Smallest caliber sufficient for defense?

[Essex County]

Right now my smallest handgun is a 9mm Star BM. Years ago I carried Quality .32ACPs and didnt feel undergunned. Summer is here and I am considering a .32 Kel-Tec for shorts and T-Shirt. It's more mental atitude han anything else....Essex

 

[AJAX22]

I really like the .32 acp, it gets the job done with the right bullet. there's always mercury tips if you feel like theyre not enough whoopa$$.

Not that I'm advocating breaking the law, I'm just saying use the right ammo and .32acp works nicely.

 

[maclean]

My first CCW was a S&W 642 in .38 spl +P. I rarely carry it as a primary now but when I do I don't feel terribly disadvantaged.
In wheelguns, I'd say generally a good .38spl load is my minimum. In autos, I prefer 9mm or above (though a hot .380 like COR-BON, TAP, or Speer GD would probably be sufficient).

My primary CCW for the last several months has been a SA Mil-Spec 1911 in .45ACP. I prefer to use std. pressure, 230gr loads and in all truthfulness, I've been using fmj as my carry load until I can do more range/reliability testing with my choice of defense HP (Rem. GS, Speer GD, Fed. HS, Win SXT. - all capable rounds IMHO).

With today's modern ballistics technology, just about any handgun round can be a fatal fight stopper as long as we shooters do our part. I think it's much more important to find a load that works with 100% reliability in the chosen firearm than it is to get hung up on .38spl vs. .357mag, 9mm vs. .40, .40 vs. .45, etc.

I AM a little surprised nobody's mentioned .32 H&R mag though. I really don't know much about it but what little I've read seems it'd be at least adequate as a pocket/BUG caliber.
Jack

 

[Smith357]

I would prefer a .38 spl as a minimum, but then a .22lr is better than nothing.

 

[Doug S]

I like 9mm, but I must admit to carrying a P32 at times. I like the P32, and although not the ideal caliber, still prefer it to no gun at all. At one time I even carried a 25 acp, but after a bad experience with a small domestic duck, I had to give it up .

 

[DBR]

In martial arts you are taught where the vulnarable parts of the body are located and how to attack them. Since I spent time studying martial arts, I see a small caliber weapon as an extention of that training. Rather than using a fist or a dagger, you use a small caliber firearm. I still question which might work better but the theory is the same.

 

[MCgunner]

The problem with the martial arts thing is, you may have a shootout going at 15 yards. Can you hit that vital area at 15 yards on a moving target????

Center mass for me and a caliber capable of fairly quick incapacitation with a center mass shot.

 

[woerm]

one more vote for

what ever you can carry is better than on in the safe at home.

.32 works fine for me.

 

[Black Snowman]

For me .380 as a minimum. For a revolver, 38 special. To get enough consistant penetration I don't use hollowpoints in these calibers. I go with Winchester White Box in .380 because it has a nice big meplat, works in my Kel-Tek P3AT as well as anything else, and is cheap enough to practice regularly with.

In 38 special I like full power 158 grain soft points or a slow expanding hollowpoint. If I could find some heavy hard-cast wad-cutters I'd probably go that route.

 

[TOADMAN]

Revolver: 38spl
Pistol: 9mm

 

[Surefire]

Revolver: .38 spl
autoloader: .380 acp

 

[nitesite]

In 38 special I like full power 158 grain soft points or a slow expanding hollowpoint. If I could find some heavy hard-cast wad-cutters I'd probably go that route.

Remington 158-gr +P LSWC in nickel cases. This stuff drives deep and cuts a clean wound channel.

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/cb/cb.asp?a=236196



Good price, too!

 

[JohnKSa]

I'll take any gun over no gun without even thinking about the decision.

There are two reasons that people choose small calibers: low recoil and concealability.

Given the current crop of VERY small .32ACP pistols out there, I think that .32ACP is a pretty reasonable bottom limit in terms of concealability. I suppose you can get smaller pistols in 22 and 25, but you're getting to the point that the gun is almost too small to hold onto and operate easily.

As far as recoil goes, it seems that nearly anyone can tolerate .32ACP out of even a tiny carry pistol like the P32.

So, while I think that even smaller calibers are better than nothing, I think it's very rarely necessary to go below 32ACP.

For those with disabilities that put very stringent limits on their recoil tolerance, I suppose that a lightweight 9 or 10 shot revolver in .22LR or .22Mag would be a reasonable choice.

Ok, so given the above commentary, why do I think that even the smallest calibers are useful?

