The wife and I went with my daughter to her boyfriend's place for dinner tonight. Decent kid. He's going to school for radiology (same as my daughter).

The topic of hunting was brought up. He doesn't hunt, which is weird, but I'm ok with it. He mentioned that he owned a gun though and shoots about once a month or so.

It turns out his gun is a six shot single action .22 / .22 Mag with a 6" barrel. He keeps it by his bed for a defense gun.

................................

Of course I tried to talk him into something a tad more powerful, but he's "not in the market" for a new gun right now.

So, I never gave it much thought, but what are this kid's chances if a bad guy is in his apartment at night and all he's armed with is his .22 mag?

Any pistol, in any caliber will kill of course. Killing is not what is usually important. Stopping is. The .22 Magnum in a pistol is rated along with the minor calibers...right next to the .25 ACP. .32 ACP, .32 S&W, and .38 S&W. Colonel Jeff Cooper wrote that a friend of his was shot in the bicep by an assailant with a .22 Magnum, and it didn't even slow him down in returning fire to end the fight.

IIRC gun writer Timothy Mullin once stated : "Even the worst possible handgun, that is, a Dreyse .32 with 4 questionable rounds; is better than a stick."



While it might not be ENOUGH gun, its worlds better than NO gun.

Not the best choice for a bedstand gun, to be sure. However, I also agree with Wildcard. Better than nothing.

At least the young man is a gun owner.

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I agree that it is not the best choice, but I have had my Ruger Single six with magnum cylinder in the night stand more than once! It's the 9.5 inch barrel model, and is inherently accurate.

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Semper Paratus

Shot placement, shot placement, shot placement - the .22 Mag is certainly capable of adequate penetration, particularly out of a 6" tube.

The kid's better off with a .22 Mag that he can shoot accurately and quickly than a .44 Mag that he can't.

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I too have a Ruger Single Six, with 4 5/8 inch barrel. Federal 22mag ammo with 50 grain softpoint bullets give velocities about 1250 fps from this gun. They penetrate at least 2,0 inches of dry wood quite well at inside house distances, probably more like 3-4 inches (never tried), and expands nicely. I would not feel poorly armed with it and, yes, it has been on nightstand and in holster as SD gun numerous times in past. Eazy gun to shoot accurately, both aimed and pointed.

Niklas

Hey, I wouldn't be standing in front of it, that's for sure...

From a 6" barrel MV will be in the 1400-1700 fps range depending on the ammo. Since there a lot of folks who carry a KelTec .32 for their primary defensive gun, I for one think this kid is better armed...

Bob

A bigger caliber would be better, but selecting the right ammo will help close the gap. CCI TNTs expand great out of my 2" Black Widow, and penetrate between 7 3/4" and 9 1/2" in Perma-Gel expanding to between .32" and .36". The bullet is a Gold Dot, so I doubt it will fragment out of a barrel that long due to being bonded, but I could be wrong. I'm sure the longer barrel will give it a little more penetration if the bullet doesn't fragment. I'd suggest shooting one into a gallon jug full of water (actually line up three of them since you want to recover the bullet) to try to make the bullet fail. If it doesn't and the gun shoots well with that load, run with it. If the bullet fails, try CCI maxi-mag hollowpoint +Vs. They don't expand as readily as the TNTs. +Vs won't expand from my Black Widow, but they will penetrate 17" of P-G. A 6" tube may make them "pop".

As others have said, I won't stand in front of one. I've probably killed more rabbits with .22 mag. than with anything else, mostly shot from a 5 1/2" Super Single Six, my very first handgun. Obviously, jackrabbits don't require much penetration, but I have always been impressed with the round's performance. Flop's ammo suggestions are good, although I've gotten pretty dismal accuracy and awful consistency from some of CCI's +V ammo. (At bedroom distance, that might not be a valid concern.) I bought a bunch of 50 gr. Gold Dot .22 mag. ammo, when they still made it, and hoarded it for my 8 3/8" Model 48, and it would be a good round if you can find any. My favorite .22 mag. from my Ruger 10-22 Magnum is Winchester's Supreme 34 gr. load. I suspect that it would be good from a 6" tube, too.

