People often ask this question and also if the .22 LR is a viable defense round. Well it certainly wouldn't be my first choice but, I just found this video I thought was interesting.
This all sounds right, but let's say you have your knife ready and get to your target before their gun is ready. Getting to them doesn't end anything, that's just the start of the fight. There's also the chance of them apprehending your knife. But let's say it worked out as planned and you lunge your blade into the opponent... will that immediately end the fight? Nope. People aren't that fragile, and don't bleed fast enough...In my CCW class they taught that a knife was better than a gun inside of 21 feet. They had a name for the rule. They called it the 21 foot rule but there's another name for it. It may be the Tueller Drill. I've seen that discussed many times. I have no idea why they even think that except that it may be they're talking about a knife that's already pulled and how fast a person can cover 21 feet. They seem to be claiming that a knife that's pulled can beat a gun that must be drawn and fired before the person gets cut.
That's why I included that statement. I have no idea how true this rule really is but a person has to pull a knife too so the test seems to be unfairly set up. Still a person can draw a knife very quickly and it doesn't require aiming. Heck I don't know though. I haven't tried to stab anyone in 2 or 3 weeks at least.
I do know that a person can cover 21 feet VERY quickly if the person is still young and still have their legs. 7 yards is a common distance for a football formation and if you played high school football you'll know some people can cover that distance very fast. Heck I got to the QB once and he handed me the ball instead of handing it to his halfback. He didn't know he was going to. He just stuck it out waiting for his halfback and I ran through and grabbed it like it was a handoff to me and scored a TD. It was funny as heck but that would have been about 7 yards from where I was to where I got the ball from the QB.
If anyone went to Fairview High School near Ashland Kentucky in the early 1970's you might have seen me do that. I laughed all the way to the end zone which probably ticked off the other team but I just couldn't help it.
A young and quick person can cover 21 feet very fast. Keep in mind that some people can run 100 yards in 9 seconds (not me ever) so that's pretty quick to just 7 yards. We're talking about 3/4th of a second or so. Maybe a whole second. If you aren't ready or you have your gun snapped in that is a short time to pull your gun.
Now, here's what I think. While I wouldn't carry a .22 as a primary carry weapon, I think a semi auto .22 like a 10/22 could be an effective sd weapon in the home. I could pump 10 rds into a burgler's gut so fast he wouldn't know what hit him. I'm not going to, because I have other weapons at my disposal, but if that's all I had (trust me, lots of people only own a .22 rifle) I believe it would likely be up to the task.I know the .22 is lethal. I was responding to people talking about using it for SD. For one thing the OP mentioned using it for SD in the first post.
No, the OP didn't mention using it for self defense. The OP said that people often ask about using a .22 for self defense, and they do. It's one of those questions that comes up every few months.
BTW just what is the point of wanting to know the "lethality" of a round if you're not going to use it for SD? The video has a ham wrapped up in jeans.
But aside from SD I can't see any other reason for even asking this question. If there is one feel free to inform me.
There was no question asked. There was a video prefaced by a comment, and the reason for posting it was because I thought it was interesting.
I understand curiosity is always in play but I would guess that wasn't the whole reason for this thread. I could be wrong. I doubt it.
You could be wrong, and you are.
I don't doubt that you can shoot quickly but hitting someone that many times is not a given if they're moving and they know something about avoiding being shot. Watch the video of the lawyer that I linked to above. A guy was shooting at him point blank and missed about 3/4 of the time because the guy was moving when he aimed the gun. And that guy was using pistols, which are much faster to point and aim than a rifle especially inside a house. And again, the lawyer did get hit 5 times in what would be considered a vital area but he didn't die or even go down.I could pump 10 rds into a burgler's gut so fast he wouldn't know what hit him.
Either you misunderstood or your CCW instructor was an idiot. Unless you have considerable experience or that's your only choice, using a knife for sd is a very bad idea. To say that a knife is better than a gun inside 21 ft. is absurd.In my CCW class they taught that a knife was better than a gun inside of 21 feet. They had a name for the rule. They called it the 21 foot rule but there's another name for it. It may be the Tueller Drill. I've seen that discussed many times. I have no idea why they even think that except that it may be they're talking about a knife that's already pulled and how fast a person can cover 21 feet. They seem to be claiming that a knife that's pulled can beat a gun that must be drawn and fired before the person gets cut.
That's why I included that statement. I have no idea how true this rule really is but a person has to pull a knife too so the test seems to be unfairly set up. Still a person can draw a knife very quickly and it doesn't require aiming. Heck I don't know though. I haven't tried to stab anyone in 2 or 3 weeks at least.
