Is .22 any good in combat?

[XavierBreath]

In a fight for your life it is far better to create rapid to instant incapacitation of your enemy rather than wounds that allow him to continue the fight. My goal is to remove the will and ability to fight from my enemy, and to escape to safety. With this in mind, I would chose a budgeon and tactics over a .22 pistol.

Note I said tactics. Without tactics, no weapon is worth spit. If I can slam a baseball bat into somebody's temple, I believe he will cease his aggression far faster than he would with 5 shots of .22LR COM.

This does not mean that .22LR is not deadly, nor does it mean that is not or cannot be used effectively. I would chose a gun in a more effective caliber over either.

 

[JShirley]

This thread is in the handguns section, so it must be speaking of handguns.

Secondly, it asks about combat.

No handgun is optimal for combat. Handguns are given either as backup emergency weapons, or weapons for those whose first priority is something other than fighting.

Any firearm is dangerous, and a .22LR- especially from a rifle barrel- is quite dangerous especially at closer ranges, but no, a .22LR sidearm is not "any good in combat".

John

 

[AStone]

This thread is in the handguns section,
so it must be speaking of handguns.

This is why we pay mods big bucks.

(Just say, "Uh huh", to support our vets.)

Mods (even those in who live in combat zones)
remind us that we occasionally drift OT.
(Posting Rifle Country discussions in Handguns.)

 

[C-grunt]

OK Frez how about this. I will take a 1/4 inch wide 8 inch long drill bit and drill 10 holes into your chest. Then we can have a fist fight.

 

[frez]

Actually, if a BG rushes at you with a knife, and you shoot a few rounds of .22 at him (however much you can shoot accurately in 1.5 seconds, since the average person can cross 21 ft in 1.5 secs, minus time it takes to draw), he will still get to you and those few little holes you put into his center mass most likely don't have much short term effect in terms of him slashing you

 

[Geronimo45]

"he will still get to you and those few little holes you put into his center mass most likely don't have much short term effect in terms of him slashing you"
Got some documentation, gringo?

 

[tube_ee]

Maybe

You'd care to try it, frez?

No?

Me neither.

--Shannon

 

[frez]

If my life depended on it? Sure. And you? If your life depended on it, would you do it your way?

 

[tube_ee]

This thread was started with

the ridiculous question "is a .22 better than your bare hands?" Clearly, it is. Is it better than a knife? Yes, it is. Is it better than a bigger gun? No, of course not, and nobody has argued that it is.

By your construction, you're better armed with a knife than with a .22 handgun. That's nonsense. Clearly, both are lethal weapons. The knife may do more damage than the .22 bullet, per stab / shot. But the .22 will do that damage from a lot farther away, and do more damage per unit of time.

Look at it this way: Someone is charging you from 21 feet away with a knife. You have a knife and a .22 handgun. Are you going to shoot him as he charges, or pull your knife and wait for him to get in knife range, or leave both holstered and punch him in the face?

Clearly, nobody would choose a .22 as a primary defensive handgun, unless they were physically unable to shoot anything larger. There are people who can't. But if that's what you've got, for whatever reasons, you're better armed with it than with any concealable non-firearm weapon I can think of.

And that's been the point of this thread from the beginning.

--Shannon

 

[foob]

Actually, if a BG rushes at you with a knife, and you shoot a few rounds of .22 at him (however much you can shoot accurately in 1.5 seconds, since the average person can cross 21 ft in 1.5 secs, minus time it takes to draw), he will still get to you and those few little holes you put into his center mass most likely don't have much short term effect in terms of him slashing you

Yes I'm sure I'll swap a .22 for my fists in this case. You do know the scenario you mention works against any caliber, whether 9mm, .40, .45, and magnums.

If the BG had a knife and was charging, and I had a .22 in my hand, I ain't dropping it and drawing a knife. Knife fights are one of those cases where both sides lose big time. Well unless my knife was a sword, and his was a box cutter.

I'm shooting, retreating, shooting, and when I'm out of ammo, I'm going to throw the pistol at him, and then I'M RUNNING AWAY. Unless he's down, then I'm going to kick him in the nuts, after finding some rocks and making sure he isn't moving first.

 

[07Lway]

A .22lr beats the hell out of throwing rocks. Sure a baseball ball bat to the temple is going to take a guy out of action. However, it would be a lot easier for a bad boy to block a bat then a bullet.

 

[dubious]

The completely nutter "peformance artist", Chris Burden, had his buddy shoot him in the arm with a .22 rifle and called it "art". The piece, made in the 70's, is appropriately entitled "Shoot".

BEFORE:

AFTER:

He's obviously in pain, but he's not incapacitated, of course. I certainly wouldn't want to be in his shoes on this one.

 

[22-rimfire]

If she had shot him in the chest, things might just be a bit different.

I'd take a 22 any day over a knife in the 21 feet scenario. If the person is all drugged up, nothing short of a 357 or larger may stop him quickly enough before he covers the distance. I would run if I could. Shot if I have to, and then run, and if he is still coming, shoot again.

 

[obxned]

I love .22's for many purposes, but as a self-defense weapon, it is near the very bottom of my list. Still, I would rather have it than not.

 

[wooderson]

I don't remember the details, but I believe the aforementioned Chris Burden resigned his tenure at UCLA (or somewhere) after a student brought a gun on campus as part of a performance. He and others felt it contributed to an unsafe environment.

 

[Slimpickins]

I will say this "If you put a clip through someone and they are still coming at you, at least you can beat them with the empty 22..." I would rather have a empty 22 that I can beat someone with then nothing @ all.....

 

[IndianaBoy]

Okay, how about holding a padded trashcan lid infront of you. can that be good at slowing down .22's to the point where they can't do nil to you?

:banghead:

Hold on..... Let me grab my padded trashcan lid!!!

Are you serious?

 

[Marko Kloos]

Eskimos are thrifty...they use .22LR to drop 1,000-pound polar bears.

Discuss.

 

[Geronimo45]

"Eskimos are thrifty...they use .22LR to drop 1,000-pound polar bears."
That only works because there's no padded trashcan lids around the eskimos.

 

[XavierBreath]

"Eskimos are thrifty...they use .22LR to drop 1,000-pound polar bears."

Got a source Marko?

 

[Katana8869]

If I were engaging a target at a distance, a .22 would be okay. My Ruger MKII is wickedly accurate and I know it will hit exactly where I point it.

However, in a close in, contact distance fight I would rather have a good knife in my hand than a .22 even against an armed attacker.

I made a fellow martial artist and friend of mine a believer in what a good knife man can do last weekend. We were having a discussion about unarmed vs knife defense and he was giving me alot of talk about taking a knife from an attacker.

After arguing about techniques for awhile we got out my rubber training knife and took it out back where I proceeded to "carve" him up like a christmas goose. He really got the point so to speak after it went to ground and I ended up on his back with the point up against his cartoid artery while he was pancaked on his belly.

If you know how to use a knife, it is much more effective and versitile (sp) than a .22 at arms length.

 

[defiant73a]

If you know how to use a knife, it is much more effective and versitile (sp) than a .22 at arms length.

For a good mand with a knife, I'm pretty sure that'd would be true of any handgun--regardless of calibre--at arm's length.

Of course, the key is not to let it get to arm's length.

 

[GRB]

"A .22 in the pocket beats a .45 in the closet."

Aw comon you just made that up didn't you? But I love it.