.22lr as (special) service- and duty handguns

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simonrichter

New member
Any ideas if and where .22lr semiautos or revolvers are or have been (more or less) officially issued as duty or Special operations handguns?

Actually, I only heard about

> the High Standard, used during WWII and subsequently by the CIA (the Gary Powers / U2 incident)

> the Beretta 70, reported to have been used by the Mossad as an "assasination" gun as well as the normal carry carry Piece for the few agents actually armed, and also by sky Israeli marshalls (mentioned in the books by Victor Ostrovsky and also in this article: http://www.tactical-life.com/tactical-weapons/israeli-mossad-22-lrs/ )

Any other cases you know of?
 
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weblance

New member
Reports are that the US Military used integrally suppressed Ruger Mark II Pistols for clandestine work in Vietnam.

You asked about handguns, but reports are Israel still uses suppressed Ruger 10/22s for certain support operations also.
 
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EdInk

New member
There are examples of them being used in espionage weapons. Lighters, pens and things that are actually single shot weapons.

A lot of the nifty old Cold War spy stuff would be made to fire a little .22lr (sometimes even a .22 SHORT) cartridge.
 
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PSP

New member
In areas where pests are common, such as nutria, rats and such, some LE agencies use suppressed .22 rifles for control.

At one time, (I don't know about now), certain special forces had the Walther TPH at their disposal for deep cover and/or bug protection.
 
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Dfariswheel

New member
There was one country, possibly Algeria?? that used Walther PP pistols in .22LR as official issue carry guns for their military.
 
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Dragline45

New member
You asked about handguns, but reports are Israel still uses suppressed Ruger 10/22s for certain support operations also.
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The Israeli military used the 10/22 for "less than lethal" crowd control to take out key leaders during protests by shooting them in the legs. That was until they realized that those protest leaders they were shooting ended up dying.

I also heard stories of US soldiers using a suppressed 10/22 to quietly take out cameras on certain operations.
 
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csmsss

New member
The Israeli military used the 10/22 for "less than lethal" crowd control to take out key leaders during protests by shooting them in the legs. That was until they realized that those protest leaders they were shooting ended up dying.
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That can happen in a hurry. Hit the femoral artery, and it's nighty night time unless someone right there right then knows exactly what he/she is doing.
 
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