.22 Concealed Carry?

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I was once very young, very broke and traveling across the country sleeping in my car at rest stops. The only handgun I had was a Ruger Single Six convertible. I stoked the magnum cylinder with Winchester Super X hollow points and slept as soundly as one can in the front seat of a Geo Prizm.

CCI stingers would be my choice if they ran good in my gun and all I had was a .22lr. As others have stated, a .22 is a terrible choice for self defense but it's better than a pointy stick.
 
People THINK Mini Mags are hot but it's marketing hype. I have tested it and it was actually a little slower than other common brands.

Be aware that in a semi auto the 32 grain bullets may lack recoil impulse to work the slide. My Iver Johnson TP22 won't function with anything less than 40 grain ammo. Test the gun with the ammo before carrying.
 
I used to have a heritage rough rider 22lr cost me 200 brand new and I shot well over 1000 rounds until I finally parted with it. Not one problem and shot anything I loaded in it. It's not a ruger single six but it goes bang every time for 1/3 of the price you can't beat it. And comes with a 22 mag cylinder but I never used it because 22wmr are a bit more pricey. Mine ate a healthy diet of el cheapo bulk ammo and never had an issue.
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My Rough Rider is exactly the same way but it is larger and heavier than I want to carry. If I was going to carry a 22 that large, it would be my Ruger 22/45 Mk III. I also have a little Phoenix HP-22 that has been reliable with everything I have fed it in about 3,000 and it is small enough to carry. However, I am more comfortable with my 380 TPC or 9MM S&W SD9VE.
 
Yea mine had a six and half inch barrel so it was no cc weapon but I know you can buy ones with smaller barrels and smaller bird head grips still for 200 dollars an under. For a 200 dollar gun I had no complaints what so ever. I kind of regret getting rid of it, but being so cheap I will buy another one when my daughter is a little bit older and make it her first gun to learn on.
 
Hello Ibmikey,,,

A friend had the same problem with her Bersa Thunder 22,,,
It worked fine for a few months than started jamming.

I felt bad as I was the one who urged her to buy one.

We finally figured out she had the recoil spring in backwards.

One end is tighter than the other,,,
But not by very much at all,,,
It's easy to reverse it.

The manual said nothing about it.

As soon as we put the tight end on first,,,
Loose end towards the muzzle,,,
The problem disappeared.

Aarond

.
 
People THINK Mini Mags are hot but it's marketing hype. I have tested it and it was actually a little slower than other common brands
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MiniMags wouldn't be my choice for the purpose posted by the OP becaause they are any more powerful. They would be my choice because they are the most reliable rimfire ammo I have used.
 
I occasionally carry my Ruger LCR in 22LR loaded with CCI Velocitors. My second choice would be CCI HV solids.

As far as self defense goes with a 22LR, there are better choices, but I think if you automatically think in terms of double taps, you are probably okay. Never had to use any gun in self defense and it is likely that the same will continue.
 
Last week, I was at my rifle club. We have a resettable metal bowling pin stand with six pins, at 7yds.
I had a great time working the pins with my SR22, one round per pin, knocking it down and moving on to the next pin.
Then I was double tapping each pin, easily hitting the pin twice as it fell.
Finally, wanting more challenge, I went down the line aiming for the head of the pin only...no problem.
At the same time, a guy fired a mag through a .45 1911 at a row of real bowling pins on the stand next to me and managed to miss them all. Not a surprise...he next shot at a 25yd bullseye target sheet stapled to the same 7yd stand, and his shots were all over the paper.
So...as they say, a hit with a 22...
 
...CCI Mini Mags...the most RELIABLE .22 ammo...
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Yes, this.

The stingers are pretty good too, but the longer case requires a clean chamber for reliable function in an auto loader. That and 300 rounds of reliability testing.

Aguila 60gr SSS might be GREAT for the extractor-less mini blow backs, but this is o my a theory. The short case would seem to ensure reliability.
 
On a few occasions, in a crowd, I have chosen my very accurate Walther P22 over my keltec P3AT .380/fmj.

The old Marshall/Sanow tests rated Stingers as the best-in-caliber, but only assigned it a 29%. Translation: practice your Mozambiques, and make use of available cover. No handgun is the Hammer of Thor, but this thing will almost NEVER fell your opponent before your eyes. What you need it to do it change his mind, or go somewhere else to lick his wounds or bleed out. Or about 1 time in 4, you might get lucky and stop the threat cold...but don't rely on this.
 
Have you ever used Stingers in small game? They are stupendous: very frangible, enormous wound cavity, very shallow penetration. They are made to do that, and they do it great. I would never use them in anything over 50 pounds unless I had no other option. With a large critter, you want penetration. That's why I always used solid mini mags when I carried my Beretta 70s. As others have said above, they are probably the most reliable .22LRs extant.

And as others have said above, if you carry a .22 you need to get real good with it.
 
My Bersa Thunder 22 has been 100% reliable, however, I would recommend a quality DOUBLE ACTION revolver. No safety to mess with, no magazine to lose, or drop in a panic. My 3" Smith & Wesson 317 would be ideal in my opinion. 8 shot, slightly longer barrel than a snub, and light as a feather. There's no reason why it can't slip into a pocket and disappear.
 
Mini Mag Hollow points, very good ammo.
But....... this past weekend, my son and I went through about 400rds of assorted 22lr and we had one pretty big failure. It was a Remington Thunderbolt that blew the entire case head off of the back of the cartridge. He was shooting it and made a believer out of him where safety glasses are concerned. It was easy to clear with no harm to the shooter or weapon but kinda opens my eyes to having a rim fire for a defensive gun. I will say this is the only time I can remember this happening in 45+yrs of 22 shooting.
 
If something bad is going to happen with a rimfire, it will be with Thunderbolt.
I saw my friend blow his front sight off a rifle due to a Thunderbolt squib.

Over the last couple years, I have shot a lot of 22LR. I've shot rimfire in a 10/22 and a bolt action, as well as several pistols.

All the ammo has been CCI, Blazer, and Aguila. Plus, some Rem Golden Bullets...not something I would buy normally, but with the ammo shortage, I bought three 225 packs when they showed up at Walmart.

Not a single FTF or fail to fire.
 
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