Practice with a .22

[txray22]

Does anyone else practice with a .22 version of there SD gun. I have several .22s and enjoy shooting them most of all.

[Jelly]

Yes, I'm certainly guilty of shooting and enjoying .22LR handguns and actually prefer them to the larger calibers when doing target "work"...

Also, I've seen a couple of people who recently learned to shoot with a 317 S&W and then went with a 637/638/642 for defense.

[Dwight55]

Years ago, I belonged to the Columbus Rifle and Revolver Club in Columbus, Ohio.

Virtually all of the guys started out our Friday session with their .22's. I learned to do the same, as it gets me settled into the "routine" of shooting, . . . after a "day at the office" so to speak.

I think it is good stuff.

May God bless,
Dwight

[tokarevman]

LOL all i can aford to practice with is .22. I shoot way more .22 than anything when i am the range i usaly put 50 or 100 rounds through my CCW and put it up and shoot about 500 rounds through my NEOS or my old .22 rifle. But to you orginal question do i practice with a .22 version of my cary gun sadly not. But if i had or they made a .22Makarov or Tokarev you bet i would.

[USP45usp]

.22's are the best.

I have a semi-auto .22 to practice using semi-automatics (Browning Buckmark), a .22 revolver to practice using revolvers (.22 heritage), and a .22 Jennings to practice using a "mouse gun" .

There's nothing like spending $20 in ammo, going shooting all day, and still come home with ammo, very dirty guns, and a big on your face. The best time that one can have for under $21 dollars IMNSHO .

Wayne

[tipoc]

For learning the fundamentals of shooting and keeping youself in shape a few .22s are must haves. A .22 don't lie and will reveal all your errors in trigger pull and flinching. I shoot mine regularly.

tipoc

[Joe Demko]

.22's are very worthwhile. If you can't shoot a .22 well, you won't shoot a larger caliber well either.

[Duxman]

Starting off my practice is 3 magazines of .22 LR. Then off the big guns...9mm, .40 et al.....Then back to the .22 LR on rifle mode this time, then off to the AR15 in 5.56mm.

I find that practicing your grip, trigger control, and front sight picture is very economical with the .22, after that warm up, prepare for the smell of cordite as the bigger calibers rule....

[Double Naught Spy]

Well, no caliber lies, .22 or otherwise.

Having a .22 conversion for a defense gun is nifty and can be helpful, but shooting a .22 coversion only has limited uses if you are using it to train with instead of your actual defensive cartridge. You can work on things such as drawing to your first shot, inclusive of things like sight picture and target acquisition. The lack of recoil, especially in regard to followup shots, means it won't simulate your defensive caliber too well. This is a problem noted by some police officers when they trained and qualified with .38 Special, but had to fire their carry ammo in the line of duty, .357 Mag. The flash, bang, and recoil was found to be quite startling. Also, malfunctions don't clear the same way, or often don't.

With that said. for trigger familiarity, fun with plinking, etc., the .22 lr conversions are great.

[jonathon]

I keep telling myself I need to get a .22 pistol, but I keep putting it off.. Need to find a good .22 revolver..

[gb_in_ga]

"I keep telling myself I need to get a .22 pistol, but I keep putting it off.. Need to find a good .22 revolver.."

Yep. Me, too.

[Joe Demko]

Well, no caliber lies, .22 or otherwise.

No, they don't. Shooters, however, seem to be more willing to lie to themselves when shooting larger calibers, though. Lousy groups fired from a .22 target pistol are humiliating. Lousy groups fired from a .45 can be rationalized as "combat accuracy."
One fellow I know characterized it this way: "Until you have mastered the .22, a larger pistol is just a waste of range time and money." He's right too. If you haven't mastered the basics of marksmanship with the .22, they aren't going to magically manifest just because you picked up a .45. Since mastering those basics takes a goodly bit of practice, it is far more cost effective to do it with a .22. On any given visit to the range, I see lots of folks busily turning money into noise with heavy caliber pistols, AK-clones, and other guns that are "sexier" than a .22 pistol or rifle. Those folks clearly just don't know how to shoot. You name the bad habit, and you will see it. All of them would be better served by some instruction and a good .22 than they ever will be by going to the range to make a lot of noise and fling a lot of lead in the general direction of the backstop from a heavier weapon. Practicing the same wrong things over and over will never make you good at shooting, whether with a .22 or a .45; but at least it's cheaper with the .22.

[USP45usp]

Golgo-13,

Lousy groups fired from a .45 can be rationalized as "combat accuracy."

Between you and TheeBadOne, you've made my Friday .

And I second what you said. I figure that's why my father made me practice with .22's as I was growing up instead of just throwing a 30-30 or a .357 into my hands.

Wayne