Saw this posted in another thread, along with similar comments.


.22's have been putting 2 and 4 leg animals down for years.  It wouldn't be a first choice for defense, but it isn't anything to sneeze at either.

-dan

it's a great solution if it's the only one you have available.


if you have better choices, use them.

This is all that needs to be said about the .22

With good high velocity ammo the .22 would certainly put a hurt on someone, and easily kill if you hit the right areas (which can be said of any round, really)

One of the deadliest rounds in town just have to know how to use it.

What's that old saying about being missed by a .45?

.22LR kicks ass. I wouldn't shoot an elk with one, but it's the best all around caliber out of any of them.

David killed Goliath with a rock but I'd never consider a slingshot for personal defense.

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come shtf .22 will rule

you can hunt just about anything with it that you'd eat. its not as noisy as center fire, you can stockpile and carry a ton of it and i bet its good for bartering in the end times.

sure 5.56, 7.62 of various types, 30.06, 30.30, 45-70 are better in a hot zone. but come the end times, you're gonna wanna elude and evade, not stand your ground and take hits.. i mean, where you gonna find a good trauma surgeon on the road?

Took a buck with a 22LR to the forehead @ 30 yards, it dropped like a curtain.

shot placement is key with all weapons,

If I had to pick just one rifle, I'd probably pick the .22 LR.

Scoped 10/22 and get head/neck shots like mad.



There was a hit man that used a .22 for executions - he'd hit them in the back of the neck.

I'll have to agree for SHTF .22 LR is my #1 choice.

A hit man? Um, .22 lr is the professionals choice and has been for decades. The outrageous ignorance on this site I am sure will disagree.

.22 takes a lot of abuse - why not?  Comparatively it isn't as strong as the bigger calibers.  However, I haven't yet found anyone willing to take one for the team.



.22 will kill a lot of things, just as long as its within its effective range.

No, it isn't  Its appropriately rated.


It really sucks, but sometimes it surprises you how well it works.


I've shot many a critters, near and far... when they knew it was coming and when they didn't.  .22LR?  Nothing special at all.  7.62x39 however, I find to be a little underrated.


That's what I would call a light switch on a cow... for being so damn mediocre of a round on paper... it kills well.

Not necessarily 22LR, but I thought I've read here in the past that 22 magnum is a common choice for deer poachers.

In a Glock, a .22 could take out half a small city.

As an unprofessional and ignorant arfcommer I'd love to see your sources.

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Talk to the FBI or better yet, the Italian Mafia.

It's perfect for small game.  A couple of bricks will last a while.  It's not too loud.

.22lr is GTG.  I have 3.

Believe it or not, I don't shoot through many windshields, nor do I get into many gunfights, you may, I don't.

I said the .22lr is the choice of pros and always has been, pros don't get in gunfights.

I grew up in Chicago. The .22lr and .38 has killed more people in Chicago than all other calibers combined. .22 and .38 revolvers are THE most confiscated crime guns in Chicago by CPD.

Kenkel shot up a school with a ruger 10/22. 50 round mag. 37 rounds hit people. 2 died.

a .22 is a marginal performer to begin with. throw in some barriers and its useless. why needlessly limit yourself to what type of target you can defend against? obviously we can't all carry 10.5" AR15s around with us, but a 9/40/45 is a hell of a lot better than a .22.





 

That is a good hit-shot ratio....


and typical .22LR kill ratio...

Fort hood. 5.7  30 wounded. 13 died.

Va tech 9mm killed 32 wounded 17.

I love the .22LR. Always have. I have 7 firearms in .22LR. But like all calibers, it has it's pro and cons. It is limited in range but that doesn't mean it's not deadly when properly applied in regards to distance/shot placement. We slaughtered our 1100 lb+ steers with .22 magnum to the forehead one year. Worked perfect. But in all fairness, the .22 mag is a step up from .22LR. With that said, I can't imagine any decent firearm collection to not include the .22LR caliber.

Westroads mall 7.62 x 39 9 dead 4 wounded

Well what about a .22?  Stay on track man!

It ain't always just about killin.

It's how long it takes the critter/etc to die, and what the critter does with that time......

29 wounded. 30 counts the shooter who was shot with 9mm by responding police.



25 wounded. The VA shooter also fired nearly twice as many rounds (170+ vs ~100) as the Fort Hood shooter.



