.22LR carry pistol for my girlfriend. Need suggestions.

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For a compact autoloader, the Daewoo DP-22 or the Bersa Thunder .22 are the best of the best, AFAIC.

I wouldn't trust the Beretta, because it doesn't even have an extractor; a dud will be awkward to clear. The TPH is known to have certain parts that may be prone to failures that lead to unreliability, so it's hit or miss.

Taurus makes a decent .22, too. I forget the name.

Most all the others small .22's are NOT going to be safe to carry chambered.
 
The problem with her carrying a .22 LR is that it is likely to give her a false sense of confidence. The .22 LR can be lethal, but is not a consistent enough "stopper" to be recommended for self defense.

Take the money you would spend to buy her a pistol and instead have her take some one-on-one training with a good instructor. Don't try to teach her yourself.

After the instructor has worked with her, and shown her that, yes, she really can shoot something larger than a .22 LR, and she understands the disadvantages of a .22 LR as a defensive weapon, than if she still wants one, get her one.

But, if she's going to make that kind of decision, she really needs to learn that she can actually shoot something larger, once she's been properly taught, and she needs to understand the disadvantages of the .22.

Personally, at this point, it sounds to me that she doesn't have enough knowledge to make an informed choice on a carry gun. She also needs a good understanding of the laws regarding deadly force. (She may already know this, but from your description I would doubt it).
 
Problem I have with the .22 isn't the caliber as much as the round. .25 is more effective due to the FMJ bullet and the primer as opposed to (at best) a copper washed bullet and rim fire priming.

The Walther P22 may be the best bet when loaded with CCI ammo. Over the years CCI has had the fewest duds IME.

That being said, one of the Beretta .25s would be my choice as compared to a .22.
 
Rusty,

It may take some time, practicing with a .22 before she is comfortable with a 9mm. A few of my students have gravitated toward the 9mm after they were familiar with shooting a .22.

Oh, and have her double up on hearing protection when shooting 9mm (plugs and muffs). P.S. many new shooters don't use plugs correctly. They have to go IN the ear canal.

Also the Bersa Thunder .380 has mild recoil compared to a full size 9mm, and is a MUCH better defensive round than the .22. Mine has been flawless in it's operation so far.

If you must use a .22LR for self defense, can I recommend a .22 Magnum instead? AND a REVOLVER?

A revolver mitigates most of the problems (misfires, misfeeds, FTE) with rimfire ammunition. If you have a misfire just pull the trigger again.

I recommend high velocity 40 grain solid lead bullets for any 22 (LR or Magnum) self defense situation.

I would recommend the .22 Magnum over .22LR, .25ACP, and .32ACP.

S&W and Taurus both sell a 7-shot .22 Magnum Airweight snub.
 
If the lady says she wants a .22, she should have a .22. "I want a .22 pistol" doesn't always mean "I don't understand how much better a 9mm is." It may mean, "I've weighed the pros and cons and a .22 handgun is the right choice for me." There's nothing wrong with that.

If you want to turn off a new shooter, the best way is to explain how wrong she is and why she has the wrong gun.
 
Rusty Shackleford said:
Like the title says, I'm looking for a pistol for my girlfriend. She is adamant on it being .22LR. She is very recoil sensitive and is SURE she can't handle anything more powerful.

Now, everything I've read basically says that the bottom line is to let her decide what she's comfortable with, and she says that the .22lr is what she's comfortable with...

Yeah yeah, blah blah blah... I'm well aware of the .22lr and it's shortcomings, but it's still a thousand times better than mace. I want her to be comfortable with this. Ease her into it, so to speak. We can upgrade as soon as she's comfortable with something a little more powerful.

Thing is, I don't know anything about .22lr pistols... help me out.
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Maybe you can get her to try 22mag? Still a "22", but a whole lot nastier on the business end.
 
