Stuck between two .22 pisols. Need help deciding. (Firestorm or Ruger)

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leukoplast I don't think you're going to change anyone's mind here and apparently no one here is going to change your mind.

I think everyone here knows a 22 can kill a person. The question is how fast?
Will it be today, tomorrow or next week. And what will that person be doing while waiting for the 22 to take effect?

As far as shooting the bg ten times, what will the bg be doing while you're shooting, just standing there!

And last, but not least. When I call the Firestorm "Bersa" it's because it is a Bersa!
 
Do what I do when in this same situation.
Ask yourself if both of them were on the table in front of you and you had to pick one up and take it home NOW, which one would it be. Don't stop to think about, you have already done that. Just pick the thing up.
That's the same thing I do but I always go home with a gun in each hand.:D

I'm in the Ruger camp on this one but like has already been said, I'm not sure I would consider it a great choice as my defensive weapon. It's certainly better than nothing but your life is worth further consideration when using a .22 as a first line of defense weapon.
 
I think everyone here knows a 22 can kill a person. The question is how fast?
Will it be today, tomorrow or next week. And what will that person be doing while waiting for the 22 to take effect?

As far as shooting the bg ten times, what will the bg be doing while you're shooting, just standing there!

And last, but not least. When I call the Firestorm "Bersa" it's because it is a Bersa!

Well, usually when a bullet penetrates the brain, the person dies instantaneously. Or in the heart = death instantly. I really don't see the problem here. Its not like I am going to pop the guy in the thigh or foot once and expect him to go down. I would shoot for areas that = severe pain or death.

And yes, I know the Bersa is a Firestorm...that's what I said and why I marked it as a "Bersa Firestorm" in the OP. :scrutiny:
 
Well, usually when a bullet penetrates the brain, the person dies instantaneously. Or in the heart = death instantly. I really don't see the problem here. Its not like I am going to pop the guy in the thigh or foot once and expect him to go down. I would shoot for areas that = severe pain or death.

A shot to the heart does not mean instant death, even with a larger caliber and it's an accepted fact that the head is one of the hardest areas of the human body to hit!

Why do you think law enforcement people are taught to shoot for center mass?

You must be reading fairy tales!

Try reading this and learn just how fast, or should I say how slow gunshot wounds may take effect.

Personally I don't care what you choose, but I sure hope you don't influence someone with little gun knowledge into thinking a 22 is all we need for self defense!
 
leukoplast there is a reason where I live it is illegal to deer hunt with anything smaller than 22 centerfire. That means pretty much .223 or larger & most people use something in the .30 caliber range. I have seen a deer I shot with a .30-06 run about 50 yards after receiving a fatal blow. I wouldn't want to be shot by even a BB gun as someone else has said but depending on someones state of mind, how much adrenaline is pumping a lot can happen before someone stops. If in a defensive situation I'd use a .22 if I had no other option but given a choice I'd want at least a 9mm if not larger. Also it can be hard to make a perfect shot on a moving target that is trying to cause you personal harm.
 
I, too, have been deciding between the Ruger and the Firestorm. Here are the conclusions of my research:

1) I grew up shooting the Ruger Mk.2, and assumed purchasing the 22/45 (or even the Mk 3) would be easy decisions. But the 22/45 is a different animal from the Mk 2. E.g., I thought the different grip configuration wouldn't be a big deal. But upon handling the gun, I HATED it. While small, the Firestorm's grips fit like a glove in my big hands. The Ruger felt like some random inanimate block-like object. (The Mark 3 felt a bit better, but I still did not like the grip, nor the higher price.)

2) The 22/45 is a polymer gun, in contrast with the Firestorm being alloy. This is a huge negative for me.

3) The concept of "lots of accessories" sounds great. But really the only ones that matter to me are extra mags, aftermarket grips, and possibly holsters. The Firestorm comes with excellent grips, additional grips are dirt cheap, and holsters shouldn't be a problem since its PPK design has been carried for ~60 years. I don't believe the 22/45 can take a replacement grip (because it is molded plastic), and could only take an overgrip such as Hogue. Other than that, I personally have a hard time justifying "ninjifying" a perfectly good .22--but maybe I am just old school.

