i can't make up my mind for pocket carry.

[bullseyebob47]

i bought the lcr .22lr just cause. i did shoot a few thousand rounds through it. im good with it. but then i bought the lcr .38 spl thinking the .22lr didn't have enough power from that little barrel.

but in the news i see several people get shot only to shoot right back. so if i shoot the 22lr much better and im confident i can make head shots up close in defense, should i be carrying the lcr .22lr?

i guess my real question is can the hot aguilia .22lr from a 1.8" barrel penetrate enough into the scull to stop the attacker?

 

[khari]

Out of a 1.8" barrel, muzzle energy should be less than 80 ft-lbs. I wouldn't count on it penetrating the skull.

 

[sequins]

In my opinion you should go for the largest caliber with which you can reliably land a hit. Maybe that's. 22lr, maybe that's 38sp. There is no reliable one shot stop caliber, even headshots are no guarantee (they are more reliable than a foot, but not 100%).

I wouldn't count on .22lr to penetrate, and even if I thought it might I'd prefer to aim body and get a more reliable hit.

 

[Wildfire]

An expert with a .22 could likely stop an attack. If one is looking to drop an attacker see post #3.
I have carried for most of 17 or 18 years now. .45s can be bulky and get heavy. My .38 special would really hurt with the 158 gr. cast bullets I use. But, it is not a good round in any sort of crowd. I now carry a TCP in .380 and can dump all of them in 2" at 7 yards rapid fire. It is light weight and fits anywhere. I mostly carry that in my pocket. Sometimes in my boot. That .380 should not over penetrate in a crowd and yet has plenty of poke to get a decent understanding going. We killed hogs with .22s all the time. A buddy of mine years ago was shot in the back of the head and it came out his mouth. .22 rifle. Had his jaw wired for a month or so and is fine to this day. The .22 bounced off his skull and went through his neck and came out the mouth. I helped him walk away.

 

[Captain O]

How about a Charter Arms "Undercoverette" in .32 H&R Magnum? You can shoot .32 S&W or .32 S&W Longs in it if you wish. It can be had in a revolver as light a 12 ounces (Look on the Charter Arms website).

The .32 H&R Magnum will "do the job".

 

[rcmodel]

You can't count on head shots under the best of the worst circumstances.
No matter how good a shot you 'think' you are.

The human head is a bobbing moving target in any encounter.

And the frontal forehead is one of the thickest and hardest bones in the body.

Not to mention, it is sloped armor, almost guaranteeing a center hit with a small low velocity round such as a .22 or .38 Special will glance off and leave only a seriously bleeding scalp wound.

Shoot center mass until your gun is empty.
Or run for cover.

But, Running for cover is always the better of the two options, no matter what gun you carry.

rc

 

[MedWheeler]

Those news stories are leaving out a lot of information.

First, with what caliber are those people who "shoot back" getting hit before doing so? Where are they being hit? How many times? Are they then hitting their targets after being shot?

How many are/were engaged in high-risk behavior (drug dealing, gang activity, etc.) or were otherwise targeted specifically for execution/assassination?

I'm just not seeing these stories. What I am seeing are stories of "good guys" who are able to deploy their weapons when under attack, and "bad guys" who are driven off, captured, or incapacitated (killed, or injured beyond any ability to fight further or flee.) In these cases, the threat to the "good guy" has ended.

The calibers, weapon types, and number of hits (if any) are rarely included.

In other words, go with post 3 ("Sequins"), but take news stories with a grain of salt.

One takeaway, though, is that not every gunshot is unsurvivable, or even incapacitating. This goes for those in good guys, too.

 

[dbmjr1]

I've got the LCR in .38 Spl, a LXRX actually, and a LCR in 9mm.

I'm pretty good with either one, but prefer the option to fire in SA mode that the LCRX offers. Also, the LCRX is several ounces lighter.

I've looked hard at the LCR in .22LR. .22 is no round to sneeze at. I don't subscribe to the caliber war, instead I think it is more important where you put the bullet. The eight shots that the .22 offers is attractive.

I think my next LCR, however, will be the newest offering in .32 magnum. That will mean a new set of dies, and brass. It's a six shot revolver, as apposed to five in the larger calibers.

My advice would be to carry what you're most comfortable with.