My friend chose a Walther P-22 for her first gun. I tried to talk her out of it. I figured a short barreled Ruger or Browning in .22LR would be a better choice and really wanted her to go with something along those lines. I also had a Makarov I was willing to just give her at the time but she couldn't handle the recoil. I let her try a .32 ACP, an SP-101 with mid range .38 Specials, and a 1911 in 9mm. She was OK with all of those three but just had it in her head that she didn't want one of them. She was comfortable with the P-22. It fit her hand well and ammo for it is cheap so that's what she got.
I spent some time helping her get used to shooting it and breaking it in and we still shoot together when she visits. She knows she can use the cheap bulk ammo for practice but to stick to good quality ammo for reliability for carry. The recommendation I gave her was CCI mini-mag FMJ's - because if you're using a gun that's making little holes anyhow they need to be the deepest little holes you can find and because I've never had a failure of any kind with that ammo. She knows tap-rack-bang: It's the same drill you'd use to clear your 1911 if it malfunctioned in a fight.

I look at it this way - if you were a criminal would you rather be pepper sprayed or shot repeatedly with a .22 handgun?
 
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If you can find a good USED Beretta 70S, that's the best one I can think of. I shot mine just this week (it's hard chromed) and it didn't miss a shot. Beretta increased reliability on guns that size by eliminating the ports. They just go bang...bang...bang...bang...all day long. Too bad they're no longer made. And they have hammers.

I also have the tiny Beretta 21A .22LR, and it requires that you try your ammo in it before it works properly (try it). Mine seems to be flawless with CCI and fast, zippy ammo, but jams with other types.

Twenty-two ammo is far more effective than some would admit. Partially it's because it has enough energy to enter the body and not enough to exit it, so it can do a lot of damage. Before MRIs and all the fancy stuff we have now, doctors had to conduct horrible searches for .22LR bullets in people. I knew one guy who was out working on his house and felt a bad stinging sensation. He tried to go back into his house and passed out after calling 911. Turns out he was hit by a .22LR bullet fired by a couple of kids about a mile away (just over). Woke up in the hospital and was told he almost bought the farm. They never caught the kids, but they had been firing a handgun at some water, or a sign or something. That the bullet could fire that far was amazing.


Beretta70S_2.gif

The 70S can be a very nice carry gun. Some come with magazines with flat floorplates,
with nothing protruding from the bottom.

beretta21A_Small.gif
 
yeah, I know it's irrational to have affection for an inanimate object...
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Not if it applies to cars, guns, boats, guns, bikes, or guns :evil:

I've tried the Walther P22 and Taurus 94. If you get a revolver, would she be willing to get one with the conversion cylinder so you can put both LR and WMR ammo through it (WMR is Winchester Magnum Rimfire, and a bit more powerful than the .22 LR). If you go with an auto, IMVHO, I would recommend staying away from guns like the Ruger MKII and the Browning Buckmark. I think they are great guns, but for self defense, I think that being able to chamber a round by grabbing any part of the slide is going to be better than if you have to grab only two sides of a slide.

Some companies that make .22 revolvers are Taurus, Smith and Wesson, and Charter Arms.

Hope this helps,
Chris "the Kayak-Man" Johnson
 
My wife absolutely loves her 317. She's comfortable with it, she likes to shoot it, and, more importantly - she's willing to carry it! While a .22 isn't my first choice for self defense I don't know anyone willing to get shot by one. After checking a number of different kinds of ammo for accuracy/POI I settled on CCI MiniMag 40gr solids. -

SDC11243.jpg
 
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My wife's first carry gun was a 22. A Bersa Firestorm to be specific. Why? Because it was what SHE wanted. She shot and carried it for a couple of years. During that time she learned to shoot it and take care of it. She learned how to carry it and gradually gained confidence in her ability to shoot. As time went on she tried more and more guns. When SHE was ready she announced she wanted something "better." She got a Glock 19 and all that time with the 22 paid off.

