.22 Rimfire for Defensive Work?

[PawDaddy]

I have a couple of .38 revolvers and a few long guns for hunting. I also have a couple of .22 handguns and 3 .22 rifles. My wife and I are going through some very difficult financial times. She has been out of work for over a year and I am on disability. I do have an online job that brings in a little money, but is not consistent. I have thought about trying to build up my supply of .22 ammo for defensive purposes. How well does the .22 rimfire fill this role? It appears to be our best option right now. Thanks!

[Old Grump]

Not an optimum choice but if you have to go that way at least get plated 40 grain solid bullets. They won't lead up your chamber and be more likely to feed and eject out of any gun and will penetrate better then the hyper velocity hollow points. CCI mini-mag will be a really good choice but CCI Blazer will do if that's all you can afford.

[PawPaw]

I wouldn't want to get shot with one. The last time someone shot me with a .22 I was in the hospital for a week. Bad juju, those little slugs penetrate well.

[SIGSHR]

We have discussed this several times here and I will simply state that it is not my first or second or third choice but it beats fists, feet and foul language.
1st Rule of Gunfighting: Have a Gun.

[Alabama Shooter]

If you go with the .22 remember that long barrels are mostly your friend, get the fastest rounds you can find. Solids will penetrate, HPs will give some small expansion. It is trade off but you have to work with you have.

I assume you are selling your .38s?

[PawDaddy]

No, I am not selling my .38's. I am in fact looking to purchase a new .38 when I can get the funds. I want an LCR. I was thinking about a small auto of some sort, but I have ostioporis (sp) and am concerned about racking a slide.

The .22 idea is simply because I do have more firearms in this caliber. It is an easy round to shoot. (my wife is not a gun person) Cheap to practice with and a lot more economical. I have always had a .22 rifle of some sort. But, the main reason is price of ammo.

[PawDaddy]

I have had to sell several guns that I had in the past. I had a Universal M1, an SKS, and a few handguns. I wish I had them all back, but I don't and never will. The .38's are for conceal carry. I have shot an LCR and can control it much better than the other two revolvers that I own. I won't sell them though cause one is a Charter Arms that my dad gave me over 30 years ago. The other is a 3 inch Taurus 85 pre-lock.

[DaleA]

Sorry about your tough times. But if you are keeping the .38's, save out a few rounds for them and make them available as your first choice for self defense.

There's a semi-famous sig line around here that I'll probably misquote that says 'All else being equal (and it almost never is) bigger bullets tend to work better.'

[kilimanjaro]

You have to use what you can operate with your osteoporosis and feed with your income, including the required practice. The .22 is fine for a defense handgun, provided you and your wife both have one available for each of you.

If you have a spare brick of .22 around, the two of you should very soon shoot up 250 rounds of it, to familiarize you with the guns you will use, then use the other half of the brick over the next 5 months in a monthly session, one box of 50 split between you.

Be sure and carry them whenever you can, as stated below, Rule No. 1 of Gunfights is to have a gun.

[jason_iowa]

Ya do what you gotta do to survive.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

If I had to pick up my Buckmark or my evil black assault 10/22 with a hicapacity clip of 25 rounds (), it would beat the flying fist of the FOG waddling to the charge.

Go for it.

I do have better but it works.

[Skans]

I don't quite understand the OP. He already has two .38 cal revolvers. If it were me, I'd save the money that I'd spend on a .22 and .22 ammo and just buy some good .38 defensive loads and call it a day.

[Alabama Shooter]

I can attest that the factory ruger 25 round magazines perform great when clean. Still the RF is more likely to get a misfire.

For HD- between 5-6 rounds of .38 out of revolver vs 25 rounds of .22 out of a semi-auto rifle I would swing the edge to the .38 but just barely. Ideally you could use both changing to transition fire with the .38 if the .22 stopped working on you. Fixing and clearing the little jams from a 10/22 can be challenging, maybe impossible under stress.

[ClydeFrog]

I would advise against using a .22LR caliber as a defense load. I looked into it about 8 years ago & decided not to buy a compact .22LR mouse gun.
Research by Marshal & Sanow(both sworn LE officers who studied handgun calibers in documented shootings) showed that the .22LR round had a 40% chance of a one-shot stop.
Many 9x19(9mm Luger) & .45acp rounds(230gr FMJ) had around a 65% chance.
A .38spl +P is the lowest I'd go for general protection. Some .380acp rounds may work, but I don't care for the semi auto brands out there. Feeding-cycle and jams are common.
$ may be a problem but don't risk your safety over it.
Clyde

[seeker_two]

Nothing wrong with the .22lr for SD....esp. if you're using good ammo and practice often. My wife can shoot her Taurus .22lr revolver well, and any threat would be in a world of hurt from her nine Velocitor rounds.

