Which would you rather trust your life with? .22 LR or .25 ACP
- Thread starter Botswana
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Just to respond to Jason and Willie
This is more of a hypothetical.
Personally I have no desire to rely on a caliber of that size. I have been looking at a "mouse gun" as a pocket carry. However, I would prefer not to rely on anything lighter then a .380.
That said, the best gun is always going to be the one you have. Personally I prefer the .22 LR and have no issues with reliability, however if effectiveness is limited by the shorter barrel then maybe it is time for me not to look so derisively at the .25 ACP.
See, I'm trying to grow here.
This is more of a hypothetical.
Personally I have no desire to rely on a caliber of that size. I have been looking at a "mouse gun" as a pocket carry. However, I would prefer not to rely on anything lighter then a .380.
That said, the best gun is always going to be the one you have. Personally I prefer the .22 LR and have no issues with reliability, however if effectiveness is limited by the shorter barrel then maybe it is time for me not to look so derisively at the .25 ACP.
See, I'm trying to grow here.
Crankgrinder
New member
the .25 looks a little more stout. never shot one but im sure by the time i put 25 .22lr in its place the threatll be in real bad shape.
I personally know 2 people one with a 22 revolver and one with a 25ACP who used their guns in a life or death situation. My electrician was jumped by a bruiser who took exception to something he said and commenced to whaling on him. He couldn't protect himself and drew his little revolver and put 9 rounds into the torso of the bruiser who died on the spot.
In a little town 7 miles from me was a gunsmith who was doing the bluing job on my Win 94 32 Win Spcl. His father a well known drunk and bully attacked his son and he drew the only gun he had on him, shot 6 times and 5 of the bullets bounced off his dads head. The jury acquitted him of attempted murder because everybody in town knew his dad and believed his story. His dad has 5 pucker mark scars on his forehead, he is still a drunk but he doesn't bully anybody anymore.
Where you hit is important but I only have these two examples that I know of personally so I voted 22.
In a little town 7 miles from me was a gunsmith who was doing the bluing job on my Win 94 32 Win Spcl. His father a well known drunk and bully attacked his son and he drew the only gun he had on him, shot 6 times and 5 of the bullets bounced off his dads head. The jury acquitted him of attempted murder because everybody in town knew his dad and believed his story. His dad has 5 pucker mark scars on his forehead, he is still a drunk but he doesn't bully anybody anymore.
Where you hit is important but I only have these two examples that I know of personally so I voted 22.
Bill DeShivs
New member
You won't find a .32 or .380 the size of a Bernardelli or Browning .25.
You will find the .25 has better penetration than the .22 lr.
Remember- most ballistics published for the .22 are from a rifle barrel. Even the handgun ballistics listed are usually from a 5-6" barrel.
I find it interesting that a lot of the people posting in this thread have little or no experience with the .25 acp! Of course, EVERYONE has experience with the .22- but few have experience with the .22 in a true pocket gun. The .25 seems to be viewed as an anecdotal cartridge by most people-therefore they have not studied it, and make many assumptions. They perpetuate myths, too. Perhaps they shot a cheap, worn-out .25.
Please don't misunderstand-I like all pocket guns, in any caliber. I have collected them for years.
You will find the .25 has better penetration than the .22 lr.
Remember- most ballistics published for the .22 are from a rifle barrel. Even the handgun ballistics listed are usually from a 5-6" barrel.
I find it interesting that a lot of the people posting in this thread have little or no experience with the .25 acp! Of course, EVERYONE has experience with the .22- but few have experience with the .22 in a true pocket gun. The .25 seems to be viewed as an anecdotal cartridge by most people-therefore they have not studied it, and make many assumptions. They perpetuate myths, too. Perhaps they shot a cheap, worn-out .25.
Please don't misunderstand-I like all pocket guns, in any caliber. I have collected them for years.
In the case of the pawn shop incident cited above, the shop owner, run through with a sword, shot four rounds of 25Acp FMJ point blank into the perps left eye.
Two bounced around the skull inside. The other two fully penetrated, and were found on the floor ten feet behind him. A fifth penetrated his hand and then a steel door.
Dosn't sound like a joke to me.
Two bounced around the skull inside. The other two fully penetrated, and were found on the floor ten feet behind him. A fifth penetrated his hand and then a steel door.
Dosn't sound like a joke to me.
I would recommend mouse-gun calibers solely for 'fun' range type shooting or a last resort BUG. I would flip a coin with either in a semi mouse-gun (.25acp would be the one I chose if the costs of the ammo weren't so high--i have lots of .22lr on-hand). In a revolver obviously the .22lr but even here only for fun or BUG (IMO--I know some people have provided one to Mom/Grandma and the like and it's better than cursing at the perp for sure).
I agree with those who consider JMB's innovation .25acp underappreciated. The biggest problem I have is the price
which has the venerable JMB turning in his grave (God rest his sole).
Then again I guess you could say practice with your 21A in .22lr and carry the same gun in .25acp...
I agree with those who consider JMB's innovation .25acp underappreciated. The biggest problem I have is the price
which has the venerable JMB turning in his grave (God rest his sole). Then again I guess you could say practice with your 21A in .22lr and carry the same gun in .25acp...
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I'm with the .25 ACP camp for one main reason; I don't trust the .22LR to go bang every time. I trust a centerfire cartridge far more than a rimfire ... had loads of .22s misfire over the years, but never had a FTF with the Taurus PT-25 I owned a while back ... threw it in with a Springer XD-40 I sold, wish I had it back ... neither would be at the top of my SD list, but that .25 was fun to shoot ...
Wish Taurus would offer a PT-22 for magnum rounds ... I'd be on the list for one of those in a flash ...
Wish Taurus would offer a PT-22 for magnum rounds ... I'd be on the list for one of those in a flash ...
bamaranger
New member
depends
Which one is heavier, so as to make a better club?
Which one is heavier, so as to make a better club?
(they're funny the first 1K times though...).And what proves this?!..- ballistic gelatin that know one really knows how close it comes to replicating skin, flesh or bone etc.????
I gotta disagree with you again: .22lr has a smaller diameter- there-for needing less energy to punch through, and its more able of likely penetration against tougher subtances.
A pocket .22lr will follow the path of least resistance, where as the hard copper jacket .25acp will more likely bounce off,... or deflect.
A friend and I tested a pocket .22lr vs a pocket .25 acp- both with similar length barrels. Distance was 10 yards. Out of 7 rounds of .25 acp-: 4 bounced off a Madrone tree we shot at, and the other 3 bullets were very much shallow penetrations.
All the .22lr rounds that we had shot at the same tree had penetrated and were much deeper.... -Just some results to share.
-The .25 acp was a Ortgies pocket pistol with a 2.5 inch barrel. The .22lr was a beretta bobcat 2.4 inch barrel
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CarbineCaleb
New member
According to the gelatin results I've seen, when fired out of handguns, the .25ACP/50gr FMJ has a penetration advantage over .22LR/36gr,40gr solids. Of course it's also a smidge wider, so I'd say that's advantage .25ACP.