 10 yards from you...and unlike a deer that is not armed with a gun, knife or tire iron; he has targeted you for more than a handshake.
Any gun is better than nothing. On that we can all agree. For a healthy person to select a mouse gun makes little sense to me. I had a 120 lb gf who had no problem shooting a 16 oz 9mm Kahr. Maybe she was one of those people who would run 7 yards after taking a shot in the heart with a .22 and stab you. I think being Irish may be a "contributing factor". LOL
I have no intention of relying on a .22 for personal defense but if I were forced to go that route My S&W M&P .22 Compact would fill the bill. It's proven itself to be reliable and accurate over many hundreds of rounds of mixed ammunition and is lightweight. Just slightly larger than the S&W Shield.
I had earlier posted an article by Lucky Gunner. I really appreciate the amount of research that goes into the information that is offered there. What a good take home message is - psychological stops are still stops. Meaning that person is done fighting regardless of what they are hit with. I just had a client's sons (yep plural) killed by an armed assailant, any thoughts on what was used?
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I agree with Colonel Jeff Cooper on 22LR and 25ACP for defense
:coffee:
i had a 25acp like that. it was dead reliable. Comical thing to me was guys claiming it would about bounce off of someone if shot with it. I had a 1/2 plywood target board up and gold dots blew through it every time. Must be some real tough skinned people out there. I wish I had that little gun back.
.22LR has killed more people per F.B.I.than all other cartridges combined. This of course includes accidental and other variables. I see the biggest problem for me in my house should the need arise to take some action the bigger cartridges in small rooms muzzle blast and flash will disorient and not be pleasant for me.
I have opted for a Beretta Bobcat .22LR for the bump in the night, I do have a few Colt P.P.’s in various locations throughout the house that are not noticeable.
Randy,
I tried to illustrate the scenario in my post. But let's look at your statement about more people killed with a .22 and accept it as fact.
Because most people do not use a .22 for self-defense, it is likely that most of those people killed were victims of accidents or victims of murder. If I want to assault you or kill you, I will try to make sure I have the element of surprise and try to determine if you are armed. If the victim is unarmed, murder with a .22 is an excellent choice as it is rather quiet. You assailant will not care if you die in 5 seconds or 10 minutes as you are unarmed and he capable of delivering additional rounds as his pleasure without consequences.
In your home, if you shoot a BG with a .22 in the right place, he will die...might take 5 seconds or 10 minutes...but he will die. If he is unarmed you win. But what if his armed? Does he run away or shoot back?
If your "bump in the night" is unarmed your .22 is going to do the job. In some places shooting an unarmed intruder is OK, in other places maybe less so. If the guy you shoot is armed, and he does not die for a few minutes, you will be hoping he does not last long from his "fatal" shot.
My "bump in the night" gun is a Mossberg 500 with low recoil buckshot. The 9mm on the nightstand is not adequate for a sure stop at a distance of feet. Better than a .22, but not better than the 12 ga. I can use a 12 ga because there are only two of us in the house and we live rurally. If I blast through some drywall into the next room, there is no safety issue.
One other factor...everyone in the area knows I used shoot competitively. I hunt, reload and do minor gun work for the locals. Anyone entering my home with an IQ higher than room temperature knows I will be armed...and therefore I assume they will be armed.
In a street mugging, a .22 pistol may be good enough to drive a less than committed adversary away. He will find an easier victim. Just showing a gun may be enough!
Everyone has different needs, situations and abilities. Picking what to defend yourself and your home with is not a one size fits all solution. The importance of threads like this is to allow us to run various scenarios through our head before we face a gun fight.
There is no doubt the .22 will kill when time is not of the essence.
As for home defense, the gun my wife handles the best is a Marlin Mod. 60, so that's what is in the bedroom. It's trivial to put the entire magazine in a little spot very quickly, and if 14 rounds of 22LR from a rifle won't do the job chances are that other options wouldn't either.
Would rather have a suppressed 9mm SBR with a 33 round Glock mag, but you've got to balance priorities...
When I carry my pocket 22 auto it’s stoked with CCI Stingers.
I carry a little NAA Mini in 22LR in my knife pocket. At the lake, it carries CCI Shot for snakes. Don't like snakes. When its carried in town, it gets CCI SV. It is NOT the primary. Best way Ive heard it described is an Ear Hole Gun. I suppose it could be compared to a well placed pocket knife.
It IS a cool little revolver! I try to shoot it most range trips.
Sigep1764 I was at the range one day working with my then new to me NAA revolvers in .22mag.
I had an RSO suggest that for a nose gun it would probably work pretty well. Insert barrel in nose, fire, repeat as needed.
I liked it, as it seemed a barrel shoved partly up someones nose just might have a bit more ability to "lead" in the direction wanted.
You might actually have a little control.