S&W 351 Airlite

At the gun show last weekend, I talked to a couple of dealers who suggested a S&W 351 .22 Magnum 7-shot revolver as a self-defense weapon for my wife. She has tried the S&W Airweight .38, but doesn't like the extreme recoil. I'm concerned that it's too small a caliber to be effective. Any comments?

Can't answer your question, but all the talk here has led me to believe that the .22 magnum load is a waste in a snubby. You might as well buy her a standard .22LR, because it's punch is going to be equal and a whole lot cheaper to feed. That said, most of the reading I do seems to indicate that more people are killed in the US by .22s each year than all the other calibers combined. Is that a skewed statement? Probably, but I do believe a .22 can be an effective SD weapon with the proper shot placement and it has to be a lot better than no gun at all, right?

BTW, welcome to the board!

I don't think the .22 magnum in a short barrel has time to meet magnum velocities. In shooting them myself, I have a piece of aluminum that has another piece 5 inches away. The .38 special gave the first piece a good dent, almost going through while the rest went straight through, some of them not going through the second piece. The .22 mag did not even put a good dent in it. I would keep shopping. Most women keep their weapons in their purse which negates the pluses of a airweight pistol. Have here fire a .38 with more than 20 oz.'s. The weight will help a lot on the felt recoil.
Good luck and keep looking, nothing in shooting is as important as our family.

There are a lot of dead folks that would tell you a 22 is adequate. If she shoots it well, practices with it, and has it on her as much as she can, then she is way ahead of the general population, male or female. My wife carry's a Walther P22 and loves it. Several times she has said, "let's go out back and shoot". She enjoys shooting it. When all she had was a J frame, not so much. She also has a custom mdl 10 that she likes a lot, but she prefers the 22.

As for a 22 mag vs a 22 LR, I'd go with the 22 LR mainly because of the cost of the ammo. Cheaper ammo, means you can shoot it more.

There has been a few discussions on this subject here, so you may be able to look them up as well, and gain some more insight. Welcome aboard!

What about a .32? Haven't shot one, haven't researched it, but it's kinda in the middle so might be worth a look.