.22 Short for self defense?

[chicharrones]

I'm glad I was able to add some humor to your day.

Now, for the other, more serious, folks, answer this honestly:
There's a small, middle-age female walking to her car in the parking lot late at night. She's not a martial artist, wouldn't know how to aggressively use a knife, and only has good situational awareness and a .22 short ready when you try to jump her as she pulls out her keys.

Are you comfortable, knowing she 'only' has a .22 short, in having a go at grabbing her? She'll be at near-contact distance, probably isn't Rob Leatham, and will thus be pointing the gun at you from a couple feet away and dumping the magazine.

If you'd be fine doing that, I imagine you're right; a .22 short is completely useless. If you wouldn't......

Larry

I personally know a woman in her 60s that carries a NAA mini revolver in .22LR. She has learned to shoot rattle snakes with it. She also has an LCP and an older S&W lady smith 9mm single stack pistol. She is very good at shooting the S&W one handed, but hates shooting the Ruger LCP.

However, she can be easy to sneak up on. So, if you get the drop on her and get her purse away from her . . . well, I figure criminals may simply assess the situation and take their chances.

Hmmm. Not sure I had a real point other than who knows what gun someone may be carrying? Could be a NAA or something larger?

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Consider this:
1. Many encounters are ended simply by the presentation of a gun. No, you can't count on it, but it happens quite frequently.
2. Folks not scared off by a gun may well be scared off by a gun being fired, regardless of effect.
3. 22 shorts are NOT a first choice defensive caliber, but in terms of effect, a face full of them could well convince the attacker they should die, or at least sit down a bit.

I stand by it; there is far less difference in WHAT gun than there is in having a gun and having none at all. Doesn't mean I'm itching to carry a .22 short, but a determined person with one is orders of magnitude better off than an unarmed person.

Larry

1. True enough. You don't even need a loaded gun or even a real gun, just one that looks real. HOWEVER, the bad guy really needs to be able to see it and identify it as a real gun, which is often something of a problem with NAA mini revolvers.
2. True enough. HOWEVER, folks not scared off by seeing the gun or the sound of the gun may hurt you quite badly and also true enough, many folks don't even realize they are shot, particularly with smaller calibers.
3. Big assumption that you are even going to hit the attacker with your shot, much less hit the attacker with a 'full face' of .22 shorts. Also true is that people tend to miss quite a bit and when they do hit, it is often NOT where they were intending to hit.

 

[aarondhgraham]

When I read the OP of this thread I said to myself,,,

Why?

I immediately thought of those cute little derringers made at one time by Colt.



They were sold as a matched pair so I assume you could "dual wield",,,
Not just one but two of the puniest rounds known to man.

Aarond

.

 

[bdickens]

Why do you automatically assume this .22 Short/Long revolver is my nightstand gun?

Why do you automatically assume my comment is directed specifically at you?

In case you missed it, there are several other people participating in this thread.

However, you asked the question. If you're feeling offended, then you kinda brought it on yourself....

You think I don't have other, better gun right next to my bed?

I have no idea. But you are the one asking....

 

[Skylerbone]

Statistics on SD shootings show the largest number are ended with 3 rounds fired. That tells me very few assailants are getting a face (or body) full of anything. We may assume that 1 shot is likely a miss or poorly placed at best, leaving the possibility of 2 bullets finding their target. We might further deduce that in many instances criminals really don’t keep charging in for more.

Again, I won’t advocate for .22 Short but for some it’s what they have or can manipulate. My father downsized from a 1911 .45 ACP to a 9mm S&W EZ due to age and ability to manipulate the pistol. While I consider the caliber swap a lateral movement, not all would agree.

 

[CDW4ME]

I'm glad I was able to add some humor to your day.

Now, for the other, more serious, folks, answer this honestly:
There's a small, middle-age female walking to her car in the parking lot late at night. She's not a martial artist, wouldn't know how to aggressively use a knife, and only has good situational awareness and a .22 short ready when you try to jump her as she pulls out her keys.

My wife is 50+ years old.
Why would she be limited to a 22 short? (She is not)
She does not have to settle for "better than nothing" - a 9mm Shield, Kahr P9, Glock 19 - all easier to shoot quick & accurate than a mini revolver or 5 shot snub.
Most likely women are not dressing around a gun, they carry it in purse (hopefully gun purse) which is another reason they can carry something decent.
Pic of wife shooting last year:

 

[DT Guy]

My wife is 50+ years old.
Why would she be limited to a 22 short? (She is not)
She does not have to settle for "better than nothing" - a 9mm Shield, Kahr P9, Glock 19 - all easier to shoot quick & accurate than a mini revolver or 5 shot snub.
Most likely women are not dressing around a gun, they carry it in purse (hopefully gun purse) which is another reason they can carry something decent.
Pic of wife shooting last year:
View attachment 1036966

Who said it was all a maturing woman could handle? I certainly didn't.

