Posted on 04/09/2009 4:27:18 PM PDT by shadeaud
Matter of fact, a .22 through the noggin is a "quicker stopper dropper dead" than larger slugs through the body. At least, that's what I've seen with whitetails.
A 22 is better than nothing, but I’d sure try to talk her into something with a little more punch. Or, teach her to never shoot less than 6 rounds rapid fire.
Lots of people laugh at the .22, but none of them would want to be shot with one. Same deal with criminals.
That said, if the shooting DOES start, a .22 has great killing power but low stopping power. By that I mean that somebody full of .22 holes will eventually die, but he is very likely to kill you first before he drops.
I remember readin an army field manual from years ago that tested all sorts of handgun ammunition and said placement was much more important than caliber in handguns, and the only places you could shoot someone and guarantee they would go down was the head, spine and long bones of the legs. A .44 mag to the chest would certainly kill an attacker eventually but a .22 to the brain had esentially the same effect as blowing the head off with a 12 gauge round.
A hit with a .22LR is more effective than a miss with a larger caliber.
If she’s comfortable with it, GET IT! Load it with CCI mini mags for personal defense (190 lb-ft of energy). For practice, use whatever is cheapest.
A well placed 22 LR out of a rifle - even a short barrel one - is worth a LOT more than a near miss with a 38 or 9mm. And considering the number of rounds you can in the GSG, if you miss the first, second, or 15th time, you still have another 7 to go...
Remember:
Shot placement is King
Shot capacity is Queen
Stopping power is a lowly Duke
Take accuracy and capacity over bullet size any day.
Force her to practice if you have to, make her shoot at least 2 thousand rounds with it, make sure she can hit with it. 7 yards is the distance to practice at, it is about that range, or closer, that most home encounters take place.
Once more, shoot, shoot and shoot some more. With a small caliber, even more so than with a large one, she needs to be able to place her shots even under great stress and in close combat you are indeed under great stress.
You are correct, the same holds true with blacktail in CA. When I was younger and we could use .22s on Deer I always carried a pistol with me. Several times I shot deer in the head at ranges under 25 yards with the .22 pistol, they always fell immediately. Deer shot through the body, even the heart, with a .30-06 always run for a ways, sometimes up to 100 yards with a heart shot. Bullet placement is the key, not caliber. However, with small calibers you must practice until you are deadly with it, even under pressure.
Ping
If all your wife can control is a 22 then by all means get a 22 revolver.
To be honest, if it were me, I’d get a ruger single six revolver..practice with the 22 LR and work her up to 22 mag and leave that loaded for her.
As long as she understands how it works, it should be no problem.
Have you ever tried her out with one of those 32 mag revolvers? Ruger makes an SP101 snubby in that caliber and then there’s the new 327 mag 6 shot snubby.
Id also consider getting a ruger 10-22 and a couple of ram line 30 round bananna magazines for it.
Try out different rounds and see what works best and load it with that..you can even put a flashlight on it easily enough..
I have a friend whose dad keeps a 10-22 with the 30 round mag and a folding ram line stock with a surefire G2 light taped to the left side. He lives on a farm in the country and this works well. He also has a walther P22 22 pistol to go with it.
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