My older lady friend (70+) has found a gun she can rack and deal with the recoil. True 22 is not the best choice and I told her that but her thought is "don't confuse me with the facts this what I want" So for her RugerLCP 22 which is best HP ammo or Solids.

Probably doesn’t matter since a 22 HP isn’t going to do much from a short barrel auto. Function / accuracy is more important.

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S&W factory revolver armorer

try the CCI Velocitor

+1 on CCI Velocitor.

CCI Stinger will expand a bit from a handgun.

If she decides to go with HP's have her test the ammo and make sure it feeds reliably. From my experience it seems like FMJ rounds have been more reliable in semi-auto rimfires.

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Ephesians 6 (Armor of God)

A 22LR is better than nothing, but I agree, in a semi-auto, pick whatever feeds and extracts reliably.

The only thing that should concern OP is 22 ammo that is entirely reliable in the gun. Nothing else matters except hitting the target.

22 hp ammo out of a short barrel handgun doesn’t expand with sufficient regularity to be worth fussing with. High velocity 22 ammo offers no benefit over standard velocity ammo in such a gun.

Anyone who’s shot game with such a gun (as opposed to folks focused on balistic tables and gel tests) knows these basic truths.

If she's not going to carry the gun, could you convince her to try a larger .22 at least? She would get a few more inches of barrel length, speeding the bullet up so an HP would perform better.

Taking out of the equation the whole discussion of “22 yes or no for SD”....... knowing as finicky as rimfire can be then it seems the first critical point is to find ammo that functions with no issues. After a lot of testing rounds thru the gun.
If a round tends to have failures then it wont matter if it expands more.

I own a Buckmark and a Victory; Cci mini mags run near flawlessly in both and that includes the HP version. Not that I need HP for the range but they happened to be what was available at the time. And as they say if it aint broke.....

Solids.

If one MUST use a 22LR for SD, then penetration is king.

(After shot placement and reliable feeding bla, bla, bla...)

John

Since it is a semi-auto, what functions is much more important that what the bullet is

I would certainly try the CCI Segmented ammunition first. Since it has three pieces you do not need to worry about the projectile going fast enough to expand.

It works great in my Walther PPk/s

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"Acta non verba"

https://www.luckygunner.com/labs/poc...-test-results/

Some company should make a super reliable 22 rimfire ammo for people who want to carry a 22.

As a proponent of HP ammo for self defense, I'd have to say it would offer little, if any, benefit in a .22. Focus on reliability and getting good hits.

CCI VELOCITOR is the chosen load that I carry in my Model 43C.

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Dave Brown
SWCA #3279

the foot is in the door. worry about reliability and having her shoot, then move onto some optimum of some sort later

The luckygunner tests show no expansion with any of the 22lr rounds tested.

But the Luckygunner test on 22 wmr is another story. Both Critical Defence and Gold Dot show good expansion and penetration from 2" and 4" barrels.

I agree, for 22lr, find a reliable load and go with it.

I use CCI MM 40gr solids in my carry .22s (BUGs).

Shot placement is 1st, penetration is 2nd, any thing else is... just less important. My concern with HP is if they did expand, I'd loose penetration. Most HPs are 36gr, not much difference in weight, but you're already near the bottom of the performance curve, every bit helps.

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SWCA #2817

I was given a 351C (.22 WMR) by a friend. I was impressed by the revolver, however the 14 pound trigger pull might put the lady off.

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

With a 22 you need ammo that goes bang, not click. My understanding is eley priming method is the most reliable. I would recommend eley target ammo. Terminal balistics don't matter if the cartridge doesn't fire and I'm not sure there will be much difference in terminal outcomes. So many variables, t-shirt or down jacket? across the table or across the yard?

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Well done > well said

The heaviest and fastest quality 22LR you can find. For the little calibers drilling multiple DEEP holes is the name of the game.

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Send lawyers, guns & money...

FWIW, I have tried to carry a 1 7/8 SW 317 in .22LR. .22 has a place. Greg Ellifritz has a good analysis- Real World .22s for Self Defense | Active Response Training

I tried the 60 grain Aguila SSS in the 317, but those did not stabilize. They also would probably be tough to make reliable in an auto due to a modest charge.

For me the Velocitor or Interceptor is the choice for the 317, due to both point of aim in my testing and the maximum penetration. Preferably in FMJ, but my understanding is most HP would not expand at low velocity. The Lucky Gunner information seems very valid.

I have not shot either in the new LCP22, but more speed would drive deeper penetration. I handled the LCP22 at a gun show a week ago... Decent trigger, the racking is easy and seemed well manufactured. I am not a big Ruger fan, but seems to be a well executed idea. The LCP is also a mature platform, so the early production risk seems pretty low even in a new chambering.

I had a 10/22 for home defense when younger and poorer. With a reliable 30 round magazine, I consider it formidable. No recoil, low noise and blast makes it easy to be accurate. Maybe the LCP is a less velocity and a bit harder to shoot, but seems a reasonable pick.

My concern with a .22 for self defense is the reliability of the ammo. Seems to me that .22 ammo quality has dropped off in recent years. More duds per box than there used to be.
Make sure she knows, practices and understands malfunction drills. As already said, use the most reliable ammo rather than worry about bullet type. Good high velocity stuff preferred.
More than likely it would be used at close range. So teach her to go for the head and fire multiple times.

