What is your thoughts on the PMR-30 for self defense

[40calruler]

I bought one at a lot heftier of a price than I would have liked as it was the first one I had seen that was not on my computer screen. I thought it could be a perfect fit for the wife with 30 rounds loaded up of 22 mag and a good size light weight, low recoil gun with good fiber optic sights. She immediately hated it and so it had to go since I cannot afford over 600 which included ammo for a plinker.
What is up with these? Why the huge desire from so many people? I saw a vast majority of listings when I put it up for sale at close to 800. Msrp is 3 something. I am getting back what I paid but I would have loved to have shot it and got a feel for why they are in such high demand.
Is it best served for self defense, varmints, hunting? At 14oz I was amazed at it being a 30 round 22 mag and a full size gun at that. Would you buy it at over 600 with 150 rounds of ammo? Well I know many would but I am really asking the seasoned vets who know their guns and calibers more than the zombie survival guys. If I could find one for a cheaper price I would get it for myself just to be able to shoot it and see what all the fuss is about. The one I sold is just to pricey for a plinker but one day they will catch up to all the wait lists and be available for less than 800-900 as many are charging. Is it a good Sh&% hit the fan gun to have around since you can have 60 rounds loaded and carry a lot of reserve ammo without much weight?
I was very unfamiliar with it until I came across it in the case and asked to see it and could hear the 2 guys behind me saying they would buy it and get 800-900 for it. That made my decision for me in all honesty as I figured if wifey does not like it then I will sell it for a whole lot less than that.
Why though are people willing to pay the price of an AR for a .22 pistol?

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[Flopsweat]

22 Magnum is a marginal self defense round at best. It's still way better than a knife in most folks' hands, but even a .380 is way more effective. The PMR-30 itself is a remarkable firearm - low recoil, high capacity, light weight. It has one issue that would keep me from carrying it - feeding issues. If you shoot the gun long enough with the magazine loaded to capacity it will eventually fail to feed. The rounds will bunch up in the magazine and the top one will not raise high enough for the bolt face to strip it from the magazine and load it into the chamber. Some folks will tell you that it's all in how you load the magazine, but to me that's a moot point. The magazines are simply not reliable enough to be part of a proper carry gun. Sure is fun at the range though, and it would probably a great varmint gun.

 

[jluck]

Love the idea of it but I prefer reliable firearms for canceled carry especially.

 

[2Wheels4Ever]

22 Magnum is a marginal self defense round at best. It's still way better than a knife in most folks' hands, but even a .380 is way more effective.

These .22mag rounds are comparable to .380. <broken link removed>

 

[Burt Gummer]

FN 5.7 pistol a far better option; quality build; more devastating ammo available for carry (T6) although over penetration is a big issue (know what is behind bad guy #1; if it is bad guy #2 you will probably get a 2 for 1 special).

Don't get me wrong I'd have a PMR-30 in a heartbeat for a fun range pistol - and cheaper ammo - but it cannot handle a suppressor.

 

[etrain16]

It wouldn't be my first choice for a defensive pistol, or my second, or my third...

I like it because it's a unique gun. 30 rounds of WMR in a polymer framed pistol that's easy to shoot. I'd love to own one some day just for fun, nothing more. I'm not interested in paying the huge prices they're currently going for though. I'll wait it out. If they never become available or don't come back down in price, I'll just never buy one. Simple as that.

 

[JustShoot]

These .22mag rounds are comparable to .380. <broken link removed>

-
.22 Mag. Round trying to compare itself to the ( general consensus ) of the, ' minimal standard ' of a proper CC weapon Is not that reassuring .
But make no mistake even the .22mag. is deadly. it's just not 'visually' devastating in the ft/lb impact energy like the bigger bores .40 or the magical .45acp, or smaller 9mm on the wound channel produced . Also I do own a .380acp but in my IWB daily carry is a 9mm with a proper factory defense round .

The retail sales, ( Hornady Advertisement ) 'critical defense .22Mag.' Test Pic. on the link does make it look good on the penetration with ft/lb. impact energy up there with .380acp . In reality it probably is just as damaging to tissue and makes similar wound channel as .380 .
Getting shot by .22Magnum and you will be ' Definitely Be ' sucking air, or even with .380acp . and I would hate to be lung-punched by anything, even if was just a .22 LR .
.

