Changing my edc gun to 22 LR (new info at the end of thread)

[wetdog1911]

Gentlemen, although an interesting thread the OP self-exiled himself from the Forum over 2 1/2 years ago since we were "restricting his First Amendment rights".

Your house, your rules. Simple courtesy.

Since it was drug up, this HAS been an interesting and informative thread.

Rob

 

[fredj338]

I've also seen the argument quite a bit about a .22 being lethal to the attacker, but not stopping the threat before the attacker kills you.

I'm wondering if anyone has ever seen this actually play out with civilian thugs in real life. They're looking for easy targets. They're not on suicide missions. You shoot a thug in the shoulder, sure he might continue the attack. You shoot the thug in the chest I don't think so.

For me, the biggest issue with .22 is reliability, not stopping power.

Real bad guys arent afraid of getting shot. Why do so many think that a bad guy will pee his pants at the sight of a gun & certsinly give up if hit with eben a 22lr?
I assume my attacker will want to fight regardless of my defense. So I carry something that is more likely to stop a fight with 1-2 high COM hits. There really is no reason to dabble with even remotely unreliable small caliber mouse guns.

 

[Muss Muggins]

If you had ever dealt with one, you would know they really are. Everybody is afraid of getting shot. I am. You are. Stop it . . .

Real bad guys arent afraid of getting shot. . .

 

[Echo40]

The first pistol I ever carried was a Walther PPK/S-22. Back then, I didn't know much about handguns, but I was familiar with .22LR in rifles, and I knew that it was potentially lethal and had basically no recoil, so it seemed like a decent choice.
However, within a year I had upgraded to a PPK/S chambered in .380 ACP, albeit more for the sake of reliability than overall effectiveness.

Nowadays I carry a SW40VE with an a LCP as backup, but if a .22LR was all that I could handle due to injury or arthritis, then I would do so, but I would stick with premium ammo and solid bullets.

 

[Ziggy2525]

Real bad guys arent afraid of getting shot. Why do so many think that a bad guy will pee his pants at the sight of a gun & certsinly give up if hit with eben a 22lr?

You're conflating a bad guy not being intimidated by someone pointing a gun at them vs someone actually shooting a BG.

Link to one real case, for civilian self defense, not LEO or military, where a BG took a couple .22 to the chest and was like "no big deal" and continued his attack. Just one case, that's all.

...
There really is no reason to dabble with even remotely unreliable small caliber mouse guns.

Sure there is. Concealability and physical limitations. People carry mouse guns when their circumstances require clandestine carry. People carry a .22 when they have medical conditions like arthritis that makes it difficult to shoot a larger caliber pistol.

 

[walkinghorse]

Anyone a fan of the LCR .22?

Yes! Been using one for over two years. There are several threads available on the LCR .22. The main issue is the heavy DA trigger pull, which is required for reliable ignition of rimfire ammo. My wife's. 38 LCR trigger pull is noticeably lighter.
I believe Ruger now has a .22 LCR with an exposed hammer and DA/SA. Exposed hammers, pocket carry, etc. is another subject which causes discussion!

 

[Farmer17]

One of my favorite .22s of all time is my Bersa Thunder. It has a steel slide, no pot metal or whatever they call it, great ergonomics, DA/SA trigger, and perfectly reliable with CCI Blazers and Stingers. It hates Rem/Win/Fed junk ammo because it doesn't have the power to move that steel slide. I can fire 11 rounds out of it very quickly and accurately and getting head shots are a breeze at close range.

 

[jimmyj]

In the distant past during an undercover assignment I carried a 4" Ruger standard .22 automatic pistol. I did not feel under gunned or outgunned. This Ruger came from evidence and was not new, but would fire LR solids or hollow points interchangeable without a hiccup.

