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The Power of the .22 Magnum for Pocket Pistols
Am Shooting Journal ^ | 2/13/2019 | C Cocoles

Posted on 02/13/2019 4:48:36 AM PST by w1n1

In our continuing discussions on whether pocket pistols are good enough to carry for personal protection. We sometimes hear of the small few gun enthusiasts that carry these .22 pocket pistols.

For personal defense the goal is to always "break contact" from the "Bad Guy" if you’re ever caught in such dire situation. Breaking contact is to get away from the BG either you had the six sense to avoid the confrontation or caught in the fight. Once you have fired on the BG, the goal is to stop the BG from his attack so you can run away.

Terminal Ballistics
From a terminal ballistics stand point the .22 is not that impressive from a short barrel pistol. But the .22 is more capable than people think. To make this point we looked at these tests that were conducted by the fine folks from Lucky Gunner. Lucky Gunner ran a 1.9 inch snub nose pocket pistols with several types of .22 Magnun loads against a ballistic gel.

This was for measuring the penetration and seeing the expansion. What we’re striving for is a good 12 to 15 inch penetration with less expansion. These depths are considered good from the FBI standards. So ideally, when combined with good shot placement to the vital areas of the torso, this should deter/stop the BG from attacking you.

.22 Magnum – More Umph
For the loyal .22 fans the answer for some more umph to your load is the .22 Magnum. Shooting it from a two inch barrel is quite loud, the recoil is a little more than a .22LR but still easily manageable. Failure to fire at times does still exist with the .22 Magnum. (light primer strike) Many gun nuts know to slighly remedy this by installing a heavier spring, but the trigger pull is now at between 12 to 15 pounds. Yeh, more so than the standard .38 Special. So if this doesn’t deter you from not investing in a .22 pocket pistol, lets move on to some decent loads that are specifically for personal defense. You’ll also see some velocity, penetration and expansion info results from the ballistic gel. Read the rest of 22 WMR ammo.


TOPICS: Hobbies; Outdoors
KEYWORDS: 22magnum; banglist; blog; blogpimp; clickbait; eighthgrade; getaneditor; goaway; momsbasement; pimp; readtheresthere; sw; totalilliteracy; whatagoober
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To: MeneMeneTekelUpharsin; litehaus

How about 30 rounds of 22WMR in a pistol?

Kel-Tec PMR-30 | Fast & Flat!
175,441 views

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BvdUIPf4ys


21 posted on 02/13/2019 5:51:16 AM PST by Travis McGee (EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com)
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To: litehaus
Mr.Keltec wishes to say Happy PMR 30 to you...

You win points but.....
I think his intention was for a carry gun.
I wouldn't carry a PMR 30.
It's a full size gun and with a single action trigger and required safety.
At that point I'd rather just carry a 1911.

How about the Taurus TX22 but in WinMag? Nice striker fired so you can take a second whack at a round that doesn't light off.

22 posted on 02/13/2019 5:51:34 AM PST by Politically Correct (A member of the rabble in good standing)
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To: keat

Don’t confuse him with something he should have learned in the fourth grade. He’s actually proud of what he does... Don’t you know the chicks just love it?


23 posted on 02/13/2019 5:59:15 AM PST by OKSooner (Whichever one you already have, go buy the other one and then you'll have both.)
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To: w1n1

When I lived in Kansas, a friend had one of those mini revolvers with both .22 and .22 mag. cylinders.

When we chronographed them, there was only 5 foot lbs. difference between the .22 mag and the short.

The short does well out of a short barrel but the .22 magnum doesn’t unless you want to scare them to death with muzzle blast.

I have an old Marlin model 25 in .22 mag. It is a great gun. Not particularly well made or finished but it is totally reliable and about as accurate as you could possibly want.

I bought it used and it came with a cheap Tasco 4X scope. I was going to put a better scope on it but after firing it and noticing the previous owner had it sighted in perfectly for my use, I just left it alone.

It literally is a MOA rifle.


24 posted on 02/13/2019 6:01:57 AM PST by yarddog
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Years ago I had a 22 long rifle revolver made by a notable American Firearms manufacturer. I took it out of my dresser one day, took it out to the the backyard [which was basically a soybean field] and I started plinking... three out of the six shots did not fire.

I traded it off and got a shotgun to replace it with as my home defense weapon. But I had thought not that long ago that maybe it could have been the firing pin but... it was brand new factory out-of-the-box from a reputable American Firearms Manufacturer.

What happened that day thoroughly convinced many that a rimfire was not a suitable round for self-defense because of that 50% failure rate.

There are other instances of particular makes and models of pistols that I have seen my family use that were completely unreliable as well, yet they retain popularity in the self-defense market. But I will never own them because I have seen with my own two eyeballs these factors of unreliability! Furthermore, I have also personally witnessed the inability of the manufacturer to correct the problems when the pieces were set back to the factory for corrective maintenance.

There is a Firearms testing magazine out there and it cost about 36 bucks a year but they are completely detached from commercial advertisements and they run tests on everything, and they do not sugarcoat any testing whatsoever. I’ve gotten a lot of good information from that magazine over the years.