 

[jluck]

I also really wouldn't like the trigger (weight/pull) for CCW

 

[shootnscoot]

If I was protecting myself from rabid gangs of squirrels this would be the pistol I would choose.

 

[BlindedByScience]

Reliability is the first and by far most important factor in choosing a defense weapon. A PMR-30 isn't at the reliability level I'd insist on.

Fun to shoot, sure, but not a defense weapon I'd choose.

 

[newthings]

I have one. Auto loading reliability is an issue. Pulling that long case out needs everything to be right. The two things you cans do is have clean cases and, in the loading of the mag, not press the round down in the middle with the rim of the next round. It make a dent and forces the thin case out of round resulting in case drag. You need to use a loading tool. I tried some old ammo with some small corrosion spots on the cases. Total failure. One in 4 hung on the ejection. New ammo was much better. I expect some break in will help also. Love the gun with a Burris micro red dot sight. I have a CZ 512 in WMR autoloader as the long gun in this family.
Cheers, Roy

 

[Certaindeaf]

Out of a handgun the ballistics are pretty puny compared to a rifle.. where most all ballistics are quoted from.
A good 9mm handgun is about a thousand times better.

 

[Chunky Milk]

.22 TCM for the win. way cheaper than the fn 5.7 (FN 5.7 is a fantastic firearm but 3x more expensive than it should be) yet still moving a 40 grain 22 bullet at 2400 FPS

 

[40calruler]

Its interesting to hear all the feed issues. I know they had a couple recalls on it and I would thing the thing is finely tuned since the one I had was very newly manufactured. It is a cool idea to have 30rds of 22 mag at your disposal but I guess I would have to put a lot of ammo through it to feel confident. I like the sights it comes with and the capacity. It was more than tempting to go blast a few mags of the CCI TNT ammo I found but if my wife was not going to want it I did not want to devalue it. Oh well I will buy one and put it to the test when they become available at closer to MSRP. Its a cool feeling having that light of a gun in your hand with a 30rd mag and after watching youtube vids on it I love the nice fireball it spits every round.

 

[jluck]

Its interesting to hear all the feed issues. I know they had a couple recalls on it and I would thing the thing is finely tuned since the one I had was very newly manufactured. It is a cool idea to have 30rds of 22 mag at your disposal but I guess I would have to put a lot of ammo through it to feel confident. I like the sights it comes with and the capacity. It was more than tempting to go blast a few mags of the CCI TNT ammo I found but if my wife was not going to want it I did not want to devalue it. Oh well I will buy one and put it to the test when they become available at closer to MSRP. Its a cool feeling having that light of a gun in your hand with a 30rd mag and after watching youtube vids on it I love the nice fireball it spits every round.

Keltec makes some neat guns, Reliable...Not so much. At least the sell the crap out of them.

 

[bzltyr]

22 mag is a great round. Look at ballistics. The 5.7 is also a cool round. If you are happy with the caliber and handgun, who cares. It all about placement.

 

[usagi]

rimmed cartridges are difficult to feed reliably from a traditional stacked magazine. not something i'd bet my life on.

would make a neat range plinker though. 22mag has decent ballistics.

 

[Riot]

Love the idea of it but I prefer reliable firearms for canceled carry especially.

^^This

.22 Mag for defense is fine...but those PMRs aren't known for their reliability.

 

[Sgt Nambu]

I believe that the appeal is in the mag capacity! Folks who are not real experienced think, " not much stopping power but I can shoot him as many times as I want!" I don't think they are reliable enough for squirrel hunting much less self defense. 'Course this is opinion, based on reading and hearsay. LOL!

 

[AngryRedTicTac]

My friends PMR is pretty reliable, so long as he loads the mags. I can't get more than 10 rounds stuffed into the things before they are sticking out every which way. Fun to shoot though. I suppose I would carry it if he loaded it for me.

That said, he recently picked up a RIA 1911 in 22 TCM, and I am pretty sold on that thing. I wanted a high cap 9mm 1911, now I want the combo he picked up, which came with both the 22 TCM and 9MM setups. Pretty darn cool....