Can a .22 Magnum be considered as defensive?

[TMan]

I thought about adding this to Pocket Rockets thread, but since it is already 3 pages...

This year I've held, fondled, and held in awe the S&W 340 and 360 Airlite Sc revolvers. Keeping in mind the comments of some big men that shoot high powered revolvers and have whined about the Airlite's, and the fact that the recoil shooting .38 Specials in lieu of .357 Magnums would still yield a recoil of 30% more than my little Taurus, I've held back. (I don't know why, but even though the little Taurus punishes me, I shoot it a lot at the range.)

I've found that at the range it is perfectly acceptable to look at someone's gun and drool, but after shooting your own gun, holding your hand and crying makes people look at you with contempt. Therefore, no S&W Airlite Sc.

I noticed an article about the S&W 351PD, which is an Airlite, but not an Airlite Sc, and it shoots .22 WMR. According to my calculations the recoil would be about the same as my 9mm Kimber.

My question is: could this really be considered as a defensive weapon/round?

["DoubleAction"]

TMan; The .22 WMR was not designed for the application of defensive applications, however, like many other cartridges, it can be used in defensive applications to stop or deter a threat. Like most cartridges, The Proper Bullet, Shot Placement, Follow Up Shots, Scenario, and Threat will determine the cartridge's sucess during a defensive encounter.

I always believe that it's better to have something and not need it, than to need something and not have anything at all. The .22 WMR has been used for defensive applications in the past ; However, I would view it to be more of a threat when applied for offensive encounters, where an attacker is postured for well placed shots against an unarmed victum, or vice versa.

[MLB]

Seems to me that the 22WMR was primarily designed as a small game round. While its stopping power would be highly dependent on shot placement, I'd feel much better carrying one than nothing. I thought I read somewhere that most firearm killings were via .22lr. I can't back that up though.

From a practical standpoint, a carry gun can only get so small before it's too small to handle effectively. Cartridge size isn't the limiting factor in this range I think. Anything smaller than, say, a Kel-Tec 3AT is smaller than it needs to be, and goes into the "novelty" category in my book. Why carry a .22 when you can carry a 9mm in the same size?

[TMan]

mlb said:

... Why carry a .22 when you can carry a 9mm in the same size?

I haven't found a 9mm that is as light in weight. The Kahr is twice the weight as these Airlite revolvers.

I think I really want the .357 Magnum version, but the recoil troubles me. This afternoon I ordered a .357 Magnum barrel for my Bond Arms' Snake Slayer. However, this tips the scale at .22 oz. This will be half the recoil of the Airlite revolvers. According to my calculations it will come in at 15 ft-lbs of recoil energy. This is a 50% increase over my S&W 44 Magnum.

I just can't imagine the S&W 360PD with 29 ft-lbs of recoil energy. If the Snake Slayer slays me, then I may go for the .22 Magnum version of the S&W. Wonder what the recoil energy on the 460 XVR would be...

[MLB]

Your recoil calculations sound like it would make a pretty handy spreadsheet. Do you have one made up?

[TMan]

Yup, but its not on Excel. However, I think pasting the formula into Excel would work for you. Here are the columns their unit of measure and the formula.

Recoil Energy	Weight of Gun	Weight of Bullet	Velocity of Bullet	Weight of Gun Powder
ft-lbs	lbs	grains	ft/sec	grains
=(((C3*D3+4700*E3)/7000)^2)/(2*32.17*B3)

[MLB]

Thanks TMan. I've got the spreadsheet put together. Perhaps tonight I'll have some time to fill it with data.

Pretty graphs to follow... ;D