 

[diyj98]

I see this argument quit a bit when it comes to .22 for ccw. What makes anyone think I'm just going to allow someone to " beat me to death" with out putting up a fight? once the .22 is empty and if i still need to defend myself, I'm switching to my cane, pocket knife, car keys,plant pot, can of Ensure, #2 pencil ...... After 5, 7,10 or so .22 cal. holes in my attacker, I may not have the advantage, but I'm betting I have evened the odds.

It's not being beaten to death that would be my primary worry. It would be being shot by the bad guy before he finally succumbs to his wounds.

 

[sigp220.45]

Real bad guys absolutely positively indubitably and irretrieavably are afraid of being shot. With anything.

I have worked lots of cases where bad guys were shot with .22s and in not one single case did they continue doing whatever caused them to get shot. Not once.

Maybe they weren’t “real bad guys”. Please relate your first hand experience with these not-afraid-to-be-shot bad guys.

 

[ladder13]

3 yr old thread is old? Where you been, there’s 6+ yo threads resurrected.

 

[smoothshooter]

And thanks for posting! I am 74 and my right rotator cuff is inflamed most of the time. Being a revolver guy who does not EDC, my night stand gun has been a S&W Mod 10(HB) loaded with +P HPs for 40 years. Just raising it to line of sight causes extreme discomfort in my upper arm. You just inspired me to replace it with my S&W J frame 22LR kit gun loaded with Mini Mag HPs. Getting old has it's downside, but it sure beats the alternative!


PS: Aleve(blue pill) helps the best in relieving the pain from inflamation

Or better yet, get a Smith 317 .22 LR Airlite with either a 1 7/8” or 3” barrel. I have both, and they weigh almost nothing. Feel like kid’s toys. I believe the short barreled one weighs 11 oz. empty. 8 shots.
DO NOT DRY FIRE THEM. NOT EVEN ONCE.
The cylinders are aluminum and the firing pin will hit the edge of the chamber and make a ding that will displace metal into the chamber area. Requires re-shaping with a round needle file. Don’t ask me how I know.
DO NOT USE ANY KIND OF METALLIC BRUSH OR JAG TO CLEAN THE CHAMBERS, as it will scratch them. Same goes for any kind of metallic tool to scrape lead buildup from around the frame in the barrel/cylinder gap area.

 

[GunTech]

What about .32 S&W long as an alternative to .22. Neither are most people's first choice, but rim fire revolvers tend to have heavier triggers and .32 is centerfire. A model 30 or 31 with a Wilson spring kit has a decent trigger and will weight the same as a typical .22 revolver. My daughter loves shooting my model 30 and she's very small and recoil sensitive.

 

[smoothshooter]

Apparently it is a fact based upon a study done some years ago. I found the study while researching my choice. Then I found a blog that cited the study's important stats. Anyone who is interested can read the very brief article and see the stats here.

I carry a .22 a lot myself.
But I do it knowing that lethality and stopping power are not the same things.

 

[PALADIN85020]

richardw, I'm going to approach your problem differently from everyone else. Instead of suggesting a change of caliber, I'm going to suggest a change in statins. I am 73, and a year ago, I was in the same situation you are in. I'd developed lots of pain in my shoulders which spread to my wrists and hands. I had to install an Apex kit in my M&P 40 so I could pull the trigger. I could barely lift my range bag. My Harvard med school trained hand doctor said he'd never seen a case like mine, and wasn't sure what was wrong. I didn't fit into any traditional arthritis category.

Subsequently, my primary care physician's nurse practitioner hypothesized I was having a reaction to atorvastatin (generic Lipitor), and told me to stop taking it. I told her I'd been taking 40 mg per day for 15 years without a single side effect. She said give it a try, so I did. I stated feeling better after a week, and after a month, all of my shoulder pain and 90% of my wrist and hand pain were gone. My cardiologist then prescribed a low dose (10 mg) of rosuvastatin (generic Crestor), which has controlled my cholesterol as well as the atorvastatin did, with no side effects.

