22 pistol for wife for protection

[rtemplin]

New to the forum.

But I wanted to get a few thoughts on getting a .22 pistol for my wife to carry for personal protection. She does NOT like recoil and is not a fan of the LCP 380 we currently own. My thought is, given the state of the world, I'd rather her have a .22 and carry than not carry at all.

(I'm considering a Ruger SR22)

Thoughts on the .22 and Ruger SR22? Or is there an easily concealed 380 that shoots well?

 

[KellyinAvon]

Welcome to INGO

This subject gets discussed around here (in some form or another) on a fairly regular basis. By "fairly regular" I mean at least every 2 hours or so.

Weight, concealment, capacity and the very important caliber come into play, as does the type of ammo being carried.

Carrying a weapon for protection: its to stop a threat (life or serious harm) to yourself or someone else. There are no magic handgun calibers although I've read here on INGO .45 acp kills the soul as well as the body.

I'd recommend getting your wife more time with weapons. Start small and build up slowly. If the .22 LR leads to a .380 later there's nothing wrong with that.

My wife loves shooting my GP 100 3 inch with .38 special. It weighs 38 ounces empty and wouldn't be a good carry gun for her. Pointing out all the crap she has in her purse and trading off the weight is a really lost cause, don't go there.

Start small, build up. Today's .380s are a good compromise.

 

[17 squirrel]

Not a 22 fan for self protection here. For the recoil shy spouse I would look at a Taurus 32 magnum ultra light revolver. Small, lightweight, reasonable cost, no bad recoil and alot more punch than a 22.

 

[Reagan40]

Take her to a range that rents handguns. Help her understand that some guns are not pleasant to shoot, but that's not always an issue of caliber. I don't enjoy shooting my LCP either, but my regular carry gun is either a 9mm or a .45 ACP. The LCP is simply not a good gun to start someone with. To me, it has more recoil than any of my higher caliber guns. Maybe start her with a .22, and then as she gets comfortable with it see how she does with a 9mm. I don't remember the statistics, but many self defense situations are resolved without firing a shot or without killing the bad guy. So, with that in mind, a .22 may very well do the job if needed, and better to have the .22 than nothing at all.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

Or is there an easily concealed 380 that shoots well?

I got to spend some trigger time with a locked-breech SIG P250 in .380 yesterday. It may be the solution you are seeking.

 

[wcd]

But I wanted to get a few thoughts on getting a .22 pistol for my wife to carry for personal protection. She does NOT like recoil and is not a fan of the LCP 380 we currently own. My thought is, given the state of the world, I'd rather her have a .22 and carry than not carry at all.

(I'm considering a Ruger SR22)

The SR22 is a solid choice. My wife has one she carried it for two years. No issues went bang every time. It still gets carried every now and again. She often
Allows her friends that are on the fence post to try it at the range. Now she carries a SR9C. I didn't do a thing but keep my mouth shut and offer to get her some information on training if she wanted.

 

[jd4320t]

If she's willing to carry then she needs to learn to deal with recoil. My daughter has been shooting 9mm since she was 10. All it took was to try it, practice and have decent form.

Little 380's aren't fun to shoot but they aren't meant to be.

I'd look into some all metal 380's like a Sig, Beretta or Bersa.

 

[wtfd661]

I am only addressing your question on the Ruger SR22, I have one and its a great gun. I have never had an issue with any type of .22 ammo we have put through it, always has fired. Very fun gun!

 

[crispy]

Ruger LCR in .22WMR.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Ruger LCR in .22WMR.

Ill second this. A bit more power, and still no recoil.

if she must use a rim fire, it MUST be a revolver. While somewhat reliable, the 22 rim fire has a much higher rate of failure. In a revolver when the round doesn't go boom, (not if, when) all she has to do to get back in the fight is pull the trigger again. With an auto there are several procedures she will have to learn and dril to make it second nature if there is no boom.

And slso get her used to it via numerous trips to the range, as well as some professional instruction. Many times, an instructor can get through to her when we can't. I'm sure your wife listens to you as well as mine does me.

 

[Hopper]

I am only addressing your question on the Ruger SR22, I have one and its a great gun. I have never had an issue with any type of .22 ammo we have put through it, always has fired. Very fun gun!

Likewise, I've had fantastic luck with an SR22. Smith & Wesson just earlier this year introduced their M&P 22LR Compact, which as far as I've seen has gotten very good reviews... I had their regular-sized M&P 22 shortly after it came out, but it was not as good IMO as the SR22. This new M&P Compact 22 may find its way into my safe shortly.

