22 Mag vs 38 special

M

Mlee

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I have a quick question. I have a female friend who is looking for a handgun for personal protection. I can tell from the way she first picked up my 9mm she had been around guns before and said she has shot a few. I suggested a snub nosed 38. A friend of hers who owns a gunshop has said she needs a 22 Mag. Now I realize 22's have killed and wounded plenty of people, but if you had a choice wouldn't you want something bigger? I told her that for defensive purposes she wouldn't be shooting unless a person was literally up on her and popping off rounds at somebody 40 or 50 feet away would make her the "bad guy". At close range its just gonna be point and shoot and I would look at a 22Mag as much lesser choice. What do you think?
 
Little Help

If you carry a single-shot, .22 Short caliber derringer, you will be considered armed with a deadly weapon in the eyes of the law. You will not, however, be adequately prepared to stop a predictable attack by multiple armed assailants. Most experts recommend a five-shot revolver as the absolute minimum in firepower, and the .380/9mm/.38SPL range as the minimum potency level in terms of handgun caliber.
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-Massad Ayoob

I think that I would take his opinion over a gunshop owner. .38 snub sounds good
 
Another big problem is that almost all commercially available .22Mag ammo is loaded for hunting 15-50 lb. varmints using a long-barreled rifle. The bullets will fragment too easily to penetrate effectively in a human, and the muzzle blast will be deafening when fired from a 2"-barreled revolver in an enclosed space with no hearing protection. :( Furthermore, the muzzle flash may be blinding in the dark, preventing important-in-small-caliber follow-up shots, and the bullet won't even get close to the velocities printed on the box.

I vote for something in .32 H&R Mag, which can be loaded with .32 Long in a pinch. These cartridges don't punch a very big hole and don't push a hollow point quite fast enough for good expansion, but they'll propel a LRN or SWC bullet fast enough to penetrate, and they're designed to work out of a short barrel. They'll actually deliver the velocity printed on the box, and muzzle blast with these rounds is pretty mild. :)
 
A 22 Mag from a 2 inch revolver might sound powerful but it isn't. I don't know if your friend wants a firearm for home defense or to carry (will make a difference). I don't think an airweight 38 snub is the answer either. My sister did not like the heavy double action pull of my 351pd (22 mag). I wouldn't have let her have it anyhow because it is only good for little varmints. She thought the airweight 38 was "cute and perfect for her" until she shot it - did not like the recoil and she couldn't hit anything after the first shot. The airweights are not shooter friendly like a nice steel 38 special. She preferred the recoil of a Glock 26 over the 38 snub.
 
Clearly a 22mag is not the answer for SD or HD. If she is familiar with guns, a snub nose is a great option. A S&W Airweight is the finest CCW snub going in my opinion but if she is recoil sensitive, a Ruger SP would a great option as well.
 
38 Airweight w Crimson Trace

I like the 38 for the stated purpose! Why not get a 22 also - fun to practice with a 22 - and that's really the crux of the matter - shoot that 22 a bunch - get used to it - needs to be second nature...... then when/if a time comes for defense, perhaps the second nature practice will pay off, even if the 22 and the 38 are not identical. A carton of 22's (550 or so) is relatively inexpensive vs the same quantity of 38's....... R
 
First, she needs to be the one making the decision -- with a little education of course. Now, in an ideal world, I would recommend anyone new to handguns get started with a .22 and then move up from there. However, this is an imperfect world and most homeowners only wanting a self-defense pistol don't want to buy two guns and train extensively on the first before moving to the second. A .38 spl revolver capable of firing +P ammo fills this niche very nicely. And, despite the gunshop advice to the contrary, women are fully capable of handling a .38 spl. and even bigger calibers. :)

You say it is for "personal protection" but don't indicate if it is for home or for carry. If strictly for home use, I would recommend a SW K-frame revolver like the Model 10. The added weight will soak up recoil better than a J-frame. Now, if she wants to carry, I would look at a SW J-frame. If she carries in her purse (not the best option), steel would be better because of the recoil. Otherwise, an Airweight for carry in a holster.

Whichever .38 chosen, she can start with some mild 148 gr. wadcutter loads and then move up to +P when ready.
 
