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If you knew a 100% that you were going to get in a gun fight but could only bring a hand gun that could be concealed and something you could lug around all day what would it be? That's what you should carry.
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I see your point.
The problem is that reality is just about the total reverse. Based on historical evidence plus my personal knowledge about where and when I go places... I could just about be 100% sure I won't ever get in a gun fight. Or ever have to draw my gun at all.
I suppose I could use that knowledge to stop carrying a gun entirely but I've actually always enjoyed having one around. For the general peace of mind. For the feeling that I have some control over my destiny, no matter how unlikely to need it. I carry a spare tire and jack in my car and I haven't had a flat in at least 20 years.
But back to the OP, I'll make two comments. One positive and one negative.
Let's make the negative one first. And probably the number one reason I've never carried a rimfire as my primary. (Although I have carried a NAA Mini Master in .22 WMRF as a BUG.) The biggest problem is reliability over time. Anybody who has fired mega-thousands of rounds of .22 LR knows this is true. Every now and then... one of them just doesn't go off. Sometimes you can pull it out of the chamber, rotate it, then try again and it does. Sometimes they just won't go off and you toss them. I _have_ had centerfire "duds" but I bet we are talking about a 100-1 ratio with the rimfire as the 100.
The positive one is about .22 WMRF. I'm not a huge fan of the super short (less than 2") barrels on some of the NAA guns. But if you give the cartridge just a little more barrel, it can surprise you. Jeff got over 1000 fps with all the 40 and 45 grain bullets out of the LCR. And it only has a 1.9" barrel. I really think it would be better with a 3" barrel but that's not bad. Here's the best part compared to .22 LR. The bullet construction of .22 WMRF is far superior to the simple lead bullets of .22 LR. And that leads to very deep penetration. Jeff and that LCR again... he got between 13 and 15 inches of penetration in ballistic gelatin. So you don't hit the bad guy with a lot of foot pounds but the bullet will get to the vitals. And the very minimal recoil means you should be able to do it several times.
It's a nice gun. And he had no extraction problems. So Ruger is doing something right. I could see giving one to my wife since she almost never goes shooting. But I would check it often to make sure no oil was getting on the cartridges. And I would swap them out for fresh ones on a regular basis.
http://www.gunblast.com/Ruger-LCR22Mag.htm
I will say again... it would be even better with a 3" barrel! Really no harder to conceal.
Gregg