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How Lethal Is A .22 ???

108K views 91 replies 51 participants last post by  CJ_56 
#1 ·
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.

 
#52 ·
thanks for the video. my girlfriend is just now learning about guns after 45 years of not being around them. im trying to give her an idea of what the .22 could actually do to someone if needed. this is a good visual for her. she has always heard from people who have no idea that it would just piss someone off, (yeah right.) thanks again. very helpful.
 
#53 ·
she has always heard from people who have no idea that it would just piss someone off, (yeah right.)
only if therer on meth or other types of speed a 45acp could piss them off no gurantte when people are on these types of drugs.
The only thing that gets me is some of the stupid post ive heard about 22,s. one guy said he witnessed a guy shot with a 22 and the bullets bounced off him.sorry but i have to call bull crap on that one.No bullet is going to bounce off anyone unless there made of rubber. a 22 can be very lethal military snipers have used these rounds.For people to say a 22 isn,t lethal there wrong unless the,ve been shot buy one they would not know.ive done test with a half inch of plywood with a milk jug filled with jello at 25yrds it penatrated the plywood and went through the milk jug tell me that a 22 isnt lethal.if a person can handle bigger like a 9mm or 38 id go with that over a 22 for deffense but not all people can to turn people against using a 22 .my opion better then nothing at all
 
#54 ·
I like the fact that a few of the posters here have actually shot some kind of living creature with a 22. I have and they all dropped or ran away. I have had 22's including magnums fail on head shots because a skull has remarkable ability to deflect. Has any body else had a similar experience? I have come to prefer chest shots from a perpendicalar angle. Ihave seen squirrels with a sizable head wound and still trying to run away. I would like to more experiences and less hearsay.
 
#55 ·
You can't kill a bear shooting it in the eye. The eye socket doesn't give you a clear path to the brain. A bear has to be shot in the mouth if you expect to kill it with a small caliber weapon.

And that stuff about an old man killing two people with a .22. Anything's possible. Samson killed 5000 with the jawbone of a donkey. And before you say that's not possible remember he was on a ledge where they had to come at him one at a time.

The story is you pick what's most effective if you're smart.

BTW I've killed LOTS of stuff with a .22. You can kill large and small animals with it if you have the time to take perfect aim and you know where to shoot. I grew up in a "very" rural area and we had to protect ourselves from varmints and worse (like feral dogs running in packs). I know for a fact you can kill those animals with a .22. I've killed maybe 30 dogs in my life with a .22 and only one needed a second shot and that was because the dog turned it's head the instant I shot. But I also know the chances of killing a human are a lot less using a .22 instead of using a larger caliber.
 
#57 · (Edited)
Lets see...the world record Grizzly Bear for several years was killed by a grandmother with a .22lr bolt-action rifle...:)
http://www.angelfire.com/on2/LandOwner/misc/Grizley1.html

Recently a Polar Bear attacked a woman and her husband took it out with a .22lr rifle...one shot to the legs to distract it, and then one to the head...

In an outside the bar confrontation, an off-duty Orange Beach Police Officer used his backup NAA Mini-revolver against a knife-wielding attacker...
"One shot to the stomach made all the fight go out of him and he crumpled to the ground..."

On the other hand, I've seen dash-cam vid of a crackhead who took 19 shots from officers using 9mm's, including two headshots...
(those two headshots made brain matter splatter on the house behind him, mind you...sometimes even Good placement doesn't help)
after expending all the rounds in his pistol, the man then Charged officers with a 2x4...
and was put down permanently with two 12-gauge shotgun blasts, one to the head...

Every shooting situation is different...it depends almost entirely on where you put the bullet...
CNS hits are the most effective...and there is much to be said for 12-gauge chest hits ;)

I've carried a wide variety of firearms over the years, some for duty, some for personal protection...
but ANY firearm is better than NO firearm...as it gives you Options!!
 
#58 ·
Lethality and round are one part of the equation. Shot placement is more important then caliber unless you get real big. The larger and faster you get the less accurate you have to be. The smaller round used the more your shot needs to hit the mark. Of course Speed can also give you leeway.
 
#60 ·
Here is an Exerpt from a story I read online when I googled " Grizzly killed with a 22"

Back in 1965, the world-record grizzly fell to one .30/30 bullet fired by Jack Turner. And before that, the world-record grizzly succumbed to a .22 Rimfire!

