A .22 handgun for home self defense?

[SterlingBullet]

There are persons who have severely limited dexterity in their hands and fingers, which could be from arthritis, carpal tunnel, numerous auto-immune diseases or injuries. 22LR long guns and handguns often have easier to operate controls from reduced spring tension, and little to no felt recoil can reduce or eliminate pain while shooting.

if you have friends or family in such situations, here are several options of 22 LR handguns for home defense that they can reliably operate:
- 1911 22LR pistols with some accessory that aids in racking the slide (triggers pulls on a cocked 1911 are light).
- Smith & Wesson EZs, although not 22LR, they are easy to operate.
- Revolvers that have light DA triggers, understanding that lightening trigger pulls can impact the force of hammer strikes; interestingly, most new Taurus revolvers arriving from the factory in the last year have had very light trigger pulls (I work in a local gun store and have psoriatic arthritis which affects my trigger finger, so I know which firearms are helpful).
- Ruger SR22 or the Smith & Wesson
- Ruger LCP II Lite Rack - if you cannot operate this gun, there is likely no other handgun you can use.

Any 22 LR rifle could be used provided the person has sufficient hand strength to charge the rifle.
A Ruger 10/22 Charger offers high capacity and very light weight as an added bonus.

Lastly, start off using CCI Mini-Mags; they are the most reliable rimfire bullets.

 

[bdickens]

I think if you were to dump a 10 round clip out of a 10/22 or something of the sort into someone's torso it would change their mind about what they were up to.

Maybe.

 

[MikeInOr]

I suspect most would scoff at this...but is it necessarily such a terrible idea? My thinking is if I hit an intruder with a .22, no it won't do as much damage, but I'm thinking it's more about making contact at all vs how much. Getting shot with even a .22 won't exactly tickle. Most intruders are trying to rob you for whatever and even the "lesser" damage caused by a .22 is probably more than it's worth. This isn't a Clint Eastwood movie. Also in most situations, it's not like I'll have the luxury of assuming the "proper stance" (etc) to fire the gun, I might even need to fire it with one hand. Given that, the far lesser kickback of a .22 has its appeal. Is that crazy talk? Or a viable consideration?

If a .22 works best for you it isn't our job to tell you otherwise. Just because a larger caliber works better for someone else doesn't mean it is better for you. Some people have physical limitations that make a 22 a more practical choice for them.

I completely agree with you that in an emergency situation the luxury of assuming a proper stance is not a given for every situation! When I practice I do so from many different stances many just casual like I would be in if having a conversation with a friend on the street corner.

Have you given any thought to a mid power round like a 380? Out of a pistol with a locked breach (vs blowback) a 380 can be very mellow. A 380 pistol with a blow back action tends to be kind of unpleasant usually.

One thing that has always been beaten into me is if I pull a gun on someone it is to shoot them... and when I pull the trigger to shoot them I am shooting to kill them. If my life isn't in imminent danger then I should not be pulling a gun in the first place.

I must say I feel pretty safe with the 50 round magazine in my Keltec CP33... but that isn't high on my personal list of self defense guns. An American 180 is a full auto .22lr rifle with a 177 round magazine. It sure could spoil someone breaking into you house's day pretty well!

 

[Tallball]

When I can't shoot a 32 revolver anymore. Hoping that's never.

 

[Kleanbore]

If a .22 works best for you it isn't our job to tell you otherwise. Just because a larger caliber works better for someone else doesn't mean it is better for you.

It will have better termnal bllistics for everyone.

One thing that has always been beaten into me is if I pull a gun on someone it is to shoot them... and when I pull the trigger to shoot them I am shooting to kill them

You had better have both of those ideas beaten out of yoy very effectively.

Your having posted that could be your undoing, depending upon events.

If my life isn't in imminent danger then I should not be pulling a gun in the first place.

Yeah, but that danger can disappear instantly.

I must say I feel pretty safe with the 50 round magazine in my Keltec CP33... but that isn't high on my personal list of self defense guns. An American 180 is a full auto .22lr rifle with a 177 round magazine. It sure could spoil someone breaking into you house's day pretty well!

I wouldn't want either one in the courtoom for jurors to look at.

 

[entropy]

I guess if a 22 is all you have, it beats throwing a rock.

King David would probably disagree.

In that case, you may want to use a BB gun because it will lessen the chance of having a bloody mess on the floor. Of course, Alice may cause that as well.

Not really. It will lessen the chance that any bloody mess will be an intruder, and increases the chance it will be him. With Alice in the mix, probably both, though.
And Mick's Premier, er Prime Minister, would appreciate him not using a firearm against the protected class of criminals, eh.

I did carry a .22 WMR Hi-Standard derringer for a while, but as said by others, ammo reliability of rimfires is sketchy. My sister recently stopped carrying her G44 .22 when she bought our Dad's SIG 365. I applauded her decision.

My first choice for HD is a 12 ga. with buck and slug. The walls are plaster & lath, easy to repair.

