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Would or should you use .22LR for personal defense ammo?

It seems like the best argument that's always made for carrying a .22 is, " It's better than no gun at all". Doesn't inspire much confidence.

Personally, I think it's like anything else. Train relentlessly with it and you'll be fine. There's very little doubt that 1 or 2 or 3 stingers through an eye socket will end the threat.
 
Can't argue that the tiny size of a .22 mouse gun is appealing. I guess it's better than a sharp stick but no, not when I have calibers that were designed for defensive purposes available. I carried a .25 Beretta in a shirt pocket as a backup on the street more than 40 years ago, but there are micro pistols in 9mm available today that we did not have available to us back then.
 
I have carried a 9m for many years, here’s my issue. When I go to the range I fire my 9m a few times and then I fire my SR22 a bunch of times. I shoot that 22 for hours. I can put that round anywhere Because I’m so well trained with it, it’s so cheap to shoot. So because I’m so deadly accurate with my SR22, and it’s what I primarily train with, I recently started carrying it over my 9m. I can put 4 rounds of 22 into someone’s temple before I can put 2 rounds from my 9m into someone’s chest. I can get the rounds out a lot quicker from my SR22, I can empty a mag on an attacker much more faster and much more accurate with my 22. It might be a less powerful shot initially but with the correct training it is just as deadly.
when I was a child I watched my friends father put a 22 round behind the left ear of a deer and that deer fell. I remember him saying, if you know where to place that 22 round you can drop a bear with it. I enjoy carrying my SR22 now a days. I’m much more accurate with it than I am with my 9. I can shoot the stinger off a bumble bees ass at 15 feet with it. I have no hand issues, I have no strength issues, I’m not afraid of firing any gun, it’s just simply I am more accurate with my 22 pistol, I am more confident due to my training with it, so it’s now become my preferred carry.
 
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Heavy Industries said:
IMO opinion I would not simply because no matter how reliable the pistol is there is always the rimfire condition that you cant do anything to change.
Rimfires have duds across all ammo brands. Its the nature of the beast. Everyone knows that or should.
That effectively eliminates it from any and all SD duty for me.
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It’s a rare day that I have duds from my pistol. So rare that I have chose my 22 as my everyday carry. I use CCI rounds and have rarely had a feed issue or dud. Can it happen? Sure anything can happen, but I have put thousands of rounds through my SR22 and have had maybe 2 or 3 issues..For me not a big deal. Especially if your well trained, you learn how to fix the issue quickly and continue firing without even thinking about it. But it’s so rare for me it’s not even an issue.
 
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Gunnerpro said:
if you know where to place that 22 round you can drop a bear with it.
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As someone who has lived in bear country for 35 years. Been on many bear hunts, have taken a couple myself.
Have them in my yard at least once every year
I call BS on it. But to each his own, and if it ever goes click when you need it most your headstone can say...
"He only had 3 or4 malfunctions in thousands and thousands of rounds. To bad the 4th one wasnt on the range" lol
The below pic is often touted as fake on the internet but I am here to assure you it is not.
Look at it and enlighten me, Where would this miracle shot be placed?
IF you used all the luck existing in the known universe the bear MIGHT die but you wont live to see it.
076.jpg


This pic was taken at the lodge at King Salmon AK. Even the smaller size bear on the right is huge and .22 proof lol
You could even shoot that dead skull all day long and NEVER put a hole in it with .22 LR
Maybe I been doing it wrong.
6039318958d80cca5e13989d8.jpg
 
Heavy Industries said:
As someone who has lived in bear country for 35 years. Been on many bear hunts, have taken a couple myself.
Have them in my yard at least once every year
I call BS on it. But to each his own, and if it ever goes click when you need it most your headstone can say...
"He only had 3 or4 malfunctions in thousands and thousands of rounds. To bad the 4th one wasnt on the range" lol
The below pic is often touted as fake on the internet but I am here to assure you it is not.
Look at it and enlighten me, Where would this miracle shot be placed?
IF you used all the luck existing in the known universe the bear MIGHT die but you wont live to see it.
View attachment 16838

This pic was taken at the lodge at King Salmon AK. Even the smaller size bear on the right is huge and .22 proof lol
You could even shoot that dead skull all day long and NEVER put a hole in it with .22 LR
Maybe I been doing it wrong.
View attachment 16837
Click to expand...
Those weren’t my words, those were my friends fathers words. I don't believe he was telling me to go Bear hunting with a 22LR. I do believe he was trying to make a point that the 22LR with correct placement is very deadly. I’d believe you to be on some serious drugs if I saw a person bear hunting with a 22 lol.
What I am saying however, a 22 pistol is an excellent carry weapon. It will effectively put a human down and do it with no issues. I have had feed issues with my 9m also, anything can happen. I had a feed issue with 30/06.
it can happen anywhere. That’s kinda like saying I’m not going grocery shopping today because there is a chance I may get into a car accident and die.
We know the chance, but it’s rare so we take it. The need of food in the house is greater than the risk of getting it.

besides if you knew my wife, she would never write that on my grave, she would write something like, “I was told not to play with guns everyday by my wife but I never listened” Haha
 
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Point taken. You did say it was someone else's words, I lost sight of that lol
I was looking for clarification is all because dropping bear with a .22 is some harry potter stuff no matter who you are or how long you been shootig..
I have a PMR30 that shoots well. 30 rounds of .22 magnum is respectable but I just cant get over the rimfire issue and give it SD duty. Every misfire it has ever had was due to the rimfire condition.
 