I did mention that if a middle-aged woman was carrying a small caliber, most intelligent people wouldn't be willing face a mag full of itty-bitty buwwets at close range.



Larry

 

[Demi-human]

How are we talking about elderly small framed women?
I thought a gun guy from this forum, who owns more than one already, asked about carrying a .22long pistol?

To which “no” is a reasonable and good answer.
It’s hard to give an accurate answer if we don’t stay in one spot.

 

[Monac]

I like 22 Short. I learned to shoot with 22 Shorts in a single shot rifle, and I am very glad to have my father's High Standard Model C 22 Short target pistol. Because of my experience with 22 Short, I treat it as dangerous and nothing to be careless with. My father put food on the table (mostly rabbits) with 22 Shorts back in the Great Depression.

Having said that, I think it has been utterly superseded as a self-defense cartridge and given the better choices available, even in guns of minimal size, I don't know why anyone would choose it.

It's not even cheaper than 22 Long Rifle any more, which was my father's reason for getting the Model C instead of the 22 LR Model B. Shorts were only $0.19 per box at the time, compared to $0.21 for Long Rifle. That was nearly 10% less, and a valid consideration back in 1938.

 

[Kleanbore]

most intelligent people wouldn't be willing face a mag full of itty-bitty buwwets at close range.

Most knowledgeable people know enough to not try for headshots in a lawful close quarters use of force encounter.

 

[Terry G]

.22 Short for carry. You'll be laboring under the "false impression that you are carrying a deadly weapon." Mark Twain in "Roughing it".

 

[Howland937]

I wouldn't consider using 22 shorts for much of anything unless I owned something that was only chambered for them. Then it would be entirely a novelty that got to tag along on some random range trips. After watching in horror as my arch nemesis starling, that kept crapping in the swimming pool, returned to life and flew away after taking 2 poorly placed 22 shorts to the abdomen...I've concluded I will never again trust my life to a 22 Short.

Yes, I take full blame for not hitting vitals...but the combined margin of error for small vitals and small bullet make it a no-go for me.

 

[Roknstevo]

Beats feet, fists and foul language. Jeff Cooper said if limited to a 22 to aim for the eye sockets.

That’s my motto at close range.......eyeballs and earholes.

 

[Kleanbore]

That’s my motto at close range.......eyeballs and earholes

It is absurdly unrealistic.

 

[Roknstevo]

It is absurdly unrealistic.

As I stated...MY motto; not yours nor ours.

 

[DT Guy]

Most knowledgeable people know enough to not try for headshots in a lawful close quarters use of force encounter.

Really? Why?

Larry

 

[Kleanbore]

Really? Why?

Speed of the attacker can be expected to be in the range of 180 inches per second. That's why people shoot at center mass. Bigger target that does not bobble.

 

[DT Guy]

Speed of the attacker can be expected to be in the range of 180 inches per second. That's why people shoot at center mass. Bigger target that does not bobble.

All those years I spent practicing failure to stop drills, wasted!!

At the range you're using a .22 short, I imagine most folks could hit an egg dangling on a string, but whatever.

Larry

 

[Kleanbore]

At the range you're using a .22 short, I imagine most folks could hit an egg dangling on a string, but whatever

Try an orange that is tossed at you.

 

[Skylerbone]

Even at cylinder choke a 12 ga often results in a miss at closer ranges, with the shot pattern being just a few inches wide at that point. Only way I would take a head shot is if physically engaged with the attacker at PBR. I used to think kneecaps would be good targets but on a running target, asinine.

 

[hannstv]

I don't know, there is a point where that pointed stick might be the better option.

 

[bdickens]

I don't know, there is a point where that pointed stick might be the better option.

At the very least, you won't be laboring under the illusion you have a gun.

 

[Hangingrock]

Life is full of choices but the .22 Short isn't one of them.

 

[bc38]

.22 short wouldn't be my 1st choice, or 2nd,3rd,...... but no matter what anyone thinks, it's better than a stick or knife IF FOR NO OTHER REASON it puts distance between you and blood. " if it's warm, red, sticky, and not yours, don't touch it" (from a pamphlet on blood born pathogens). Add to that 5 or 6 .22 cal holes 6-7 inches deep in the arms, head, leg, chest, abdomen, etc. may not put the odds in my favor, but they certainly even them up some, in the event that poo keeps going south and more intimate contact is necessary.

 

[DT Guy]

Try an orange that is tossed at you.

Yes, it's UNPOSSIBLE!!

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50952443

https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2021/11/06/burnside-armed-robber-shot-killed-by-victim/

https://www.khou.com/article/news/c...shot/285-838be161-172d-4928-b5f7-a9673c83688d

Is it ideal? No.

Is it the first choice? No.

Is it impossible? No.

And again, we drift from the main point. Is anyone willing to be the offender in the scenario I posited, with an middle-aged woman armed with nothing but situational awareness and a .22 short?

Larry