Favorite defensive handgun loads
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September 21st, 2011 at 8:55 am
Hey! That’s my favorite self defense load!
September 21st, 2011 at 9:13 am
Simple. It is Controllable..
September 21st, 2011 at 9:19 am
The 22LR is included on the list for the sake of Darwin Award candidates. I guess someone didn’t want them to feel left out.
Since the only time one is justified in shooting in self-defense is when one is in danger of death or grave bodily harm, it’s best to have a howitzer with an anti-personnel round in it on hand on such an occasion. However, since the holster for one weighs about 35 pounds, it’s more practical to go with something smaller, but it’s not necessary to go all the way down to the 22LR. If someone is trying to kill you, such that you need to stop them immediately or die, it’s better to use a more effective cartridge.
September 21st, 2011 at 9:49 am
Man, I don’t personally agree with any of those choices, except for the Speer short barrel .38spl. Then again, I probably don’t have as much testing and training under my belt as the author does..
September 21st, 2011 at 10:14 am
‘Cause a pocket mini-derringer in .45 ACP would be a little hard to control?
🙂
September 21st, 2011 at 10:23 am
Notice that there is always someone who wants to argue its merits as a self-defense round …
September 21st, 2011 at 10:31 am
I can think of a few reasons, some of them relating to the number of people unemployed and the record number of folks on food stamps. 22 caliber weapons and ammunition are inexpensive. I happen to know more than a couple people that had to sell off the bulk of their firearms due to dire financial issues.
Maybe not the best reason, and certainly not the best choice, but it is what it is.
September 21st, 2011 at 10:38 am
.22LR, because it’s better than nothing…. or a rock, or a stick, or a restraining order, etc..
I know some older folks with arthritis or other hand issues, and while I wouldn’t recommend a .22 if you can help it, if that’s all they can handle, then why would you deny them or give them grief?
September 21st, 2011 at 10:47 am
I’m not a fan of the .22 rimfire as a defensive carry caliber… but rule number one of gun-fighting is “have a gun”…
I’ve had elderly men and women and a gal with physical disabilities that weakened her hands who have taken my NRA or CCW courses over the years and about all they can reliably manipulate and control is a .22 rimfire…
…and as far as lethality, again, not my first choice… but Robert F. Kennedy still wishes it wasn’t lethal…
Dann in Ohio
September 21st, 2011 at 10:48 am
Don’t be so fast to knock the little 22LR. It works in a pinch. Very fast recovery from shot to shot as proven in this situation in Atlanta, Ga.
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/27850534/detail.html
Not my first choice, but I sure as hell wouldn’t want to get shot multiple times (even once) with one.
September 21st, 2011 at 11:31 am
It is on the list because, for most folks in the US, it is their ONLY available caliber.
Which is why that lowly .22 LR kills more people in the US than any other round.
September 21st, 2011 at 11:35 am
It is a product placement advertisement. If Starbucks had paid him, hot coffee would have found a mention on that list.
September 21st, 2011 at 12:04 pm
But, But, But…. Mall Ninjas everywhere KNOW that the only pistol round worth a damn is a .410 out of a Taurus Judge! ; )
September 21st, 2011 at 12:13 pm
The 5.56×45 round has negligible recoil, so there’s no excuse for not using it, despite hand issues, being elderly, weak, small statured, etc. However, the USMC goes into battle with it because it works, despite its low recoil.
There are plenty of excuses made for “relying” on the .22LR for self-defense, but there’s no excuse for doing so. Planning to use a .22LR in a life or death situation is foolish planning.
September 21st, 2011 at 1:00 pm
There is one valid excuse for doing so.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/09/13/census-us-poverty-rate-swells-to-27-year-high-151-percent/
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/08/05/record-number-americans-receiving-food-stamp-benefits/
A used Marlin .22 costs around hundred bucks. Weapons chambered in .5.56 usually cost several hundred. Ammo costs are of course quite different as well. I wouldn’t argue anything based on caliber as you are correct on that point. However, the fact is many people are selling their pricier weapons right now if they had them in the first place. A .22 like the marlin model 60 or something similar would be one of the last ones to go because they wouldn’t get that much for selling them and the ammo is cheap. The same logic could apply to someone in that financial condition who decides they need a firearm. No mattter how good the weapon is, it won’t do you as much good if you can’t afford to shoot it enough to attain a basic level of proficency.
September 21st, 2011 at 1:17 pm
Texas law requires taking the CHL test with a minimum of .38 or 9 mm. If you test with a revolver, your license is marked revolver only; no restrictions apply if you test with a semi-auto. No caliber restrictions are mentioned for carry after testing. I carry 9 mm, 115 grain JHP, but that’s strictly personal preference. I could (I think) probably get comfortable with a .38, but not smaller.
I knew a young man who was accidentally shot in the neck with a .22 (rifle). Very nearly killed him. for me .22 is for tin cans, targets, and small critters.
