This idea has popped up a couple times recently. I think everyone should own a .22lr rifle as part of their basic 4. I am a huge fan of the Ruger 10/22 for this nitche. If you are going to own more then those 4 basic guns a .22 pistol is a must.
Someone is going to inevitably mention that the .22lr kills a large amount of the people who die firearms related deaths in a given year. I tried to look this up and failed but it has been thrown out enough times that there is probably some truth to it.
The reason for this is that it is what people tend to have at hand most often. Almost every home that owns a gun has some sort of a .22 and many of the cheap Saturday night special kind of guns are chambered in this caliber because low pressure guns are easier and cheaper to make. That it kills oodles of people doesn't mean it is the BEST at killing people.
More people throughout history have probably been killed by sticks and stones (or simple variants thereon) than anything else. From the beginning of time to the 17th century these accounted for almost all deaths and though the spread of firearms has changed what people kill each other with in any big city during a given month someone almost surely gets hit in the head with a stick (bat, pool cue, etc) and dies.
The Chechens did use use silenced .22 rifles for urban sniping with some success. For this nitche role (shooting someone in the head/ neck at close distance) they worked admirably.
They are not however a defensive weapon and have a bad tendency not to STOP violent aggressors. From a strictly tactical perspective taking someone out of the fight is more important then the harm that is done to them. Some Goblin getting knocked unconscious while chasing you with a knife because his saggy assed pants slip off his ass and he falls strait on his head is more of a win then putting a few rounds of .22 into him which leads to death several hours later AFTER the conflict is otherwise resolved.
If you have a .22 handy that is fine and well but if you are CHOOSING a gun for defense make it a shotgun or centerfire pistol.
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a common argument along these lines is "I can shoot a guy between the eyes with a .22 because I have so much more control with less recoil"
But the whole balance between accuracy and stopping power does not make the .22 the answer to all our problems.
One reason i think people make the .22 their "pet" caliber is lack of desire to train at all or build up any kind of muscle skills that a larger caliber would require. It's an easy cop out.
Yup. When we 1st got ours we got a pair of 22 pistols. We learned to shoot handguns with them. We also read that a head shot was the only way to stop an attacker with a 22.
Fast forward a year. My wife went out shooting with some girlfriends. Some guy decided to show the ladies how its done (with his .45). His were all center of mass good shots. He told my wife that she was shooting too high (this was all at 50') because all her shots were in the head of the torso targets.
She asked him where he would shoot an attacker if he carried a 22. :0)
That said, we are still wanting 1 more 45, then we are go to go.
oh btw if anyone is wondering WTF did this guy come from - i've been posting as anon the last few months.
A .22 can kill but it usually takes its time. Time that the predator you shot can use to hurt or kill you! That said, I am a fan of the .22 semi-auto such as the Ruger 10/22. Even a Marlin Glenfield Model 60 is useful although its 18 round tubular magazine is slow to refill. While I wouldn’t want to bet my life on a .22 pistol for close-in self-defense, a weapon such as the 10/22 with a 25 round mag would be a useful mid-range weapon for retreat defense. The hi-cap mag allows more hits on the attacker at a longer range than “mugging distance” so there is sufficient time and space for him to bleed out before getting to you.
Another thing to keep in mind is that deaths do not equal good self defense. I'd image a lot of those deaths took hours and hours to happen after a accidental shooting, etc.
And for an assassin, I'd imagine it is acceptable for the victim to languish in misery for a while before they pass away.
When stopping a charging burly intruder, I'd rather have something that will make sure he is stopped now so that he cannot harm me or my family while he starts to bleed.
Samuel Adams- have you ever had trouble with your 25 round mag? My stock ten round mag performed flawlessly, but the 25 rounder wouldn't feed more than 3 or 4, if I remember correctly, without a misfeed. Very frustrating.
Personally, I've got a 40s&w for defense close in, and the Ruger for longer range stuff. As soon as I can find some money, and available weapons, I want to ad a Mosin and an SKS. Then I'll just need the Mossberg Maverick from Walmart($150) and I'll be set. I would buy the shotgun first, but I'm afraid I won't get a second chance at the SKS... if I even get a first chance. Everywhere I look they are sold out.
I love both my 10/22 and my Marlin 60, as well as my Ruger 22/45 and my Walther P22, but I seem to remember that more folks throughout history have been killed with recurve bows and arrows than any other weapon-this from maybe a Bear Archery catalog, circa 1988.
FWIW
I will take a .22lr over nothing, but I rather keep it to a small game hunting round.
" . . . many of the cheap Saturday night special kind of guns are chambered in this caliber because low pressure guns are easier and cheaper to make."
The operating pressure for the .22LR high velocity round is around 30k psi, which is higher than a lot of handgun rounds like the .45acp +P and standard .38 Special +P.
Reason so many people and so many deer have been killed with it is that it is commonly available everywhere. For deer poaching it also has the advantage of being a lot quieter than certerfire rifle rounds.
I wouldn't choose it for defense, but it would be better than a sharp stick.
The butler creek plastic mag's are junk! There is a much better metal one for it,can't recall the name right now. The 10 rd factory one's work flawless for me.
Dean in Az
If you'dd like to try a FINE little 22lr varmint rifle, check out the Browning 22 semi-auto. It's really quite nice - a joy to shoot.
Pin-point accurate, light weight, ~15 round-capacity and fires as fast as you can pull the trigger.
About 600$.
As I recall, some famous gun fighter said that a .22to the lung of a bad guy will really put him out of business for about four day until he dies. I've also heard that ER room Docs really hate .22s 'cause the tiny bullet zigs and zags inside a body and is really difficult to find and remove. Sound pretty good to me.
and of course John Kelly used .22s to kill street thugs in Without Remorse so it HAS to be deadly
In my circumstances, there are times that if goblins attacked (real remote possibility), I'd have a .22 on my person instead of any other gun, so the odds of me having to use one & good shot placement are a slim possibility.
I live in the sticks & when I go into the woods, my Browning Camper goes with me
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