 

[Jim Watson]

I did carry a .22 WMR Hi-Standard derringer for a while,

Me, too. It wasn't the rimfire ignition, it wasn't the low power, it was the realization that I was depending on two shots to get me out of a scrape. I moved on to a small revolver, five tries instead of two.
There was the news item about the tycoon's son who fought off kidnappers with one but that had to be the exception.

 

[entropy]

For me it was getting a .380. One of the larger, heavier .380's; a CZ24, but carryable, and very dependable and accurate.

 

[entropy]

If a .22 works best for you it isn't our job to tell you otherwise. Just because a larger caliber works better for someone else doesn't mean it is better for you. Some people have physical limitations that make a 22 a more practical choice for them.

I completely agree with you that in an emergency situation the luxury of assuming a proper stance is not a given for every situation! When I practice I do so from many different stances many just casual like I would be in if having a conversation with a friend on the street corner.

Have you given any thought to a mid power round like a 380? Out of a pistol with a locked breach (vs blowback) a 380 can be very mellow. A 380 pistol with a blow back action tends to be kind of unpleasant usually.

One thing that has always been beaten into me is if I pull a gun on someone it is to shoot them... and when I pull the trigger to shoot them I am shooting to kill them. If my life isn't in imminent danger then I should not be pulling a gun in the first place.

I must say I feel pretty safe with the 50 round magazine in my Keltec CP33... but that isn't high on my personal list of self defense guns. An American 180 is a full auto .22lr rifle with a 177 round magazine. It sure could spoil someone breaking into you house's day pretty well!

View attachment 1173021

When the American 180's run good, they're awesome. I had to work on one once, it was a jam-o-matic. Got it back to somewhat reliable feeding, but despite the agonizingly slow rate of fire of a clik-clak, I'd prefer one of those over the 180. they are slightly more reliable.

 

[halfmoonclip]

When our daughter first left home, got her an alloy Centennial, loaded with target wadcutters. She didn't like the recoil, so I turned it into an 8 shot version of the same gun. (fixed her with a lockbox as well)
Two issues...recoil, and reliability. Twenty two cartridges, even really good ones, are notorious for not always going bang. The .22 cartridge was designed in the 19th Century, when a self loading pistol wasn't even a smile on someone's face. It's a horrible shape for feeding.
So if you must use .22s, use them in a revolver.
Moon

 

[StrawHat]

Some guy named Browning designed a cartridge to eliminate all the problems associated with the 22 rimfire.

Kevin

 

[entropy]

Except weakness, which he managed to increase, if you're referring to the .25ACP. It is an improvement on the .22 Short gallery round, though most .22 Short rounds have higher ME.

 

[br549arkie]

I started shooting when I was 8 years old and I'm going on 69 now. For such a dinky round I've always been surprised what a .22 rimfire can kill if it's put in the right place. I have a large firearms collection now and my choice of a defense round is a 12 gauge pump a AR15 5.56 or a handgun in .38 special or larger. However if I could no longer manage any of those it might be something in a .22lr. Pretty sure I'd be better off with that than a sharp stick a knife or baseball bat.

 

[entropy]

Sure, it'll kill a ton of beef, lights out. Done it myself. The question remains, can you do it when it's charging you?
The corollary to 'A .22 can kill if it's put in the right place' is "that right place is correspondingly small, and will probably be moving".

 

[WisBorn]

I used to be in the better than a sharp stick crowd with a 22lr. Now I would rather have a sharp stick.
If the smallest cartridge I would carry is a 380acp. Than that is my minimum for defense period.

 

[gunny2]

Getting back to this and first thanks all for the replies, much appreciated. Some general thoughts in response:

• "A 22 is better than nothing" (etc) only states the obvious, but that wasn't my question, which is probably my bad, I didn't state it well enough to begin with. The thing I'm really kicking around is if a 22 might be a better choice due to much lower recoil, since that can impact accuracy quite a lot and so should in turn (I think) equate to more hits in a crisis situation. Basically a hit with a 22 beats the hell out of a miss with a bigger caliber.
• I don't see that a 380 is a viable "in between" option as the recoil on that is much closer to a 9mm than a 22. If it was half-way between the two, it would be more of a consideration.
• I don't get the rifle suggestions-? It seems to me a rifle would be an impractical weapon in close quarters of a house. If I'm shooting kids to get off my lawn however
• Most break-ins are by people unarmed, and most aren't all doped up on crack/PCP/etc. So tbh I'm not too worried about the "crazed druggie." Someone however did make a good point about if they have heavier clothing on.
• "You have less of a chance of killing someone" is a plus, not a minus, in my book. I've no interest in killing someone, even a dirtball who's broken into my house. Only stopping them.

Really I'm not sold on 22 vs something else offhand, again just thinking out loud.

All of this makes me think there could be a viable market for a caliber that is truly half-way between a 22 and 380. A "30" perhaps. A true half-way between a 22 and 380.

 

[chicharrones]

Really I'm not sold on 22 vs something else offhand, again just thinking out loud.

