22 Rifle for Home/Defense?

[Odd Job]

In my view, setting aside the fact that a shotgun or handgun *may be* a better option, if one does set up a rimfire rifle for self-defense, it ought to be a pump or lever-gun, not a semi-auto, since *the* primary failing of a rimfire for this purpose is not lack of power (though there's that too), but rather the unreliable ignition of rimfire priming compound, since it doesn't always get spun out into all parts of the rim.

This is my concern also.

 

[someguy2800]

I have a couple of Browning Buckmark .22LR pistols that will put ten rapid fire rounds in a hole that can be covered with a dime at 25 yards. Good enough for me and I would not be worried about the recipient getting back up.

I'll give you 1000 dollars if you can do it on video.

 

[grampajack]

Load your shotgun with #4 buckshot, end of story. I'm just guessing here, but I would be willing to bet that #4 buckshot is going to penetrate less through walls than .22lr.

 

[pintler]

So, my own experience suggests that it is the center-fire rounds (1 in 4,000) that are less reliable than the rimfire (1 in 5,000).

Mine has been different. I ran a bullseye league for a few years. 90 rounds per match times 30 competitors times 15 matches a year times 7 years works out to 283500 rounds if my math is right. And for the most part, this wasn't the cheapest bulk pack brands. Some lots were pretty good - my wife and I (when I was competing instead of running matches) went through 12K of S&B with only a few Failure To Fires's. But in a match - 90*30 = 2700 rounds fired - it would be unusual to not have at least a couple of FTFs with a good primer strike but no ignition. Typically there would be several. I've had batches where the FTF rate is 3 or 4 percent.

I've fired less centerfire - maybe 20k to 30k rounds. I haven't had any duds yet. I had a couple of very old 8mm Mauser rounds where there was a perceptible delay between click and bang, but none that didn't fire at all.

Having said all that, I don't think it's unreasonable to say 'I've shot 500 from this case of 22LR with only 2 failed primers, and so I think that makes the odds of getting 10 rounds to work acceptable to me'. I'd sure rather have a 10/22 than nothing. But I wouldn't count on a rimfire failure rate of 1 in 5000 being typical; IMHE that's at the extreme upper limit of likely reliability.

 

[Scooter22]

If someone was such a threat that I had to actually shoot them in my house at close range I wouldn't be poking them with .22 rounds. I want to stop them. Give me a shotgun. You could load yours with turkey loads if you think buckshot would over penetrate. But you still have an ounce of lead hitting them instead of 40grains one at a time. jmho.

 

[Rocketmedic]

If someone was such a threat that I had to actually shoot them in my house at close range I wouldn't be poking them with .22 rounds. I want to stop them. Give me a shotgun. You could load yours with turkey loads if you think buckshot would over penetrate. But you still have an ounce of lead hitting them instead of 40grains one at a time. jmho.

Well, yeah, and that's what the shotguns are for. But this is more of a hypothetical

 

[someguy2800]

I've had more fail to fires from 22's than I could possibly count, but typically in bulk pack ammo. Using good ammo like cci mini mags though its pretty rare. Mabey 1 in 1000?

 

[Skylerbone]

I envy the guys who can run through so much rimfire without a dud. Maybe I'm just unlucky or maybe I shoot too much but my dud count would be little more than a guess at this juncture. Some I can attribute to the firearm, some to ammo but I have a dozen or so rimfires that are fired with frequency.

If the question is more about penetration or over penetration then I'd suggest more study on that if not a bit of experimentation. I'd sooner choose a Buckmark over a .22 rifle if it had to be .22lr and who couldn't use a nice rimfire pistol.

 

[entropy]

I recommend a revolver for a .22 for self-defense, or a pump or lever rifle. Primers are just too unreliable with .22, and they are the only three actions that can present another round for firing without a separate remedial action. Whichever action you select, practice with anatomically correct head targets with the brain/spine structure printed or drawn on it-that is where you need to be placing your shots with a .22, and as fast as you can keep putting them in the "T".

