The "Saturday Night Special" was typically a .25 acp. Less power than a .22, and they were cheap guns that jammed a lot. Saw many stories about someone being assaulted, and "the gun jammed."
My guess is the .25 acp saved a lot of lives by misfiring.
The “Saturday Night Special” was typically a .25 acp. Less power than a .22, and they were cheap guns that jammed a lot.
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Not exactly. I had a Jennings .25 a few years ago, great little pocket pistol, mostly carried it around the yard for snakes and armadillos. Never jammed once, fairly accurate too.
Now, since .25 ammo was difficult to find and very expensive, I went to a .380, and also got a .22 revolver later. Two of them actually, one being a RG model RG14 that I’ve had for 15 years. Its the exact same gun used to shoot Reagan. Same barrel length, etc,
The RG14 is a cheap POS, yes. But it’s never failed me yet, plenty accurate, and not heavy when I carried it in the yard. They do have a tendency to locate the cylinder improperly and fire out of line with the barrel meaning a chunk of lead is spit out the side at the front of the cylinder, so far mine locks in place properly, I check it every time I clean it, and fire it maybe 2 shots a year anyway. These days, I usually carry the other .22 six shooter to begin with. It’s beside me now.
The one pictured in this thread is a different model, the one with the white handgrip has a logo that seems to say RG10, different pistol and I know nothing about that one. I do know it is definitely not the RG14. I think the one pictured earlier with brown grips is yet another model but I’m not sure, I didn’t see a model number. Might have overlooked it.
Is .22 more powerful than .25? Nope.
https://www.guns.com/news/2011/07/23/battle-of-the-mouse-guns-the-22-long-rifle-versus-25-acp
Depending on barrel length, some .22 revolvers might develop more muzzle velocity than the .25, but that does not always mean more knock down power or penetration when youre talking about a smaller chunk of lead. The heaviest .22 I’ve seen is 40 grain, while .25 is typically 50 or a bit more. (I did find one hollow point in 35 grain) The heavier bullet at similar speed would be more dangerous. But that’s with all other characteristics the same, as far as solid lead or jacketed, hollow point etc. If I had no other choice, I’d carry the little Jennings .25 I had 20 years ago rather than a .22 with same length barrel every time. Figure in my current 6.5 inch barrel six shooter, and some CCI Stinger hollow points, it’s a different story.
Overall, the .22 is only a more powerful weapon if you have a long enough barrel to let it use a little more of the gases behind it. Compare the .25 auto with 3 inch barrel to my .22 rifle with 22 inch, its a whole nuther world. Same can be said of any pistol. A [insert model here] .357 six shooter with 4 inch barrel will get nowhere close to the Marlin lever action .357 rifle with about a 20 or 22 inch barrel. Sweet rifle by the way...because it has enough barrel to take advantage of all or most of the expanding gases behind it. The rifle also won’t lose any power in the gap between cylinder and barrel. Ditto for semi auto pistol vs revolver.
I never knew this until I read some info about the CCI .22 ammo when it first appeared. The article said if you wanted to get full power out of the CCI MiniMag, use a 24 inch barrel, because they used a slower burning powder than many ammo manufacturers. Direct comparisons using the exact same rifle showed the CCI was a better round, more accurate and higher muzzle velocity. I’ve been using it ever since. Shame they’re shut down now and I can’t find CCI at all. They were purchased by Remington, it’s now shut down due to a lawsuit, and bankruptcy. Along with Remington and Norma ammo and Marlin guns. That’s just one of the reasons ammo is so hard to find, 3 major ammo manufacturers are out of commission.