9 mm or .22? I'm torn.

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The advantage to "full size" if you don't plan to cary it its that a longer barrel with a longer sight radius is typically easier to shoot accurately. For Rugers a Mark 3 or 4 or Single Six would likely be my choice in Ruger for range use over either of the pistols you listed. (I probably wouldn't choose a Ruger at all, but...)

If you wish for you daughter and wife to become proficient, it is important that it work for them ergonomically, one may not fit all... you might give this a read.

https://www.corneredcat.com/article/choosing-firearms/gun-store-miss-adventures/
 
I have both, Sig Sauer P228 9mm and Ruger .22 (looks like a Luger) and both are fun to shoot. A 9mm will take down an intruder while a 22 is fun to shoot and ammo is cheap. If home defense is your #1 reason then go with the 9mm. If shooting cans and plinking while teaching a kid to shoot is your #1 reason go with the .22.
 
Sometimes one size doesn't fit all. New shooters will like a .22 pistol a lot. They aren't expensive and ammo is cheap. .22 will work for home defense but bigger is better here. If you can swing it, get a .22 and 9mm.

I expect there will be some good Black Friday sales.
 
All depends on the intruder. Confront one that was betting on no one home and is the sneak thief type and the 22 may run them off. Confront the brazen home invasion felon bent on having his way with your house, you, your family, etc because he's jacked up on drugs or alcohol and that .22 isn't going to phase him. The 9mm might even take multiple [decent] hits to stop him or change his mind. The all out most sure bet is a 12ga pump shotgun, barrel no longer than 18", no choke, #4 buck or better (preferably 00).
 
Duckryder:

Why no Ruger at all? What are your experiences with them?

From what I've read, they've been making firearms a long time. They're also affordable. Just curious as to why you wouldn't own a Ruger? Thanks!
 
Originally Posted by twoheeldrive
Sometimes one size doesn't fit all. New shooters will like a .22 pistol a lot. They aren't expensive and ammo is cheap. .22 will work for home defense but bigger is better here. If you can swing it, get a .22 and 9mm.

I expect there will be some good Black Friday sales.

Yes, I was thinking of getting both but wife said 9mm is better. Think I might go with a suggestion here that said to start with .22 than upgrade to 9mm later.
 
Here's my 2 cents:

I like a Glock style pistol. Very simple. No safety, decocker, single action/double action. I own S&W M&P pistols but they are very similar to Glock.

9mm is what you want for home defense.

Funny thing about CZ is that after reading about them on the Internet, I went to my local gun shops to see them. None of them carry CZ except one, and he told me the CZ has been in the case for 6 months while he's sold 100s of Glocks and M&Ps.

Your daughter might not like loud shots but the range is full of others with loud guns. Just have to deal with it and get proper ear protection.
 
Originally Posted by Eosyn
Originally Posted by gathermewool
Originally Posted by Chris142
But IMO a shotgun is a much better choice than a pistol.


How close are your neighbors, OP???

Closest neighbor is probably 50 yards away. I have a Mossberg 20g shotgun for home defnse too. Just looking for something smaller to use, but as stated above, this pistol will be mainly used at the range for target practice.

Originally Posted by dareo
Full size 9mm. Bigger the better, maybe a Glock 17L or 34. It will be the easiest to shoot and shoot accurately.

I looked at a Glock 17 and really like it too. Are there advantages of a longer barrel/slide? Since I don't plan on carrying (atm), I'd love a full size pistol.

Originally Posted by aquariuscsm
A 22 is basically a bb gun. I would never use it as a self defense weapon. Go for the 9. The ammo is cheap and easily available.

Awesome. I like that ammo is cheap and plentiful. After reading this, a 9 mm it is! Thanks! Now which brand? Are there other full size 9mm pistols that are around $500-$600 that's accurate and reliable?


I have a Glock 26. It's my carry firearm,so I wanted it as small as possible.
 
Originally Posted by Eosyn
. Think I might go with a suggestion here that said to start with .22 than upgrade to 9mm later.