September 21st, 2011 at 2:48 pm
I guess .22 lr is my favorite – it’s the only handgun I own. If I need to defend myself, I grab my .40 carbine or the .308.
September 21st, 2011 at 3:44 pm
Chas, are you saying that people should carry 5.56×45 handguns? Rly? It says HANDGUN loads. Words have meaning.
As for people dissing the .22:
How many criminals hang around when you start shooting at them, regardless of what caliber you’re shooting at them? They don’t know what the hell you’re shooting at them, just the you’re shooting.
September 21st, 2011 at 4:53 pm
“…the USMC goes into battle with [5.56×45] because it works, despite its low recoil.”
Keep in mind that US infantry weapons are designed to shoot to wound, per the Geneva Conventions. Hollow point ammo is forbidden to them, for example. There are political and legal considerations other than operational effectiveness.
Digression: Back when the GCs were developed by mostly European powers, it was assumed that warfare would consist of armies fighting other armies openly, and that it was both more humane and more effective to wound enemy soldiers (because it would cause the enemy to spend time and resources tending to the wounded). This kind of Marquis of Queensbury rules for war completely failed to anticipate the result that asymmetric warfare would arise to counter it. Asymmetric warfare and “lawfare” have become the principal strategies against First World forces precisely because they exploit the self-limiting behavior of these forces in the face of an enemy who abhors the GCs.
September 21st, 2011 at 6:27 pm
Chris Byrne covered the designed to wound myth and many other things at length over at his blog some years back. Rather than reproduce any of it here I’ll just post the link.
http://anarchangel.blogspot.com/2007/02/okay-so-why-did-we-choose-556.html
September 21st, 2011 at 9:42 pm
Because *everybody knows* that that’s what all the hitmen and assassins always use…
September 21st, 2011 at 10:02 pm
Zombie hordes, of course! Out of a rifle barrel, or a longer pistol barrel, it’s a good skull buster and brain scrambler. Cheap and light, you can carry a lot more rounds than you can of larger calibers, and a head shot is the only way to put them down permanently. Did I mention that they travel in hordes?
September 21st, 2011 at 10:51 pm
The .22 isn’t a “stopper,” but no handgun round truly is. That being said, I wouldn’t volunteer to stand in front of someone willing to put two or three of them in me, or even one.
September 22nd, 2011 at 2:12 am
@ATlien:
“Chas, are you saying that people should carry 5.56×45 handguns? Rly? It says HANDGUN loads. Words have meaning.”
5.56x45mm handgun ftw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ii3aMTAkDJ4
Just wish it was easier to conceal.
September 22nd, 2011 at 7:08 am
Some people mentioned rifles, so I brought up the 5.56 mm. It’s only supposed to wound? Tell all those dead Iraqis and Afghans that they’re merely wounded. The D.C. sniper case, with all those one shot, one kill murders, should have put to rest the idea that the 5.56mm only wounds. Funny how some people will claim that the .22LR is a death ray, while others claim that the 5.56mm merely wounds.
For handguns, the .22LR is even worse than it is in a rifle. Any larger caliber is better, from the .25 ACP up. Ballistics for the .22LR are usually given for rifle length barrels, but the .25 ACP, aka 6.35mm Browning, performs better in shorter barrels than the .22LR – John Browning designed it that way. The .25 isn’t greased either, so it doesn’t fill up every crevice with with an ugly combination of grease and powder residue that hardens over time either. If you want performance that’s ballistically and mechanically inferior to the .25 ACP, then go with a .22LR pistol.
The .380 ACP is said to be the minimum for serious self-defense. One should not advise people to carry less than that, since doing so might get them killed. Handguns are minimally adequate firearms to begin with. It doesn’t make sense to start off with a minimally effective caliber too. Used, S&W .38 Special revolvers are cheap, at under $200 last I checked. That’s about what a .22LR goes for too, so money isn’t an issue for handguns.
As for scaring off bad guys with anything that goes bang, you’re only justified in shooting if you’re in danger of death or grave bodily harm. Shooting at someone otherwise is attempted murder, and might just happen to be murder itself, if the person is accidentally hit.
The .22LR is good for target practice, plinking and small game. No police or military organization in the world uses it for general issue for serious social occasions. Only a fool would deliberately choose to bet his life on the puny .22LR. What’s your life worth? When I’m facing imminent death, I want a 105mm howitzer on my side, or as close to it as I can get. As for the .22LR, it’s like the old ad on TV used to say, “It’s greasy kid’s stuff”.
September 22nd, 2011 at 10:02 am
Craig, its not the Geneva Conventions, its the Hague Convention that refers to ammunition prohibited in warfare.
September 23rd, 2011 at 10:08 am
Texas Jack 1940 – correction. Texas CHL law states that you have to take the CHL shooting test with a minimum .32 caliber (GC §411.188).