.22 Ruger for self-defense?

[5whiskey]

I hate to introduce myself here as the fact police, but....

I have a mark III, and have told several people, several times. I would rather have it with me if I needed it than almost anything else. Good in most situations, without a lot of downsides. But on to the ammo debate.

At 7 yards I could put all ten rounds into a paper plate in a little over a second.
Think buckshot. Little holes, and a lot of them. NO one says buckshot won't stop someone,

I think people over estimate big rounds, and under estimate little rounds.
22 stinger hits harder than a 32 auto, with a smaller hole.
stinger: http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct...tnumber=199998
32 auto: http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct...tNumber=153200

22 mag hits harder than 380, and even 38 special +p. but again, smaller hole.
22 mag:http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct...tNumber=775384
380: http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct...tNumber=550134
38 spc: http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct...tNumber=152083

And if people say it's about caliber size.... why do people have 223 rifles? Bullet speed is important in causing trauma, trauma causes shock.

I think any gun is a good defense in the right hands. Train well, find what works. go with it.

That post is all good and well if you are using a .22lr RIFLE for SD. If you're using a pistol, you can take those pretty numbers and throw them away. CCI stingers fired out of a 3" pistol bbl will pop out going about 970 FPS. (32gr x 970 x 970)/ 450400 = 67 ft lbs of energy. S&B .32 acp loads are advertised as 190 ft/lbs of energy out of a 4" bbl, plus a bigger hole, plus a slug twice the size of the .22lr.


If all you have for SD is .22lr, then rock it. You DO need to understand the capabilities and drawbacks of the round. Advertising that CCI stingers or .22 mags are just as good as .32 acp and .380 is some pretty misleading information. Of course, if it's coming out of an 18" bbl and the pistol cartridges are coming out of a 4" bbl, then it is indeed true. Make sure your comparison is apples to apples.

I would rather have 9mm, but I would use it

 

[Carl Levitian]

I've yet to see proof of the 250 pound crack addict that took a mag of .22's and then beat the shooter to death.

 

[C-grunt]

^^^ We had a family man here in Scottsdale, last year I believe, who decided to kill his family. He killed his wife and daughter but his 18 year old son, after taking several .45 slugs to the body, was able to grab a knife and stab him to death.

All handguns suck............ well maybe except a .460 or .500 mag.

 

[Confederate]

All handguns suck............ well maybe except a
.460 or .500 mag.

Oh, come on. This was an isolated incident and who knows, maybe the deranged father was using FMJ ammo. You have to know all the facts before you can make a snap judgment like that. I know a guy who shot a Moro in the chest with a .45 ACP. Guy didn't even slow down. Had my friend (who, BTW, would never own a .45 after that) been using a modern Remington 185gr JHP, the guy most likely would have gone down like a sack of potatoes. Had he been using a .357 revolver with 125gr JHPs, the guy probably wouldn't have known what hit him.

Knives are horrible things as weapons. Very deadly and they can do a lot of damage. Still, few people would take one over a good pistol. You take a .22LR of almost any variety and it's an easy thing to put your bullets where you aim them. One of the reasons is because the guns don't recoil enough to blot out the target when you fire. Even a .380 will jump just enough to obfuscate the target for a fraction of a second, but a .22LR makes it easy to keep the target in view even while you're firing the gun.

Eugene Sockut tells the story of a woman who stopped a terrorist attack in Israel using a Ruger Single-Six, killing the terrorist with one shot. Perhaps this woman would think all handguns are GREAT! And there are soooo many people who are alive today because they had a handgun that to berate it is...well, silly. Years ago, I recall the cover story of a magazine was of a very attractive woman who held an attacker for the police. He went from a leering sociopath to a pathetic jerk in just seconds. I still recall the gun she used: a stainless steel Ruger 6-inch Security-Six.

My kind of gal! She even made him call the police, to add insult to injury.

When I read these stories, I always try to take note of the caliber and whether the person shot was killed or injured. I was surprised by the number of stories where someone shot someone with a .25 ACP and killed them. Many criminals have a healthy respect for a .22LR because they're such bears to get out of people in the emergency room.

They should not be underestimated.

 

[C-grunt]

Confederate... I think your misunderstanding what I was trying to say. I dont discount handguns as defensive weapons. I carry a Glock 22 or a Ruger SP101 myself.

What I was trying to tell the OP was, if he is using it for home defense, a shotgun or rifle would be a much more effective option. We carry handguns because carrying my 12 gauge or AR15 isnt really practical.

I try to inform new shooters who might not know better that a handgun most likely wont work like it does in the movies. Handguns just dont have much power. Thats why Im suprised when I see someone who dropped DRT when shot with a handgun. Its not the norm, even with good COM shots.

A .22 will work if you use it correctly and have good shot placement. A .45 wont work that well with bad shot placement as well.

 

[bad_aim_billy]

I find it fascinating how all the criminals are high on PCP, they weigh 300 lbs, are not threatened by a gun (maybe they know it's a .22? Criminals are usually pretty gun-savvy, right?) and they always will stop with one shot from a large-caliber handgun, regardless of bullet type.