If she can handle the .38, which it sounds like she can, then there is no question as to which is a better defensive round, and a j-frame revolver is an excellent CCW weapon. Typically, if gun store salesmen knew half of what they thought they did, they would be dangerous ;)
 
You might consider the Ruger SP101 in 327 mag. That new combo sends a .32 cal. bullet at something like 1500 f.p.s. and yet is low recoil. Sounds like a real solution to me.
 
Let her shoot a few different calibers/guns and pick for herself. Woman aren't retarded, smarter than us guys actually. She will be able to tell what she can handle better than you and your buddy. That is, if she is taking the whole first gun buying process seriously.
 
After much consideration, I purchased a S&W AirLite 38 Spec in a snub nose frame for CC. The one issue is, that it's not much fun to practice with at the range. Plenty of recoil pain.
 
My sister lives on 80 acres in NW Washington. When I discovered that her personal protection was a 22 single action I gave her (yes legally) a S&W 64-4, a couple hundred rounds for practice, and 30 rounds for protection, a belt slide holster, and 2 speedloaders.

I agree with Massad about the 38 being the minimum for protection, and .38+P is about as much as she can handle with confidence.

She knows someone who reloads and asked me how to duplicate the practice rounds. I know that she practicing.
 
You might consider the Ruger SP101 in 327 mag. That new combo sends a .32 cal. bullet at something like 1500 f.p.s. and yet is low recoil.
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The .327Mag's recoil impulse evenly splits the difference between a .38Spl+P and a .357Mag. In other words, it's low compared to a .357 Magnum, but not necessarily what I'd call low in relation to other handgun rounds. :rolleyes:
A 22 Mag from a 2 inch revolver might sound powerful but it isn't.
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+1. As I said earlier, IMHO the .32 H&R Mag and .32 Long answer the question that .22Mag only tries to answer. They offer truly mild recoil without the excessive flash and bang.
 
What stirs things up is that the 22WMR makes about as much energy as 38 Specials.

Even so, 38s shoot heavier bullets, which tend to penetrate more than light weight, high velocity 22 bullets.

If they make the same energy, recoil would be about the same, so there's no real reason to go with the 22 WMR.

Also, 38 is considered more reliable because it is a centerfire cartridge instead of rimfire. (centerfire priming is more reliable than rimfire)
 
Whereas I'm in agreement that a .38 Special or even a .32 would be better than a .22 Magnum for self-defense, the .22 Magnum does have an advantage in ammo capacity: eight or nine rounds vs five or six. Having a few more rounds at your disposal probably doesn't overcome the .22 Mag's ballistic deficiency but it is a factor in any self-defense equation.
 
While my personal preference leans to the .38 Special ,using a 22 mag revolver is something I have a good bit of experience with. The .22 Mag is effective beyond its paper ballistics would seem to imply. It penetrates and does damage. My usage and witnessing have been of .22 mag from 5" barrels-in that platform it is impressive. I would never dismiss the round as a viable defensive cartridge.
 
I agree with Stumper's thoughts. I would add that if a person is extremely sensitive to recoil the .22 Mag might serve as a viable alternative to a more potent and traditional cartridge.
 
I suggested a snub nosed 38.
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Hard guns to shoot well. Between the small size/light weight/short sight radius it's a lot of work (recoil & trigger pull & firm grip) & precious little payback (good, fast hits on target).

I HATE shooting small .38 revolvers, even with light loads. This is coming from a guy who has shot 200+ full power .44 Mag rounds in a single session and 1000 rounds of 10mm in a single day.

It continues to boggle my mind that people recommend these guns to new/novice shooters.

I'm not saying that the .22 mag is a better choice, I'm just saying that I would probably look around for something other than a small .38 to recommend to an inexperienced shooter.

The first question I'd ask is whether she intends to carry it. If the answer is no then a fullsized pistol/revolver would be where my recommendations started.
The .327Mag's recoil impulse evenly splits the difference between a .38Spl+P and a .357Mag. In other words, it's low compared to a .357 Magnum, but not necessarily what I'd call low in relation to other handgun rounds.
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One thing that people don't know/ignore/forget about the .327Mag is that you have 3 levels of ammunition/recoil to choose from. .327Mag, .32H&RMag, .32 Long.
 
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