I love my LCPII 22lr and carry it sometimes with Federal Punch.

 

I'm liking your thinking. The proper caliber for your CCW is

WHATEVER MAKES YOU HAPPY

I range-shoot .45, 9mm, .380, 22LR and 22WMR. Mrs. Tinyman CCW her Browning 1911 22 A! Compact -- she can provide the bad guy 5 -- count 'em 5 double-taps -- plenty to end stupidity.

 

And to add, "whatever you'll actually carry." (goes for anyone.)

 

Your gun, your choice, not my choice. Shooting a .22LR at a piece of wood 7 yards away is not representative of trying to stop a fully clothed person from trying to get to you. First, the bullets fired were not fired through any fabric such as a heavy sweatshirt and or other outer clothing. The.22LR simply does not have enough horsepower to push through. The .22LR does not deform, providing a large wound channel as some other larger caliber would. The .22LR does not provide confidence that it will fire each time, depending on the ammo used the failure rate could be improved using premium defense ammo. My opinion should not steer your choice of weapon, just pointing out a few points. It boils down to what every you think is right.

Silver

 

I have carried many guns in my time. Every thing from open carry 44mag superblackhawk. 1911 in 45acp couple of 45 acp Derringer a taurus judge in 45colt/410. For me I've found I like to pocket carry best I'm more likely to carry everywhere if I don't have to hassle with a holster and belts and such. While a 22 will never replace a 45 acp for stopping power seeing it go through 2.5 inches of wood and still chip concrete gives me confidence in this rounds ability to protect myself/family/others.

 

While a 22 will never replace a 45 acp for stopping power seeing it go through 2.5 inches of wood and still chip concrete gives me confidence in this rounds ability to protect myself/family/others.

But if you keep shooting in your basement and chipping concrete.........

You're gonna shoot your eye out.

 

Something to chew on, I have never had a failure to fire with a centerfire cartridge, new commercial or personally reloaded, while I have experienced many misfires with rimfire ammunition.

 

I’ve heard quite a few people say that. What kind of gun or ammo or was it just random?

 

@SilverGoose i completly understand your points and agree with all of them except for the clothing one.

 

The gun you carry always and can hit with is the gun for you. 10 rounds of .22LR in the boiler room is vastly better than 10 rounds of .45ACP you left in the truck because it's too much to carry.

Gonna be a long day here, I'll go make popcorn. 😬

 

The gun you carry always and can hit with is the gun for you. 10 rounds of .22LR in the boiler room is vastly better than 10 rounds of .45ACP you left in the truck because it's too much to carry.

Gonna be a long day here, I'll go make popcorn. 😬

I was first to comment and I should have started the popcorn. My apologies for the oversight!

 

(A) The size of the bullet is less important than how accurately you can place them in a target.
(B) You need a better backstop or a bullet trap if you're going to keep shooting in your basement.
Ride Safe. Dr.Tramp................

 

I will just say this once:. STOP SHOOTING IN YOUR BASEMENT! It is an exercise in extreme stupidity. You will eventually ricochet, catch a round, and it won't kill you right away. You will try to patch it up, utterly fail, and die of a heart attack caused by blood clots as a result of the injury. If you go to a hospital, they will call police who will investigate, and the first step in investigation will be a search warrant and every shooting item you own will be confiscated and ruined. You won't get anything back operational.
I had a good friend and he died from this stupidity. One day alive, the next day dead after a month of pain and refusal to go to a doctor to protect his stash of firearms and ammo. All because he made hundreds of shots in his basement until one got him in the calf. I saw the wound a few days later and begged him to go to the hospital, but if you think bullet wounds are fatal, stubbornness is far more deadly.
I am saving your life. You ignore me, I will not mourn you. You will leave loved ones and friends in pain due to your uncaring ignorance.
If the monitor of this forum deletes this post because it is not politically correct, then that person is literally collaborating in your death. We are supposed to learn from life, not hide our heads in the sand. They are called deadly weapons for a reason. 60 years of safe firearm handling and military training is nothing without common sense (The most rare of all the forms of sense). Friends, wives and family who read this:. MAKE THIS STUPIDITY STOP and make them quit before they die or fatally injure YOU.

