hey... I have never been on the rimfire forum before... so hello... we have a close family friend who is now disabled in her hands. She is limited in what she can hold in her dominant right hand and that hand has a lot of pain. Her left is better. She has had a DA/SA .380 for home protection but we are pretty sure that even if with adrenaline, she was able to work the trigger/hammer, the recoil after the first shot would send the gun flying. So, I was wondering what the recoil is on some of the .22 guns. I have only shot a 10/22 rifle in that caliber but there was zero recoil... is there a handgun with the same recoil profile? Anyway, thanks for your time and suggestions!
.22 handgun recoil
- Thread starter Yawn
- Start date
flatgate
Hawkeye
The larger/heavier rimfire revolvers have basically NO RECOIL but my Single-Sixes don't have much.
Find a neighbor, friend, shooting buddy (local shooting club/range???) and organize a chance for her to find out.
JMHO,
flatgate
Find a neighbor, friend, shooting buddy (local shooting club/range???) and organize a chance for her to find out.
JMHO,
flatgate
contender
Ruger Guru
What he said!
Let her try both a SA & the semi. It'll help her decide.
Let her try both a SA & the semi. It'll help her decide.
Bucks Owin
Hunter
I'd make sure she doesn't confuse muzzleblast and recoil too... :wink: (ie Hearing protection)
In a handgun, even a rimfire has "some" bark...
In a handgun, even a rimfire has "some" bark...
Three times I started typing a 22LR response to this thread and three times I erased it. My feelings are that if someone is unable to handle the the recoil from the smaller centerfire cartridges because of physical handi caps a jammed 22LR will be useless to them as most of the bolts and springs will be to difficult for them to opperate. Dbl. action revolvers will most likely have difficult to opperate triggers and single actions have two different opperations for them to manipulate. My feelings is stay with the centerfire and and talk to a custom grip maker and see if any improvments can be made to ease felt recoil.
gatorhugger
Blackhawk
22 marlin rifle. 18 shots, she can control it with the left hand.
No recoil in a rifle at all.
There is a small amount of felt recoil in a pistol, and a pistol is heavy is a damaged hand.
Therefore 18 rounds of .22 stingers in a rifle length barrel is the answer.
Better bullet performance by far as well. Anybody facing that tackdriving rifle is going to want to leave very very fast if still alive.
Winner winner chicken dinner!!!
No recoil in a rifle at all.
There is a small amount of felt recoil in a pistol, and a pistol is heavy is a damaged hand.
Therefore 18 rounds of .22 stingers in a rifle length barrel is the answer.
Better bullet performance by far as well. Anybody facing that tackdriving rifle is going to want to leave very very fast if still alive.
Winner winner chicken dinner!!!
Well.... I would say go with a SA or DA revolver too if you go with .22lr...
But, this may be one of the few times a .25acp or similar might be worth looking at...
Ive heard people say .22lr is about as good as .25acp, BUT the .25acp has the advantafe of being centerfire, so you have centerfires 1 in a million chance of a dud round, especially buying decent ammo, vs whatever rimfire is, at least 1 in a 1000 in my experience.....
But, this may be one of the few times a .25acp or similar might be worth looking at...
Ive heard people say .22lr is about as good as .25acp, BUT the .25acp has the advantafe of being centerfire, so you have centerfires 1 in a million chance of a dud round, especially buying decent ammo, vs whatever rimfire is, at least 1 in a 1000 in my experience.....
toysoldier
Hunter
gatorhugger said:
Get her to the range with a variety of pistols. If she cannot handle any of them easily, then a semiauto .22 rifle is probably a good choice. Make sure she can load a detachable magazine, or get one with an underbarrel magazine. Get the shortest barrel you can, or cut one down to 16" to reduce weight and improve handling in close spaces.
dacaur said:
That is a good suggestion! You know I fired two 22 LR handguns for the first time ever a few weeks ago: a Colt Scout revolver and a Ruger Mark I. They both had a surprising amount of recoil, much more than I perceive with a 22 rifle. Now for a healthy guy the recoil is not difficult to handle of course but it is surprising, I was expecting none. So it is possible that it could be difficult for her to handle a traditional 22 handgun but the form factor of the Charger should allow her a two handed hold that might work better for her.