Heavy Industries said:
Point taken. You did say it was someone else's words, I lost sight of that lol
I was looking for clarification is all because dropping bear with a .22 is some harry potter stuff no matter who you are or how long you been shootig..
I have a PMR30 that shoots well. 30 rounds of .22 magnum is respectable but I just cant get over the rimfire issue and give it SD duty. Every misfire it has ever had was due to the rimfire condition.
Click to expand...

I agree with you totally, you’ll seriously **** off a bear if you shoot him with a 22. It would be like throwing a stone at a lion LOL. I have had a few misfires with my 22 like I said. Certainly not many, 2 or 3. I rack the slide back eject the round, and I’m ready for fire in seconds. I can manually pull the round out very fast, maybe it will give the attacker some time to run away. Maybe not, maybe he will run towards you, either way I’ll have it fixed and ready to take him point blank in seconds. For me it’s not a concern, If I had 2 or 3 hundred failures out of the thousands of rounds then I may be a little more concerned. But 2 or 3 isn’t enough to worry me about it. I trust that when I pull the trigger it will go boom. I have 2 young daughters a son and a wife, I trust my SR22 to protect their lives if need be. That’s saying something. I have fired this weapon enough for me to trust it to keep my children safe.
 
My concerns about carrying 22lr for self-defense are due to reliability more than lethality. As a LEO I responded to multiple fatal shootings involving 22lr weapons, so I know that they can get the job done. Two that stand out in my mind involved only one round (one neck shot, one chest cavity shot).

While I would hesitate to carry a semi-auto in .22lr for self-defense, I would not have the same reservations with a revolver. It's harder to clear a jam or failure-to-fire, both of which are more common for rimfire ammo than centerfire ammo, from a semi-auto than it is to just pull the trigger again on a revolver. Many of the concealable .22lr revolvers made by S&W, Taurus, Ruger and Rossi have 7-9 round cylinders, which should be plenty of capacity. The same revolvers are usually offered in .22 Magnum as well, which would be my personal choice for a rimfire cartridge.
 
ScottJ said:
I'll be buying some of the Federal Punch 22LR as soon as I find some of it available.
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I've been looking for .22lr Punch since it was announced. My wife cannot get over her recoil sensitivity with common defense calibers, so her home-defense gun when I'm not around is a Taurus TX22. While .22lr is not my first choice, the TX22 is by far the most reliable rimfire semi-auto I have ever fired (4 failures in just under 1,500 rounds) and it's 16+1 capacity makes it a valid defensive weapon for her. The few failures we experienced were from bulk Federal Auto Match, but the TX22 has had no failures with CCI. I plan on loading all of her mags with Punch, if I can ever find it and it runs reliably at the range.
 
Heavy Industries said:
Point taken. You did say it was someone else's words, I lost sight of that lol
I was looking for clarification is all because dropping bear with a .22 is some harry potter stuff no matter who you are or how long you been shootig..
I have a PMR30 that shoots well. 30 rounds of .22 magnum is respectable but I just cant get over the rimfire issue and give it SD duty. Every misfire it has ever had was due to the rimfire condition.
Click to expand...
By the way, make sure your running CCI Maxi Mag with that PMR30, when that gun loads the magazine sits flat into the gun and requires more rounded tipped ammo so it doesn’t get caught up. It will feed better, and you won’t get as many misfires. Give it a shot, pun intended!
 
wmg1299 said:
I've been looking for .22lr Punch since it was announced. My wife cannot get over her recoil sensitivity with common defense calibers, so her home-defense gun when I'm not around is a Taurus TX22. While .22lr is not my first choice, the TX22 is by far the most reliable rimfire semi-auto I have ever fired (4 failures in just under 1,500 rounds) and it's 16+1 capacity makes it a valid defensive weapon for her. The few failures we experienced were from bulk Federal Auto Match, but the TX22 has had no failures with CCI. I plan on loading all of her mags with Punch, if I can ever find it and it runs reliably at the range.
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The TX is a great firearm, my top 2 favs in 22 caliber are the Taurus and the one I have which is Ruger SR22. Both excellent guns!
 
Gunnerpro said:
I have carried a 9m for many years, here’s my issue. When I go to the range I fire my 9m a few times and then I fire my SR22 a bunch of times. I shoot that 22 for hours. I can put that round anywhere Because I’m so well trained with it, it’s so cheap to shoot. So because I’m so deadly accurate with my SR22, and it’s what I primarily train with, I recently started carrying it over my 9m. I can put 4 rounds of 22 into someone’s temple before I can put 2 rounds from my 9m into someone’s chest. I can get the rounds out a lot quicker from my SR22, I can empty a mag on an attacker much more faster and much more accurate with my 22. It might be a less powerful shot initially but with the correct training it is just as deadly.
when I was a child I watched my friends father put a 22 round behind the left ear of a deer and that deer fell. I remember him saying, if you know where to place that 22 round you can drop a bear with it. I enjoy carrying my SR22 now a days. I’m much more accurate with it than I am with my 9. I can shoot the stinger off a bumble bees ass at 15 feet with it. I have no hand issues, I have no strength issues, I’m not afraid of firing any gun, it’s just simply I am more accurate with my 22 pistol, I am more confident due to my training with it, so it’s now become my preferred carry.
Click to expand...
Based on what you wrote here, I don’t see a thing wrong with you carrying your fav .22... especially with the ammo options available today (assuming availability, of course). Just my $.02
 
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