Seriously considering the SR22 for CCW

[Frank Ettin]

Originally Posted by tahunua001

man... remind me never to get into an argument with frank... he'll probably win ever time

Well, that was how I earned my living before I retired.

[Cheapshooter]

Well, that was how I earned my living before I retired.

You were a professional troll Hunter?

[tahunua001]

no silly, he googled for a living and figured out what was credible and what wasn't.

[Ritz]

+1000 to Frank. That's spot on.

My wife was of the opinion that .22cal was the cat's meow and wanted to carry one. It wasn't until she saw the difference of what .22LR can do to actual tissue (a sacrificial ham shank) versus a series of other pistols (.380, .38 special, .357mag, .45ACP) that she decided that it might not be a great idea. Sure, the perp might eventually bleed out, but not before he injures/kills her. She now carries a .380.

[sfwusc]

In the ER... I saw a 3 year old hit by a 40SW and made it. I saw a 18 year take a .22lr in the head and died.

That said... I carry a .40 and wouldn't carry a .22lr unless I had too. Shot placement is the key, but a bigger round/more energy is more forgiving on slight misses.

[marine6680]

I would say that CCI Velocitors are a good choice if you do use the SR22...

Stingers have less mass, and not a lot of velocity advantage out of the shorter barrel.

HERE is a video testing different 22lr loads into test gel, from barrel of different lengths. Including a barrel length the same as the SR22.

Watch that and it may help you decide.

[tahunua001]

but haven't velocitors been discontinued for the last decade? last time I saw them was in the late 90s.

[Mosin-Marauder]

Aguila Supermaximums High Velocity are the best for self defense. I carry 25 rounds of the suckers in my 10/22 when I'm out and about on the ranch.

[ThomasT]

Aguila Supermaximums High Velocity are the best for self defense. I carry 25 rounds of the suckers in my 10/22 when I'm out and about on the ranch.

And I have to ask. How many times have these rounds saved your bacon so that you can make a statement like that?

Aren't you 14 years old? And you have how much gunfighting experience?

Not trying to rag on you but when you post a statement like that you better be ready to back it up.

[Cheapshooter]

Aguila Supermaximums High Velocity are the best for self defense.

Don't know about the similar Ruger, but Aguila Supermax simply does not run my Walther P22. It ejects the spent case, but doesn't pick up another round from the magazine. I think the very light bullet doesn't create enough recoil energy to fully cycle the slide.

[tahunua001]

well even though it's only a 30gr bullet, the aquila that mosin marauder suggested does have about the highest energy in FTLBs that I've seen in a 22lr, about 205FTLBs others suggested like velocitors(which I didn't realize were back in production) only produce 185-ish ftlbs. also humbling is the mini-mags I was suggesting which only produce about 130ftlbs.

so given that information, yes I think mosin made a pretty good suggestion for 22lr defense ammo. perhaps he should have modified with "in my opinion" but otherwise I think his post has a lot of credence.

[Mosin-Marauder]

It messes up snakes. :P I've killed 3 copperheads with them. But no I dont have any credible evidence other than that. But Youtube does. Never said It saved my bacon/or that that I had gun fighting experience. I just like sharing my opinion though.

[marine6680]

I bought Velocitors just a few weeks back.

Check out the video I linked, it has the super maximums in it as well I believe.

[riflemen]

When it comes to CCW a few factors boil it down for you to pick the weapon for you, there is NO perfect weapon for all of us..

here are a few I think should be factored into a decision...

Price- what you want to or can afford to spend... and what can you afford to practice with at least a few times per year minimum...

Size-what do you want and what are you able to carry? A 7oz .22 all the way up to a 5lb ar pistol+, it has to make sense to you, weight, concealability, maneuverability, ect...

Ability-what can you manipulate and operate efficiently and effectively, if you can shoot one handedly behind your back and robin hood a 454 casull then this may not apply to you...

Capacity-what are you comfortable with for a number and what does your local law inhibit? A 2 shot derringer is super easy to conceal but hard to shoot and only holds 2, vs a FN 57 holds a 20 but is much larger and my wife can't wrap her hand around the grip...


So the bestt thing to do is start at the top, what can you afford, then go to the dimensional size you are comfortable carrying and concealing, feel them loaded, figure out the weight, and size that works for you, then go to the range and see what you can do, practice as much as you can and your ability will get better, you may start being comfortable with a 22 but quickly move up to a 9mm with a few weeks of practice...

That will tell you the caliber and gun that works for you, join a range and poke around, most guys have no issues letting you shoot a few rounds through their gun, I have done this many times, I let a women shoot my 9mm 1911 last weekend because she is thinking about carrying a larger weapon {she carries a older .25 revolver, and hated how the 9mmm barked}...

