A .22 is more dangerous than people would think. The like to bounce around inside people. I'd carry my Mark I if I had my CCL. But there's something about a snub nosed 38 special...

heh. A friend of mine just got a Walther P22 copy. Looks fine, fires fine. Carries pretty well. But I'd still go with an XD. It's a glock with a safety. Pretty nifty.

 

Yeah, I know the .22 has enough energy to penetrate, but not enough energy to create an exit wound. The P22 is a good bit smaller than the XD, so it'd make a better carry pistol (when I get my CCL. Given that I live in KY where you can walk into a gun store and walk out 10 minutes later with a handgun, I don't see it being very hard.), but I've been reading reviews on the P22 and it looks like it has a few issues (failure to feed and failure to eject being two of the more annoying problems), so I'm kind of swaying towards the XD. Besides, I guess $550 vs. $375 isn't too much of a price difference.

Also, you reminded me with the safety thing... the XD has two active safeties that I love the idea of; the trigger safety and the grip safety. I like the idea that in a shooting position, both safeties are being held, meaning no extra work. The P22 has a safety switch (meaning extra work) and the passive safety where the gun won't fire unless there's a magazine inserted (along with the trigger lock I'd never use). Overall, I think the XD would give me a little more peace of mind for personal protection.

The only thing is it'll be my first pistol, and I'm thinking a .45ACP is a little big for a first pistol.

 

Get the .45. Sure, a .22 will scare someone, and possibly hurt them. But it has no stopping power. You shoot a person with a .22 they could still come after you, more pissed off than before. You shoot someone wtih a .45 and they WILL stop. They will know they got hit, and they will feel the instant pain.
If your problem with the .45 is purely size, check out the Ruger .380.Its small in size < about the size of your hand> and packs a punch!

 

That's true about the stopping power. As far as size, I was simply using it as a pro for the P22; the XD isn't a large gun by all means (5"x7" with the 10-round magazine), but it'll be slightly harder to conceal than the P22. Really, with the feed/ejecting problems inherent to the P22, I'll probably go with the XD; I'd like to make sure my last line of defense will fire every shot reliably.

Is it the end of March yet?

 

The way i look at it, if I pull my gun, I'm not going to hurt the person. I am going to kill them. The only reason you pull your gun is if you feel like your life is in jeopardy.
Also, if you shoot and the person lives, they can sue you. And with todays court system they could sue you for everything you are worth. Thats not going to happen to me.

 

45 man... ALL THE WAY! Once you run through a clip of 45s you'll be hooked. Way more fun to shoot and h3lla more knock down power.

 

The way I look at it and have been told by quite a few people is if you are going with anything smaller than a 45 you might as well go with a 22 (any gun can penetrate thats what they are made for). The only point of that big of a gun is to knock them off their feet because if you have got some drugged up moron comming after you, they won't feel the pain and will continue forward, so you need to knock them flat on their back then they won't be geting back up. Thats why my dad carry's hollow points if you have got a 45 hollow point it will knock anybody or anything over.

 

Well, went to a gun store this morning... examined an M&P 15-22. All I can say is "DO WANT!"; the rifle is amazing. Also, move the "end of March" estimate down to "March 13th".

Also, I asked the owner about the Walther P22 (since my friend was looking at one). He says he hasn't heard any complaints about failure to feed or failure to eject, so I'm actually starting to think it's either improper cleaning or running ammunition the pistol doesn't like.

Also, the P22 is like $340 at the shop, so yeah. I'm thinking I might get one; of course, I still have 5 months to make my decision, so we'll see.


*edit: change "March 13th" to "March 20th". Gas + Groceries = me $100 behind on the rifle =/

 

Oh, miniature evil black rifle... two more weeks and you shall be mine




Can't wait

 

The P22's main intention is to provide a close feel to the P99, while having a greatly reduced cost per rount. The reason you're hearing about the P22 so much is because of this. Most of the people that have a P22 also have and carry a P99. Practice makes perfect makes for you being alive and burglar dead on the floor in the middle of the night kind of thing.

The first release of the P22's were horrible. I did some research on 22 handguns a while back. Everyone that had one usually hated them. There are tons of feed issues with them. An old next door neighbor had one. He took it to the range and it jammed with every single shot. I've heard Walther has fixed the feed issues on newer ones, but I have no experience with those. I cannot recommend a Rueger MKIII 22 high enough.

$340 is a decent chunk of change. The big point I would like to make is go to the range. For $50 or a little more you can try before you buy. You probably wouldn't buy a car you've never test driven. Why buy a gun you've never fired?

If you're considering it for a carry gun, go 9mm or bigger. Anything smaller won't stop the crack/meth heads breaking into your garage/house in the middle of the night.

<tangent>Also, I personally hate the vibration of composite stocks. I've shot my friends P99 before. He uses it for a carry gun. The XD may suffer from this (haven't shot one before). Try shooting a good 1911 .45. You'll feel the solid difference. </tangent>