Noob question .22 cal. Verses .25 cal pistols

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IRONPONY

New member
I'm relatively new to this forum & pistols in general.
You guys have been great in providing info since I been own here & have brought several pistols this year.
My question is concerning power & penetration, which caliber is the best .
I just placed a .22 revolver on lay-a-way for target shooting & small varmit hunting.
The .25 cal i own is just a fun shooting gun & not much of a sd, but really fun to shoot.
 
I'm no expert but from what I've read a 25 is the worst choice for SD. I think they say even a 22 is better. I use to carry a 25 Beretta for SD thinking I was ok but have since changed my mind. Now it's a 32 Kel Tec but soon to be a Kahr P380 if it ever comes in, I ordered it avout 2 months ago. Most people say 380 is the bare minium for SD. I think a 25 is better than a sharp stick and a nasty word, but others I'm sure will disagree.
 
Yep , for sd they both are small caliber.
The .25 is just fun to shoot & cheap to shoot.
I have pistols ranging .25 , .38, .380 , .40 calibers as of now.
Seems like I once heard that more deaths are caused by small calibers arms than the larger caliber, but that was several years ago.
Wonder is that still true ?
 
If you want fun to shoot, target practice, etc .22 is a much better choice than .25. From a short pistol barrel, there's generally not that much difference in performance between the .22 and the .25. Plus you can still get 500 rounds of .22 for what 50 rounds of .25 will cost. .22 also tends to be more readily available. Neither caliber would a good option for SD unless nothing else is available. Pistols chambered for these rounds tend to be pretty concealable, but these days, there are plenty of pocket-sized .32's and .380's that offer the same conceal-ability.
 
The 25 ACP is a centerfire cartridge and is a good choice for semi-auto applications. The rimfire 22 LR is better suited to rifle and revolver applications. Ballistically, they are similar.
 
I'd carry a .25acp rather than a .22lr just because one is centerfire and the other is rimfire and more prone to misfires. They penetrate about the same. The bullets are different too in that the .25 is jacketed and the .22 isn't.

The .25 is more expensive and not as fun to just plink away hundreds of rounds, as is the .22.

For protection, if your only choice is one or the other take the .25acp. Winchester Silver Tips work great.
For fun and grins, nothing beats a box of .22lr, (or other size). Mini Mags rule the day in the world of .22s.
 
For someone that would consider one or the other for protection, FMJs or hollowpoints? I doubt you could get enough penetration with an expanding round, assuming you could get it to bloom in the first place. Opinions?
 
For Personal Protection I would take big 22 basically because the pistol is heavier so its more effective when you have to hit the assailant. Neither has knockdown capability. Remember that drugs like cocaine and heroin block pain so a sting from a small caliber want even so the perp down.
 
For someone that would consider one or the other for protection, FMJs or hollowpoints? I doubt you could get enough penetration with an expanding round, assuming you could get it to bloom in the first place. Opinions?
Click to expand...

CCI Velocitor in .22 LR

FMJ in .25 ACP

When .22 LR HP is fired from a 2.5" auto pistol barrel it does not expand and produces wound trauma identical to .25 ACP FMJ

For anybody considering .22 LR as a defense cartridge I suggest a 3" revolver loaded with Velocitor. (The 3" barrel, combined with the length of the cylinder, adds up to about 4.5" total bore length.) Also, if a misfire occurs you only have to press the trigger again to "clear" it.
 
Yes.... .25 is a waste of money

.22 LR
Bullet weight/type Velocity Energy
40 gr (2.6 g) Solid[1] 1,080 ft/s (330 m/s) 104 ftlbs

38 gr (2.5 g) Copper-plated HP[1] 1,260 ft/s (380 m/s) 134 ft·lbf (182 J)

31 gr (2.0 g) Copper-plated HP[1] 1,430 ft/s (440 m/s) 141 ft·lbf (191 J)


.25 auto

Ballistic performance
Bullet weight/type Velocity Energy
35 gr (2.3 g) Safety 1,150 ft/s (350 m/s) 103 ft·lbf (140 J)
 
I was watching that show DEA the other day. One of the agents confiscated a .25 pocket pistol. He then proceeded to talk about .25's are a particularly nasty bullet because they bounce all around inside of you and tear up your insides. I laughed. My dad saw a man in the ER one time who was drunk and came in because his wife had shot him. I think they put him in a room, but no one thought he had actually been shot. When he got up there was blood on the pillow. Turns out she had shot him in the head, but used a .25 and it went under the skin but didn't go through the skull. I wouldn't trust either.
 
There's no doubt both the .22 and the .25 are underpowered for self-defense. If you want to use one or the other in a pistol for self-defense, the .25 is the route to go because it is centerfire. Centerfire ammo ignites more reliably and less accidentally than rimfire ammo.

Sirhan Sirhan assassinated Bobby Kennedy using a .22 LR revolver. John Hinkley also used a .22 LR revolver to shoot and wound President Reagan.
 
I recommend .380 ACP or larger for self defense, as does every firearms instructor I have trained with or talked with.

I have no problem carrying .380 ACP, but would rather carry more. (My normal carry round is 124 gr 9mm).
 
Lot's of people say the .22 isn't a killer, but they are wrong.

This Beretta 70 S was used by Mossad regularly - with very good results.

DSC_0108.jpg


A great article can be read here - it's short & informative.

http://www.tactical-life.com/online/tactical-weapons/israeli-mossad-22-lrs/

Good luck
 
ot's of people say the .22 isn't a killer, but they are wrong.
Click to expand...
Nobody but the most ignorant of fools say this. The question is not whether a .22 LR will kill, the question is whether it is a good defense round. The resounding answer is a great big NO, though it can serve that role when there is no other choice.
 
OK Bill De.... did some homework

Still stand by my statement that .25 is a waste of money when comparing to .22.... even in a pistol.

Performance difference is minor at best

.25 ammo is 5 to 6 times more expensive than the really good .22 ammo
 
Seems like I once heard that more deaths are caused by small calibers arms than the larger caliber, but that was several years ago.
Wonder is that still true ?
Click to expand...

It is as true today as it was 50 yrs ago. Yet it is not true due to any reason other than: a.) the sheer number of .22 caliber weapons there are out there: b.) the .22 caliber has been around almost since the infancy of firearms and is so cheap that almost everyone owns one; c.) when a .22 hits a body, the bullet begins to tumble and that destroys a lot of soft tissue and arteries so there is a lot of bleeding.

I enjoy shooting a .22 and about 3% of all the guns I own are .22 but I would never intentionally go for one as a SD weapon. If it was all I could get my hands on, then I would have no other choice. It is certainly better than a knife.
 
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