What ammo are you using for your .38Spl? You don't need expensive SD ammo there, either. A good 158gr. SWC load does well.

[slickab]

All,
I can tell you, I sure would hate for someone adept with their 10/22 to decide
to blaze away at me with one for 4 or 5 rounds. They are very efficient rifles.
Hang up a thawed turkey and cut loose on it. The results will surprise you. I
shoot 40 grain copper plated hollow point Aguila Interceptors with a muzzle
velocity of 1470 fps and they are nothing to sneeze at! Ab

[bonefamily]

^^ My local gun shop owner told me of an Aquila .22lr with a 1700 fps - that would be one fast .22.

[Sport45]

Originally Posted by Skans

I don't quite understand the OP. He already has two .38 cal revolvers. If it were me, I'd save the money that I'd spend on a .22 and .22 ammo and just buy some good .38 defensive loads and call it a day.

Me too.

Seems like the obvious answer.

[sirdiealot]

all i know is with my stevens 87a 22lr i will put two in your eyes about as fast as you can blink at 50yrds bet that would put a person down or at least take alot of the fight out of him....if its what i had to use it wouldnt bother me to use it....although i would prob grab my ar15 or my 12 gauge pump first

[ClydeFrog]

The more well known & highly trained tactics instructors across the US(and on the world wide web) often say; 1) Have a gun! & 2) Use enough gun!

It would be difficult to sit in open court having to explain to a judge & jury(who may know little or nothing about firearms) why you shot a subject 10 or 15 times with a .22LR. A member of a grand jury may say; "couldn't you have used a .38spl or 9mm?
When most people think of .22LR handguns they think of mafia goons or Mossad hitmen.

Clyde

[FrankenMauser]

I can attest that the factory ruger 25 round magazines perform great when clean. Still the RF is more likely to get a misfire.

I disagree.
Average, cheap ammo is more likely to misfire, but decent rimfire ammo is exceptionally reliable.

Quick examples:
I haven't had a failure to fire with faulty .22 WMR ammo... ever.
I haven't had a failure to fire with faulty Eley-primed .22 LR cases... ever.
I haven't had a failure to fire with a premium CCI .22 LR or .22 Short load... ever.

On the other hand, I've seen factory centerfire handgun loads with no flash hole, messed up cases, the wrong bullet, no powder, or backwards primers more often that I'd care to. ...and more often than I've had a failure to fire with even run-of-the-mill ArmsCor .22 LR.


Rimfire cases are less complicated than centerfire cases. There are fewer variables to cause a problem. As long as the load is using a quality hull (that's primed properly), it will be as reliable as, or more reliable than, centerfire ammo.


Quality is what matters.
Whether it's centerfire, or rimfire, doesn't matter. If it's cheap ammo... you get what you paid for.

[cajun47]

i would load a .22 rifle mag with cci hollow points and solids. there hollow points work great in a rifle:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEDo_PbAvJc

[Hal]

I don't quite understand the OP. He already has two .38 cal revolvers. If it were me, I'd save the money that I'd spend on a .22 and .22 ammo and just buy some good .38 defensive loads and call it a day.

OP has a physical limitation -osteoporosis.

Shooting even a .38spl on a regular basis (to stay "sharp") may not be a wise idea.

I've known a couple of people w/osteoporosis & they could end up breaking a bone doing something really mundane - such as unscrewing the lid off a jar.

[Sport45]

OP has a physical limitation -osteoporosis.

When did he say that? I thought he said he was keeping the .38's for concealed carry.

[Onward Allusion]

Sport45

Me too.

Seems like the obvious answer.

I think the OP was referring to something with higher capacity for home defense in a possible civil unrest or multiple intruder scenario. A rifle like the 10/22 with 25 to 30 rounds of hyper-velocity 22LR would work fairly well. Maybe not as well as an AK, AR or even a 9mm carbine, but it would definitely work due to the rifle length barrel. The biggest disadvantage is the rimfire aspect, but with reliable ammo it becomes much less of a factor.

I've said this so many times already - a few 40gr 22LR @ ~1,400 fps & ~180-200 lb in the chest of most will at the very least slow them down if not drop 'em dead right there. Take a look at this slo-mo from Brassfetcher and compare it to a high performance 9mm from a handgun. No one can tell me that three CCI 40gr Velocitors in someone's chest ain't gonna kill 'em dead pretty dang quickly or at least make 'em think twice.

22LR:
http://www.brassfetcher.com/index_fi...SlowMotion.htm

9mm: Hornady124gr XTP
http://www.brassfetcher.com/index_fi...SlowMotion.htm

With that said - I would NOT advise on using the 22LR round from a pocket pistol or even a 6" revolver for SD/HD situations (maybe a 6" revolver if it was all I had). Powder just doesn't burn completely in those short barrels.