Shoot the 22, here is a long winded reason why!
Growing up I got to listen to police officers talk about shootings that they witnessed or investigated.
None of them thought much of the 38 special revolvers. Both police shootings and civilian shootings almost always ended with the perp hit with every round from the revolver, continuing with what he had set out to do and leaving.
+P ammo can destroy most 38 revolvers while still not have enough velocity/energy to be effective.
When police departments started issuing 357 revolvers and using 125 grain +P+ ammunition, they started to stop perps at the seen of the crime. A steady diet of this ammo destroys even the best revolver in a fairly short time, and it is brutal on the hand holding the gun.
Going back to the cops of my youth, a question they almost all where asked
"What is the scariest caliber to you if you are going to be shot at?"
Almost to a man the answer was two calibers
"The 22 long rifle and a 45!"
The 45 because a decent hit had put the guy being hit out of action.
The 22 because they had all seen more one shot stops with it then that 38 they where forced to carry, those shootings even when the person shot walked away where pretty close to a 100 percent fatality rate.
There used to be the MARSHALL report where every reported shooting was analyzed, categorized and graded. The catagory was by caliber of firearm, the grades where for first did the shooting stop an event, did it save a would be victim from harm, and how fatal was it.
Until the advent of the for mentioned 125 grain 357 the 230 grain 45 ACP was the undisputed king. More one shot stops then any other round. After the 125 357 it is nib and tuck whether the 357 or the 45 will be the number one defensive round reported!
The thing that all the cops got a kick out of and many pages of the MARSHALL report where circulated with the the information highlighted was how well the 22 long rifle caliber scored against any caliber that was not 45 or super/stupid hot 357magnum!
The information I grew hearing from police officers that figure that this stuff is a valuable tool for them. Is that the 22 is far more reliable and deadly then most of the calibers available.
Blast me if you want. BUT use good solid research doing it!
Not just the 38 is ............. Opinions!
Use the 22 shoot it often.
Even if a person is planning to carry a bigger caliber that the old advice about pulling the trigger until the attacker stops holds true!
Another piece of wisdom that has held true(I believe the the MARSHALL report will bare this out!) Aim for the nuts! There are many reasons for this but the the two most important ones are their are more nerve bundles with in inches of the nuts! And maybe most important of all, even experienced pistol shooters under duress will shoot high! The figure my dad and the other cops used is two feet high is about the normal for a highly trained police officer in his first shoot out! This 2 foot figure was arrived at by cops debriefing cops! Trying to shoot for the nuts and being twofeet high is still a good solid hit¡ trying for the chest/heart and being twofeet high is a miss!
So as I stated use the 22!
I got this from men that put there life's on the line! Many of them! Most of them had 22's in there off duty or Back up gun selections!