 

This was just a 1 time test I'm not making a habit of basement shooting. I will never argue that 22lr is a superior round for carry. If I want that I grab my 44mag superblackhawk. But i am of the opinion that it is sufficient to defend yourself with.

 

I have this picture of the type criminal that might be encountered, and I also have a mental picture of the time frame that the event might occur in. Based on these two things, I'm not choosing a .22lr. Not even any of the rimfires.

Picture this - a guy who just had a snort of meth in freezing cold weather dressed in a down parka with a stolen Glock comes in the store you are in, knocks you down by clubbing you with the Glock, then turns his attention on the clerk. Blood is in your eyes, you know you have to stop this guy quickly. You don't have time to aim. And you pull out your .22. Does it make you feel confident? Your life is on the line.

They say carry what makes you happy and I say how long will the happiness last?

 

I have this picture of the type criminal that might be encountered, and I also have a mental picture of the time frame that the event might occur in. Based on these two things, I'm not choosing a .22lr. Not even any of the rimfires.

Picture this - a guy who just had a snort of meth in freezing cold weather dressed in a down parka with a stolen Glock comes in the store you are in, knocks you down by clubbing you with the Glock, then turns his attention on the clerk. Blood is in your eyes, you know you have to stop this guy quickly. You don't have time to aim. And you pull out your .22. Does it make you feel confident? Your life is on the line.

They say carry what makes you happy and I say how long will the happiness last?

No time to aim? Please don’t press that trigger, and get more training please.

.22LR goes through clothing quite easily and will put down a coyote (albeit naked) at 100 yards.

optimal? Probably not! Adequate? As long as you do your part, quite likely.

The problem with gunfights is that if you know they are coming, you would not be there. So they are always a surprise, but we do know when they will happen, “right now”! Stay aware.

Buddies love good natured ribbing, but all mine also mention no desire to be shot with any caliber.

 

Shoot them in the head and you'll be fine.

 

I've taught my grandson to aim for center mass when shooting at a person and if the target doesn't stop or go down after 4 to 6 shots from his 9mm Glock they're possibly tweeked or wearing armor so switch to the groin area.
It's a larger target than the head and, on most folks, only slightly smaller than the chest area and contains a number of critical arteries, nerves, and joints, not to mention the family jewels.
I got this tactic from a retired LAPD officer who told me that on several occasions it worked perfectly for him against armed East LA tweekers and drug dealers wearing armored vests.
Ride Safe. Dr.Tramp..............

 

The nice thing about 22LR is that if you discharge it at somebody indoors, there is less of a chance of the projectile entering another business/home and stopping/killing an innocent bystander.

It is strange that some jurisdictions will not issue a CCW permit for 22 cal handguns.

 

This topic has been debated ad nauseum! Carry whatever you want!

 

 

I can't believe your buddies would call the .22 a girl's gun for self defense. Give the girls a little more credit. I guarantee you that if a poll was taken most girls will be packing 9mm's followed by the .380. My sisters give concealed carry class instruction plus actually hands on training with handguns. They tell me it is rare for any of the girls to have a .22lr.
My wife did carry a .380 but has switched to the 9mm. Both my sisters carry 9mm's. All of their friends who carry which is just about all of them carry 9mm's, a couple carry .40's.

Not going to get into a debate on the .22 as a self defense gun and how one has plenty of time to shoot you back after being shot with a .22 or why law enforcement doesn't use them. I simply wanted to say that nowhere that I am aware of do the majority or even a good percentage of the girls carry or feel comfortable with the pipsqueak!

Just so you don't think I am not aware of how lethal a .22 can be under the right circumstances I have dropped a lot of 1000 pound steers with one. How lethal a round CAN be under good circumstances has nothing to do with how suitable the round is for self-defense.

I agree a .22 is better than nothing as is a table fork. Just having a gun is better than nothing as well, it is a good deterrent.

jnyork, you are correct about the popcorn. Don't make any for me though I am not planning on sticking around as like you I know where it is headed and how many times it has been there!

And I do agree with GladesGuy!

 

I can't believe your buddies would call the .22 a girl's gun for self defense. Give the girls a little more credit. ... I simply wanted to say that nowhere that I am aware of do the majority or even a good percentage of the girls carry or feel comfortable with the pipsqueak!

