[marine6680]

Yeah... off hand practice is a good thing... you will probably never be as good an aim, or as fast on the draw as strong hand though.

If you are sure you want a 22lr... they can serve, and are better than nothing.

The "no extractor" thing about the tip up pistols is a concern if that is so.

You can look at the Ruger SR22... Small, light, DA/SA with decocker... if you get a dud, you can just pull the trigger again, or do immediate action to clear the dud round.

If you look around, it is about $280 online. (found it that price at a small shop that also sells online, but I did not bookmark it, sorry)

If you do go 22lr, practice with cheap bulk, but load it with velocitors or round nose minimags. The Velocitors are HP but will not expand from a pistol, they do hold a 50-100fps velocity advantage over the minimags out of the SR22. Be sure to test the functioning of the carry ammo... but usually the premium rimfire is very reliable. (I also used high velocity rounds for the first few mags, just to make sure the pistol cycles reliably during the initial "tight" phase of a new gun... but thats just me, some may see it as unnecessary)

You want penetration first if you are stuck with 22lr... the round nose minimags and velocitors will give you about 13in penetration in ballistics gel under standard testing. (using denim and calibrated medium)

When loading the mags for carry, load them slow and deliberately. Some 22 pistol mags have a loading assist built in. It is fine to use it a little to help start the next round into the mag, but do not pull it all the way down and load several rounds in without any spring pressure to help keep them lined up properly... doing that at the range its fine, as a malfunction is not serious. If you are afraid of it becoming habit, don't do it at all, that way you always load the magazines well. (I have yet to have a problem from that, but better safe than sorry)

Good luck with your situation whatever you should decide.