Opinions on carrying .22LR

[Gearheart]

Most self defense stories I hear about on the news end with the bad guy running away after being shot(at).

To me, a .22 seems good enough to make most bad guys think twice, when they see it, but I wouldn't trust it to stop a determined attacker.

I find my Taurus PT 745 in a Desantis superfly pocket holster goes with all outfits.

[thorkyl]

22lr will do nothing more than iritate a bad guy.

Hit them and hit them hard.

[lonewolf]

Any gun might make someone think twice. Pain is pain. A natural phenomena that we experience when our existence is at stake. Our parents used it to a minor extent in teaching us as youngsters. These days it is highly curtailed and frowned upon.

While a .22 will cause pain, and even death in some cases, the exigent circumstances of its use (a SD situation) would appear to require more immediate stopping power, IMHO. I'll never disagree with someone's choice of caliber for a carry weapon. At least they're carrying, and something is better than nothing.

[jsimmons]

If only they made a pistol chambered for .30-30...

:)

[NAVY CHIEF]

22lr will do nothing more than iritate a bad guy.

Hit them and hit them hard.

[johnj5036]

22lr will do nothing more than iritate a bad guy.

Hit them and hit them hard.

I concur.

To be fair, my CHL instructors did concede that depending on your training and level of skill (this opinion will contradict itself) I do account for the fact that a person with a .22 who knows how to handle it efficiently still stands a very decent chance against your typical bad guy. The contradiction here is that a person who can handle a .22 with that level of efficiency should be encouraged rather strongly to carry at least the .380 and still retain really good efficiency.

But hey, no fight is ever fair for the reasons we carry concealed. I recommend a bigger caliber.

[USA1]

aim for the eyes

[lonewolf]

The most fair fight is the one I am victorious in.....

One nice thing I remember about shooting a .22 in the old days was that it was easy to keep on target. That is one big plus for some folks, and I certainly can't blame them for that. My grandmother used to carry a little .25 in her purse years before concealed carry was legal. I'd bet a real silver dollar that she could empty the mag in a soda can from 25 feet without batting an eye. Effective is effective. Effect is relative.

Perhaps I'll pick up her old .25 from my uncle, clean it up, and do a little shooting with it. If its reliable, it may make a nice little backup for my Beretta 9mm...I'm feeling nostalgic now...

[wacc]

No on conceal carry of .22

[bdickens]

Since when?

[lonewolf]

I think he's just saying he wouldn't carry one....not that its illegal.

[bdickens]

Mea Culpa. (That's Latin for my bad, yo.) I must have been thinking this was a different thread.

[android]

I carry a 22LR pistol, a Walther P22.

I carry it to the range. My 11 year old daughter shoots it at targets. I carry it home. I put it away in the safe where it belongs.