My old Mom used to carry a large caliber revolver but her wrists got too weak to control it. However, she didn't want to give up having a means of self defense. She ended up with a large revolver that was .22 caliber. The end of the muzzle was bored back about 3/4 of an inch and from the front, looked like a .44. Yes, the crown at the end of the .22 bore ...down inside the .44 hole...was clean and cut nicely. I don't remember what make the gun was but my brother had the bore machined out by a pro. Yes, it was accurate! She could pop .22 Vipers into the X ring all day long from any reasonable self defense range.
The neat thing about it was that due to being a rather large pistol, the recoil was pretty lite. Also, I'm fairly familiar with firearms but all I could focus on was the HUGE muzzle! I never even saw the little chamber openings in the cylinder. Even though I knew it was "only" a .22, it still had a lot of intimidation factor.
No, I've never been in a bad situation where I was confronted with the business end of a firearm but I'm positive that I wouldn't look at the "little bullets" in the chambers and decide that those little things will just bounce off of me.
Yes, the larger hole in the end of the barrel will increase the intimidation factor of the firearm...as long as the bad guy is cognizant enough to recognize that fact. If it's dark or he/she's in attack mode or he/she's drugged up, etc., it won't have any effect at all. But if the bad guy is able to see the size of the muzzle opening, a larger hole will have more deterrence. Isn't that what it's all about? Doing everything reasonable to avoid having to shoot in the first place? (As time allows)
The added benefit of a .22 caliber self defense weapon is the reduced cost of the ammo plus the reduced "work" involved in practicing with it leads to more practice which of course leads to better accuracy. No, I'm not suggesting that the .22 is the perfect self defense weapon but it's a great alternative for those persons who are not able to handle a larger caliber...like my old Mom. If all else fails, her X ring was the tip of the nose! Keep yer powder dry, Mac.
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