New Gun

[uath]

My dad went through a paranoia stage back during the early 1970's. The govt. was about to start registering guns (recording their serial numbers) as they were sold. Believe it or not, before this date, guns were sold with no registration at all.
Anyway, he bought a bunch of handguns (he was making good money at the time) and never even fired them, just put them away.
I was just going through them and found two Belgium-made Browning Hi-Powers (9mm), a Walther P-38 (Nazi hand gun, WWII), several S&W revolvers, and this little baby, a Beretta .22, model 87.
Most, including this one, were unfired, with the packing grease still on them.

I've been carrying this one around since then. I've got a concealed weapons permit. It rides great in a shoulder holster. I've fired it and, while it's no target pistol, it performed flawlessly.

The advantage with .22s is that you can actually practice with them and it won't cost you much. A box of 9mms costs about 15-18$$.

I know you guys in the UK have heavy handgun restrictions. That's too bad. My dad had me on a pistol team as soon as I turned 13 and I've been shooting them all my life.

This Beretta is stamped 1970. It still has wood grips. Now they only come with plastic grips. It was still in the box, with an extra clip.

[benedictjjones]

isn't the problem with practicing with .22s that the ammo might be cheap the mechanisms can't take continual firing like the bigger calibres??

[uath]

Oh heavens no, a .22 will last forever.


There are guns with a .22 conversion kit. Say you've got a .45 auto and you want to practice with .22s. All you do is buy a separate barrel and firing pin mechanism. Their MIGHT be some problems there, but I doubt wearing-out problems. More like the gun (designed for .45s) will jam more because the recoil isn't sufficient to blow back the ejector properly.

The first embalming I ever actually witnessed involved a shooting with a .22.

It was an honduran immigrant. I was working in Colorado at the time. It seems that two men got into an argument out on a farm field. One shot the other with a cheap-ass .22 auto.
The first bullet entered his upper arm, broke the humerus bone and continued into his chest where it exploded his heart.
The victim fell down. The agressor then shot him again, after he was on the ground. The second bullet entered his neck and completely severed his spine, shattered it. His head was still attached, but wobbling bonelessly, just attached by flesh.

I learned a healthy respect for .22s!

As a matter of fact, most murders/suicides that I worked on for the rest of my career involved .22s and there were MANY.
The .22 has other characteristics that make it particularly deadly:
1) The small bullet is travelling very fast. It has a tendancy (especially within the skull) to "bounce around" and cause incredible trauma. Very, very, seldom does a .22 travel in a strait line.
2) The .22 is outside lubricated. This makes it a very "dirty" bullet. It carries debris and bacteria into the wound with it. Not fun for the shootee.

I knew a medical examiner who said he would a 100 times rather be shot with a .38 than a .22. I totally agree. Anyone who thinks a .22 is a toy, needs to have their head examined.

[benedictjjones]

i think the guns i herd that had those problems were the smaller ones of the 'hold out variety'.

i saw a 2 shot .357 derringer a while back that made me wish i lived somewhere with laxer gun laws, beautiful.

[uath]

My cousin has a two shot derringer chambered for .410 shotgun shells. Can you believe it?

[uath]

[benedictjjones]

^ now that is a hold out!!