Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns .22 Snub Nose Revolvers; LR or WMR?

for personal protection there are a whole lot of better options than the 22 magnum. The logic of paying $5-600 for a gun that is neither fish nor fowl escapes me. Personal protection buy a bigger caliber, walking, plinking 22 LR. If making an objective list of Pro's and Con's the extra power of the 22 magnum is marginal and debatable in a personal defense situation.

https://www.buckeyefirearms.org/alternate-look-handgun-stopping-power

my apologies to all for posting this link, as it actually seems to show that it takes fewer hits with a 45 to "incapacitate" than with a 9mm. I know this is heresy.

Very interesting study in that link, jimmyp. Thanks for the link.

+P!!

Thank you! I love gun gack and ruminating over data. I'm going to send that link right now to a few guys from church so we can have a good discussion in the lobby today.

EDITED TO ADD: To keep it relevant to the original topic, the study from the guy in Ohio lumped all .22 data (long rifle, long, and short) into one category. And, that category DID NOT include the .22 WMR. Was that because the author could find no shootings involving the WMR? If there were none, why not? Too few handguns chambered for the round? Is it possible that a few investigators misidentified a bullet from a WMR as having been fired from a .22lr?

Like I said before, I find this stuff fascinating. I'd be very interested to see some data, comparing the .22lr to the .22 WMR, but there probably isn't enough out there to make it statistically significant.

In my experience shooting nutra rats with 4" &6" revolvers with both 22 LR and 22Mag the 22 Mag is a night and day more reliable stopper with 2 shot

That's been my experience with sage rats. A sage rat is roughly the size of a chipmunk, and a .22lr doesn't explode them. If you gut shoot a sage rat with a .22lr he'll live long enough to try to crawl to his hole, making me feel like a bad person. But, a gut shot with a .22 WMR is a one-shot kill.

I'd still like to see how that compares/translates to shootings involving people.

It would be impossible to argue that point. I've never relied on anything less than 9mm myself, but even the 22LR can be very lethal.

Lots of folks choose mouseguns for various reasons that make sense to them, and often successfully defend themselves.

Yep. 9mm is my minimum. Followed by .380. .22 mag would be next in line.

If being able to source ammo locally is part of the equation, then .22 magnum is a non-starter. 9 X out of 10, BassPro doesn't even have it. In a LGS, it's non-existent.

Try the 78 gr lasercast over 3.0 gr of Universal at 1.33 inches COAL. It shoots about like a 22 WMR in a four inch SP 101, and an LCRx, and a couple of 4 5/8" Single Sevens, and a Henry carbine.

Or just buy 32 S&W, or 32 S&W long, or even 32 ACP. They will shoot just fine in your 327.

My grandkids love to shoot my reduced loads.

And in true 'Campfire tradition, I would highly recommend the LCR in 327 over any 22 for trail or SD carry.

I am still waiting for the LCRx 3 in 327.

I'm not a big .22mag fan.

I owned a Taurus 4" .22mag revolver for a while.
It was a nice handling gun, but the cylinder was an absolute bear to push out the empties.
I think I shot it without hearing protection "once". That was all it took!
I killed a few ground squirrels and sage rats with it and moved on to a S&W 63 kit gun.
I decided that if I needed more power in that size handgun that I would be better served by a good .38 special.

I would choose the .22LR cartridge just based on my own leanings and experience.

It does seem that availability of cartridges is a factor though. And It must be that availability is different by region. There's not an LGS or big box store that sells ammo in my area that doesn't have a really good selection of .22WMR on the shelf.

I never was severely affected by the rimfire shortage as I have always bought more than I shot going back nearly 50 years.

I will say that the production increase by the rimfire manufacturers seems to have come at a cost. Just this year had a misfire with new CCI mini mag hp, in a rifle, for the first time ever.
I've hadf rare misfires in rifles a few times over the years with other makers. And when shooting DA .22 revolvers have always had the occasional failure.
I was shocked and dismayed when our savage cub mini clicked on a mini mag...

I wanted a short barreled 22 revolver for carrying around the farm. Ended up with a Charter Arms, stainless, 2 inch barrel. Had to file the front sight down in order to hit anything with it, but otherwise, it's functioned perfectly..........and I've shot it a bunch. I cannot imagine shooting anything louder than a 22 LR without ear protection, and even then, this pistol is loud enough.

I'm not carrying it for personal protection, only those times when I'm figuring I might need it for such things as dispatching an animal caught in a trap, or when I'm packing a rifle, and just want a handgun along. Otherwise, I pretty much carry a 9mm all the time.

i got both ruger lcr rimfire revolvers. the 22wmr went away: way too much flashbang for not much more result and only six shots. the 22lr stayed to be a sometimes ccw: i can’t do much recoil and 8 reliably well placed cci stingers will deter most likely daylight threats in my quiet locale.

Anyone check out the 50 gr 22 mag? Seems like it would be the most useful 22 mag round, especially in short barreled pistols.

I've got some of the 50g fed. They were quite a bit slower through my scadnium snubby. I don't recall what they chronicled but it was significantly less than the 40g gold dot short barrels I usually carry.

I haven't fully tested it but the 50 doesn't expand at all from a short barrel. I bet they penetrate better than most. I've kept a few boxes around in my hunting truck etc. I've loaded with the 50s in a bear area on a little family hike one day when I only had the 22 mag with me. Not saying its ideal but it was the best I had with me that day.

I was hunting with a friend George Duncan in Northern idaho years ago and he told me he's had very good luck killing black bears with a 22 mag revolver. He's probably been part of taking more black bears or mtn lions than anyone else I know. I think he used a bit longer barrel on his 22 mag revolver than my scadnium has. Mu Taurus revolver has a 5" barrel and it really puts the smack down on small game. The trouble is the hanmer is small and so heavy to pull my wife can't even shoot it double or single.

I think I'd like a 3" lcr in 327 with adjustable sights. Down load it with a few hot loads on hand if needed. Probably more reliable with s reasonable pull than any rimfire.

Bb

I carry the NAA 22 mag as a pocket pistol, for what that's worth.

When I was a kid my neighbor shot a guy breaking into his shop behind his house. He shot him in the knee with a 22 mag Ruger single six, they had to amputate the dudes leg.

I got a fake stainless J-frame 4" 22lr(s,l). Real nice little gun and 4" aint too long to stuff in a back pocket.
It has the advantage of 9 shots, and I can load CB caps if I want.
Trigger is hard to pull in double action compared to a centerfire. But I figure I won't notice if I ever needed to pop off nine quick shots. It usually gets shot single action.

Single-Nine would be the way I'd go if I wanted a 22 mag pistol.

Sounds just like a 9mm to me.

T

the ruger single six is the sweet spot handgun for 22wmr. my 5.5” rss shoots 22wmr like a laser, way more accurate than i deserve and is fun too. even handgun barrel specific 22wmr ammo really needs a 5”ish minimum barrel to do well, imho. a rss is in my get-home bag. 100 rounds each of 22wmr/lr is highly portable, and since i can reliably hit with both rimfire ammos, is more efficient for me than a heavier caliber.