.22LR SD Round recomendation

[Leanwolf]

JENRICK - "...Obviously I'm not expecting a 1 shot stop, that's why she's got a 15rd magazine."


Well, she might not get that "one shot stop," but I can guarantee you if she pokes a bad guy 12 or 13 times in the chest and face, even if it is not a "one shot stop," she will most definitely make him think very seriously about taking up a different profession.

(BTW, I know of two women who shot bad guys with .22 LR revolvers, and killed them. One was a one shot stop/kill and the other was five shots stop/deaad on the floor. I know one woman who shot a knife wielding bad guy at about three feet with a Beretta .25ACP. Didn't kill him but it made him run like a scalded dog. Police later arrested him at a hospital Emergency Room ... where he was one very sick puppy.)

If the .22 is what she likes and PRACTICES WITH, if a bad guy comes at her, that .22 will sure beat heck out of praying!

L.W.

 

[Jenrick]

Leanwolf: Pretty much hit it on the head

Though the .22mag intrigues me, especially with Bill Jordan being impressed with it. I just have to find .22mag and shoot it.

-Jenrick

 

[LanEvo`]

Hi, Jenrick.

Longer term: try to convince her to try a .38 special. With target loads, I honestly BARELY can tell the difference in recoil between a .38 special in my GP 100 and a .22 in my Single-Six. A full size medium revolver and .38 special loads is about the easiest recoiling combination out there, except of course for .22 IMO.

This is just what I was thinking as well. I know you mentioned you don't reload, but there are tons of 148 grain lead wadcutter target loads on the market. And that's pretty much as mild as it gets, especially when fired through a mid-sized revolver.

I remember when I first took my sister shooting. She's 5'6" and around 105 lbs...not exactly a huge girl. I started her off on my Browning Buckmark .22LR and then moved her up to a S&W 586 loaded with 148gr LHBWC. She found the L-frame Smith even easier to shoot and more managable than the Buckmark.

Anyway, it's something to consider.

 

[Jenrick]

Hmm so who exactly makes a 148gr .38spl target load? All the stuff I've seen sold at the various places here in central texas are high power defensive loads.

-Jenrick

 

[clone]

stingers are a bit light and might give up to much penetration. i would suggest CCI velocitor (if 22lr is a must), its high velocity, heavyer grain bullet and smaller hp cavity give it good expansion and penetration.

 

[MCgunner]

Hmm so who exactly makes a 148gr .38spl target load? All the stuff I've seen sold at the various places here in central texas are high power defensive loads.

Remington's 148 grain HBWC is about the most accurate factory load I've ever fired in a handgun. I load my own, not hollow base, that are very accurate, also. I bought Remingtons before at WalMart in years past, but all I can ever find there in .38 special now days is friggin' 130 FMJ, about totally worthless except maybe for the brass. I don't remember the Remington ammo being expensive, either. That was some accurate stuff for the money.

 

[stevelyn]

+1 on what Clone said. I've whacked a couple dogs (pitbulls no less) with the CCI Velocitor with impressive results for a .22.

The Velocitor uses a full 40 gr bullet that is manufactured using Speer Gold Dot technology. It also driven faster and seems to hold together better.

Regardless, being shot with a .22, is still going to leave ugly marks all over one's medical records.

 

[gopguy]

Jeff Cooper says the .22lr is a fine defensive caliber, as long as it goes up the tear duct!

I can remember reading years back where Cooper talked about buying Walther PP pistols in .22lr to get some female friends started in defensive shooting practice. He was lamenting how the guns had disappeared and those that were available were too expensive now for gifting away. I started my wife and my mother shooting on a S&W .22 kit gun and then moved them to a Walther PP in .22lr. My Mother is arthritic and has stuck to the kit gun and she has her CCW license and carrys that. She shoots it well but I do lament it being so small. My wife graduated up to a Smith and Wesson .32 hand ejector then a Walther PP in .32acp. Eventually she fell for a Model 36 in .38 special with a 3 inch barrel. That is her carry gun. Her house guns are a Sig 239 and a Sig 225 both in 9mm. But she does not like to carry them. She also has a Bulgarian and East German Makarov she practices with. So you can see working with the ladies can pay off eventually. Took me a few years to make this progress with the wife though.

I occasionally carry a Walther TPH as a back up gun in .22lr. I use the Remington Golden bullets finding them to be accurate and reliable in this gun. Surprising for bulk pack ammo. My usual carry gun is a 1911 in .45 and on occasion a Browning HP 35 that I shoot quite well in 9mm.

 

[22-rimfire]

I don't have any big problems using a 22LR for defensive purposes. My suggestion is that she practice with the gun to hit where she aims. Also, she needs to think in terms of emptying the gun on the bad guy versus shooting once and seeing what happens. (That is probably my personal tendancy and as a result, I practice shooting full magazines or cylinders quickly.) Have an extra loaded magazine along as well. I would use the CCI velocitors or the Federal high velocity solids. Make sure the ammunition feeds reliably in the gun she uses.

My personal gun of choice is a Smith 442 revolver with 38spl+P's. Not a gun that I just love to shoot lots, but based on target shooting, I would not want to be a bad guy at 7 yards and I certainly don't want the bad guy closer than 6 feet. The only beef I have with this revolver is that it is a bit slow to use the speed loaders.

 

[Terrierman]

I occasionally carry a Walther TPH as a back up gun in .22lr.

I really like my TPH a lot too. I use it as a coup de grace gun on groundhogs raccoons and the like when hunting with my terriers. I also stick it in a little bag and carry it when I'm cycling. It goes fishing too. Very handy and reliable little pistol, darned accurate too, way too accurate for something that size. I've switched back and forth between CCI Mini Mags and Winchester Super X in mine. The pistol digests either very nicely. I wonder about the Mini Mags and the life of the pistol though, as there is a significant difference in "vigor" from the Mini Mags vs the Super X. And since the Super X has the same effect on the critters I'm dumping them into, I've pretty well settled on that round.