I no longer need to subscribe to those magazines because as far as my knowledge goes on what and what not to purchase and more importantly, what works for me and what doesn’t work for me, what fits and what doesn’t fit, and what is easily maintainable versus what is a pain in the butt to try to maintain... is set. I know what I need to know.


25 posted on 02/13/2019 6:02:19 AM PST by Clutch Martin (TheSant trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.)
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To: Clutch Martin

I only buy CCI and Aguila ammo for my 22s


26 posted on 02/13/2019 6:04:06 AM PST by I got the rope
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To: Travis McGee

“BUT....
Why is 22LR under 5 cents a pop, or even 3 cents in bulk, but 22 mag costs 17-20 cents a pop? It should cost about 10 cents at most.
Great caliber for many purposes, but absurdly expensive for what you get. “

I believe it’s referred to by economists as Economy of Scale...


27 posted on 02/13/2019 6:06:07 AM PST by snoringbear (,W,E.oGovernment is the Pimp,)
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To: real saxophonist
That is SO COOL!! Where can I get one of those? I want to do that spin-around thing like that!!!

(And yes, since you told us that's W1N1 in that video I do believe you.) :)

28 posted on 02/13/2019 6:10:05 AM PST by OKSooner (Whichever one you already have, go buy the other one and then you'll have both.)
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To: Jewbacca

My neighbor killed her husband with one round of a .22 short from about 20feet.


29 posted on 02/13/2019 6:13:50 AM PST by AppyPappy (How many fingers am I holding up, Winston?)
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To: w1n1

I’ll pass on a defensive mouse pistol with 15# trigger pull. NO THANKS.


30 posted on 02/13/2019 6:24:29 AM PST by dinodino
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To: Politically Correct

Taurus TX22-— This comes in 22lr I believe..., not 22MAG..


31 posted on 02/13/2019 6:26:38 AM PST by litehaus (A memory toooo long.............)
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To: snoringbear

I guess that’s right, but as long as a single pop of 22WMR costs as much as a 9mm, I won’t buy a 22WMR platform.

I go right from 22LR rifles and pistols to 9mm and 5.56mm.


32 posted on 02/13/2019 6:38:36 AM PST by Travis McGee (EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com)
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To: Yo-Yo

LAZER. ?!

Love It!


33 posted on 02/13/2019 6:40:52 AM PST by Big Red Badger (Despised by the Despicable!)
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To: Clutch Martin

Probably the AMMO.
.


34 posted on 02/13/2019 6:43:13 AM PST by Big Red Badger (Despised by the Despicable!)
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To: yarddog
When I lived in Kansas, a friend had one of those mini revolvers with both .22 and .22 mag. cylinders. When we chronographed them, there was only 5 foot lbs. difference between the .22 mag and the short.

You should have chronographed a round designed for short barrel pistols such as the Hornady Critical Defense in .22 WMR.

As you know, the .22 Magnum's real name is .22 WMR, which stands for Winchester Magnum Rifle. The problem with most .22 WMR loads is that the powder is designed for a longer burn in a rifle length barrel, so the performance in a shorter barrel handgun is, shall we say less than optimal?

But the Hornady Critical Defense load has two advantages: First it has the Hornady FTX jacketed hollow point bullet that is designed for self defense, and it is loaded with a low flash pistol powder designed to burn better in handgun use.

https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/rimfire/22-wmr-45-gr-ftx-critical-defense#!/


35 posted on 02/13/2019 6:58:56 AM PST by Yo-Yo ( is the /sarc tag really necessary?)
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To: eastexsteve

It’s not just raw numbers. A high proportion of those shot with a .22LR or .22 magnum are stopped, and a high proportion are killed. I credit shot placement (and indirectly familiarity with the weapon because practice is cheap). They aren’t stopped as quickly, and they aren’t killed anywhere near as quickly as with a 12 gauge slug or buckshot, but they are essentially as likely to eventually go down as with a 9mm or .45 ACP.


36 posted on 02/13/2019 7:02:21 AM PST by Pollster1 ("Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed")
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To: Yo-Yo

I was reading my recent Sportsman’s Guide catalog, and noticed this ammo. Member price is $11.96 for a box of 50.


37 posted on 02/13/2019 7:05:07 AM PST by real saxophonist (One side has guns and training. Other side's primary concern is 'gender identity'. Who's gonna win?)
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To: eastexsteve
You’re much better off with a .38 Special.

Never discount the .38 Special. Has been around forever, +P is especially effective if loaded properly. I don't own a .357 Mag. but it will give best of both worlds. Close or with some added range. Both are absolutely great rounds.

38 posted on 02/13/2019 7:07:05 AM PST by Texas Fossil ((Texas is not where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind & Attitude!))
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To: real saxophonist
I was reading my recent Sportsman’s Guide catalog, and noticed this ammo. Member price is $11.96 for a box of 50.

That's cheaper than the almost a buck a round for Critical Defense in 9mm.

39 posted on 02/13/2019 7:14:14 AM PST by Yo-Yo ( is the /sarc tag really necessary?)
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To: Buttons12

My wife Carrie’s an LCP with integrated laser as a tiny purse pistol. Its a 380. Check it out. Far better ccw.


40 posted on 02/13/2019 7:15:27 AM PST by American in Israel (A wise man's heart directs him to the right, but the foolish mans heart directs him toward the left.)
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