I wouldn't waste limited funds on a .22 for a home defense handgun.

While better than nothing, lower caliber rounds such as .22 .25 .32 had failure to stop rates almost double the larger calibers.

Here is a good study on handgun cartridges real world stopping power.

https://www.buckeyefirearms.org/alternate-look-handgun-stopping-power
 
Originally Posted by Eosyn
Duckryder:

Why no Ruger at all? What are your experiences with them?

From what I've read, they've been making firearms a long time. They're also affordable. Just curious as to why you wouldn't own a Ruger? Thanks!


I've owned quite a few of them, and it isn't that I wouldn't own one, just that there are others in most categories I'd prefer. I could do without all the warnings that seem to want to put on things too.

You might consider something like a CZ75 and a Kadet kit (though the kit is expensive) or a Beretta 92 and a Practice kit (Ditto on the kit)...
 
All of you are new to guns. Ideally you would start with a .22 and practice with a lot of rounds to get used to it. Since you can only buy one right now, i'd consider a revolver.

Revolver has a level of reliability so you don't have to practice malfunction drills right off the bat, being new to guns. You can learn semi autos later, when your skills improve. Everyone has to understand how the semi, can have a round in the chamber with the mag out.

Learn and practice safety measures with everyone over and over.

I would get a .357 revolver , pick one that fits the hands of the smallest shooter. Everyone can then shoot and practice with .38 lower power rounds and load .357 for home defense.

Later you can get a 9mm semi auto. I taught my son and wife semiautos with one round at a time, loaded in the magazine so they learned that racking the slide places a round in the chamber.
 
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Originally Posted by Eosyn
Hi guys, I'm new to firearms. Looking for a pistol for home defense and (mostly) range shooting. We do not plan on conceal carry.


Home defense is BEST served with a long gun. They are more accurate, and more powerful. You already have a 20 gauge shotgun, a very good home defense weapon. Load it with #3 buckshot shells, and it will put down any intruders with authority. Absolutely no bird shot loads, they are worse than a .22LR that folks are laughing about in this thread.

The main caveat with a shotgun though is that it is the hardest weapon to master, and takes quite a bit of training to become proficient. Sure, with 15 minutes of familiarity training, anyone can fire one, and rack one, but they are not going to be very good "tactically" in a home defense situation, which is a tactical environment.

Originally Posted by Eosyn
I'm torn between a Ruger Security 9 and a Ruger SR22.


Two VERY mehhhhhh firearms. Not sure why you are stuck on either, but those guns are barely better than trash. And I LOVE Ruger firearms, just not "those" two firearms. I don't like any of their 9MM offerings, but their Mark 4 is a really nice world class .22 pistol, with 60 years of manufacturing history behind it.

For 9MM, look at Glock 17 or Smith & Wesson MP 2.0 (model 11521) . The Smith & Wesson routinely sells for $379-$399, less than $100 more than the Ruger Security 9 pistol, and is a MUCH better pistol. Save the money, buy the better gun. Whats $75 divided over your lifetime? $2 per year?

For strictly home defense, and not conceal carry, always buy the full size pistol. They are more accurate, more reliable, hold more ammo, and less likely to jam than micro or compact pistols. Especially in the hands of a novice shooter.

Originally Posted by Eosyn
The wife wants the 9-mm because it would effectively take down an intruder easier.


Well your 20 gauge will put them down faster. And yes, 9mm beats .22, but only if you know how to use it. A .22 in the hands of a competent .22 pistol shooter is far superior a home defense weapon, than a 9MM in the hands of a scared grandma that doesn't know how to operate a 9MM, doesn't know how to hold it properly, is unsure of herself, because she has never shot a gun before.

I spend a LOT of time on the range, and I see the typical novice or less than novice shooter out with their new 9MM blaster 3000 pistol. They have a gun, so in their minds, their home is well protected. Yet, they dont know how to shoot, dont know how to hold the gun, dont know how to fix jams when they happen, dont know how to properly rack a semi-auto, and can only hit a man sized target perhaps 5 times out of 10 when they step up to the line. These people dont train, dont want to train, will never train, and yet feel well armed with a semi auto pistol that they honesty have no right using at all, especially in the context of home defense.

