22 mag vs 38+p

[rab]

I plan to purchase a light wheel gun that I can carry in my waders, Got a small auto but would rather have a wheel, I fish alot of the mountian streams and never can tell what you may happen upon. I was looking very hard at the Charter Arm light model, Does anyone have an opinon on Charter? How other feel about a 22 mag for a carry?

[Guest bkelm18]

22Mag compared to a .38Special? Well, the ballistics of a .38Special is grossly superior to a 22 anything.

[Guest BEARMAN]

The New Charter Arms revolvers are very good quality, for the money, revolvers. If your going to use it in your waders, around water, then go with stainless steel, it will fair better than blued.

+1 on .38 special...unless your just set on a .22 mag, it will handle all two legged critters, and pretty much all four legged ones as well.

Use 158 gr.+p when fishing in black bear country, and one shot shell for poisonous snakes is a plus also.

[gregintenn]

38 ammo isn't much more expensive than 22 mag ammo. A Smith and Wesson 642 would be hard to beat.

[Guest Brian@GunDepot]

I get this all the time.... 22wmr vs 38 in a snub nose.

A lot of people look at the 22wmr bullet box and see the ballistic table and think they is exactly what they'll get when they fire it... it is just not the case. Most if not all those tables on the 22wmr are obtained/chrono'd by firing it from a rifle and not a snub revolver.

Don't get me wrong, I think a 22wmr would definitely kill/stop someone; but I think it would be the whole 'they're dead, but don't know it yet' syndrome instead of the brute force knock down power that comes from a higher grain projectile. This is course not speaking of a headshot, but a center mass chest shot.

Here we see that .22 WMR performs very well vs. .38 special (according to wikipedia). The thing lacking from this data is barrel length of each test. I clearly think in this case the .22wmr ballistics are from a rifle:

The .22 mag./ Muzzle vel./ Energy

*30 grain 2200 fps 322

*40 grain 1900 fps 324

*50 grain 1600 fps 300

The .38 spec. /Muzzle vel. /Energy

*110 1000 fps 235

*130 800 fps 189

*148 700 fps 156

*158 800 fps 208

[smopoim86]

North American Arms has a ballistics page on their site showing what 22Mag does out of a snubby.

That should give you a better idea of what to expect. It puts the 22Mag out of a pistol close to a 22lr out of a rifle.

The 38 is the clear choice in my opinion. Shot shell will be much more effective against snakes and whatnot and the knockdown power should be vastly superior out of a pistol(compared to 22mag).

Daniel

[Guest .45]

.38

[Guest Jamie]

...the knockdown power should be vastly superior out of a pistol(compared to 22mag).

The only problem is that "knock-down power" is pretty much a myth for all defensive handgun calibers...

J.

[rab]

Brian,

Thanks for that infor. As you can see I am need your shop an I plan to buy a revolver very soon, maybe you can help me out with this purchase. What about the recoil on the Charter 38 light frame, I am a fair size guy, but don't care for alot of recoil. I have a 38 army colt, not much recoil, but it has a 4 1/2 barrel an much heavier.

[Will Carry]

I'd go with the 38 special. I wouldn't waste my money on snake shot unless you just enjoy shooting snakes.

[graycrait]

Get a charter .38 or if you have more money in the budget get a S&W 642. Try out some snake shot. See how you think it might work. With an offhand shot to the face of a two-legged varmint it would likely give you enough time to shoot the varmint with the second ball or JHP shot wherever you would like. I've had .22 mag handguns, found them to be loud and not much better than .22LR. You could get a .22LR revolver and shoot 60 grain Aguila SSS. I know a guy who lives in Louisiana and carries that round exclusively back in the swamps. If it were me I would get the Charter .38 and be done with it.

[Guest Brian@GunDepot]

Brian,

Thanks for that infor. As you can see I am need your shop an I plan to buy a revolver very soon, maybe you can help me out with this purchase. What about the recoil on the Charter 38 light frame, I am a fair size guy, but don't care for alot of recoil. I have a 38 army colt, not much recoil, but it has a 4 1/2 barrel an much heavier.

With any 'ultralite' frame your going to experience more 'felt' recoil... it is just the nature of the beast. The only real thing you can do to lower it is change grips and shoot lower grain non +p ammo.

Federal makes a 110gr Hydrashok that is low recoil and works well in all the lightweight revolvers. As for grips, hogue and pachmeyer (sp?) is a good solution, but usually adds length therefore making concealment harder.

I like Charter Arms guns... they are an excellent value, but if you can afford it, the Ruger LCR and S&W Airweights are great options too. I personally like the LCR the best off of the shelf; the grip really makes that a nice gun to shoot. I guess it really depends on your preference though...

[R1100R]

I'd go with .22 MAG. No, not really.

Get a snub nose and practice.