Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns why own a 22lr handgun?

I use to own a 22lr handgun: S&W 617 but it was so large and bulky that I got rid of it. I haven't replace my 22lr handgun and I went straight to a 4" barrel 357mag that I shoot 38spec wadcutters or swc and truthfully haven't missed a 22lr handgun. So why own a 22lr handgun?

Because I have over 25,000 rounds of 22lr to practice with?????

Yep. And because I can. Got my first 22 handgun, a Colt Frontier Scout when I was 13.

That's what the 22lr rifle is for!

Better quesytion would be how many 22LR handguns do you own..

Couldn't imagine NOT having a 22 handgun. As to being heavy, not all are. My 6" barreled pre war Colt Woodsman is made of milled steel and walnut yet weighs a mere 27 ounces. Men who spent their lives in the woods with guns in their hands daily often carried a 22 handgun to supplement their rifles. There is a saying in old Alaska that, Alaska was civilized with a 22 handgun. Since most people who trekked out into the woods for months on end and were afoot, had to carry a rifle, usually a 30-30 carbine, with a handful of cartridges. Then a handgun for daily food acquisition . Grouse and salmon and hares were needed daily to fill the belly. No grocery stores out in the bush. Ammo for the large rifles was way to destructive and heavy to carry. The Colt Woodsman was quite popular. Stories abound about the 22 handgun and woods life. The late great Harry Selby an African big game guide all his life, carried a 4" Woodsman on all his safaris. Then passed it down to another top African white hunter. A well informed trapper in remote Alaska wrote a quite detailed list of every item and amount needed for 6 months in the bush. From corn flakes to soap, everything he used in his years of bush life. His big game rifle was not truly bisected, but he was adamant about his handgun. No ifs and or but, a Colt Woodsman with a full flap holster and a closed toe. I knew a Colorado woodsman who trapped all his life, lived in a remote cabin and even carried the US mail on his back with snowshoes on his feet. His only gun? Yup a Colt Woodsman. The stocks were worn through to metal the last time I saw it. I have a 22 in every vehicle.

Sooo...

A K frame S&W 22lr was large and bulky, so you got rid of it. But a 357 mag handgun isn't?



Maybe you don't shoot much with a handgun? Have no use for cheaper, quieter, less powerful cartridge?

I'd not rid myself of any of the .22 handguns I have. Too useful. When I need to drive a nail, I get a claw hammer... Not a 3 pound sledge.

rockinbbar,

My 617 wasn't a k frame but an L frame with six shot with 6" barrel that weighed around 45 oz. If I'm going to carry something that "big" it's going to be in larger caliber. My 4" GP100 357mag is about 40 oz. Shooting 38 spec with wadcutters is hardly a 3 pound sledge hammer. Compound the issue with rimfire ammo going through shortages since the Obama era and price hikes, the 22lr handgun seem less and less attractive at least to me.

Ever shoot a rabbit with a 357?

For inexpensive pistol target practice. My main 22lr pistol is a Ruger MK II Government Target Model with the 6-7/8” bull barrel.

Sorry, the 617 is a K-frame.
Having a good .22 handgun is the closest you can get to being a kid again with a BB gun. You don't have to worry about recoil, noise or the cost of the ammo. Not all guns are serious, some are meant for enjoyment, and the .22 does that better than about anything else.

I have a Valquartzen, Highstandard Trophy and Victor. Would not want to be without a 22

Here's one reason. Loads of fun, and a great trainer. If you can shoot this reasonably well, it helps with everything else and you have to follow thru.



Paul

Same reason the US military has 22cal rifles.

Logistics.

:-)

They are great for teaching, trap lines…

Trapline. This pic shows the mag cylinder in it, but I carry it with the LR cylinder more.

Shoot coons in the head when i catch em in traps.

#BSstopswhenthehammerdrops

The the flight path of the 357 with similar noise and less recoil than the 38.

Gee, no one needs that...

The 32 is pretty close in regards to the above, but no one THINKS they need one of those either.

Here's a good one...light, easy to shoot well and a joy to carry. Walther PP.
Bob

A good 22 handgun is the best way to go back to the basic principles of handgun shooting after you develop those bad habits from firing heavier rounds like flinching. jerking the trigger, poor sight picture no follow thru etc.