The .22 LCR from Ruger weighs in at 14.7 ounces and has 8 holes in the stainless steel cylinder…otherwise it’s the same as it’s .38 and .357 brothers, including the patented Friction Reducing Cam trigger system that gives the small-frame revolvers one of the best trigger pulls I’ve ever felt on a revolver of that size.
The HUGE utility of the .22 LCR — and something that we’ve been talking about a lot on the podcasts and on THE BEST DEFENSE — is that it’s a convenient, low-cost tool for practicing with a gun that for some people can be notoriously hard to shoot. Snubs are the embodiment of Jeff Cooper’s “carried a lot; shot a little” dictum. But the problem is that snubbie revolver’s short sight radius, light weight and resulting “brisk” recoil make follow-up shots a bit of a challenge (LOL! With an ultralight .357 and 125-grain screamers, is that ever an understatement!).
The solution to the challenge is, as it pretty much is with all guns, to shoot them a lot. A .22 option allows you to shoot them a lot, and cheaply. I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest that if you’re new to CCW and think a snub revolver might be the way you want to go, I might get the .22 LCR first…no, .22 isn’t the world’s best self-defense cartridge, but it is substantially better than harsh language. Secondly, you will have a gun that you can shoot a lot and that you will keep even if you decide to go to a semiauto for CCW. If you feel comfortable with the .22, it’s an easy transition to the .38 (which I’ve been carrying for a couple of months now) or the .357 version.
Secondly, a .22 revolver is a great gun in its “kit gun” role…a gun that you’ll have with you in your “kit,” fishing or otherwise. Recall that S&S has made small-frame .22s described as “Kit Guns” for decades. To update this concept, a .22 small, light .22 revolver is a great addition to a grab-and-go bugout bag, because if you have to grab and go, you now have a back-up gun to your primary piece, and you can easily add 100 rounds of .22 ammo to the bag. I currently have an S&W Kit Gun and 100 rounds of CCI Mini-Mag 36-gr hollowpoints in my grab-and-go bag. That gun will be replaced by a Ruger LCR .22, because I’ve shot the centerfire LCR a lot and love the trigger, I have extensive holster options for the platform and, hey, it’s a Ruger and will probably outlast cockroaches and Keith Richards!
DRTV will have a full video report next week…
