Anyone A Big Fan Of The .22 Magnum?

"Let's make a realistic and fair comparison of the 22 Mag and the 38 Special when fired from a defensive handgun..."

To be fair, that intro should have been:

"Let's make a realistic and fair comparison of the 22 Mag and the 38 Special +P when fired from a defensive handgun..."
 
That's like comparing the 38+P to a .45 colt. Result are what matter not how big your johnson peacemaker is. All 3 will do the job in the right hands.
 
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"Let's make a realistic and fair comparison of the 22 Mag and the 38 Special when fired from a defensive handgun..."

To be fair, that intro should have been:

"Let's make a realistic and fair comparison of the 22 Mag and the 38 Special +P when fired from a defensive handgun..."
Click to expand...

Heck I'm all for comparing a good ol' .38sp 158 grain wadcutter load against the .22M. Anyone game? But it ain't gonna change a dang thing. Anyone, and I mean anyone, who thinks a .22M is anywhere close to any .38sp load is off their rocker. There's numbers on paper and then there is real life. And cost for cast .38sp ammo is only fractionally higher.

To be fair, it's really hard to compare things if your just talking SD against 2 legged vermin. People, even bad guys, have a self awareness and a vast range of emotions that really screw with things when we talk effectiveness. Those in themselves change the playing field in comparisons between any cartridges.

So if you really want to see how bad the .38 trounces all over the .22M just go out and chest shoot some medium game like big coon, coyotes, even deer(if legal) or hogs. Only then can you really see what the difference is between the 2 and it's substantial to say the least.
 
Absolutely. Having been there and done that, I'll take the .22 WMRF over .38 Spl for javelina all day long.

But of course, I'd reverse that choice for two legged predators. Different scenarios.
 
"Let's make a realistic and fair comparison of the 22 Mag and the 38 Special when fired from a defensive handgun..."

To be fair, that intro should have been:

"Let's make a realistic and fair comparison of the 22 Mag and the 38 Special +P when fired from a defensive handgun..."
Click to expand...

I don't see why I shouldn't use the best ammo available in the chambering, but it's a nit fairly picked. So let's shop around a bit for standard pressure 38 Special loads:


https://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=294

110 grain at 989fps from a 2" barrel for 238 ft-lbs

It's hard to find ballistics quoted expressly for a 2" barrel, but there are lots of standard pressure 38 special loads that are in the 250 ft-lb area and would still be over 200 even after the losses of a 2" barrel were factored in.

No matter how you slice it a 22 mag from a pistol is nowhere near as powerful as a 38 Special.
 
No matter how you slice it a 22 mag from a pistol is nowhere near as powerful as a 38 Special.
Click to expand...
And a 38 Special is nowhere near as powerful as a 9mm or 40 s&w revolver. What to do:eek:
 
The 22 mag fmj in 40 gr tumbles in ballistic gell with my 3 " barrel. But carry what you are comfortable with, its all about shot placement anyway. I might cary my 38 for backup.:D
 
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Note that I wasn't claiming a 22Mag will match a .38Spl., just that the difference between the two narrows if your are talking about regular 38s and not +P's. And to my knowledge, there aren't any 25-30-round capacity .38s out there (the PMR will hold 30, but it is far easier to load multiple mags with 25 each). A PMR-30 with 25 rounds weighs right at 19 ounces - what does a .38 loaded with six rounds weigh?
 
I just like the .22WRM for fun shooting and for some field carry.

I got the bug for the cartridge when I bought a H&R revolver several decades ago and got to plink at long range with it.

I still own several H&R or NEF revolvers in .22WRM and take them to the range every couple of months.
 
I'm a big fan of the tiny terror ... I routinely carry my NAA Pug on dog-walking ventures in my peaceful neighborhood and am planning on gifting myself post-Christmas with a Smith 351PD ... it's an extremely useful round, accurate and hard-hitting ... I don't think I'd count on it as my primary weapon, but it's great for fending off the occasional skunk or rattler (don't see them much in my part of Texas, but I have seen them). My biggest ownership mistake was selling my Taurus .22WMR revolver some years ago to help finance the purchase of a gun I had to have at the time ...
 
The skunk thing hit close to home. I have a skunk lingering around at night occasionally, but If I am close enough to hit it with my mini mag, then I'm toast.:D
 
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