Take a look at this YouTube video. Based on the title you can guess the outcome, but the SR22 is still a really solid little choice. And I do like that it's SA/DA so that if you were to get a light rim strike, you can pull the trigger again before you try manually racking the next round.

IMHO, it's worth looking at both.

[video=youtube;W35GSgEfUOc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W35GSgEfUOc[/video]

 

[SSGSAD]

New to the forum.

But I wanted to get a few thoughts on getting a .22 pistol for my wife to carry for personal protection. She does NOT like recoil and is not a fan of the LCP 380 we currently own. My thought is, given the state of the world, I'd rather her have a .22 and carry than not carry at all.

(I'm considering a Ruger SR22)

Thoughts on the .22 and Ruger SR22? Or is there an easily concealed 380 that shoots well?

You might want to look at a Beretta 21 a.... I agree with some of the above, go to a range, and rent as many as you want .....

A hit, with a .22 is better than a miss, with any other cal.......

 

[FERLACH]

I own both, a Keltec p32 and a Keltec P3AT. The P32 has quite a bit less recoil and is very reliable. You might consider one of them for her.

 

[DRob]

Due to it's light weight, the LCP is not a fun gun to shoot. Had one, sold it! The recoil from that little bugger was not far behind my Glock 23 and quite a bit more than the M&P Shield 9mm I now carry. However, if she's comfortable with the SR22, it's a great choice for her.

 

[O'Shark]

Mrs. O'Shark and I just went through this. She wants to learn how to shoot a semiauto handgun and has no interest in a revolver. She also has a hemodialysis fistula in here left arm so she tried several different .22s to see if she could rack the slide. She tried the SR22, M&P22, M&P22 Compact and a Sig Mosquito. SHE chose the M&P22 compact. It felt good in her very small hand and she was able to work the slide. It was all she could do to rack the slide on the SR22 which was a disappointment. I shot it yesterday and it digested AutoMatch and Mini-Mags 100%. We're going to try and get her to the range today and see how she does.

 

[Bfish]

Welcome to ingo! The recoil that comes with an LCP is very unpleasant. However, there are many (still small/smallish) 380 pistols out there with a ver mild recoil. I have a SigP238 with a hogue grip that has the lightest recoil of a 380 "pocket pistol" i've shot. So basically LCP size... A Bersa is a bit larger but with less recoil also! I'd recommend trying to get her on some other pistols if possible.

 

[pudly]

For those that are either weak or have physical infirmities, the right technique makes racking the slide much easier.

[video=youtube;kbayNc6D9HY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbayNc6D9HY[/video]

 

[lucky4034]

Ill second this. A bit more power, and still no recoil.

if she must use a rim fire, it MUST be a revolver. While somewhat reliable, the 22 rim fire has a much higher rate of failure. In a revolver when the round doesn't go boom, (not if, when) all she has to do to get back in the fight is pull the trigger again. With an auto there are several procedures she will have to learn and dril to make it second nature if there is no boom.

And slso get her used to it via numerous trips to the range, as well as some professional instruction. Many times, an instructor can get through to her when we can't. I'm sure your wife listens to you as well as mine does me.

This.... If its got to be .22lr... then get her a revolver. If you can persuade her into 22 mag, then go that route.

 

[ajeandy]

Lcp is small and light which means there's going to be much more felt recoil. The smaller and lighter the pistol the more recoil you're going to feel no matter what cashier the pistol. Physics.

I'd suggest something a bit heavier like a glock 42 or a bersa thunder/walther ppk/s, or pk380.

If you're going to get a 22 anyway get simmering that fits her hand well, not something tiny that she can't get a grip on. Sig mosquito?

Take her to a shop and key her hind several models and see what she thinks feels best.

 

[IndyGlockMan]

SR22 is a great gun for training, but not ideal for self defense. Has anybody mentioned that yet?
Let her train on a 22, but give her a .38spl or 9mm for self defense.

My wife doesn't like recoil either, and I sooo want to tell her... "well that's just too F***ing bad, babe".
A lot of that recoil shyness is confidence based. Most women are plenty strong enough to handle a 9mm, you just have to get them out of their shell.
It's hard for a lot of husbands to get that message across to their wives.
Have her take a ladies defensive pistol class. She will listen better and absorb the info better from an instructor.
Pony up the bucks for some training, a .22 for practice, and a 9mm or 38 for self-defense