I'll say this though. I was in a convenience store during a confrontation. I was awfully glad I had a gun on me, even if it was just a NAA .22LR. I do recall, however, wishing that the little revolver was chambered in something MUCH bigger.

 

[RealGun]

I would put more effort into making up your mind about pants style and a good holster rather than how much power will fit in your pocket.

 

[stu1ritter]

bullseyebob47, I'd suggest you read Bill Jordan's "No second place winner" and Jim Cirillo's "Tales of the stake out squad". Those two books will answer your questions from two guys who lived it. No guesses, no "I think so's". Just what worked when their life depended on what they did.

Stu

 

[Coyote3855]

Sequins has a good answer, exceeded only by rc's recommendation to run away. The March/April 2016 issue of American Handgunner has a report of an 2008 encounter between a Skokie IL police officer and a bank robber. In a furious exchange of gunfire, over 50 rounds fired in an estimated 60 seconds, the robber was hit 17 times with .45 ACP and was still in the fight until the officer made the final head shot with only 3 rounds remaining in his last magazine.

While I used .22 LR to dispatch livestock for butchering on the ranch, I would not count on the round to be effective in a gun fight regardless of how accurate you are in practice.

 

[Zendude]

If you are not confident with the LCR 38, then it's not the gun you should carry. I tried one, but its light weight makes the recoil too heavy in 38 for me.

 

[pittpa]

I think you are optimistic about any use of a 22. Their are occasional one shot stops or kills, but one person described a suspect who was sitting on the curb in discomfort. A few minutes later he was dead, bled out from a 22 bullet wound. I think they are more like a knife, not getting the initial shock reaction that a larger round would. Also, police average 25% hit ratio, more or less, and they are trained to aim for center of mass. You have a good tool in the LCR 38. Find some Speer short barrel gold dot 135 gr hollow point see if you are comfortable shooting that. If so, find some cheaper practice rounds with similar recoil and shoot it a lot. I posted today about this training device,which I just ordered. http://www.laserlyte.com/products/trainer-lt-pro It is good for an initial draw and shoot, less so for a second shot, without recoil factored in.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

The only reason to carry and use a SD handgun is to stop an attack as fast as possible against you or someone you love. You choose the gun you think will do that best, the .22 or the .38?. If the only reason you are choosing the c.22 over the .38 is you shoot it better, practice more, a lot more with the .38...

 

[Tallball]

I f you are unsure of your ability with the 38, the LCR is now available in 327 Federal Magnum. The recoil isn't bad at all. They will also fire 32 H&R magnum, 32 S&W long, and 32 S&W "short". By the time you get down to the last two, the recoil isn't much different than a 22, but it's a much larger piece of lead.

There is a void between 22 and 38 which the 32's fill quite nicely.

And no, I would never use 22lr as a SD weapon except as a last resort. Deer and people are roughly the same size, but we don't hunt deer with a 22.

 

[Zendude]

I will add support for a 32 caliber revolver. The 32 H&R and 327 mag are hot rounds that are much better than a 22. If you do not like the idea of a 32, then you could try a 38 that is a heavier than the LCR and S&W J frame. A 24 oz Taurus or Rossi 5 shot 38 is a much softer shooter than a 12 oz. LCR.

 

[Captain O]

The .38 Special seems a "one size fits all" approach to a "personal fit" problem. The .22 is lots of fun and great for varminting, plinking, etc. The .38 Special, while good, isn't for everyone. Some people can't handle the recoil, or need heavier bullets for the purpose. Bigger isn't always better, nor is it always convenient/appropriate. There's a "tool for every application". Not everything requires the use of a .38 Special. Remember the line in the original "True Grit" motion picture? "Too much gun". Sometimes this can be the case.

Give it some thought and you will probably understand. If not, you are probably obsessed with bullet size.

 

[SwampWolf]

QUOTE: "...You can't count on head shots under the best of the worst circumstances.
No matter how good a shot you 'think' you are..."

Amen! It's always amazing to me as to how many people think they'll be able to put a shot between the eyes of the bad guy, whilst bullets are whizzing overhead and the adrenalin rush is at full speed. Get real folks and think "center mass". And, yes, I concede that there might be a time when a head shot is required (the bad guy wearing a "bullet-proof" vest comes to mind), but these are exceptions to prove the "rule"-whatever that might mean.