Have you ever had a .22LR for defense?

[LeonCarr]

About 25 years ago I stopped a rabid dog with a Remington 552A Speedmaster .22 loaded with CCI Stingers. One right behind the ear.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

 

[9mmfan]

I've carried one a few times though I'm not 100% sure why. When I managed a bar, I would throw it in a pocket of my "man purse" that I used for a briefcase. Fit in there nicely. Of course it would be locked up with the bag in the office, as I was carrying a Glock 19 IWB under my untucked shirt. Sometimes it would be a 642 in the bag instead.

It's been a while, but it might have just been easier than moving the hundred pounds of stuff that was stacked in front of my safe in the hall closet.

 

[CajunBass]

I have on a number of occasions, and probably will again, Lord willing.

Mostly a Bersa Firestorm in 22...but I've carried Ruger Standard Auto's as well as Single-Six's and a Bearcat while walking. I've used a Smith & Wesson Model 18, and a Dan Wesson 22 for the same purpose.

Now, I was "just out walking" so I don't know if I'd consider that "self-defense" or "hiking" but since they're they only gun I have with me at the time, that's what I'd use if I needed it.

 

[Sniper66]

I have carried a Wather PPK/S .22, a nice little pistol, but a poor carry choice. I just carried it because it is small and easily concealed. I prefer my Glock 19 Gen4 9mm.

 

[Shawn Dodson]

Yes. A Beretta 21A and an S&W 317-3.

I pocket carried the Beretta for awhile but I didn't like it's girth. I sold it and replaced it with a Seecamp .32.

The S&W weighs next to nothing, is eight shot, dead reliable, and I carry it under particular circumstances.

 

[wolf695]

Use the right ammo, your first round should be a cci 22 birdshot round. very good at close range in the face. It works!!! Some places have rules on what ammo you can and cant have. It will give you time for escape or more rounds.

 

[mnrivrat]

I've never depended on a .22 LR for self defense and perhaps its ironic that the two times I had to fire in defense I ended up using a .22LR gun.

In both cases I came out OK but I do not recommend one for carry for that purpose.

 

[torqem]

I really cannot imagine why anyone considers a mini-revolver to be "enough gun", much less such a short barreled .22lr being powerful enough for defensive work. If I am going to have something as feeble as a .22lr, it's going to be something with which I can get 4-5 brain hits per second (at 6 ft or so of distance). Not something that is doing great to get 5 hits in 4 entire seconds.

I think that it is very strange for folks to consider a full sized SA revolver "too-slow" for defensive use, while a mini-revolver is ok! The full sized gun can be in a powerful caliber, and if you use the weak hand's thumb to cock the hammer, (2-handed, eye-level firing position) the big SA revolver can get 2-3 hits per second (on the chest, at say, 10 ft of range). Funny how, as you want less bulk and weight for ccw, it becomes ok to have such a slow, awkward, unsafe gun as the mini-revolvers, is it not?

We say that you "might" forget to disengage an SA auto's safety, or that it's silly to carry the SA auto in Condition Two. Yet thumbcocking an SA auto's hammer only has to be done once, and the gun then offers 7-20 shots, depending upon caliber and type. Why then, be Ok with being that slow for every shot, in the manner of a mini-revolver?

Could you explain how a 1" thick M21 is "too much girth", while a 1 1/4" thick revolver is ok to ccw?

I vehemently disagree about using birdshot for defense,even in .45 Colt revolvers. You may only have time for that one shot and it had better be effective with a chest hit, and not require a hit to the eyes. Rifling "spins" a shot charge, making it have an empty center for the shot pattern.

We also say that lethal stress is likely to mess you all up, when it comes to nerve control and fine muscular attributes. Why then, would you want to have no trigger guard, a very tiny hammer spur, and a tiny grip on the frame? I see guys complaining about some pocket 9 not offering a grip for their pinkie, and then others think that a mini-revolver is a suitable ccw gun? When there are autos as lw and compact as the .32 Keltec, why would you give up that rapidfire and DA fast first shot, to choose a mini-revolver? The .32 user will still have more rds available than a mini-revolver, be a lot faster to the first shot, and probably be faster to fire 5 rds, even if he has to clear a malfunction every other shot.

 

[torqem]

Seems strange

Why would the M21 just "have" to go into a pants pocket when the .22 revolver does not?

 

[Hypnogator]

I've carried a NAA mini-revolver as a "Special Agent's Last Resort" and a Walther TPH in .22LR before Kel-Tec came out with the P-32.

A .22 in your pocket will stop a fight a lot faster than a .44 Magnum out in the car.

 

[tactikel]

"Use the right ammo, your first round should be a cci 22 birdshot round. very good at close range in the face. It works!!! Some places have rules on what ammo you can and cant have. It will give you time for escape or more rounds."

IMO a .22 birdshot is worthless in a defense situation. It will jam any semi auto, lacks ability to deter a determined assailant, wastes time and a round. For killing rats or pigeons in a barn ok. Anything else forget it. In a SD situation you have seconds to stop an assailant from harming you you or a loved one. You need penetration, reliable follow up shots.
Years ago ( early '60s?) a gun writer mused that .22s had stopped more SD assailants than any other round.
A 2lb jar of peanut butter roughly approximates the ballistic equivalent of a human skull, shoot it with a .22 at 6 feet case closed.

