This is a subject that I really enjoy and will relate a few people I know or have heard about who's only handgun was 22 caliber. These will be real people who used them daily, not just leave them in their sock drawer. Bud was a outdoorsman extraordinaire, from his youth in the 30;s he wandered , trapped, carried US mail on his back between mining camps, and prospected. His only companion was a pre war Colt Woodman that was so worn by his 60's that one grip was worn though to the metal. Read an account of a man that walked to Alaska in the 30's before there was a road, and he carried a Woodman and said he never felt under gunned till he had to shoot grizzly bears. Wow. Earnest Hemmingway, while not too gun savvy, swore by the Woodsman and carried one often as did Patton. Castners Cutthroats, a group of Alaskan outdoorsmen pressed into service during WW 2 carried self loading 22 as part of their kit while perusing the Japs on Kiska and Attu islands. An Alaskan cattle rancher on Kodiak island had a 4" barred Colt Woodsman on his hip daily that was so worn that the front sight was missing, He took a Kodiak bear that surprised him with the little gun. While the little cartridge is far from ideal, it is easy to hit with thus good shots are easier to accomplish. The largest grizzly ever killed at that tine was killed with a single shot from a 22 long cartridge.