4) I don't think the "high-velocity" ammo issue is a real issue. In contrast to the Sig Mosquito that needs very high quality ammo, the requirement is that you simply cannot put the cheapest bargain basement ammo in the Firestorm. There are lots of threads on www.bersatalk.com about compatible .22 ammo, and there is a lot of relatively cheap stuff that will still work.

5) Unless you are some sort of statistical anomaly-level marksman, the Firestorm's accuracy is likely beyond your capabilities. So the rest of us would not be likely to notice a difference in accuracy.

6) Firestorm is a brand name created by Bersa, and imported by the same US distributor. It is materially the same gun, with a few cosmetic differences from the regular .380 Bersa Thunder. It is NOT lower quality. And on those lines, Bersa has gained a huge following due to its combination of price/performance/quality. Once again, I don't think there is a material difference in product quality between Ruger and Bersa. I can't speak for customer service though, but they seem to be at the same levels from what I can tell. There certainly seem to be a lot of Ruger fans here, but there are quite a few die hard Bersa devotees out there also (once again, check out Bersatalk). Don't confuse allegiance to a brand with being fully informed about the merits of competing brands.

7) DA operation is appealing to me. As is the fact that the gun would be a perfect training companion to the nearly identical .380 Bersa Thunder.

If you can't tell, I am sold on the Firestorm/Bersa. But many of the reasons that I switched from die-hard Ruger may apply to you also. The good thing is that you really can't go wrong either way.
 
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I've got a ruger mkIII bull target and a phoenix (oh my..) hp22a (now there's cheap)

For target unquestionably the RUGER! if you must consider it a carry piece well the ruger doesn't fit that bill as others said. I find .22 small guns typically overweight for what they are. So maybe pick what your main priority is? I think the little phoenix (which I know you aren't considering of course, and is bottom of the barrel in price and quality) is like over 20oz in ppk size. Too heavy for its size in my opinion. Not sure how heavy the bersa you're looking at is. Good brand still. As leukoplast said Bersa .380 are a step up and I've seen them for just over $200 new, good pricing for a gun of that level. Have fun picking.
 
I have owned the Ruger MK l and MK ll for many years and I also own the Firestorm 22 and the Bersa 380CC.

The Bersa 380CC is a great carry piece, reliable and potent enough with Corbon DPX 8+1. I bought the FS 22 because it is virtually a duplicate of the 380 and very economical as a trainer and extremely reliable with decent ammo as well. After the first 1000 rds of 22 vs 380, the FS 22 was paid for with ammo cost difference. Further, I have read several accounts of FTF with low velocity 22 in the Firestorm, but I have used standard velocity target ammo with only minor problems cycling here and there. It's not too important since the jams clear easily. I do prefer high velocity rounds and would not buy any low velocity ammo for it, just using up some older stuff I had on hand. Because of the shorter length etc. the FS 22 just is not as accurate as the Rugers were. I would not seriously consider the FS22 for defense or carry except as a casual camp pistol. My 380CC is much more suited for that and is about at the limit for pocket carry.

Both of my MK Rugers were fine pistols, accurate and not too ammo picky, but I must admit that they are a pain to field strip. None of the MK 22 pistols strike me as being good for carry, but my MK ll was a good squirrel getter.

I guess the point is that we are comparing 2 different guns intended for 2 different purposes. If I were to suggest an all around 22 I would recommend the Ruger Single Six convertible 22lr/22mag and forget about 22 semi auto.

I have been thinking about picking up another MKll just to have one in my Ruger collection. I would highly recommend that you consider the MKll over the MKlll because of the extra PC safety add ons on the MKlll. The MKll has several refinements over the original MKl so I would avoid the early issue.
 
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