Which Ruger IV For Home Defense?

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Glorfindel

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Yes, I'm serious. An exhaustive study proved the .22LR as effective as anything for defense in terms of the critical metric of # of shots to disable an intruder.

My wife likes light recoil, and I have a wrist injury that makes shooting my Ruger LCR and .357 Mag painful.

We want a pair of high-quality .22s to train to make head shots on intruders. How many bad guys keep going after taking a .22LR HP in the face or head? Not many.

Which model is the question now. Local gun story does not stock anything - it has to be ordered. Thoughts on the Tactical vs. Target for close, accurate work with a laser designator?

The Tactical coming with a Weaver rail is a plus, while the shorter barrel is a negative for velocity and balance - I think.
 
So run 38 special in the LCR.

Round nose bullets have a bad habit of not penetrating the skull but running under the skin. That is exacberated in the 22. A full wadcutter 38 brings more ME to the fight than a 22 in a similar length barrel while being light in recoil.
 
@SHR: Round nose? You've never seen a .22LR HP? Really?

I'm thankful for the one useful reply. To the other two, read this:

https://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/7866

As I said, .22LR is as effective as anything for defense in terms of the critical metric of # of shots to disable an intruder.

I suspect the number of intruders you've shot hovers right around zero.
 
If a .22LR round from a handgun was just as effective as a 9mm Para from a handgun, every military in the world would issue .22LR pistols.

That way the soldier could carry many many more rounds of ammo for the same weight as 9mm ammo.

Maybe they know something you don't.
 
The metric I would look at there is the percentage of people NOT incapacitated.

The big liability of a .22 LR for defense is reliability, both feeding and ignition.
I have seen a discouraging number of failures in the rimfire divisions of Steel Challenge competition where you would expect to see quality guns and ammunition.
The only .22 I have that I would go to war with is my little S&W M&P .22 Compact. 100% with MiniMags thus far and showing signs of "break in" with other brands.
 
Glorfindel said:
@SHR: Round nose? You've never seen a .22LR HP? Really?

I'm thankful for the one useful reply. To the other two, read this:

https://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/7866

As I said, .22LR is as effective as anything for defense in terms of the critical metric of # of shots to disable an intruder.

I suspect the number of intruders you've shot hovers right around zero.
Click to expand...


Awfully combative for the first post asking suggestions on how best to head shoot people with a .22LR.

Welcome to the forum!
 
Glorfindel said:
As I said, .22LR is as effective as anything for defense in terms of the critical metric of # of shots to disable an intruder.
Click to expand...
You did say that, but you are basing that (apparently) on one article you read. A great many people who have followed the "caliber wars" for many, many years do not agree. Experts generally believe that a .22 LR is marginally better than no gun at all -- but that's about the most that can be said for it.

Glorfindel said:
I suspect the number of intruders you've shot hovers right around zero.
Click to expand...
Respectfully, I suspect that the number of intruders you have shot also hovers right around zero, so you are not in a position to be making authoritative, definitive statements regarding the prowess of the .22 long rifle round as a self defense cartridge.

I will decline to answer your question, for this reason: I don't like it when someone asks a very specific question, and gazillions of people immediately chime in with everything except an answer to the question that was asked. Since you have asked for advice on the basis of what I perceive to be an erroneous assumption, I cannot in good faith or conscience contribute to your error.
 
If the objective is head shots with a .22 LR I think I would suggest a Kel-tec CP-33.
The extra 23 rounds in the magazine may come in useful between likely misses on a moving target, possible failure to penetrate bone and potential of multiple targets.

Or the PMR-30 with .22 WMR.

Only marginally tongue-in-cheek.
 
Welcome to TFL, Glorfindel. I'm not convinced that the article really provides all that much support for the notion that a .22LR is as effective as any other handgun round, but I realize that you qualified that with 'in the critical metric of # of shots to disable an intruder.' I think Ellifritz's discussion of failure rates is also very important in any discussion of that article.

With that said, I've often heard it said that the .22 you have beats the .45 you left at home. So if you're bound and determined to use a Mk IV .22 for home defense: get something with the bull barrel. I have a 22/45 Lite and Mrs. McGee has a 22/45 Target. I love both pistols, but there's no question about which I shoot more accurately. Mrs. McGee's target model.
 
We all focus on the 1 shot stop.

However if someone is more facile with a caliber that can give them more than one hit more effectively then caliber is likely moot.

Problem with a Mark IV is a 10 round capacity. If I were to have a 22 LR for home defense, I’d prefer a long barrel with double or triple the capacity.

I’d suggest a 10/22.

Certain rimfire ammunition can be unreliable. That is the main pitfall compared to Center fire.

As the ammunition gets older (more than a decade) I have had a high failure rate with rimfire. Never with Center fire.


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Are you going to be able to make those head shots when under the stress of a home invasion? Just asking as the head isn't a large object which might be why center mass is recommended as a target. I have never been in a situation to actually know but I'm guessing that a person isn't exactly calm and collected when bad people burst into their home.
 
Get the Tactical, any velocity difference due to barrel length will be inconsequential. And hope you never have to use it for “close, accurate work”. Hint: don’t believe everything you read. Use critical thinking, if you posses it.



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I own three Ruger 22/45 MKIV's. The STANDARD 5.5 in , the LITE & the TACTICAL. I would pick the TACTICAL loaded with CCI HP MINI MAGS. The TACTICAL is the newest of the three and is quickly becoming my favorite. Not too light, not to heavy and extremely accurate. I shoot all three a lot, a real lot. I have never had a failure with any of the three (after break in) when loaded with HP or RN MINI MAGS. If anyone ever broke into my home and I had to defend myself with one of my MKIV's, I believe that 10 rds to the face, neck or chest would be a pretty good deterrent.
 
I know...this is (yet another) non-answer to you question.

But if it's recoil sensitivity and an arthritic wrist that are your concerns, I would suggest something in a 9mm carbine. I have (and love) my Ruger PC9. Something like this addresses your specific concerns and provides use of proven defensive rounds with high capacity and the ability to use lights/lasers/optics/etc.
 
I would suggest revolver instead of semi-auto, especially in .22 LR caliber. The .22 pistol is the most unreliable gun of all. You can get 10 shot revolvers from S&W and Ruger.
 
I’d use my .22 but over penetration would be a big concern, plus the loud report and huge fireball would be a detractor. Oh, by the way, mine is a .22TCM. (Bad joke, sorry)
 
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