At the Gun Counter, I frequently come across one of two of the most common misconceptions.
1. If you want a “Carry Gun”, it’s got to be tiny and it has to be as light as two graham crackers lightly dipped in skim milk. The Walther P22 seems to be what the ignorant head for right off the bat. “For the same size, and not much more weight, you can get the Walther PPS in 9mm… a much more effective defensive cartridge.” This logical counter point almost never works. I don’t know who the hell it is, but out there somewhere is the Jim Jones of Self Defense telling people the Walther P-22 is The Shizznit for all things Self Defense. I want to find this guy, and strangle him with my bare hands.
We carry defensive guns to Stop a Threat. “Oh, but .22 is the most lethal round ever made.” Yes, it’s very capable of punching fatal holes in things… but what it’s not good at is stopping that threat right now. Of course, no handgun is… handguns suck at stopping threats right now. But that doesn’t mean with throw our hands up in the air and just use the smallest and weakest. Some rounds are better than others and the only thing worse than a .22LR is the .25ACP. Actually, I think .22 Short might be in between there somewhere. My point is, if I’m coming at you with a knife, and you pull a .22 on me… you might kill me. But I’m putting my money on you being at the Pearly Gates long before I get there.
We shoot to stop the threat. Not to kill the threat, to stop a badguy from harming us or our loved ones. The death of the threat is the consequence of that threat’s decision to attempt harm on you or yours. And stopping that threat is going to take more than a .22LR.
2. “I want shoot 1,000 yards so I need a Super Ultra Cannon and I need to top it with the Hubble Space Telescope.” That’s great, that you have a goal in life. But you don’t need shoulder fired artillery to do that. And you don’t need to read the serial numbers on orbiting satellites. 1,000 yards is ten football fields. It’s a long way, but it’s not exactly an odyssy. The lowly .308 Winchester gets there just fine. The only problem is that once it gets there, it’s as tired and weak as a half drowned kitten. It hit’s like a .38 Special. Which is fine if your target is a human wearing a cotton shirt, but not an animal you are hunting. Reason being, it’s not an ethical kill. Even if you do place your shot well. Ask your self this, does your state allow you to hunt big game with a .38 Special revolver? No? Then it’s not ethical. So if your target is just paper or plate, then .308 will do just fine. You can go up from there as your power requirement necessitates, but you don’t have to start out launching Saturn V Rockets just to ring steel at a Grand. The best rounds all around for popping at a grand is the .300 Win Mag and the 7mm Rem Mag. Those still have enough energy for an ethical kill shot on a deer with a very well placed shot. Between the two, I prefer the 7mm Rem Mag for it’s advantage in exterior ballistics. But if you look at some ballistic graphs that show trajectory, velocity, energy… you see that it’s not a huge advantage. Coming up in Popularity is the WSM cartridges… the .300 and the .270 WSM’s are excellent. A guy in the UK broke world records with a 7mm WSM… the least popular of the WSM line up, actually less popular than the .325 WSM, which I like. Oh well.
To get a gun that shoots 1,000 yards is really no big deal. The trick is to get one that can do it consistently. Consistency is the key. That means a good bedding, a good trigger, and good clear optics. Most any factory barrels these days are going to be just fine for this. Most factory guns are now shooting an MOA or better with factory ammo of reasonable quality. That means a 10 inch circle at 1,000 yards. Most new rifles off the shelf, can do this. I say most, not all. A 399 Weatherby Vanguard can do this… or at least most of them that I’ve seen.
In a nut shell, your gun can do it. At this point, it’s not the Plane, it’s the Pilot. At this point, you have to do your job well. You have to know your rifle. You have to have it zeroed… actually zeroed… not “good enough” zeroed and not “Bout 2 inches high at a hunnered.”
Dude… I havent told anyone to look at anything smaller then a 9mm for carry… or a .380 for DEEP concealment. 😀
Also, that reminds me… I need good glass for the .300WM… and to put its scope on the .45-70.
Mo-money… Mo-money.
Jim
I actually had a “P22 Moment” at the gun show a few weeks back. My friend and I were checking out pistols; he was handling a P22 while I was looking at a SIG P239 Tactical. Friend said something to the effect of, “Dude, when you get your carry permit, you should get one of these.” I replied, “You can keep it. I’d rather have this SIG.” Friend looks at me real funny and says, “But this one is so much smaller!” Which, comparing them side by side, it really isn’t. I tell him, “Maybe, but that’s a .22. I want something with actual stopping power.” He didn’t press the issue, but I get the feeling that he still thinks I’m in the wrong.
And on a completely different note, what about the .300 Remington Ultra Magnum for 1000-yard shooting?