Preach it, brother!

I guarantee you that if a poll was taken most girls will be packing 9mm's followed by the .380. My sisters give concealed carry class instruction plus actually hands on training with handguns.

Kimber in 45acp for "heavy days" (out and about in the outback) and Sig P365 in 9mm for "light days" (concealed carry while in town).

Not going to get into a debate on the .22 as a self defense gun and how one has plenty of time to shoot you back after being shot with a .22 ...

Good point.

Been a while since we've seen one of these threads. Glad to see the old place hasn't changed all that much and the wheel continues to turn. Six pages in one day! Well played.

 

 

There are newer loads that will do better in the .22. "Old school" CCI Velocitor, Federal Punch, "Stangers" as Ol' .22 Plinkster sez, and a couple of others. The old reliable CCI Round nose solid is meaner than most realize. Not recommending .22LR for carry, but deterrent wise, maybe a good thing. If worse comes to worse, NOBODY wants to get shot with anything, but drugged up, macho, or just plain stupid may come into play here. My belief is if I ever need a defensive gun, it should be what I can use well, and come as perhaps the biggest surprise of an assailant's life. I would have practiced enough with it to insure accuracy.

 

There are newer loads that will do better in the .22. "Old school" CCI Velocitor, Federal Punch, "Stangers" as Ol' .22 Plinkster sez

I like Velocitors but my wife's Buck Mark semi-auto did not with the extra energy jamming the pistol for the only time ever. As its her SHT self defense gun in the house its stuffed with Mini-Mag hp which I've never had cycling issues with ever. My advice would be for anyone with a semi is to thoroughly test hyper velocity ammo in the EDC first.

 

@Lerrab the actual words they used was another word for a cat. I was trying to word it where it wouldn't get censored

 

I'm not on here to say 22 is great or that other rounds are overrated. I just was surprised by the amount of penetration it had in my test today. and that I feel safe carrying it. For those of you who want ultimate stopping power, in indiana you can (legally) walk around with long arms as long as your not (brandishing) it. Maybe I ought to load up the wifes Winchester 1300 with some 3"slugs and wear it on its sling. Lol

 

I'm not on here to say 22 is great or that other rounds are overrated.

22LR, Due to illness, I have switched from a .38 S&W 642 Revolver to a S&W 351C .22 WMR Revolver for my CC. I'm using Federal Punch for ammunition. I'm going to try Wadcutters in the .38, they are supposed to have less recoil. In any case, I know the .22 WMR doesn't have the stopping power of the .38, yet I believe, with the Punch ammo, it will handle most situations.

I'm not using a semi auto with the rim fire because they do have misfires and a revolver will cycle past the problem. A semi-auto will probably require some tinkering & there is just more to go wrong in a semi-auto. Try the Punch ammo.

 

.22 = better than no gun

I'd rather fight someone after shooting them than before.

 

i shoot a lot of different calibers , each has its own benefits and drawbacks - all fun to discuss , not fun to argue over , one should be proficient with everything they own , one is none two is one so have a backup ,

 

We're all friends here fellas, and we're all (mostly) opinionated old farts 🤠

Let's have fun with it and keep it friendly so Mr Meany Pants doesn't have to swoop in and start swinging LOL

 

We're all friends here fellas, and we're all (mostly) opinionated old farts 🤠

Let's have fun with it and keep it friendly so Mr Meany Pants doesn't have to swoop in and start swinging LOL

View attachment 361923

I like that the axe in that meme / demotivational poster appears to be fairly small.

 

Your butt, your gun......

 

President Reagan was almost done in by a 22 shot out of an RG, cheapest 22 revolver that I know of. This was a ricochet that hit the door jamb, and went through the small crack of the open car door. At least out of a revolver if you have a ftf you just pull trigger on next round in the cylinder. I don't carry a revolver anymore, but I believe they are the most reliable type of handgun. If OP wants to carry a 22 than have at it.

 

I'm for what ever floats your boat. What is interesting is, is a 22 enough to keep you boat from being sunk? If it's all I had I would certainly carry it------but it ain't all I got.