.22 for defense

No. A .22 will not make an effective defense round no matter what you try and do.

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The .22 LR round is not a good choice for self defense. Granted, if it is the only thing you have availalbe, or the only caliber you can shoot due to medical reasons, it's better then nothing. Shot placement would be especially critical with a .22, more so then the common centerfire defensive rounds.

If I *had* to use a .22 LR for defense, I'd load the hottest, fastest ammo I could find, preferably in a HP, but I wouldn't really except it to be that much more effective then any other .22 loading.

Plenty of people have been killed by .22's. The problem is, it's not a good *stopper*, and that's what you need for defense.

I wouldn't even consider using a .22lr for SD, but that's because I have plenty of other options. If I had to, I'd choose penetration over any HP rounds since I don't believe a .22lr is going to do any relevant expansion in a man-sized target.

Hitting vitals, penetrating skull, shocking the spine would be my goals in using .22lr.

Don't even consider .22lr shot. No penetration = little tissue damage = little likelihood of traumatic blood loss.

Try searching for this often-posted subject.

The first rule of gunfighting - bring a gun.

Bottom line - a .22 will be better in a tough situation than say, a kick in the toodles - but there are far, far better calibers for the task of self defense.

The shot cartridges are next to useless. I really don't want to shoot my feet, but my suspicion is with shoes on, there would be no shot that penetrates to skin. Years ago, I shot snakes with the shot cartridges and if you are close enough for shot, you're better off using a rock or stick. Don't shoot snakes anymore unless they bite me.

I'd use a little 22 for self defense. What everyone says is correct. Stopping power (whatever that elusive term is) is less than most centerfires and cartridge ignition is less reliable than centerfires. I used to take pokes at the 25 ACP as it offered little to nothing over the 22LR. The benefit of 25 is not extra power, but it's more reliable ignition.

I'd still use a 22LR for defense if that is what you want to do, but I'd pretty much expect to keep shooting until the gun is empty if I was in emminent danger. I choose to carry a 38spl pocket revolver (or a 40 S&W Glock) and I AM an advocate of the 22. The 22's often get the node as a trail gun where I am likely to do some plinking as well has having something that shoots little holes for defense if necessary. I would choose CCI 40gr solids if you choose 22LR. If using a semi-auto, I'd pack an extra loaded magazine.

JMOFO:

When my wife and I are out in the country on the golf cart I always keep this Firestorm FS22 with us.

I load the FS22 with 10+1 rounds of CCI Stingers, and if I run up on a rattlesnake, or aggressive feral coke cans it is sufficient to the job. Earlier in life before I became an old fart who is too softhearted to kill much of anything that doesn't have a rattle on it's butt I did a lot of squirrel/rabbit hunting.. High quality 22cal rounds seemed pretty effective at ruining the party for the little critters, and after seeing what a 22 hollow point can to I certainly wouldn't want to be shot with one or 11 of them..

Having said that, of my 14-18 little stash of pistols, I would be the first to admit the 22cal pistol is next to the bottom of my self defense list. (Just above my old 25cal. Galesi pistol I've owned since 1966 which has never seen a full round of 25cal ammo it likes.)

In a pinch I think a quality 22 cal. pistol that has proven reliable and accurate is a good "last pistol" option.

I know rimfire ammo is less reliable than centerfire, but for some reason over the 50 years or so of firearms ownership I've just been lucky or whatever and never had any problems.

I WOULD prefer a reliable 22cal pistol over a less than reliable larger caliber weapon. I think a good 22cal pistol should be in everyones inventory, altho for cc or personal defense the firearm with the biggest projectile you can send down range, and the more of them you have available to send down range the better off you are.

Here's my preference:


Best Wishes,

J. Pomeroy

Its a good round for killer squirels

I'm still a little fuzzy on .22 magnum though.Is it really similar at ALL to other .22 loads besides it's size?

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Notably higher velocity (around 2000 FPS, I think - top-end .22 LR goes up to around 1400, regular goes around 1100). Higher price than reg'lar .22LR, too. Slightly different diameter than .22 LR - which can make .22 LRs put into a .22 Mag chamber split.

Aguilla sells .22LR that tops 1750FPS, FYI. I've read accounts of people breaking 1800fps with the 30gr hyper velocity rounds. Not out of a handgun though. .22 mag out of rifles breaks 2100fps.
Vicious on small game. Useless on STOPPING large targets i think. It'll kill just fine, though. I'd want heavier rounds for penetration.

Stingers are the best bet if you have to use a .22lr for defense. The magnum will give you the same performance from a handgun that .22lr will give from a rifle as a general rule but with the addition of a better bullet. I along with everyone else can't recommend it but if it's what you've got then it's what you go with until something better comes along.

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Dangit I need to get another keyboard!

I find the .22 a great stopper. For ground squirrels.

Plenty of people have been killed by .22's but it doesn't do you much good if the guy dies an hour or two after he's killed you. It's better than nothing but it's not something I'd want to bet my life on.

22 for Defense?

Having been shot in the back with a 22, I might have a differant view than most about a 22 as a defensive weapon.! I was shot on New Years eve 1965 in Long Beach Cal. With a 22 rifle. The bullet struck my right shoulder blade and tracked around my body to stop under my right arm. Pretty good penitraion,about 14-18 inches. Must have been hit on a bit of an angle as it didn't go into my lung.
When you get shot your priorities change from your everday concerns to "Get Me To The Hospital !!!" It felt like getting punched with a fist, in the back. Everything worked out well for me, I'm fine, if you don't mind a scar or two. But it does make you change your thinking about ever getting shot!!!
There are better rounds to use but a 22 in nothing to ignore!!!

I say an upper for a Mac10 that took 10/22 mags. 50 rounds of 22lr full auto might be effective. Also, the Lakeside Guns belt fed upper on an M-16, with a 500 round belt might be effective also. Or maybe if you could contrive a handgun that fired 10 rounds all at once, that might be good too.

The Aguila Super Maximum is a sweet round. Strangley, out of a Firestorm FS22, it shoots 38 caliber, perfectly punched holes in paper targets. Haven't figured that one out yet.

Ohh you can kill someone with a .22. If your good you can stop him dead in his tracks. Problem is it is not an easy proposition. You have to hit them just right at close range. That plus the reliability issue makes .22lr probably the worst choice, but it is still an option.

The Aguila Super Maximum is a sweet round. Strangley, out of a Firestorm FS22, it shoots 38 caliber, perfectly punched holes in paper targets. Haven't figured that one out yet.

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Try the Aguila 60gr. SSS round, in the FireStorm it doesn't fully stabilize and at 50 feet goes into the paper sideways.

.22wmr's main advantage over the .22lr is more than just velocity. .22wmr comes with real jacketed ammo. .22wmr hps also expands. I tried testing the theory of ".22lr out of a rifle is the same as .22wmr out of a pistol". I tried 4 different .22wmr out of a pistol against 4 different .22lrs out of a rifle. All .22wmr out penetrated the .22lrs. Velocity wise they may be the same, but not performance wise.

With so many good pocketable (a made up word probably) guns in larger more reliable calibers....why would you even consider such a thing?

Way better than a knife or fist.

Take 3-4 rounds in the center of the eyes/forehead and you will not think it is useless.