Does practicing with a 22 pistol improve defensive carry of bigger caliber pistol?

[12Bravo20]

Look people, you have my permission to nit-pick my logic all you desire,,,
But if the statement that "only trigger time will increase proficiency" is true,,,
Then practicing with an identical (or closely matched) rimfire is cost effective.

And to me the cost of ammunition for shooting is very pertinent,,,
I'm reasonably proficient with my defensive handguns,,,
22 LR practice allowed the requisite trigger pulls.

Well said!

And that is why I find myself shooting my Glock G44, AR22, Taurus 942 and 1911 with conversion slide more in the last 12-18 months versus shooting my centerfire rifles and pistols. I still shoot the centerfire guns but definitely shoot the rimfire versions more due to ammo availability. And yes the G44 is setup the same as my G19 and the AR22 is setup the same as my goto AR15. The Taurus 942 is the same as my Taurus 85 also. Trigger time is trigger time. And yes you still need to shoot centerfire regularly to maintain muscle memory for dealing with recoil.

 

[JohnB-40]

I like to use my Ruger 22/45 with a Volquartsen target frame along with my Colt Commander 45. The balance,sight radius,and weight are about the same. With the present ammo situation,it is nice to be able to warmup with Mini Mags and finish with a few mags of 45 ACP.

 

[ChanceMcCall]

By practicing I mean shooting at the range. Maybe competition like IDPA if that's a thing.

Ammo price difference is so big. Can mean a lot more practice.

I and many others started practicing long ago with CO2 powered BB pistols to develop our instinct shooting. That is even cheaper than using a .22.

 

[mokin]

I read two pages plus just to see what others said. I agree with the majority. Go shoot your .22s. Have fun. Practice the fundamentals. It will carry over. If you are with a friend, a little competition to increase the stakes will improve the learning/retention curve. Most of all, have fun.

 

[JR24]

Sure, as has been said it’s certainly good for fundamentals like sight picture and trigger press, especially if it’s a similar/same setup as your main gun.

That said, IMO, once you’ve got a decent understanding of the basics and recoil handling, dry fire and especially the laser systems are just as good and much cheaper even still. I can get the same fundamental work on trigger press and presentation, with my actual gun, done in my basement in quantity I can’t do in .22 with something like ITarget Pro very easily, daily, with no need to find time to drive to the range or track down more .22. Plus snap cap dry fire as well.

For things like moving and shooting rapid strings and the like I find the .22 less helpful than the real thing as recoil is really my main issue there.

But still a good tool in the box, and I have considered a Glock 44 as another training tool, especially to help fundamentals of autoloaders with my wife (who prefers wheelguns).