19 were shot with 7.62x39mm in the North Hollywood shootout, and none of the victims died. Without considering the wound locations, number of hits, etc, you cannot draw an accurate conclusion from these incidents.

My terms .22 their terms .45.

I wouldn't deliberately choose it for self defense, but if it's all I had I would be damn glad to have it.  Out of a rifle it is nothing to sneeze at.  

I think the key to self defense with a .22 wouldn't be relying on the lethality of a single .22 bullet.  One could be deadly, but it's the 10 others following behind it in very fast succession and with good shot placement because of almost no recoil that would really seal the deal.  

When I was in my early teens, I spent a lot of time in the country with family.  I had a .22 rifle, and my cousin had a pickup.  We would scrounge up money and drive our shitbum uncle down to the store.  He'd buy us a few bricks of .22, a can of dip, and a 5 pack of beer.  

The area had a huge problem with stray dogs.  People would get a puppy, then the puppy would get big and they'd take it out to the country and dump it like morons.  The dogs would pack up and play havoc on livestock and even people on occasion.  We, being kids, were bored, and the chance to shoot shit and have 2 1/2 beers and half a can of dip was all we asked for. There is no such thing as a magic bullet, of course, but we rarely gave them a chance to run off with just one shot in them.... We killed a lot of dogs and coyotes growing up, all with .22 LR.  At ranges less than 50 yards and out of a rifle, there wasn't any doubt that whatever you hit was going to die, now or later didn't really matter in this case though.  All I know for sure is that ribcage shots made a loud, healthy thump when they connected.  I don't know the physics and terminal ballistics that explain that noise, but it's nothing I would want happening in my own anatomy.  

The main thing, about any cartridge, is that two shots in the kill zone of the target is better than one, and 9 is better than two.  If something is a threat, the best thing you can do is put as many of the biggest bullets you can in it, as fast as you can, until it is no longer a threat.  If you can put 15 rounds of .22 COM on a threat in the time it takes you to put 5 rounds of 9mm COM on a threat, I think whatever you shot will wind up equally dead in both cases.  

Still not saying I would deliberately carry .22lr, but with how easy it is to make many hits in a short period of time, and the fragility of the human body, I would never scoff at it, especially in a SHTF situation where any gunshot wound will likely cause infection and eventual death.

Given a choice I would take most anything besides a 22LR for home defense

Give just one gun
22 LR it would be

But I get to pick my poison right now
40 38 357
12 ga
223 243 7.62X39
And most of those have more than one thing that shoots it
I WILL use one of these before I even think about a 22LR

But I have 22LR in Rifle and pistol

Both the murders i worked as LEO were single shot .22 kills. One to the head, other to the chest. And i am not saying many a deer have fell to the .22

But, i will stick with the .40

Love my .22lr.  About the only thing I can afford to shoot anymore :)

He was also rolling with a 9mm Glock.

I would nevegive up my 22's........

Yup. If I choose the time and place,  it would be a .22 from a suppressed rifle. If I don't dicatate the terms, I don't want a .45 though-I want the biggest damned rifle I can get.

All handgun rounds are weak.

Highly, Highly recommended reading for those who wonder what a .22LR is capable of:

ETA: Now with a better link that has pictures

Underrated. And no, I wont "take one for the team" but I've "given one for the team" and the wound profile is dick. I could do more damage with an ice pick I think.

If I have to choose between a pointy stick and a .22LR I'll take the rimfire. Given that I can plan for things a bit I'll stick with my 9mm pistol and 5.56 rifle.

.22LR penetration chart: Linky:

Don't forget that Cho also carried a P22 Walther and as I recall killed people by shooting through barricaded doors with that weapon.

5 to the face and it won't matter what caliber.

It sure is a lot easier to tote around 500 rounds of 22LR than.....well, just about anything.

I know a few guys who have claimed that 22mag works wonders on deer.

I wouldn't want to be on the business end of my son's .22 SON'S .22

Let's just say that my great uncle Glen had venison in the freezer year round, and liked to drive around cornfields at night.

.22lr... better than nothing in a defensive situation... but thats probably all that can be said for it.

id say thats the number one problem with .22lr.  



Unless you  hit them in some vital areas or place many shots before they can react it will not likely stop an adrenalin filled person from getting a few shots off at you.  Sure theres the argument of shot placement but in a gunfight situation center mass is about as confident as Im willing to bet on my shot placement. Things are different when it is real and you are about to die possibly.  I want something that hits em like a truck if possible.