Bella Twin, an Indian girl, and her friend Dave Auger were hunting grouse near Lesser Slave Lake in northern Alberta. The only gun they had was Bella’s single-shot bolt-action .22 Rimfire rifle. They were walking a cutline that had been made for oil exploration when they saw a large grizzly following the same survey line toward them. If they ran, the bear would probably notice them and might chase, so they quietly sat down on a brush pile and hoped that the bear would pass by without trouble. But the bear came much too close, and when the big boar was only a few yards away, Bella Twin shot him in the side of the head with a .22 Long cartridge. The bear dropped, kicked and then lay still. Taking no chances, Bella went up close and fired all of the cartridges she had, seven or eight .22 Longs, into the bear’s head. That bear, killed in 1953, was the world-record grizzly for several years and is still high in the records today. Which only goes to show that in an emergency, strange things are possible, but who wants that kind of emergency?
 
#62 · (Edited)
They still haven't explained how some nobody with a seven shot cheepo revolver was able to put nine rounds into him. Nor how, from a frontal attack two of these shots were in the back of his head, quite strange....eh.

those who beat their guns into plowshares, will plow for those who didn't
Lots of questions on BOTH of those Kennedy boy's shootins ain't it? :eek: :D

And it sounds like the Israeli's are using Col Jeff Cooper's suggestions on crowd control by using a silenced .22 to take out the ring leaders!! That is absoflogginglutely wonderful news.
 
#63 ·
I'll tell you guys what. I'll put up $5 to everyone willing to stand 10 yards from a brown bear and shoot it with a .22 LR. It will be DRT, right? No worries then. Easy money.

I'll use a .50 BMG and do it for $1. That sounds fair. There's no difference between the two is there? Come to think of it I'd prefer a 20mm cannon. After all they both start with a 2. And you guys will be getting 5 times as much as me for your effort. I'll only pay out if you live though.

We could talk about all those military forces that use the mighty .22. Wait. Ooops! I forgot, there aren't any. Does anyone know why that is? Anybody? After all a .22 is just as effective as a .223, right? They both start with a 2 after all. And the .223 really isn't any bigger in diameter than a .22 LR, right? But for some reason army guys just don't use the .22. Think how much money we could save on ammo if we gave all our soldiers .22's. I think I'll write a letter to Dear Leader. You should too.

And yes, yes, yes I know all about those Mossad guys who used .22's as sniper weapons. But didn't I say you could kill people if you had time to aim and pick a perfect shot with a .22? Sure I did. I guess they are just as effective as every other caliber after all. You guys should sell all your large caliber weapons and use nothing but .22's for SD. Use shorts while you're at it. I saw people talking how they were effective too.

There. It's settled.
 
#64 ·
"And yes, yes, yes I know all about those Mossad guys who used .22's as sniper weapons. But didn't I say you could kill people if you had time to aim and pick a perfect shot with a .22? Sure I did. I guess they are just as effective as every other caliber after all. You guys should sell all your large caliber weapons and use nothing but .22's for SD. Use shorts while you're at it. I saw people talking how they were effective too.

There. It's settled."---cj_56

Wow ! I wasn't aware of this [but I'm new to shooting].
What a splendid idea. I have some very expensive guns
so I should fare real well on trading.
And I love wearing shorts, what a plus. [long pants suck]
My wife should now be able to shoot with me, 'cause I
don't think the .22's have that much recoil.
Thanks for the great advice.
Off to the gun show....I'll keep ya posted.
 
#66 ·
How leathal? It will kill. May not be a "stopper", but I don't want to be shot with one.

Many decades ago I was asked to teach a co-worker's wife and kids how to shoot. I took them down to the river bank and gave the kids a couple of cans of tomato paste and without providing them with any tools asked them to open the cans.

After a few minutes of them throwing the cans at rocks or hitting them with small rocks or sticks, I took the cans from them. Put the cans against the bank, showed them the small 22 long rifle cartridges as I loaded them into Ruger Single-Six.

After seeing what that little "bullet" would do to the cans that they failed to open. The kids had respect for the little 22, so did the wife/mother.
 
