One of my Mom's favorite stories is about .22LR. In the 60's My Aunt had a drunkard for a husband, he was also a lowlife wife beater. My Aunt had went to stay at Grandma and Grandpa's after a particularly terrible week of being beaten. That night he came calling and my Grandpa was out of town. He kicked in the door and my Grandma met him with Grandpa's Remington Nylon 66 at the stairs on the first landing. He said he was going to kill her if she didn't move and that my Aunt would get it worse for making him come to get her.
Grandma was 5'5" and weighed maybe 100 pounds, she didn't back down though. She told him she would shoot if he came any closer and that the police were on the way. He reiterated his threat and started up the stairs. She pulled the trigger at maybe 6-10 feet. He continued up the stairs seemingly unfazed. He knocked my Grandma down, my Mom who was the second line of defense, had come to her aid and handed her an iron which she then hit him in the head with a few times before he went limp. The cops showed up at the very end of the altercation, as the saying go's "when seconds count the police are only minutes away".
While examining his headwound the police noticed the bleeding spot on his abdomen. This dirtbag had been gut-shot with a 40gr .22LR and kept coming. The bullet had made it all the way through from the abs, stomach, and to the muscle in his lower back. While in the hospital he told the cops what he had done and was promptly charged with felony assault. My Grandpa taught my Grandma to use his 1911 after this, he didn't want to take a chance with her using a .22LR again. My Aunt did divorce that scumbag after this incident, where he is now, who knows.
I could use 5.56, 7.62x39 and x54, 12 gauge, .45 ACP, 9mm, or hell .44 magnum as a choice. If all I had was .22LR then yes, I would use it. You can bet that I would be picking up something bigger as soon as I could. Sorry for the long post but I thought this story that I've heard a 1000 times should be shared. My loved ones are my world. I wouldn't chance their lives with .22LR, especially after hearing this story from my Mom, Grandma, and Aunt.
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