FMJ.

JHPs won't penetrate deeply enough to reach vitals. Also, if she case manage it, .22WMR is a better option as they tend to be more reliable as well as more powerful.

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Shooting Comfort is bilateral.

My experience has been that the CCI Stingers have been the most reliable in small semi-autos that I have owned. The longer case and slightly higher pressures seem to be just what these little autoloaders need. CCI Mini Mag solids are a close second.

Groo here
Although the 22lr is not thought of as a stopper ,, it is a real killer...
As most are outside lubed, they pickup all types of bad things.
Dirt, pocket lint , jerms etc'
And they do not often go where they were pointer ,just bounce around.
With modern drugs not so bad BUT the infection was said to kill in 3 days in the old days.
A "friend" was hit by a 22lr in the intestions and the doctors bout
lost him ..
Still took weeks to clear up the mess.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shot placement with a 22LR is critical. A gut shot might end with death, but it can take days. Rounds in the brain pan tend to do well, but they must be pretty well centered, grazing shots may not break through the skull.

CCI 40 grain RN MiniMags is as good as it gets when it comes to reliable 22 ammo. And like many others have mentioned in .22 reliability is most important factor.

The RN seem to feed a little bit better than the HP in some guns. With 22 you cannot have penetration and expansion and penetration is more important. Not that a 22 HP is likely to expand anyways when fired from a short barreled handgun.

After the great .22 RF ammo shortage quality went way down with Remington, Federal, and Winchester and I have not bought any since. The quality may be back up but I don't know, CCI always has pretty good quality and it's a little more expensive but no big deal. As long as I can get a 500 round brick of CCI standard velocity for 23 bucks I don't even look at the other brands.

I did some tests a few years ago because a woman in the family got her CHL using a 9mm, but wanted to carry a 22 revolver for all the same reasons. She got a Ruger LCR (8 shot 22LR) and asked me what ammo to use. What a challenge.

For my amateur, semi-scientific test I took my M-317 2" out to a friend's ranch and lined up sets of 2 water filled gallon milk jugs on a bench. The jugs dimensions are "about" a 6" cube, so 2 together is about 12" deep. I took 7 or 8 different 22LR high velocity rounds both 40 grain soild, 37 HP and some now discontinued Winchester Power Point 42 MAX (1320 fps).

I figured that anything that would penetrate 12" of water at short range was the best I could expect from 22LR. I shot the jugs from about 7' and checked the results after each shot. Everything penetrated into the second jug (more than 6" of water and 3 layers of hard plastic). Only 2 penetrated 12" of water - even those were stopped by the 4th layer of plastic which they "dented."

The winners were CCI Mini Mag 40 gr. solid and the Winchester 42 MAX. All the bullets mushroomed. I gave her a 100 rounds of Mini Mag solids and said "use this."

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6/23/2022

I like the 42g win max HP. Didn't know they were discontinued, just bought some.

Some companies do, *I* just don't think any are located in the U.S. A bit of reading in the .22 ammo section over at RFC can be a real eye opener. Even the vaunted CCI is way less that what it used to be and I simply won't trust it for carry.

What I do trust is the old Wolf MT that is simply re-branded SK Standard Plus. I've been shooting it for over 15 years, mainly in a M 41, but in all my .22s and cannot remember a dud round or FTF, FTE, or any ammo related malfunction. It even runs my Colt SM ACE with no issues. I'm sure it's happened, but I sure don't recall it.

Have no experience with the new Wolf made by Eley and can't comment on that.

OP: Yeah, it's not cheap, bot not overly expensive either, ~$50/brick. Might be worthwhile for her to snag a brick online of the SK Standard Plus. Or, give the Eley made Wolf a try, but it's close in price.

Just don't cheap out on something she's betting her life on.

Rob

Solids. Better, but still inadequate, penetration.

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I've still got it made.

I was shot with a 22lr in 1963. I weighed 190# at the time. It was old solid military target ammo made in 1943. The gun was a High Standard Sentinel with a 2"bbl. The bullet entered under my left armpit and worked its way up into my neck and was found facing the opposite direction of how it entered. Penetration was about 14" and it tumbled. It also knocked me down with quite some authority. It took me about 30 seconds to figure out what happened. The noise made my ears ring and the impact felt like a whacked funnybone. I would vote for solids and say that a 22lr can be quite effective from personal experience.

now that's testing ammo the hard way! yea I here a lot of people say there ain't nothing to a 22, or 25 or 32 bull! I had a friend back in the 80s that was a rough character. he was shot 3 different times. with a 22 hand gun, a 32 long and a 22 mag hand gun. he said the 22 slammed him to the ground by being hit in the hip. the 32 went through him and he liked to died. the 22 mag. his wife shot him twice. he come very close to death on that that one. having skinned a few deer shot and killed with 22s I would go for the solids. a deer shot at close range behind the shoulder ribs will get broke, most solid slugs will penetrate to the hide on the off side if no bones are hit, just like buckshot,,,,,,,,,,

my daughter's LCR .22lr is loaded with cci RN. RN for better penetration, cci for better rimfire reliability.

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