STONESHOOTER

[JimT]

This is another article from the old Sixgunner.Com website. It was written by PACO back in 1995.


One was well over 260 lbs and the other near 300 lbs. I stopped them both leaving the scene, to arrest them for burglary. That's when the situation escalated to a very intense degree. They didn't want to stay and chat, I was not going to let them go till my friends arrived. When it was over, there were well over 500 lbs of suspects on the ground, but sadly the knuckle of the middle finger of my right hand, was pretty much broken. One of the cops was a real wag, when he arrived he said it must have happened when I was trying to get away, the big suspect probably stepped on my hand. Not hardly, but dark humor seems to be a staying factor for law enforcement officers, especially in today's society.

Needless to say, shooting my usual large bores is for the next few months out of the question, with my right hand. As a State and Federal Narc for over several decades (now retired) being able to shoot better then proficiently with the weak hand, is part of my assets. But it's not something I particularly enjoy. Though it is better, much better, then no shooting altogether.

Back in the early 1980's Skeeter Skelton told about the time he left law enforcement to be a rancher. And searched around for a small gun, just to satisfy his need to carry one. He selected a Walther PP in 22 caliber. At the time I thought the caliber surprising, though the handgun is outstanding. So back then I ran some ammo tests on 22RF. I went through my gun safe and pulled out an old Colt Woodsman Officer's Match I had hidden. And bought as much of the then fairly new high velocity 22 caliber ammo like Stingers, Vipers, Insects, Bees and other strange names on the market for those hard hitting little killers. And impact tested them out of the Colt on all sorts of things practical and impractical. Satisfied that at close range, in an emergency they would serve Skeeter well. I let the project go for other more important work like 45 L.C.s and 454 Casulls or somesuch.

Now it's late in the fifth decade of my life in the late 1990s, and I have this sudden unexpected need, to also find a small caliber, small frame autoloader. I first looked at a Walther (TP70) 22 caliber. A truly fine piece of machinery, but the price hit my gag response. The little hammerless 22 autos though priced nicely didn't fit my aesthetic wants. Then I spied a used American Arms 22 auto. Strangely it doesn't look like the TP 22, but looks more like a small version of the Walther PPK 380. It has an exposed hammer, firing pin block safety, and carries 8 rounds. The price was very right. And it came home with me.

Being a saver, (my wife defines that as being more like a packrat) I still had lots of that ammo I tested back in the Colt Woodsman over ten years ago.

So I carried it all out to the back forty along with many test materials like telephone books and lots of water to wet them down thoroughly, some melons of small to large size, water bottles frozen so the bullet trails show plainly along with radial damage. And a bunch of stuff to just have fun with.....

Out of the four super velocity 22 brands of ammo I had...Stingers gave very good accuracy at 25 yards. Surprising because Stingers are not really known for accuracy, but sure are known for killing power on pest sized animals. Rem's Yellow Jackets were next and Viper was last, the fourth was WW's brand which I hear is no longer being offered. Good because it sucked eggs in all test categories.

At a little over 1.5 inches at 25 yards, the Stingers were certainly more than acceptable in the accuracy department. But it was in the power area that it shined over all the others. In the hanging wet telephone book test, at twenty five yards it penetrated 1300 pages and expanded(!) to 31 caliber. Vipers went fairly deep to 1100 plus pages, but gave 2.5 inches plus accuracy, where Yellow Jacket (basically Vipers with a hollow point) penetration was similar to Vipers, because they really didn't expand any more than Vipers, just mushed up sort of, but their accuracy was better at 2 inches or so. Still can't figure that one out. The CCI MiniMags gave excellent accuracy, but didn't expand at all, and only went to 900 plus pages.

American Arms offers three models of 22s all on small frames. A few years ago I had the one that resembles a shrunken 45 Colt 1911. It had a 3.3 inch barrel and was wonderfully accurate. But some how it got into a three way trade for a three screw Ruger 357, if I remember.

Ed Wosika came out to Arizona in the early 1980s for a week visit, to help me rid the place of all it's pests and such. If memory serves he had the American Arms model that also resembled a Walther but the PP model, it had a 3.3 inch barrel. Mine resembles the Walther PK and has a 2.5 inch barrel, it is a little smaller than ED's was. I also remember his was very accurate...but couldn't tell you what ammo he was using. So accuracy in these little guns is excellent in the whole product line.

I couldn't keep a Stinger inside a water melon no matter what angle I shot it at. The exit holes were not impressive, but melons are not like paper or flesh. The frozen water in gallon milk jugs showed long one inch across radial damage, along the bullet trails. Out of a two inch plus barrel they impressed me. Only the SGB flat nosed bullet gave the same kind of damage, but didn't penetrate half as deep. The only bitch I have with these little guns, are the sights. Fixed and too small, for my old eyes anyway. But I soon changed them, to a larger drift back sight and a wider front sight.

So, have I found a powerful little killer I can fire with my damaged right hand. No...not really. I can fire it well with my right hand but it's only good for very small pests out of this short barreled handgun. The Stinger and it's clones are not powerful. In a handgun power sense.

But in the future, if I have 500 lbs of large two legged predators come after me again, I will shoot for small pest like protuberances on their bodies, like the lower groin area has!!!! Then if there is anything left...they can wear what’s left in a straight metal cast for two months!!!!

[gamekeeper]

I always keep a couple of boxes of Stingers handy even though I rarely hunt with them.

[piller]

Learning to shoot with your off hand is a pretty good idea. I also have heard of other people testing the .22 lr for damage to targets. They seem to do pretty good for their small size.