Gun Master
Member
In this case, not only are Ruger .22LR autos the cheapest guns I would bet my life on, if I could only have one handgun in my bugout bag, it would be a Ruger .22LR auto (preferably a Mark II). When I go to a range, I put clip after clip through these guns without a hiccup! Not only are they inexpensive, they're reliable and ammo is both inexpensive and effective for use against human adversaries. They can put an impressive amount of lead in the air in a short period of time and being shot with a .22LR round is both painful and surprisingly lethal. And of course no one who's sane would want to want to get shot with one. (My dad grew up in the country and was so poor he had to use a .22LR for everything. He carried his rifle with him two miles to school, where he'd leave it at the office. After school, he'd carry it home and shoot squirrels and other game for supper. They called the diminutive round "the doctor's nightmare" because a .22LR bullet could go in one place and end up almost anywhere. And without X-Rays, the exploratory surgery alone could kill you.)
I've heard many pundits say that the .22LR round simply lacks stopping power, but I used to collect stories of people who used it for self defense. And though I'm sure all rounds fail at some point, I was surprised by how many people died from just one or two hits from a .22LR. Heck, I was even surprised by the success of the tiny .25ACP round, which I would really hate to bet my life on! But though I expected to see many failures in news accounts, I kept seeing successes. But I have to admit the vast majority of these were in the intended victim's home, on the victim's turf. I'm sure it wouldn't have been so successful in a dark alley with a crackhead bad guy.
But I do have more faith than I perhaps should in the .22LR. As I've recounted elsewhere, I knew a guy who came very close to dying when he was hit by a .22LR round fired by a kid from just over a mile away, who, with a friend, had stopped their car to test fire an auto pistol. The police never caught either of them, but found the ejected cases and were able to find some witnesses. Even from that distance, the guy who was shot said he felt like he was stung in the back by a large wasp. He was on a ladder and passed out trying to call 911. He woke up in a hospital and the doctor told him he had come very close to death. So I have a lot of faith in a .22LR pistol, or rifle. When one can put eleven rounds in the air in about four seconds, that would get my attention. If one needed a gun for the trail or for camping or for going cross country alone, I'd look for a good, used .357 revolver.
But in the house, a .22LR auto is fine. You can buy a lot of ammo for just a little.
I liked your post. It made me think about Gregory Peck with his Colt Woodsman in the movie "Cape Fear".