 

[22-rimfire]

I have carried a 22 handgun or kept one available in my home from time to time even when I have more powerful choices.

 

[deputy tom]

Yes, around forty years ago. We had a Ruger .22 Standard pistol for a HD gun. It was THE set up for young married couples on a budget. tom.

 

[Deltaboy1984]

I killed aggressive trespassing uncollared dogs with 22 from a pistol and rifle. IMO only a fool crosses a man with any gun.

 

[MedWheeler]

Wolf695 writes:

Use the right ammo, your first round should be a cci 22 birdshot round. very good at close range in the face. It works!!! Some places have rules on what ammo you can and cant have. It will give you time for escape or more rounds.

If I'm close enough to an attacker that birdshot to the face would work, I definitely don't want birdshot!

Edit: I recall you made the same assertion back in June of last year. The below was my response:

In virtually every jurisdiction within the US, the discharge of a firearm in lawful self-defense requires that the shooter feel fear for his/her life, or that of another person. Most every jurisdiction also recognizes that such discharge, regardless of the round used, constitutes the use of "deadly force".

If one feels that "deadly force" is necessary, why should one use a round known to be unable to deliver it? If deadly force is not necessary, then the gun should not be fired.

 

[ms6852]

I use the naa mini revolver all the time as my primary sad gun when I jog, but it's 22 magnum.

 

[Kurt S.]

Yes indeed

I've been broke a lot in my life, so:

H&R 929 - had nothing else at the time. Replaced it with an AMT .380 and later with a Charter Bulldog .44 SPL.

Ruger 10/22 - again, had nothing else at the time. Replaced with an SKS and Chinese Tokarev T33.

Right now, I'm about to let my little dogs out and have a smoke before I hit the sack...got my hoodie on over my pj's, Surefire in one pocket and NAA mini in the other. Normal EDC is S&W M36, Kel-Tec P3AT, or NAA Guardian.

 

[Carl Levitian]

The state of Maryland, AKA known as the Peoples Republic Of Marylandistan, has never, and most likely never will have a CCW. So the following tale is a fairy tale. After all, the 'net is not as private as you think.

"Once upon a time, a long time ago in the land called Marylandistan, a young man and his girlfriend went for a picnic in the woods. They picked a nice spot, a clearing overlooking part of the Upper Patuxent river in the fair county of Montgomery. Nice sunny day, warm temps, and being young and in love, they didn't hear the couple of low lifes approach until they were at the clearing.

The low lifes said all kinds of bad things, relating how they "wuz gonna have some real good fun" with the young couple on the blanket. One of them was doing the Hollywood TV threat thing cleaning his nails with a Buck knife. Both grinning like possums with bad teeth.

Imagine the shock and horror when the young man who had been making out with his girlfriend reached in a pack quick as a wink, and pulled out a Harrington Richardson 9 shot revolver and fired a shot into the ground right in front of the two lowlifes. Both low lifes jumped back in surprise and fear, instantly become very religious. It must have been a religious experience for them, as they kept 'swearing to God' they were only joking around, swearing to God if the young man with the .22 revolver would just let them go, he'd never see them again, swearing to God to please not shoot them. The one with the Buck knife dropped it on the ground and begged not to be shot.

They were told to run, and if the young man saw then again, they were dead meat. They must have believed him, because the two low lifes ran like heck, never to be seen again.

The young couple finished what they had been doing, and had an uneventful after noon. Not long afterward, they were married. They went on to have a 42 year love affair still going on to this date. Of course, Maryland being a People's Republic, they still both keep a gun handy, under deep cover, most of the time a nice compact .22 revolver. So you could say, they lived happily ever after."

Any resemblance to persons living or dead, in the Peoples Republic Of Marylandistan is totally a coincidence. Really.

 

[dagger dog]

I would rather have my Beretta 21A than my Gerber Guardian, but I feel confident when carrying both.

 

[Milkmaster]

I have a Beretta 21A that sometimes does CCW duty.

Me too!

 

[amd6547]

Me three!
I also occasionally carry my Ruger SR22, which has proven to be accurate and reliable. It carries easily IWB in a kydex clip on holster.

 

[PRM]

Yes...

Beretta 21A
NAA Black Widow

 

[chicharrones]

Yep. Several times, and not by choice. Tried to defend the house with a .22 single shot smoothbore. From a black bear. In the house. At seven years old. With my mother and two sisters behind me.

-And no, I didn't shoot. I just kept mother calm until the bear finished eating the salmon and went back out the window.

Later, when I was just out of high school, I took a job as a security guard at a road-building site. The only gun I had at the time was an RG-14 with a 1 1/2 inch barrel. Then I found an AR-7 in the Rogue River. A major step up. My next paycheck allowed me to put an black powder .44 on lay-away, and I never went back to a .22 as a main defensive arm.

Now that is interesting history, Waldo.

 

[UpperAtmosphere]

I have an NAA mini revolver that I will carry as a backup.

A .22LR would not be my first choice as a defense gun, but I wouldn't rule it out completely.

 

[btg3]

No.........