Single Six for self defence?

[Rival]

My wife saw the 50th anniversary new model Single Six in the store, and she wants it. I really like it as well.

It does come with an extra cylinder for .22WMR, and it surely comes in handy as I happen to have a rifle chambered for such a caliber.

I was wondering, is that a decent self defence round out of 4-5/8" barrel? I mean the gun is great plinker with .22LR, but would it be any good as a self defence handgun for my wife if she used it fitted with .22WMR cylinder?

 

[Jeff Timm]

A little fellow named Bill Jordan, who spent a few years in the US Border Patrol, thought the S&W Model 60 in .22 Magnum Hollow Point, would make an idea concealed weapon.

Some fellow named Mass Ayoob, who affects strange looking mustaches, claims he knows of only two shootings with a .22 Magnum...both fatal.

Geoff
Who wishes Ruger chambered the SP-101 4-inch in .22 Magnum, as his wife likes the SP-101 in .22 LR, of course she shoots the Security Six in .38 Special well enough..

 

[Kaylee]

The one time I really REALLY thought I might have to use a gun.. all I had was grampa's single six with a .22 mag cylinder. It was better than nothing, I guess.... but I can't say it exactly filled me with confidence.

... a few months later I had my first .45.

Your call I guess... but I sure wouldn't pick it intentionally as a defensive weapon.

-K

 

[P95Carry]

I sure would not want to be on receiving end of a 22mag but ..... it ain't IMO an ideal round for SD, tho as anyone would say .... ''better than nothing''! Remember too the ever present possibilty of a rimfire case with a bad distribution of priming compound ...... ''click''!

I enjoy my Single Six .... particularly with the mag cylinder but ..... downside is very much reload time ... basically ... if you relied on that then .... after 6 shots you better go pray!

 

[Doc]

.22WMR...

I was wondering, is that a decent self defence round

funny you should ask

there's this thread: 22WRM for self defense

I will spare you my opinions, you can read them there

 

[Jim March]

Yup. Go to that thread for ballistics.

Short form: if she *likes* shooting it, practices a ton with the cheap 22LRs and shoots enough Magnums to be comfortable with 'em (and recoil is still VERY light in a Single Six) then yes, in determined hands, a 30grain JHP pulling 1,500fps will get the job done!

NOTE: most 22Magnum ammo is so heavily "tuned" for rifles that they suck in handguns. The CCI MaxiMag +V and +V/TNT are so unusually hot in handguns that they more or less single-handedly make defensive 22Mag handguns a viable proposition. There's two other choices that are almost as good, the Winchester Supreme 33grain and the Federal 30grainer but in my experience, CCI rimfire ignition is first-rate (zero failures for me across 3 guns and a lot of ammo!) and they ARE the hottest.

The "TNT" variant of this load has a more advanced hollowpoint and is more likely to expand; the original flavor is more likely to "punch deep". Accuracy and ballistics tends to be identical, a lot of people stagger the two. Me, I run the TNTs in 4" or longer barrels, the original formula in my shorter 1.5" pocket gun (to get as much penetration as possible out of that short tube).

 

[Tamara]

Geoff
Who wishes Ruger chambered the SP-101 4-inch in .22 Magnum, as his wife likes the SP-101 in .22 LR, of course she shoots the Security Six in .38 Special well enough..

Hrmm... Sounds like wedded bliss may only be another SP-101 and a chamber reamer away.

 

[justice4all]

Mine is ready to go right now. It's not the first thing I would reach for, but I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end. More than the caliber, I'd be concerned about the single action.

 

[Kaylee]

I dunno.. maybe it's just 'cause my first-ever-"my very own gun" WAS that single-six, maybe I'm just crazy.. but I'm finding that SA just doesn't seem like much of a liability to me. What with keeping a thumb on the back bell like the SASS folks do, shooting speed ain't really any worse than with an auto really, and once you're used to it one handed use ain't bad either.

Sure, reload speed ain't like a 1911.. but then, I hardly ever carried a spare mag in the first place. I ain't a cop, don't make a habit of going into dicey situations and it seems to me that six rounds is enough for anything this side of "crazy meth zombie gangbangers attack." At which point... that's what a rifle's for.

I guess for me it comes down to a distinction between a combat pistol and a self defense pistol... and a SA seems just fine for the latter to me. Not ideal perhaps... but more than adequate.

The caliber thing though.... statistics or no statistics, it's just easier for me to have confidence in a cartridge that at the very least outmasses my morning vitamins.


-K