I've used Remington gold bullets too and they work fine, but my rifles don't like them as well as Super X so I don't normally keep them around for myself. But my son's P22 shoots the gold bullets better than anything else he's tried (and he's tried a lot) so he always has a box or two.

 

[Sistema1927]

If the .22 is what she likes and PRACTICES WITH, if a bad guy comes at her, that .22 will sure beat heck out of praying!

Might be better to both shoot and pray. Let me suggest a prayer:

Blessed be the LORD, my rock,
who trains my hands for war,
and my fingers for battle;
he is my steadfast love and my fortress,
my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield and he in whom I take refuge,
who subdues peoples under me.

(Psalm 144:1-2, ESV)

 

[45crittergitter]

Velocitor, hands down.

 

[zahc]

Mini mag.

 

[shooter429]

cci

Mini-Mag HV 40 GLRN About as good as it gets.

Shooter429

 

[Tyril]

My sincere suggestion is to NOT consider the .22 Magnum.

What most people don't realize is, when fired in a short-barreled pistol or revolver, this round is LOUD!

Seriously LOUD.

Someone at the range was shooting a Single Six 5.5" .22 magnum with some hunting loads. Another fellow was shooting some 9mm. The 9mm was completely drowned out.

My gut feeling is that practicing with such a frightening round will cause her to dislike the firearm immensely, and perhaps even become turned off shooting [handguns] altogether.


Yes, its ballistics are significantly better than .22lr (.22 mag in a pistol is comparable to .22lr in a rifle), but at the cost of practice... I believe the choice ought to be .22lr for someone who is sound-sensitive.


My pick would be Solid (not HP) .22 Mini-Mags.



Hope this helps!


-mike

 

[loandr.]

Not going to give my opinion on caliber since you didnt ask STINGER, Quick-Shots and stay away from the Aquilla Sniper round....I usually love it BUT underpowered Powder wise and will not cycle most small semi's reliably. Just my expierence

LD

 

[deciple-of-keith]

Where as I don't normally get involved in discusstions reguards SD firearms . It may be well to point out that a hell of a lot of people have been killed with the .22 Lr ! I think if your going out looking for a fight ! Carry a 12 gauge ! Or be able to call in a air strike ! Hey in a perfect world you know when the Exreta is going to hit the ossalating device ! (the Sh#t's gunna hit the fan ) In real life there will be very little or no warning! Trust me when it happens there will be no warning the Threat is in your face ! I personaly think your just as well off with a .22 rather than standing with a rock or bottle ect ! If there is nothing else avalible ! (Cars make great1/4 ton batons) I would rather pump a whole lot of .22s into a bad guy than have to get in to hand to hand ! ! There is the pycological effect on someone looking down the barrel of a firearm! Trust me a .22 looks to have a bore of about 2inches ! If your assalent is off theirTree on drugs ......Read up on how many solid hits Junkies have taken with large cals & still killed their victiam!

Dave

 

[coylh]

Get her a thousand rounds of the least reliable .22s you can find, and send her off to the range.

 

[john from md]

I performed some ballistic tests with 22lr

and found that the CCI Mini Mag was the most consistant, fastest 40gr bullet and penetrated two gallon water jugs.

An earlier poster made a comment about 22 jamming. If you use a Beretta 22, you should be ok. To date, I have put 4,325 rounds through a Beretta M21A without a malfunction. Yes I do count them because this is my wife's backup gun and we always shoot it "just to make sure" it doesn't malfunction.
It hasn't yet, so don't worry about one jamming. Just make sure you use a good 40 grain, high velocity load.

John from MD

 

[Gordon]

I use Quick Shock pre fragmented rounds in my 2" S&W kit gun as I have found them to kill 30 pound Raccoons quicker than the Stingers that were the previous best .22lr in 20 years use.

 

[john from md]

I also tested Quick shots and

they fragmented in the first gallon of water. I agree they are good for varmints and pests but I don't think they would penetrate enough to do serious damage to a person.

 

[RyanM]

http://www.firearmstactical.com/briefs27.htm

Quik-Shoks penetrate only 5-6" in that caliber, and make miniscule permanent and temporary cavities. I wouldn't use them on anything bigger than a bunny.

 

[Gordon]

2" barrel = lack of velocity. Lack of velocity = reduced expansion = more penetration. They go thru 30 pound racoons , barely , as I found the unfragmented but folded out (like a black talon) bullet on my deck along with some insides. No they are not as strong as a .32acp or a .38spl wadcutter, but like I said 2" barrelthey seem about the best thing out there-by far.I wouldn't want to get hit by one, but if I was using my Beretta 70 Jaguar .22 to put one behind the ear of a BG , it would be Winchester Dynapoints I'm sure!

 

[BRASSM]

First rule of a Gunfight, Have a Gun.Yes all of the 'experts' say that the .22LR is not a SD round. At one point in my life I was carrying a Hi-Standard .22 for self defense. Every saturday I went through several boxes of ammo,[and spent time cleaning it afterwards]. I felt confident that a few hits in the throat would prove effective. A center of mass shot would probably not be instantly effective. I was younger an an excellent shot. Now I carry a .357 Mag, .357SIG, or 9mm Browning Hi-Power. I have a Hi-Standard 9 shot .22Mag, but I think that CF's are superior for a Serious Social Encounter. I know a surgeon who always say's don't underestimate .22's, there's a lot of dead reprobates down in the morgue who got that final acute case of lead poisioning from them. And yes I agree with TYRIL the .22mag is louder then you think it should be.