 

[chicharrones]

I have no idea how many 22LR rounds I have put downrange in the 40+ years I have been shooting, but it must number close to 10,000. During the same time, I can account for just over 4,000 rounds of center-fire ammunition. I have had two failures of 22LR rounds to fire. I have had one center-fire round fail to fire. So, my own experience suggests that it is the center-fire rounds (1 in 4,000) that are less reliable than the rimfire (1 in 5,000).

It's more than just failure to fire. It's also failure to feed, failure to cycle, etc.

In my experience, I've had many times more failures to fire, feed, and cycle out of rimfire ammo and rimfire guns compared to even bottom of the barrel centerfire ammo or centerfire guns. That goes for bolt, lever, and semi-autos. Thank goodness for rimfire revolvers.

 

[chicharrones]

I suspect that successful self-defense with a .22 rifle should include leaving the threat with a safe avenue of retreat. The bad guy should always have duty to retreat and be required to exercise it.

I feel that way about any firearm I would intend to use. I really don't want to corner a bad guy in my own home, I want them to leave.

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

If a .22 rifle was my only option, I would get a nylon 66 & feed it cci velociters or stingers. Practice with what you will use, clean the gun, especially the chamber & feed ramp.

 

[z7]

I don’t know how many rounds I have fired through my 10/22, (5k?) I keep it reasonably clean, but I have reliability issues. Usually it is a failure to feed/magazine related issue with failure to fire occurring a few times, rotate the shell 90 degrees and it might work. I have other guns I trust more

all in all, getting shot would suck, I don’t care what you get shot by, it will be a bad day. Stopping 6-10 22lr rounds with your body will absolutely ruin your day. So would stopping a 1oz slug, load of buckshot or a 77g hp moving 2800fps.

Two things drop critters (both 2 legged and 4 legged) in their tracks, disrupting the CNS and crushing/breaking bones critical for mobility. Sometimes the shock of impact and massive tissue and organ damage can do this without the bone or CNS damage

A 22 lr can disrupt the central nervous system, but will not blow through heavy bone predictably (think pelvis shot) like other options will

22lr will kill, but taking a minute to bleed out inside a house, while still mobile is a long, long time

If you don’t have a better choice then it is far better than a club, blade or phone alone . Regardless shoot accurately and present yourself as little as possible, dying or retreating critters can still hurt you

 

[FL-NC]

A 22 LR is difficult to kill a fox or bobcat with quickly. Half the time I shoot a squirrel in the body with one, its still alive when it hits the ground. Since aggressive humans are much more difficult to put down than a fox, bobcat, possum, or squirrel, the answer is no. Handgun, 9mm/ 38 special or better, train like a professional.

 

[MachIVshooter]

If it's all one has, a .22 would be better than a bat or edged weapon for the simple fact that it's ranged. But it would definitely be my last choice.

You have a shotgun. If overpenetration is your concern, load it with 4 buck or BB.

In an apartment situation, the .22LR or a 12 gauge with number 12 shot trap loads would make a good,''shoot the perp, not the kids in the next room'' kind of gun.

Where are you finding #12 loads other than rimfire shotshells? And using .050" pellets for defense? Not this guy.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

"... failure to fire occurring a few times, rotate the shell 90 degrees and it might work."

That is probably not the fault of the gun. That's is a problem I have had with certain .22 ammos. For hunting or self-defense I will use the ammo that has tested consistent and reliable in the gun. I have tolerated occassional primerless rounds in cheap bulk pack ammo for plinking cans, but even there I have started to select more reliable rounds.

.22 autos can be picky. I have one .22 auto that gags on the Winchester 40gr hollowpoint 1280fps load but runs fine with the Winchester 36gr hollowpoint 1330 fps load.

 

[Swampman]

I have a couple of Browning Buckmark .22LR pistols that will put ten rapid fire rounds in a hole that can be covered with a dime at 25 yards. Good enough for me and I would not be worried about the recipient getting back up.

That's nothing.

I killed a unicorn yesterday at over 1253.27 yards with my trusty Raven Arms MP22.

One shot kill, right through the pupil of his left eye.

I only use .22 shorts when hunting mythical beasts since I like to give 'em a sporting chance.