#68 ·
Yes, the 22 is lethal and with any caliber, just like business placement, the key is location location location. Well, except for that pesky little thing called "the pucker factor".

I don't care what caliber you use or how many times you pull the trigger when your azzhole puckers to the back of your throat you'll be lucky to hit what you're shooting at.

Typical hit ratio for most LEO at combat ranges, within about 15ft is lower than one might think.

Here's one of the first studies on the subject.

http://www.pointshooting.com/1asop9.htm

Granted the study is not current but Bruce K. Siddle (Detonics) has been studying and teaching about combat for years and these statistics haven't improved that much. This is a good read.

http://www.amazon.com/Sharpening-Warriors-Edge-Psychology-Training/dp/0964920506

Training helps obviously but that pesky ole pucker factor keeps messing with our ability to hit what we're aiming at under stressful situations.

I know I hit just about all the animals I ever shot at in my life except for those that were shooting at me. I have no idea how many of them I actually hit.
 
#69 ·
Well, I could point out that the IDF (Israeli Defense Force) uses 1022's for purposes of Crowd Control...
due to its "less-than-lethal effect", it is their favored means of peppering rock-throwing Palestinians to get them to stop throwing rocks...
 
#70 · (Edited)
Opinions have a way of being censored on this board so what's the point of saying anything. I can prove to anyone here that a sharp stick is probably more effective than a .22. It's been proven that using an atlatl a person can throw a spear 850 feet. Those spears penetrated the chain mail of the Spanish Conquistadors in S. America when they had spear tips on the darts. Of course it's all about location though. If you miss then it doesn't matter how powerful your weapon is. Imagine that. I don't know why people think they have to repeat that all the time but I figured I'd do it too.

BTW people kill deer with the atlatl all the time. Several states have hunting seasons just for the atlatl. Check out this web site for more info.

http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/to...-Contest-2009--Photos--Attendees#.UIFEA67AFGc

Yep it's pretty clear a sharp stick IS better than a .22 for some things.
 
#72 · (Edited)
ive heard storys of soldiers who have said they shot 5 223.rds into a person and it didnt stop them and the returned fire on them ive even heard of people being shot with 7.62 9mm 45acp and do the same thing. any caliber can be leathal depends on the scenario if a guy is on 6-7 lines of meth hes gonna have the strength of 4 ppl hes not gonna feel pain when first hit with any caliber a 22 rifle bolt act or semi auto ive gotta say would probably be the best SHTF firearm to have though its light can pack tons of ammo& ammo is a lot cheaper in price for u to stock up with and in a sittuation where theres little to no medical attetion no one would want to be shot by any caliber of a round but on penatration factorsi have to agree a large round is better. a 22lr handgun im my opion would be good for c&c unfortnaly i live in IL so cant carry my reasons for saying that if a situation came to play in aparking lot and your attacked u dont have to worry about the round going through the perp and hitting a innocent person like a 45 or 9mm could at close range what my point is i would not use a 22lr to protect my house from a home invader but i would in a situation of chaos to fend off attackers at a 50-60 yrd distance if those sittuations ever were to happen
All true AND if the attacker is hopped up on something like heroin then you have to litterally blow them apart. From my history reading in the early 1900's phillipino muslims wrapped themselves in tight linen binds around vital areas and smoked some opium, then attacked US Army dependent parties killing as many women and children as well as any soldiers who got in their way. The officers at this time were armed with .38 caliber revolvers. At least this is what I read?
 
#73 ·
All true AND if the attacker is hopped up on something like heroin then you have to litterally blow them apart. From my history reading in the early 1900's phillipino muslims wrapped themselves in tight linen binds around vital areas and smoked some opium, then attacked US Army dependent parties killing as many women and children as well as any soldiers who got in their way. The offiecer at this time sere armed with .38 calible revolvers. At least this is what I read?
exactly my point if some punk breaking into your house just to show his friends hes cool or a guy who might do it to get some stuff to sell a 22lr might do the trick but combat/someone jacked up or someone who planed it out or is on a rampage its not goin to any caliber your taking a 50/50 chance
 
#76 ·
My Ruger 10-22 has 25 round mag's and I can fire all rounds in around 20 seconds. Who is going to live through that? I don't use a 22 for home defence but I am sure it would work if that's all you have.
 
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