Florida Shooters Network

an elderly neighbor mentioned wanting to get a small pistol
for home protection and asked if a .22 LR would be effective.

i've never owned a .22 so i couldn't advise her


opinions ?

It isn't ideal, but it beats not having a pistol at all. It is also cheaper to practice with and has less recoil than most other self defense calibers. My main concern with 22LR has always been misfires or jams, but a small 22LR revolver would beat not having any way to defend yourself? My elderly grandmother kept a 12 gauge pump shotgun leaning against the wall of her bedroom, I bet you she didn't have any idea how to use it.

Better than nothing.

It still boils down to training and shot placement.

This question comes up with my students all the time and I explain it like this.

A .22 will kill someone just as dead as a .45 but in a self defense situation, killing someone shouldn't be an immediate consideration.

What you want to do is STOP them from doing what caused you to shoot them in the first place.

Living and dying can be worked out later.

A .22 is woefully inadequate when it comes to stopping, but still better than nothing.

i just watched several youtube videos of 22 LR killing
100+ lb hogs at 75-100 yards. i would imagine center
mass or head shots at less than 10 feet would be pretty
effective ?

plus all the hollywood hitmen use silenced 22's

https://www.smith-wesson.com/firearms/model-43-c

This with 8rnds CCI stingers yells louder than her screaming "get off me"!
Let's face it she probably won't use a 45acp, 357, 38 snubby do to recoil.
Or, would she consider a 410 shotgun(Mossberg Youth model) with #4 shot?

As stated, if it's something that will be practiced with and used properly, it will be VERY effective. Also as stated, effectiveness does not translate to killing capability. Shoot blanks at someone and I suspect they'd haul ass, but clearly I'm not recommending that. Depending on the weapon, there is also .22 Magnum. Look up Trooper Coates. He was killed with a .22 while the suspect took six rounds of either .357 or .38 to the chest and survived.

ask James Brady.....oh wait.....nevermind

My mom (mid 80's) had a Walther P22 for a time... I don't think she could handle any stronger a recoil. I let her shoot my Shield 9mm and she just couldn't handle that. I had thought that a .22LR would be good for training my niece/nephew. Turns out my niece (18 at the time and no more than a buck'05...) was far more accurate and enjoyed my full size 1911 .45acp. As for my nephew, he went in a different direction. He was able to master my Mossberg 930 Semi Auto. A natural he was!

As for HD, as others have said, a .22LR is better than nothing at all, but I'd probably want to go 9mm JHP's for HD/SD. Or 12G 00-buck if with a shot gun.

Slartibartfast wrote: ↑Wed May 08, 2019 5:18 pm an elderly neighbor mentioned wanting to get a small pistol
for home protection and asked if a .22 LR would be effective.
i've never owned a .22 so i couldn't advise her
opinions ?

22mag revolver?

On guns with less than 6" barrel the 22 magnum does not offer much higher velocity than 22lr high velocity ammo. In most cases 22 magnum will give less than 100 fps advantage over 22lr while creating large muzzle flash and cost at least 5X more. 22 magnum does offer much more velocity when fired from rifle length barrels.
Also, I hear a lot of people mention reliability of 22lr ammo but in my personal experience quality 22lr ammo is pretty damn reliable. Most people complain about 22lr reliability when they use economical bulk-ammo and not quality ammo. My 22lr ammo of choice is CCI 40 gr Mini-mag solids and I personally never had one bad round...same with CCI Stinger. Few years ago my friends and I fired 1,500 rounds of CCI 36gr Mini-mag HP in one afternoon and we did not have one bad round. I have had bad 22lr ammo but they were either economical bulk pack or Russian brands.