Review: Rangemaster Defensive Revolver Skills

[Wheeler]

Could you give me some examples? Thanks.

Startle response and almost shooting someone for one. I had it happen with a 1911, finger was indexed on the slide, while clearing my house after coming home to find the front door open.

Wife walked in behind me and I damn near plugged her. Fortunately I had my trigger finger indexed and not in the trigger guard.

Was out shooting one time and a guy walked out of the woods (on private property) down range from me beside my target. I was shooting a 625 revolver double action and was able to stop the trigger press before I made a shot.

 

[protective measures]

You misunderstand... Personally I seldom run into situations where a revolver would seem better to me and I'm hoping to get greater perspective. (which I have) A .22 revolver or .22 mag revolver is a great choice that will fit within the scope of what an average fight is. I own and shoot a Charter .22 and Smith 686. You've got a heavier trigger, shorter barrel and a few less rounds in trade off for simple use, less required maintenance and dust bunny resistance. Very few things are absolute. For instance.
1. I've had a revolver cylinder jam on me. (for which there is no immediate action drill) Maybe use revolver to beat bad guy.
2. Whether 6 .38 special HP's are better to 12 .22 HP's depends on a variety of factors.
3. Had a clock been involved the rate of fire of .22 would most likely been superior to .38 which is clearly a factor. (not the only one and maybe or maybe not the deciding one?)

I've had a few revolvers malfunction in classes myself thought it is pretty rare & unlike a semi-auto rarely due to operator error. I agree that in the rare cases that revolvers go down its usually not a "quick fix" to get them back into action.

The training community from the days of Cooper or before, to Mas Ayoob & beyond has been very consistent in the recommendation of "the largest caliber or gun that someone can or will carry or shoot effectively".
While there are very specialized occasions where .22's do make sense that caliber has major disadvantages such as:

1. Being a rimfire cartridge .22 rounds are much more susceptible to FTF's due to bad primers.
The process by which they are made makes them much cheaper to produce at the expense of reliability..... as opposed to centerfire rounds that are WAY more reliable due to their (expensive) primers that rarely fail to ignite the bullet powder.

2. .22 revolvers & semi-autos both have a bad combination of very tight tolerances & powder that, when fired, fouls the guns action heavily which causes a higher than average rate of stoppages unless that action is cleaned thoroughly & often.
Not really a characteristic you want in a defensive firearm.

3. The wound channel produced by a good .38 rd., whether that be the old 158 gr. SWC from "the old days" that had a decent rep., & was recommended by Ayoob for years, or the newer Gold Dot 125 or 135 gr. + p BHP rounds that perform very similarly to some of the better 9mm rds. are proven be much more effective at stopping an antagonist quickly.
An old article by Ayoob noted that a .22 may eventually kill someone... but rarely is effective at stopping an attacker RIGHT NOW which is the priority for a S.D. round.

In the spirit of what I think you are alluding to I have done some research & had conversations with other Instructors/ L.E./ M.E./ etc. & have come around to the conclusion that there are enough instances where .22's were used successfully to thwart an attack (such as the lady in Buford a few years back) that IN VERY SPECIALIZED instances, when the gun-owner simply cannot handle a larger caliber. some form of .22, while not as reliable & effective as bigger rounds is still "better than a sharp stick o harsh words".