No, the 22 wasn't ideal, but she had it. Praise God she never had to use it, but it was a lot better than a hatpin or a fingernail file.
 
I would go with .22 magnum. I really don't think there's a noticeable difference in recoil. Then I would get a S&W .22 mag snubbie.
 
carry

.22LR = S&W 317 Airlite.
Semi-auto = .25 ACP. Berettas are good. Baby Brownings.
Pete
 
If memory serves me, wasn't president Reagan shot with a 22. Perhaps he could enlighten some as to the "potency" of the lowly .22. Quite sometime back I read an article about bullet wounds and although I can't recall the exact details the article stated something along the lines that the .22 wound channel was considerable due to it's velocity and small frontal area which allowed for deep penetration and the ability to ricochet around bones. As a young lad, over 55 years ago and living in the country, I and several friends shot just about anything that wasn't tame with our .22's (not proud of it now) and of course we did complete autopsies of many victims and found a whole lot of internal carnage. My dad once killed a full-grown black bear with one well placed shot from a .22....nuf said???
 
Another vote for the Beretta Bobcat. My GF fell in love with mine, so it's hers now. Women like the idea of having a safety. Mine, I mean hers is 100% reliable with Stingers, Velocitors or Mini-Mags. I would not bother with a .25, unless you don't mind spending 50 cents a round to practice. If you do get one go for the stainless model.
 
Confederate, I just picked up a Beretta 70s at a gun show this weekend. Looking forward to shooting it tomorrow! Yours looks beautiful, and I am considering getting mine refinished (it's in very nice shape). I saw your post when you got it back from hardchrome. How has the finish held up?
 
well, do get her what she wants, if it must be 22, I also suggest a S&W j-frame

but it sure is a shame you can't get her to try others (anything but 9mm in this case)
for milady, it was very similar to what you related, Rusty
the "cure" was
22 LR
32 S&W long
38 wadcutters
etc, etc, including 380acp, 9mm
she found her own comfort zone eventually with 357 mag (in k-frame and/or SP101)
but she got there at her own chosen pace (and we ended up with a lot of nice handguns)

just let her start wherever she wants, and discourage big jumps
(1st time milady fired a 380acp Colt Gov'mt she practically threw it over her head, but she really liked that 32 snubby from the get go)
 
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grampasaurus said:
If memory serves me, wasn't president Reagan shot with a 22. Perhaps he could enlighten some as to the "potency" of the lowly .22. Quite sometime back I read an article about bullet wounds and although I can't recall the exact details the article stated something along the lines that the .22 wound channel was considerable due to it's velocity and small frontal area which allowed for deep penetration and the ability to ricochet around bones. As a young lad, over 55 years ago and living in the country, I and several friends shot just about anything that wasn't tame with our .22's (not proud of it now) and of course we did complete autopsies of many victims and found a whole lot of internal carnage. My dad once killed a full-grown black bear with one well placed shot from a .22....nuf said???
Click to expand...
Not sure I understand the argument here. Yes, President Reagan was shot with a .22, and if I recall correctly, he didn't even realize it! So much for stopping power. And, the president, at that time a relatively old man, fully recovered in very short order. Thank God.

When I was a kid, my younger brother shot me in the leg with a pellet gun (an accident, so he claimed). It blood a lot, and I had to pull it out with tweezers (didn't want mom and dad to find out). While I acknowledge that a pellet gun is not a firearm (except in NJ!), the point is that it didn't do much. The shot would have had to have been very lucky -- say in the eye -- to have done real damage. In relative terms, the same holds true for a short-barrelled .22 handgun.
 
Ammo...

I'm sure it's been said in here somewhere (didn't read whole thing), but stick with good quality ammo for defense when using rimfire. Generally, I've had the best results with CCI Stingers. They are one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful .22LR, and I've not yet had one misfire, but I've only used about 1,000 rounds of it.

Stick to the more expensive .22s in the plastic boxes and you can rest easy.
 
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