Ken
rooger
Single-Sixer
Maybe she could practice shooting with her left hand. Since I developed some problems with my strong hand, I started practicing with just my weak hand and I did better than I thought I would do. It's something to try anyway.Yawn said:
Hey all,
Really appreciate the wisdom and support here... I could here care in your statements. We have another freind who has a small, either .17 or .25, "mouse", pocket semi. My wife and I, along with the hurt lady and the mutual friend with the mouse gun and her family, will be taking the mouse gun, the hurt hand ladies .380, a .22lr rifle, and couple 9mms and some hunting rifles to the range to play next weekend. I think I wil probably get the most feedback from, me firing her .380 (I have never shot that cartirdge before) and guaging its recoil, and from her firing the 22lr rifle and the mouse gun and seeing how she does with their recoil. I am thinking like you guys that maybe a bigger 22lr or .25 might be the way to go for her... unfortuanely we will have to make an educated guess as none of us really shoot small bore pistols, other than that mouse gun. What is the recoil profile on an MK series gun? No offence, but if you are someone who thinks a 44magnum revolver isn't really that bad, you may not be the best person to answer that last question.
This is a toughy because she loves with her daughter in an apartment, and we want to make sure she has something against the bad guy (especially as her daughter may end up living on her own very soon), but just not sure what she can handle yet. Yet, want to make sure she has more than a pith helmet and a small can of bug repellant!
Anyway, thanks again so so much all!
Really appreciate the wisdom and support here... I could here care in your statements. We have another freind who has a small, either .17 or .25, "mouse", pocket semi. My wife and I, along with the hurt lady and the mutual friend with the mouse gun and her family, will be taking the mouse gun, the hurt hand ladies .380, a .22lr rifle, and couple 9mms and some hunting rifles to the range to play next weekend. I think I wil probably get the most feedback from, me firing her .380 (I have never shot that cartirdge before) and guaging its recoil, and from her firing the 22lr rifle and the mouse gun and seeing how she does with their recoil. I am thinking like you guys that maybe a bigger 22lr or .25 might be the way to go for her... unfortuanely we will have to make an educated guess as none of us really shoot small bore pistols, other than that mouse gun. What is the recoil profile on an MK series gun? No offence, but if you are someone who thinks a 44magnum revolver isn't really that bad, you may not be the best person to answer that last question.
This is a toughy because she loves with her daughter in an apartment, and we want to make sure she has something against the bad guy (especially as her daughter may end up living on her own very soon), but just not sure what she can handle yet. Yet, want to make sure she has more than a pith helmet and a small can of bug repellant!
Anyway, thanks again so so much all!
gunslinger_h
Blackhawk
It seems like a good 4 inch K22 with a trigger job would solve much of the problem. No recoil, easy trigger, easy to sight. Just a suggestion, Hank
Motex66
Single-Sixer
Yawn, someone might beable to give you more help if we knew where you are, at least the state.
I don't have much in lite .22's but if you were close I would l meet up with you to help.
The .22 Charger with a laser and or tactal light would seem like somthing to look at closely. Maybe a twenty-five round ruger mag also.
John
I don't have much in lite .22's but if you were close I would l meet up with you to help.
The .22 Charger with a laser and or tactal light would seem like somthing to look at closely. Maybe a twenty-five round ruger mag also.
John
KLR650
Bearcat
What recoil?
Tam 212
Single-Sixer
lol
firebirdude
Bearcat
A rifle of any kind can be tough/impossible to use during a home invasion... especially with one hand.
Additionally, the recoil on any full-size 22LR pistol is very light. If she can grasp a pencil with that hand, she should have no problems with the recoil.
My vote goes to a 22LR revolver. Rimfire ammo is less trustworthy than centerfire. People will probably argue this, but it's true. A misfire with a revolver would be no problem. A misfire with mag fed design would require her to use both hands to clear. Even if she was able to clear it with one hand... it's still much much slower than simply squeezing off another round.
Additionally, the recoil on any full-size 22LR pistol is very light. If she can grasp a pencil with that hand, she should have no problems with the recoil.
My vote goes to a 22LR revolver. Rimfire ammo is less trustworthy than centerfire. People will probably argue this, but it's true. A misfire with a revolver would be no problem. A misfire with mag fed design would require her to use both hands to clear. Even if she was able to clear it with one hand... it's still much much slower than simply squeezing off another round.
