Self Defense Calibers

I have often been asked, I guess this is true of all gun nuts, what the best size gun for self-defense is. Now, this presents at least 3 problems. First, what do you mean by size? Are we talking physical dimensions of the actual firearm, because this could be important. An older person with joint problems in the arms might have trouble pointing or aiming a large, heavy gun. Also, if the weapon is to be carried on the person, physcial dimensions could again be an issue. But more than likely what they are asking is what caliber it needs to be. Again this presents a problem, as this is but one aspect of the firearm that needs to be considered. The second problem is how will the gun be used, who will have access, will it be carried on person, in a vehicle or left home. Will the firearm be expected to perform other duties than defense? Also, what about the user(s). What is their skill level, physical and mental limitations, willingness to train and practice, ect. The last thing is that caliber and cartridge size can be very different. For instance, the .38 special and the .357 magnum are the same caliber, but there can be a lot of difference in the results coming from the muzzle.



First, let me state that the firearm in all its aspects is one part of a three part self-defense system. Basically the self-defense system includes the person, the firearm, and the particular cartridge chosen. All three items have to work together well to have a good self-defense setup. You can have the best firearm in the world, the best possible choice in a self-defense cartidge, but if you've never bothered to actually shoot the firearm until the day you need it, you might be in for a shock. That said, let's look at some of the basic cartridge sizes available today for self-defense. I am not going to get into specific loads, just very general knowledge and opinions.



First, caliber refers to the diameter in inches of the bullet that is fired, not the diameter of the firearm's barrel, which will be slightly larger.



.17

There are currently two .17 caliber handgun cartridges I am aware of. The .17 Hornady Mach 2 which is a .22 stinger necked down to .17 caliber and the .17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire which is a .22 magnum necked down to .17 caliber. These are actually rifle cartridges which revolvers have been chamber to take. I currently think the revolvers are geared more toward varmit hunting and target shooting and are offered mostly in 4 inch and longer barrels. The idea behind these cartridges was to offer more velocity while not having much recoil, flash, or noise. While probably better than no weapon, I wouldn't feel comfortable recommending either of these cartridges for self defense.



.22

The most common two .22 cartridges are the .22 long rifles and the .22 winchester magnum rimfire. The older .22 short and .22 long cartridges are about obsolete. Revolvers which chamber the .22 long rifle will also chamber the short and long cartridges, but actually just dropping down to a .22 long rifle low velocity or target round will give you similar performance. Incidently the .22 magnum firearms will usually not safely fire the other .22 rounds. There are some revolvers that come with interchangeable cylinders so you can shoot both. While the .22's offer low recoil, ease of fire, decent velocity in the 2 larger rounds, come in a variety of sizes and barrel lengths, and are usually very accurate and reliable, I hesitate to recommend them due to small bullet mass, small caliber, and relatively low stopping power, especially in the smaller firearms with shorter barrels. That being said, NAA has been very successful selling tiny little revolvers chambered in .22 lr and .22 magnum. As a hide-away close range weapon, they do have some interesting advantages. The .22 magnum has only been chambered in a couple of autoloaders and none would be considered an easy concealed carry. The .22 long rifle is available in weapons of all sizes.



.25 ACP.

The smallest of the rounds created by John Browning. This is probably the best selling caliber weapon of all times. Because of it's effectivness? No, because of it's size. Before improvements in metals, polymers, and manufacturing techniques, if you wanted a small, easy to conceal autoloader, it was this or a .22 short. At the time this was created, rimfire primers were not the most reliable things, so this small centerfire cartidge was born. And if I were required to choose, I would take a .25 over a .22 short in the same size package. On the other hand, I would probably take a .22 lr over the .25. In this modern age, there are more powerful options in the same or similar size packages. The .25 is generally chambered in small semi-autos, usually straight blow-back operation. The .25 sometimes gets a bad rap because of the weapons it is chambered for. Since this is the smallest common center-fire cartridge, and it generates very little pressure or recoil, it can be chambered in cheap-to-manufacture, straight blow-back actions. This means cheap, poorly made weapons tend to abound in this caliber. New manufacturing techniques and better metals have made these same manufactures expand into larger calibers too. If you go this route, do your self a favor and invest in a better quality weapon, say Taurus or Berreta. I believe a German company offered a few revolvers chambered for this round, but it is mostly an Autoloading prospect.



.32 ACP

This is a cartidge that has just about died off. It used to be very popular and available in several different size firearms. Gradually It fell by the wayside. This was the first caliber developed by John Browning for the weapon that eventually became the FN M1900, Colts Model 1903 and the 1910. The cartridge has always been more popular in Europe than here. There it is usually called the 7.65 X 17 MM or the 7.65 Browning. The most famous pistols chambered for this round are the Walther PP and Walther PPK. The .380 ACP, another Browning cartridge is largely responsible for this. The .32 enjoyed an upsurge in popularity in the US for awhile when ultra-compact firearms like the Seacamp LWS, the Berreta Tomcat, and the Keltec P-32 came out, however times change and there are now .380's available just as small although with more recoil. This is an autoloading only round.

7.62 X 25 MM Tokarev.

This round is based on the 7.65 x 22 MM German Luger round which was based on the 7.63 x 25 MM Mauser round. I mention it only because when the Soviet Union collapsed, a large number of Tokarev and CZ-52's were imported. Most were in this round, although a few were converted to 9 MM parabellum. This is a fairly hot round. While the caliber is small and the bullet light, the round moves really fast and offers a lot of penetration. A fmj military ball round will defeat a class II bullet proof vest. Availability of ammunition, especially self-defense rounds, might pose a problem and all the firearms that take this round were intended for military use, so they are service size. For a vehicle gun or a nightstand gun, you might be well served, especially as the weapons are well made and not usually very expensive.

.32 S and W.

The .32 S and W short was introduced as a black powder round in 1878. It isn't an impressive performer, however it spawned the .32 S and W long, which was introduced in 1896 and developed a reputation as a very accurate cartridge. Colt sold it as the .32 Colt New Police so as to not promote a Smith and Wesson cartidge. Theodore Roosevelt adopted the cartridge as the official police issue for the New York City Police Department when he was commissioner in an attempt to improve the departments accuracy. While mostly seen as a competition cartidge, some short barrelled revolvers can still be found chambered for this round.

.32 H and R Magnum

Federal and Harrington Richardson teamed up and introduced this lengthened version of the .32 S&W long in 1984. It offers .38 special performance in a smaller package. The round offers good penetration and .38 special energy levels in a small framed revolver package. Recoil is a little less and 6 rounds can be put into the same size package as a 5-round .38 special. This is a good self-defense cartridge, probably the best performance in this caliber range.

.327 Federal Magnum

This is a new cartidge, a magnumed magnum. The .32 H&R magnum was stretched again and loaded to high pressure. This round can push a 115 grain bullet to 1300 ft out of a 3 inch barrel. A Ruger SP101 in this caliber is supposed to be available this winter. I'm sure recoil and muzzle flash will increase. One nice thing, with this caliber gun, you can still fire the .32 H&R magnum, .32 long and .32 short cartidges.

Well next we will cover the rest of the .30 calibers then later tackle the .40's and larger.