1. Most of the time just presenting a gun ends the confrontation immediately.
2. In the majority of the cases where shooting is necessary, shooting once ends the confrontation whether or not the attacker is hit and/or regardless of the level of injury done to the attacker.
3. In the very small percentage of cases where it's necessary to damage an attacker to the point that they physically can not attack, I'd much rather fight with a person full of tiny holes than with a person who's not been shot at all. Doing damage to someone when they can't touch you is a big advantage, even if the damage isn't severe.

 

[Nomoney]

I think whatever one feels most confident carrying is the weopon one should carry. For me, it's my Bulgarian Makarov. Those commie guns will feed anything!!!

I think small caliber weapons-like .22s- have their merits. Especially for training. Starting out with a 22/45 will pay off big dividends when a begginer wants to move on to a larger center fire piece.

 

[nitesite]

I once carried a .32ACP NAA Guardian. It was heavy but wonderfully engineered and totally reliable.

My decision to move up to .38-Spl as a minimum was driven by my observation that our population, as a general rule, is getting more and more overweight. I just cannot feel great about a platform/cartridge which doesn't have at least a good chance of hitting the giblets.

Even if a .22/.32 penetrates deeply enough to get a CNS hit in the torso, I am not convinced that it will break a vertebrae and shatter the spinal cord.

For me, minimum means .38-Spl 158-gr from a snubbie or 9mm 124-gr from a compact pistol.

My every day carry revolves around a 442 with 158-gr LSWC, or a 10mm Glock 29, or a 4" XD-45.

 

[jame]

Sometimes, covenience gets in the way of common logic. But common logic would dictate that I carry an AR15 under a trenchcoat.

In the winter, I'll carry may Mil-Spec or Makarov every chance I get.

In the summer, I now carry a Beretta 21A .22. Many may argue that my summertime carry decision is faulty, but it's a gun I can just throw in my shorts pocket and go, and it sure as hell beats my Swiss Army knife for defense.

Any gun is better than no gun. There is no minimum caliber for defense. They all hold some sort of value.

 

[JohnKSa]

no doubt somebody is currently working on a .32 ACP SIG. A .32 bullet in a crimped .380 or 9mm case?

It's called the .32 NAA, a .380ACP case necked down to take a .32 bullet.

https://www.dakotaammo.net/shop/index.php?cPath=21_30&osCsid=aea7fdfcdea889983d8d073f107154e2

 

[RyanM]

Sounds like a higher pressure version of .32-20, kinda.

What might make sense for a Desert Eagle or something would be .44 magnum necked down to .357. You could probably get close to factory .30-30 numbers in a rifle barrel, using that.

 

[JohnKSa]

In a .380 hideout handgun, I don't think you're going to be able to exceed .32NAA ballistics by any appreciable amount and still stay in the realm of practicality.

 

[10-Ring]

I have a 25 caliber Jetfire I carry from time to time.

 

[Landric]

The smallest gun I carry is a J-frame in .38 Special. I can't imagine a mode of dress that would allow me to conceal any handgun larger than an NAA Mini and not conceal a J-frame. I have owned small .32 and .380 pistols in the past, but none of them were as reliable as a J-frame. I have a lot more faith in a 135 grain Gold Dot (+P) or a 158 grain LSWCHP(+P) than I do in any .32 or .380 load. Sure, the J-frame only holds 5 rounds and is slow to reload, but it looks much larger on the business end (increasing the chances of not actually having to fire it) and all mine are totally reliable and accurate enough to regularly hit 8" steel plates at 50 yards. Try that with a P32.

Even so, I generally don't carry just a J-frame. Sometimes I leave the house carrying two of them, one in the pocket and one on the ankle, but usually it is a belt gun of some ilk and a J in the pocket.

 

[Sven]

When doing the paperwork on this gun, an older guy at our club walked in... looked down... and asked me:

"you play cards?"

lol



Wouldn't want to have to use it, but it could have it's uses.

 

[drbironhead]

the smallest ill carry is a bersa thunder 380 but usully im carrying my 1911

 

[Still 2 Many Choices!?]

Revolvers-.38, 'Autos-.380

That's the lightest I would FEEL comfortable carrying, but a .22 mag revolver, or a .25 auto beats a pointy stick any day(depending on a distance qualification )....

For actual carry and use, if it start with a,"4" I FEEL WAAAAAY more comfortable!

 

[deputy tom]

I prefer to go no lower than .38spl. but have and do carry a .22 or .25acp AND a big knife.tom.