.300 RUM will do it, sure. But that’s a lot of gun. If you want to feed that spendy ammo, go for it.
I carry a Springfield wide-body, full-size. That’s 5″ barrel, full length grip, and 13+1 rounds of .45ACP.
I carry that concealed, using a lightweight leather vest. And I’m not exactly a walking mountain.
Get a good belt and a good holster, and you can conceal almost anything, if you can toss on a vest. Good pants don’t hurt, either – tunnel belt loops, and a lot of them, stabilize better than five or six skinny little strips of fabric pretending to be belt loops.
I met a five-foot-two woman once who was concealing a Desert Eagle, just to demonstrate that it was possible to some women she was teaching in a self defense class.
You nailed it. No matter what your packing, a proper holster is critical.
I always love it when someone spends thousands of dollars on a custom pistol, buys ammo that costs a dollar a round or something stupid like that, and then shoves it in an Uncle Mike’s universal holster…
Please tell me there are photos SOMEWHERE!
And where can I find them on the net?
No, but that’s a good idea. I know a few models; I should find the skinniest twig of a thing, and load her up with concealed weapons, then do a video showing where and how they were concealed.
“My point is, if I’m coming at you with a knife, and you pull a .22 on me… you might kill me. But I’m putting my money on you being at the Pearly Gates long before I get there.”
Dude, that is the quote of the year. I’m beginning to think that when it comes to .22 and .25 calibers the 21 foot rule should be 51 foot rule. Especially when the knife is in the hands of someone your size.
If you shoot me with a .25ACP, I’m going to be pissed… as soon as I notice…
If you carry a handgun, you might put the bad guy down by severing the spine, or the brain, or even the heart. Might. The better bet is to pick a caliber that can cause blood loss really quick. A .22 might be able to do that, but you’d probably have to hit the guy 20 to 30 times, and in a close range situation, you probably won’t have time to pull the trigger that many times.
I sometimes carry an XD45 Tactical, but usually carry a Colt Commander. Always OWB, and always at 3:00. I can pull this off with even a tank top, because I buy my (untucked) shirts one size larger for that very reason.
It’s absolutely possible to conceal a full-sized pistol. You just have to compromise somewhere else.
Firepower. Comfort. Accessibility. Fashion. Choose any three.
Because I own guns, apparently I’m the “go to guy” at work on topics like this. I had one guy go the exact opposite way. He decided he wanted to carry a Taurus Raging Bull. Really?
I print like crazy trying to conceal an XD 9 or a CZ-75 OWB. IF I wear an untucked, unbuttoned outer shirt and don’t have to bend over, reach over, or reach over my head, or sit down, I can pull it off…at night. Someday, some of you concealment savants are going to have to make some videos sharing your secrets.
I carry a Sig P220 in an IWB holster. You just have to be willing to tweak your wardrobe a bit. As for the rifle…I guess I’m a Fudd. I still rock the 30-06. Of course I’m not trying to be Carlos Hathcock either. YMMV
Rog
IWB isn’t the problem. It’s concealing OWB that’s the issue.
Let’s face facts folks, the P22 form factor is nice. Everything else about it it questionable and yes, I own one, the military model in green.
George, can’t you sell them on a Bersa Compact or Firestorm .22LR?
http://www.stnickguns.com/thunder-concealed-carry-inch-barrel-matte-finish-p-12474.html
http://www.stnickguns.com/firestorm-long-rifle-inch-barrel-duotone-finish-roun-p-26245.html
Geoff
Who should have waited for the Firestorm .22LR to run.
Naw, I try to push them to the little Beretta.
“It’s concealing OWB that’s the issue.” Well true, but for some of us its the WB itself thats the problem….(snark off).
The rotundity problem makes it difficult even with a Hawaiian shirt and a baby browning sometimes. AS stated holster and belt can help, but I really need to get rid of the weight I gained. I looked really really hard at the tupper ware pistols in part due to the fact they are lighter and are less likely to pull your pants off like a full size 1911 can do to me. However, I hate the trigger pulls on most of them, and they are my thicker than my half brother the drug addict.I like the recoil absorption that the full size steel gun gives me. So a nasty RIA M1911 FS tactical followed me home from the gun store. I tried like hell to screw the salesman out of some of his commission but he had to feed his wife, dogs, and two cats. He said he couldn’t feed the cats to the dogs or the wife would get upset. Oh well, It may be a cast frame and guts full of MIM but I’m not going to be the Ken Commando at the range even with reloading. I’ve got an old Milt Sparks holster that will take it, but if that doesn’t work I’m going to use a strap on bag and tell everyone it is for my colostomy.