It seems the what should I carry posts are abundant here, there is no single right answer that any one on this forum can give, I know that I like carrying my p3at, its not easy to shoot BUT the ct laser is dead on at 20ft, I am confident the 380 underwoods I have it loaded with have enough "stopping" power to neutralise human threats, but the biggest reason I carry that gun is its size, I have it on a pocket clip no holster, super light, super small, and it holds 6, when I practice with it, I can pop a moving target 6 in a row 9 times out of 10 and on the 1 out of them 10 I get a miss its 1 shot out of the 6...

SO if the 22 is what you are comfortable with carry it, on the other hand though if you are a super shot with a 9mm of the same size, it would probably be a better option... I think the smaller calibers should be an option for the women, small men, elderly that can not efficiently fire a larger unit...

[walks with gun]

When folks are speaking of lethality of .22s are they separating 22 rifle shootings from it's much weaker, handicap sister, or just lumping them together.

[militant]

There are many ballistic gel tests on YouTube that show the .22 from a pistol penetrating 12 inches. I saw the chart on one shot stops. It looks like almost 70% of shooting with the .22 were one shot stops if I'm reading that correctly. So what does it say about 3,4,5,6,7ect shot stops? How many people do you know that could take 10 .22 shells to the chest?

[amd6547]

Plus, as any .22 shooter can tell you, there is .22 ammo, and there is .22 ammo.
A bare statistic that does not differentiate between shootings involving a beretta minx .22 short or a loose bore RG shooting low end thunderbolts or a 6" standard model Ruger loaded with Stingers does not give a true or complete picture of the capabilities of the .22 rimfire.
That the numbers reported, apparently lumping all .22 rimfire possibilities together, are so high, is interesting.

[Microgunner]

I carried my SIG Sauer P938-22 10+1 shot. 22lr pistol today and whadda ya know, I survived the whole day. Whoda thunk it. It's small and light and I felt lazy today. It's Thanksgiving.

[Tomac]

All handguns are relatively poor "stoppers" regardless of caliber or bullet used. Shot placement and sufficient penetration are paramount, all else is secondary.

Barring a hit to the CNS (and if .45 FMJ straight-on can't always penetrate the skull, don't count on a .22 doing more than tearing the scalp), the only way to stop a determined and aggressive BG is to shut down the brain from oxygen deprivation caused by bleedout. Problem is, even a solid hit to the heart can leave 10+ seconds worth of oxygen in the brain, plenty of time for the BG to plain daisies in your hair.

With all that being said, John Lott states that the vast majority of attacks are stopped by the mere presence of a handgun (ie: BG is *not* determined/aggressive and chooses to stop the attack due to fear, pain, sight of his own blood, etc) in which case caliber used is moot.

Therefore, a case can be made for carrying a .22 when you simply cannot carry anything more powerful, but in the event of a serious attack it will underperform worse than more powerful cartridges.
Tomac

[DannyB1954]

When they go off, .22lr work just fine. The problem with a semi auto is the time it takes to get the next bullet chambered if something does go wrong.
If I was to carry a .22lr I think my choice would be the Ruger LCR 22. A revolver pulled a second time beets the heck out of the tap & rack of a semi auto.

[Pacman]

No country has ever adopted the .22 as their service pistol/revolver...for the obvious reason.

[LockedBreech]

Originally Posted by aarondgraham

I can't advocate using a .22 as a carry pistol,,,
But if you are going to do it the SR22 is a good choice.

+1

That's about the size of it. I think .22LR is a poor choice for carry, but the SR-22P range rental I used did 500 rounds without a single burp.

[Model12Win]

Honestly I'd be more comfortable with a .22 revolver with at least 8 rounds vs. the SR-22.

They are good and reliable pistols, but rimfires and .22 auto feeding in general don't give me too much confidence. With the revolver, if you have a dud just pull the trigger again and the next shot should fire. You also don't have to worry about feeding issues.

As far as power goes... with some 40 grain mini-mags penetration should be more than adequate even at handgun velocities, shot placement is critical but it is with a .45 ACP as well... .22 is probably going to have more issues with heavy clothing and bone penetration, but for all intensive purposes people have been killed with far less.

I wouldn't say I'd be "comfortable" with a .22 handgun for defense, but if you put in the time and get really good with it I do believe it will probably see you through most violent encounters.

[spanishjames]

If I was going to carry a 22lr, I would carry the SR22.

[TxFlyFish]

What about 22 gut shots...forget cns just dump into the pelvic area