I do know that a person can cover 21 feet VERY quickly if the person is still young and still have their legs. 7 yards is a common distance for a football formation and if you played high school football you'll know some people can cover that distance very fast. Heck I got to the QB once and he handed me the ball instead of handing it to his halfback. He didn't know he was going to. He just stuck it out waiting for his halfback and I ran through and grabbed it like it was a handoff to me and scored a TD. It was funny as heck but that would have been about 7 yards from where I was to where I got the ball from the QB.
If anyone went to Fairview High School near Ashland Kentucky in the early 1970's you might have seen me do that. I laughed all the way to the end zone which probably ticked off the other team but I just couldn't help it.
A young and quick person can cover 21 feet very fast. Keep in mind that some people can run 100 yards in 9 seconds (not me ever) so that's pretty quick to just 7 yards. We're talking about 3/4th of a second or so. Maybe a whole second. If you aren't ready or you have your gun snapped in that is a short time to pull your gun.
Well you clearly didn't understand what I said. A. I said the instructor certainly wasn't clear about the whole issue but he did say "better". I have it in my notes if you'd like a copy. B. I never said it was better. I clearly said I included it because my instructor in my CCW class did and it was more or less a joke that I threw in.Either you misunderstood or your CCW instructor was an idiot. Unless you have considerable experience or that's your only choice, using a knife for sd is a very bad idea. To say that a knife is better than a gun inside 21 ft. is absurd.
no matter what the weapon,,, if u use it properly !!!Every time someone asks this question I point them to this video where a man empties two .22 revolvers point blank shooting at his lawyer. The lawyer lived. Is that the caliber of gun you want for self defense? Not me.
I saw a lot of people saying a .22 is a viable defense round in this thread before I stopped reading the comments. They're wrong. A .22 can certainly kill "if" you hit someone in the right spot. But hitting someone in the right spot is not nearly as easy as all that unless you're shooting at someone that isn't expecting to be shot. Most home invaders, criminal types, etc. are ready for a confrontation and won't be a sitting duck type target. That leaves you trying to hit a concealed and covered target and / or a moving target. The video tells you exactly what you need to know. The lawyer was shot in the neck and lived. I have a hard time believing that would have turned out the same if the guy had a .45. Yes you might still kill them or stop them with one shot of .22 LR. But a larger round has a MUCH better chance of doing the job you want done. That lawyer was shot FIVE times in the face and the upper body. That's exactly where you would try to shoot him. He walked away from it. No way he does that if the gun is a .45. Not a chance.
Every expert in the world will tell you this. They don't just say it for fun. It's true. I know people who were shot in the head with a .22 and the bullet followed the bone alright - right around their skull and out the other side with nothing more than a cut on his head and it wasn't even that bad. He never had the slightest problem with being shot in the head. Think about what I'm saying here. He was shot in what is considered to be the most lethal spot and he barely noticed it. It's not like his life was saved by heroic efforts at the hospital either. None of his wounds were life threatening. None.
A .22 will NOT do the damage of a larger caliber weapon like a .45 or a 9mm or a .40 caliber. It certainly won't do the damage of a centerfire rifle caliber from a .223 on up. It's not even close.
And the idea of shooting multiple shots means you need to make multiple hits. The odds of that happening are slim. Remember Black Hawk Down? Those bad guys were being shot with .223 rounds and they kept on fighting because they were so stoned they didn't know they were hurt bad. Most people in a gun battle will quit when they see they are seriously hurt. They don't want to die. But drunks in a stupor, PCP blasted dopers, crack heads, etc. are often going to be just like those khat heads in Somalia. They won't even realize they're shot until you hit something vital that puts them down.
If you want to be a hit man then yes a .22 can work well for you. If you want something to defend yourself and your family get a centerfire weapon with as much power as you can handle.
There's a reason you don't see armies using .22's. Yes I know about how Israel used them to take out guards quietly. But that's one very limited example. If they were actually good for SD you'd see at least one country using them in their army. But no country does.
I guess the question is "why" would you choose a .22 for self defense when clearly other calibers are far, far superior? It makes no sense to me at all.
Wow. I feel a lot better carrying my NAA .22mag as a pocket pistol.I carry my little NAA .22mag revolver as a last ditch BUG, I'm a believer! People in my neck of the woods used to (I'm sure they still do) poach deer quite often with .22 rifles, quiet and a head shot will usually put them down quick.
thanks for the video MT!