Tam 212
Single-Sixer
I think this truth extends to centerfire cartridges too.
For someone who can't/won't train or practice regularly or otherwise is not "into" guns, I think a revolver makes perfect sense as a bedside home defense gun.
For someone who can't/won't train or practice regularly or otherwise is not "into" guns, I think a revolver makes perfect sense as a bedside home defense gun.
firebirdude
Bearcat
Well I certainly won't argue a firing failure can happen with centerfire ammo too. And for that reason alone, i think a revolver is a better choice for self-defense. But MUCH more so if you're shooting rimfire ammo. :wink:Tam 212 said:
I don't think I've had more than two failures to fire with any commercial, military, or my reloaded centerfire ammo in the last 40 years.firebirdude said:
It's not uncommon for me to experience two Failures to Bang in one box of .22LRs. :?
firebirdude
Bearcat
I've probably had 2 true misfires out of the last ~2500-3000 rounds of 9mm I've shot. Rimfire.... I get one every couple hundred rounds.
And with a revolver, you get a second chance to shoot any misfires. LOL
And with a revolver, you get a second chance to shoot any misfires. LOL
jstanfield103
Blackhawk
Have you ever thought of a North American Arms revolver. They are single action and you can buy an oversized grip for them from NAA for about $30.00 for the oversized rubber grip.
http://www.naaminis.com/index02.html
http://www.naaminis.com/index02.html
I have a Bersa Thunder .380, and the recoil is surprisingly sharp. In fact the frame beats the web of my hand quite a bit. If somebody has trouble with their grip it's one of the few instances where I think a .22 might be a good idea. The suggestion to use a .22 revolver is a sound one, especially a model with a 9-round capacity. That way she loses nothing to the semi-autos in the firepower department. As for ammo, use only CCI brand, preferably their Mini-Mags (Stingers might have too much noise and recoil for her). Any other brand is simply too unreliable regarding misfires.
bczrx
Single-Sixer
Yawn said:
Well, a .22lr for home defense is better than throwing a chihuahua at the intruder, but I can't really recommend it as a true man stopper, unless you are a GREAT shot with adrenaline in your system and you put the whole mag into the right part of the body.
I did hear of someone being dropped by a .22lr to the heart from a rifle at short range, but that is different.
Before I make my recommendation, I'd want to know what type of .380 she shot. Like was mentioned, the blow-back operation types [PPK, etc] have a sharp recoil. Actually, my grandmother's PPK has a worse [to me] recoil than any of my 9mm pistols, including a Kahr K9 or M&P 9c. Of the two, I would recommend the M&P 9c as it is easier to clear a malfunction.
I would actually recommend something a little different: a .38special revolver. A .22lr has [normally] a muzzle energy reading of somewhere around 130lb/ft. A .380acp has a muzzle energy reading of around 200-230 lb/ft. A .38special can be had with muzzle energy readings of 165 lb/ft up to +P of 290 lb/ft energy. The .38special rounds I generally use in my old Rossi are around 220 lb/ft.
So, about the same stopping power as the .380acp cartridge. HOWEVER, I contend most .38 special revolvers will be easier on the hand than a .380acp semi-auto will.
If this is purely self-defense and trigger pull is a major issue, then I'd recommend either the Ruger SP101 or the LCP.
Last week I spent 2 hours with a older female friend of the family at the LGS looking over firearms. She was concerned with home defense as well as range use. She is in her 50s and was concerned about being able to pull the trigger in her 70s also.
She couldn't rack the slide comfortably on any auto-loader [in .380 or 9mm] other than the Glock G19, and she wasn't sure she could do that in 20 years.
She tried the triggers on 4 different S&W revolvers in .38 as well as the GP100/SP101/LCR from Ruger, and then the obligatory Taurus and Rossi to cover the bases.
She couldn't pull the trigger on the Taurus/Rossi pistols. On the others she felt the most comfortable with the LCR and the SP101 [3" barrel].
I've taken her shooting. She found the 9mm bearable, but almost too much. The .22lr was fine. The .38special she was fine, but her index finger got tired of DA shots after 18 rounds. No problems managing recoil though.
And she is pretty weak in hand strength.
Just my observations. Good luck!