As a result, I can now shoot what I want. Today, I went to the range and fired 150 rounds of .45, and 100 rounds of .40 with no problems. If your situation is anything like mine, you might want to check your statin to see if it might be the culprit. However, if you are one of the 1% of the people in our age group who is not taking a statin, good for you, and... never mind!

Your experience almost exactly parallels my own. I was taking simvastatin for quite a number of years, and muscle and joint pain became excruciating. The label on the bottle explained that if that happens, it's best to see a n MD. I did. He took me off of it for 30 days, and I improved 100%.

He prescribed rosuvastatin, and there were no side effects for a year, but lately I've had some periodic joint pain. The doctor suggested that I take half the dosage daily, and I'm much improved.

There are statins and there are statins. Everyone's different, and just a change like this can make a huge difference in the way you live your life.

John

 

[jimmyj]

Jimmy's plan:
when using a small caliber handgun-aim for face and/or crotch.

 

[Muss Muggins]

Statins are gonna end up being the Vioxx of the 21st century . . .

Statins can cause heart/muscle issues so check with your Doc.

 

[jurek]

I've also seen the argument quite a bit about a .22 being lethal to the attacker, but not stopping the threat before the attacker kills you.

I'm wondering if anyone has ever seen this actually play out with civilian thugs in real life. They're looking for easy targets. They're not on suicide missions. You shoot a thug in the shoulder, sure he might continue the attack. You shoot the thug in the chest I don't think so.

For me, the biggest issue with .22 is reliability, not stopping power.

.22LR is definitely better for SD than NOTHING. The original post is already 3 years old and few new pistols arrived - MP9 EZ would be the perfect alternative for manageable MP22.

Anyway, even still using .22LR there is no doubt that it's so easy shooting caliber, that weak stopping power combined with precision and round amount per second will give expected results.

With new .22LR pistols (MP22C is a perfect example) there is no reliability problems anymore. I put thousands rounds without single malfunction. (CCI and Aquila ammo).

 

[fas111]

Interesting Thread, I too am a 76 year old geezer with bad hands. For years I have carried a LCP .380 and it is a bear to shoot. Painful. About a month ago I bought a LCP2 in .22LR. I have been shooting it twice a week and am starting to feel confident about it. Not carrying it yet though. When I first got it I had many failure to feeds and actually thought I might have to send it back to the mother ship. However after about 300 rounds it settled down and I have had no issues with it since. I am going to continue to practice with it and hopefully in another month or so it will be my EDC. I like the thought of having 10 in the mag. and on in the chamber. Thats a bunch for such a little gun.

 

[wetdog1911]

Interesting Thread, I too am a 76 year old geezer with bad hands. For years I have carried a LCP .380 and it is a bear to shoot. Painful. About a month ago I bought a LCP2 in .22LR. I have been shooting it twice a week and am starting to feel confident about it. Not carrying it yet though. When I first got it I had many failure to feeds and actually thought I might have to send it back to the mother ship. However after about 300 rounds it settled down and I have had no issues with it since. I am going to continue to practice with it and hopefully in another month or so it will be my EDC. I like the thought of having 10 in the mag. and on in the chamber. Thats a bunch for such a little gun.

The LCP2 will be my next pistol, for sure. Just need to decide on which J frame to cut loose (I have 6), to fund the purchase. No need to tap into the bank account.

With the failure to feeds, it seems many have forgotten (or, never knew), the old advice about a new 1911. Don't change anything until you've run 4-500 rnds of ball ammo through it, to wear in and let the internals mate to each other.

Your experience and others that did extensive testing with the LCP2 seemed to bear this out. After a few hundred rnds, the early problems went away and the little pistols ran like a top. Of course, some ran like a top from the git go, but we all can't be that lucky.

I'm a 73 YO geezer, also with bad hands and have to be realistic with what I can and can't do. Have a Colt Officers ACP that was completely re-worked by Kings Gun Works (even made the cover of one of their last catalogs), that is now, pretty much a paper weight AFA my ability to manipulate it. Talk about strong springs!

Yep, the LCP2 is looking better and better.

Rob