You cant just buy a 9mm, throw it in the night stand, and think you are well armed. You are not. You would be better off with a Ruger 10/22 .22LR rifle, with a 25 rd magazine, that you are intimately familiar with, and know how to use, because you actually get out and practice with the thing. Yes, I said it. A .22LR rifle (or pistol) is absolutely positively the superior home defense weapon over a semi auto 9mm pistol for a novice that wont regularly train with a semi-auto pistol.

Honestly, guns are tools. They are only as good as the person using them. The person is the weapon. A Navy Seal with a KBar knife is a deadly weapon. More so than a person armed with an AR15, that is unfamiliar with that weapon.

My best advice? Get a .22 pistol now for fun range time and gun familiarity with your family.

Save up $500 and go to a defensive pistol class. It will be the best money in firearms you ever spent. So many guys have thousands and thousands of dollars worth of guns, and they are total goobers when it comes time to put rounds down range. Instead, if they had negated buying that one extra pistol that they didnt really need, and instead invested that money into a defensive pistol class, they would be a much better home defender.

And when it comes time to buy a full size pistol for "home defense", ask yourself, are you really likely to train with the thing? If the answer is no, and you are most likely to just stuff it in the night stand and forget about it, then get a revolver. A 4 inch barrel, steel frame revolver, in .38 special caliber, that holds 6 or 7 rounds. Much better than a semi auto that jams on the first round as your wife fires it ( a VERY common occurrence. People have died in home defense scenario's when their semi-auto pistol jammed after the first shot, because they were not holding it properly)
 
by all means get the ruger sr22. i've put 3000+ rounds of various brand through mine so far this year alone without a hitch, just regular cleaning. why the sr22?
1. 22lr is easy to get into and stay connected with shooting sports. no recoil or flashbang to cause flinching or other aim-destroying bad habits. inexpensive and soft so you can get alot of practice, 300+ rounds per range trip is happily doable. hits with a 22lr always trump near misses with any other caliber.
2. ruger sr22 is the best all around semiauto rimfire pistol. not the absolutely most accurate pistol but not the most expensive. easiest to fieldstrip and clean (an absolutely essential part of gun ownership!). loading its mags doesn't chew up your fingers. doesn't need tweaks to shoot fine out of the box. light and small enough to be a ccw, if you so choose. its magazine disconnect safety is good for newbies. changeable grips accommodate different sized hands.

don't let anyone convince that you cannot defend your home with a 22lr. yes bigger is better, especially a shotgun, but how often will you practice? home defense isn't about firearms alone, which are just one important piece. have a plan: ensure that all doors and windows are solidly locked and lit, retreat to locked safe room and stay there until the cavalry arrives, dial 911 and leave phone to update your situation, make ready your firearm(s) and multiple loaded mags, prepare to engage any bad guy who chooses to come through your safe room door as opposed to just robbing and exiting. as a mere civilian who avoids troublesome locales and beings as much as possible, i feel comfortable being able to place a string of cci stingers confidently and reliably into the center mass of a feral threat, if it unfortunately comes to that.

here is my sr22 facing off a rattlesnake. he went his way, slowly. i went my way, fast.






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Bubba: Thank you for a most informative post. I've taken some notes from your post for future reference. I've also taken notes from other replies. Thank you to all.

I've talked it over with the "wifeypoo" (LOL) and came to the decision that, because we already have a shotgun, we will start with a .22 for now to have our daughter learn how to handle and fire a gun. Get her used to it and not be afraid of it and use it for a lot of daddy/daughter time together at the shooting range. Hopefully, once she is comfortable shooting and is well proficient at it, I will upgrade to a 9-mm and give her the 22.

With that said, besides the Ruger Mark 4, what other decent .22 would you suggest for less than $500? I'm researching and found a Smith & Wesson SW22 Victory that's in my budget. I'm looking for reliability and accuracy.
 
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