 

[LoonWulf]

Having killed quite a few critters that weigh about 1/2 as much as your average person with a .22, i wouldnt choose it as a primary option. Yes it would work in the correct circumstances, with proper application, but so will a sharp stick....or a blunt one, if need be.

But when were talking defense, and there is an option, ill chose what offers a better chance of working when everything goes wrong.

 

[entropy]

If a .22 rifle was my only option, I would get a nylon 66 & feed it cci velociters or stingers. Practice with what you will use, clean the gun, especially the chamber & feed ramp.

The dud rate for .22LR (any and every brand has duds; if you do not believe this, you don't shoot much .22LR) is unsatisfactory for a weapon than needs remedial action to get back in action. Add in the Nylon 66's action is inset way into the plastic, and you've a recipe for disaster for HD-not a combination I'd stake my life on. I have a Rem. 552, the action is basically the same, just an aluminum receiver, and it is not my choice for HD, whereas the Iver Johnson Cadet I had was used for HD for a while; 8 shots and if one didn't go off, keep pulling the trigger.

 

[Rocketmedic]

So I put a 9x32 Remington scope (incidentally, from the Remington 597) on my Henry lever-action 22, and replaced it with an el cheapo reflex sight, then zeroed it. I am very happy with the performance of the Henry with the scope (i am reasonably accurate with the iron sights, but the scope makes it easy), and somewhat satisfied with the outcome of the reflex sight on the 597. In hindsight, or perhaps the 'next' sight, I ought to have gotten a fully-enclosed reflex sight. The one I have works, but it is too bright and large to be what I really want. I'll likely replace it with another reflex sight- maybe a TRS-25?

It is quiet, rapid-firing and very controllable, and I like that a lot.

 

[caribou]

Keep in mind the folks/kids on the other side of the wall

 

[PabloJ]

While I would never consider .22 rimfire for HD if I had no other firearm options I would pick high quality target ammo to minimize dud discharges. Examples would be something from Eley or Lapua. When I shot good deal of .22 years ago inexpensive stuff from Remington and Aguila had good number of duds. Not sure how such ammo performs today. My experience is from about 20 years ago.

 

[Swampman]

I think I've had more dud .22's in one day than all the folks on page 1 of this thread combined have had in their entire lives.

There were actually quite a few more, but a lot of 'em fired on the second try.

As you can see, application of the priming compound was pretty shoddy, with a large portion of some rims receiving none at all.

On the other hand, I'm into my second 5000 round case of Eley Club Extra without a single misfire and both cases were bought @ 2005.

I've also fired thousands of CCI Standard Velocity and Aguilla Subsonic rounds in the last few years.
I can't recall a single dud in the lot.

I wouldn't even consider using a firearm in .22 Long Rifle as a primary defensive weapon unless I had nothing else, but it's not because I think the ammunition won't go bang when I pull the trigger.

 

[MedWheeler]

I've heard that a lot of the "bulk" .22 ammo made during the height of the recent shortage may be lacking in quality due to an accelerated manufacture rate and loose, bulk packaging (I can't wait to get into the 1400-count Remington bucket-o-GBs I picked up around late 2013!) I'm not sure how accurate this is, though.

 

[ms6852]

I think I've had more dud .22's in one day than all the folks on page 1 of this thread combined have had in their entire lives.
View attachment 766973
There were actually quite a few more, but a lot of 'em fired on the second try.
View attachment 766976
As you can see, application of the priming compound was pretty shoddy, with a large portion of some rims receiving none at all.

On the other hand, I'm into my second 5000 round case of Eley Club Extra without a single misfire and both cases were bought @ 2005.

I've also fired thousands of CCI Standard Velocity and Aguilla Subsonic rounds in the last few years.
I can't recall a single dud in the lot.

I wouldn't even consider using a firearm in .22 Long Rifle as a primary defensive weapon unless I had nothing else, but it's not because I think the ammunition won't go bang when I pull the trigger.

This is always an issue if you are depending on a 22lr to save your life. Though it is better than nothing at all and the 22lr is a very lethal round the majority of the people still load their rifles or handguns with bulk ammo. If this caliber is going to be used solely for self defense than you must up the ante and buy the expensive rounds like Eley, RWS, or Lapua, reliability is key in every caliber.