.22 Magnum Derringer; adequate protection?

[gharleydude]

Hi people, I would like some feedback from all of you, after the fact of my purchase this morning.. I purchased a small .22 Magnum derringer, chrome plated with nice set of wooden grips for $75.00. I felt like the guy who sold it to me was honest and reputable, thus, do not feel I bought it from a cheat or lowlife. He said it was given him as a present a number of years ago and had been sitting up in his closet collecting dust. He also said he had only put about thirty rounds through it. It looks to be in absolutely new condition. The derringer is made by a former manufacturing company called Davis Industries, which I believe has since been bought out by a company called Cobra. My question is this; I own several other pistols, all .45 caliber, but not small. I wanted something small to carry as a conceal and carry piece. In your opinion, do you think a double barreled derringer shooting .22 magnum rounds is adequate in stopping power, if push comes to shove? The lethal range on this is as I understand, something like fifteen to twenty feet, tops. If anyone could offer their two cents worth on this, I would appreciate it. Thanks people

[Firefighterchen]

There are much better options. Do what you feel is right for you. .22 mag is adequate, but you will have to be better than adequate to use it appropriately.

[Tim Dunn]

Any gun is better than no gun. If the size of this little gun is enough to have you carrying more, then it's doing the job. It may not be a 'one-shot stop' like the internet police spout, but I'm sure it will make a bad guy think twice.

[araczynski]

i've never held/shot one, but i'd be worried that the size would make me fumble with it trying to get it into my hand/firing line. then again, practice makes perfect i guess. as for the round itself, i don't see why one or two in any vital area would not do its job.

i think anything making it past the skull bone would be pretty 'effective', and this has more than enough power to do so.

[SGB]

I would not trust anything smaller than 9mm/38 spl for self defense purposes. Having said that any gun is better than no gun even if it's a poor choice.

[Bikenut]

I have a .22 derringer in .22LR... it's my belt buckle gun because I have a belt buckle holster for it...

But it is also what I call my "nose gun" because it's so small and my hands are so big I can't get any satisfactory accuracy with it so......... I'd have to shove it into a bad guy's nostril in order to have any expectation of hitting him.. and even then I'm not so sure I wouldn't miss!

[SGB]

I have a .22 derringer in .22LR... it's my belt buckle gun because I have a belt buckle holster for it...

But it is also what I call my "nose gun" because it's so small and my hands are so big I can't get any satisfactory accuracy with it so......... I'd have to shove it into a bad guy's nostril in order to have any expectation of hitting him.. and even then I'm not so sure I wouldn't miss!

.... wonder if CCI makes a Sinus Load

[justxboxin]

It's whatever you like hey carry two guns the .22 n a bigger gun ... When it comes up where you can't bring your gun in a place of business I doubt they would notice that . That's what I would use it for to always be armed

[Sandy Scott]

At one time in my life, I carried a .22 derringer as an off-duty gun when I was a police officer. As a person trained in combat use of firearms, I might have had a reasonable chance but in retrospect I doubt it. It's so much the caliber that concerns me, but the fact that if it is anything but a double-action derringer, I would counsel you that in the very high stress situation of actually deploying the gun in a combat situation, the last thing you want to have to do is cock the hammer of a single action derringer. You want a gun that is as simplistic as possible, IOW a gun that simply has to be drawn and fired. I love the looks, etc., of the Bond derringers, but for the reason I just mentioned, I have decided not to get one as a carry weapon. As a second gun, fine, but for primary defense look elsewhere. Also, have the gun looked at by a competent gunsmith. A gun that inexpensive might not even be safe to shoot even in .22 mag.

[Tripletap]

It's all about what you feel comfortable with. If you can shoot the weapon accurately then the size is kind of a non issue because in all reality a well placed shot trumps caliber any day.