All of this makes me think there could be a viable market for a caliber that is truly half-way between a 22 and 380. A "30" perhaps. A true half-way between a 22 and 380.

.32 ACP, .32 S&W Long, and .32 H&R Mag exist. Unfortunately, the number of new guns chambered in those cartridges are limited compared to decades ago. To the great gun buying masses, .32 caliber handguns are all but overlooked these days.

Most folks seeking lower recoil in a currently made self defense handgun probably ought to simply get a Ruger LCR in .327 magnum and keep it filled with .32 H&R.

 

[entropy]

I'll address your last 2 bullet points, gunny2;
While your assessment that an attacker might not be armed, or not under the influence of something might be the case, do you want to bet your life on it? There is another 'drug' you haven't considered; adrenaline. It can be as altering as any of the usual ones. Many people shot by a .22 don't even notice it until after the action is over, or feel it as like a light slap with a mosquito bite.

There are some attackers that stopping them may mean having to incapacitating them, which may result in their death. Many assailants of armed 'victims' do disengage at the mere presentation of a firearm, and some will disengage after being shot, but again, do you want to bet your life on that? Having the capability to quickly end a fight that is brought to you means having something that can quickly incapacitate when used during a time that fine motor and thinking skills go out the window. You do not rise to the occasion, you fall back to the level of your training. Even SF operators, who train way more than any of us, and of which at least one of has commented in this thread already, (not me) would not choose a .22 LR for HD if better choices were available.

 

[MrChicken]

I between .22 and 380? You might look at 22 magnum. It does get higher velocity than .22lr even in pistols and modern hollow points are available (Gold Dot for example).

 

[JohnKSa]

22LR long guns and handguns often have easier to operate controls from reduced spring tension, and little to no felt recoil can reduce or eliminate pain while shooting.

I agree with most of this. There's one thing to keep in mind about .22LR revolvers. They often have a rather stiff DA pull because rimfire needs a more energetic hammer strike than centerfire. Someone buying a .22LR revolver thinking that it's going to be easy to operate would be well advised to try both the DA pull and cocking the hammer.

The other side of that is that while .22LR autopistols are usually easier to operate than centerfire autopistols, I've had too many reliability issues with .22LR autopistols to want to rely on one for self-defense. I still have a couple, but honestly, I almost never shoot them because it's more fun to shoot my .22LR SP101 because it's far more reliable and I can use any ammo I want in it.

If I were looking at something for self/home defense for someone with low hand strength and issues with recoil, I'd probably start looking for something in a largish locked breech autopistol chambered in .32ACP or .380ACP. The locked breech requirement is important as the blowback guns tend to have stiff recoil springs and more recoil.

 

[mavracer]

Except weakness, which he managed to increase, if you're referring to the .25ACP. It is an improvement on the .22 Short gallery round, though most .22 Short rounds have higher ME.

Only when you use the 22s ballistics advertised from a rifle and the 25 from a 2" handgun.

Most folks seeking lower recoil in a currently made self defense handgun probably ought to simply get a Ruger LCR in .327 magnum and keep it filled with .32 H&R.

???
32 H&R with SD loadings will have more recoil than 380s.

As to the OP I have had my Sig P322 for some time now. I shoot in an informal league weekly shooting 50 rounds so it hasn't taken long to get over the 1K mark.
With just a smidge of care loading the mags it feeds 100%.
As to reliable ignition I have to question how much of this is personal experiences vs internet lore.
I've shot literally 1000s and 1000s of rounds of CCI mini mags and Eley ammo without a FTF.

 

[JERRY]

If you're gonna pick a rim fire for self-defense for God's sakes do so with a revolver.

 

[wayneinFL]

As to reliable ignition I have to question how much of this is personal experiences vs internet lore.
I've shot literally 1000s and 1000s of rounds of CCI mini mags and Eley ammo without a FTF.

I'd bet most of it is personal experience, as most people are not buying match grade 22lr.

 

[Lefty38-55]

My neighbor, a woman, has weak hands and issues racking slides on semi-autos, even so-called 'EZ' versions. She got an airweight J-frame 22 Magnum, 8-shots, with Crimson Trace grips.

While it wouldn't be MY 1st choice ... she's all set!

 

[chicharrones]

Only when you use the 22s ballistics advertised from a rifle and the 25 from a 2" handgun.

???
32 H&R with SD loadings will have more recoil than 380s.

As to the OP I have had my Sig P322 for some time now. I shoot in an informal league weekly shooting 50 rounds so it hasn't taken long to get over the 1K mark.
With just a smidge of care loading the mags it feeds 100%.
As to reliable ignition I have to question how much of this is personal experiences vs internet lore.
I've shot literally 1000s and 1000s of rounds of CCI mini mags and Eley ammo without a FTF.

That would depend on the gun, I’d think.

My aluminum framed CA Undercoverette firing .32 H&R JHP from Black Hills is surprisingly soft shooting in comparison to my nasty Ruger LCP Max firing typical .380 FMJ ammo.

Bump that .380 into a S&W EZ sized lock breech gun and then I’d probably agree.