Nice gun, but have you ever shot anything of any size with it? Years ago, I shot a rabid racoon starting with chest shots with a Ruger Single Six. It took 7 rounds of 22 Magnum hollow points to put down the 30 pound animal, deliberately avoiding head shots. For the first 6 rounds, every time it was hit, it jumped into the air and attacked another rose bush. Im lucky it didnt get me. That animal would have gone down cleanly with 1 round of 20 gauge #6 birdshot.

All a 22 Magnum does is provide the same ballistics as a 22 rifle, but out out of a handgun barrel. If you are happy defending your life with a 22 rifle, then so be it.

The noise alone will have them both on the floor.

Taking into account surveyor's experience with the raccoon, I'd advise against "deliberately avoiding head shots" in a self-defense situation.

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If he's really a good kid, and they are serious, give him one of yours. Seriously.

There is nothing like giving a firearm, man to man. He will look at you in a completely different way, trust me on this.

As far as penetration, with my long barrel Single Six, I have shot into a 2x4, on the 4-inch side, and the projectile is just about protruding, a few splinters showing on the exit side....so they can definitely penetrate very well.

I owned one of the Model 51 .22 Magnum Kit Guns when they were first introduced, and that experience soured me on the .22 Magnum cartridge in handguns. The .22 magnum is expensive, produces a horrendous muzzle flash when fired in the dark, and isn't much more powerful than some of the newer hyper velocity .22 rimfire ammunition when fired in handguns. All in all, it doesn't do anything that a .38 Special won't do better IMHO.

Have not shot any living thing with that Ruger and Federal 50 grain 22 Mag ammo. However, I have shot hundreds of animals, such as racoons, foxes, coyotes, groundhogs, feral dogs, with 22lr HS hollowpoints from rifle with 26 inch barrel. Only brain and spinal cord hits were instant killers, even to well over 100 yards. NO chest shot, not strongly affecting spinal cord, was ever a quick killer on these animals -- plenty of time, even with heart shot, for animal to go some distance, attack, etc.

While I have carried that Ruger, with that ammo, as well as a 32-20 revolver with original ballistics BP loads, my current carry gun is S&W M60 with handloaded version of FBI load (158 grain soft lead SWCHP at about 950 fps) or 357 Mag version (158 grain SWCHP GC at about 1150 fps).

Niklas

I can tell you they all look huge under those circumstances!! A .22 you are good with is better than a .38 you only shot once and the ammo is cheap enough to encourage practice.

During one of the political upheavals in Poland, the political police came up against the Olympic pistol team with their "underpowered" .22's. The police lost. Shot placement is paramont, more so with small caliber weapons.

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I would like to know more about this. Do you know where I can find more information?

I found this reference: Romania / Revolution / Sibiu -- Dec 27, 1989 -- ABC -- Vanderbilt Television News Archive

It appears to have been Romainia not Poland and the year was 1989. I should quit relying on my memory!!

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Thank you, 44.

I wouldn't be so worried about the caliber as I would be the choice of a SA revolver for the task at hand - home defense.

In the hands of a WELL practiced man, the SA is a pretty fair weapon. However, I think a double action revolver is a far superior choice.

As far as caliber goes, I carried an FN FiveseveN in 5.7 x 28mm and both bullet weight & ballistics are quite similar to .22 Mag. I didn't feel undergunned. Of course that might have been due to the 20 rounds in the gun and a spare 20 round mag on my hip, but I digress...

I was thinking along those lines too. Hope he doesn't need to reload, would be mighty slow...

Anything's better than nothing, I suppose, as others have said... but he's marginal both on weapon choice AND caliber.

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