I'm thinking,.. given the OP's scenario, that the lethality factor is probably in line with a wound sustained from a 4" blade thrusted in to the hilt.
X marks the sweet spot and outside that X would probably hurt his hearing more than his vitals.

Now had the 22 tips been dipped in garlic within the previous 12 hours then that fatal factor increases. This has been proven in several (old) movies I have seen whenever I stayed at a Howard Johnson.

Another option might be a Ramset but only if loaded with the 2.5 inch fastners or longer. In this scenario, it is critical that the washer option is used so that expediency can be applied when he pulls it out and hopefully bleeds out.

But your honor, my client did not use deadly force. It was a 22 short!

My Grandfather and his fishing buddies shot a bear with b-b gun after drinking whiskey one evening. Carrying a .22 short for self defense would be nearly that crazy.

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SWCA 3255 SWHF 615

Ok, I should have said 10 to 15 yards away instead of 10 feet. I understand that a head shot would be the best target area. Once in a while I will carry this "mouse gun" as a last resort weapon. Four rounds in the cylinder with the hammer resting on an empty chamber. Thank you all for your comments.

.22 short won't stop this.

Elite Knife Fighter vs Elite Gun Fighter - RAW, UNCUT, NEVER BEFORE SEEN FOOTAGE - YouTube

If that's all you've got is a .22 Short then good luck to you. Whether you ever shot anyone before or not is relevant, I suppose but but not very - it's the wrong gun at the wrong time. If there's a knife at ten feet and you don't have a BIG DAMN KNIFE IN YOUR HAND kiss your XXXX goodbye.

Why are you carrying a .22 Short anyway?

I do have a North American Arms .22 short revolver. It's a "toy" that I bought because there are not many around like that. It's jewelry, a fun gun to show people but to carry it is insanity.

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Come and take it!!

Fine. I'll play.

Let's see...

Former Marine and current Law Enforcement Officer...

Wants to know about seriously carrying a .22 Short...

I'm sorry, but something is not adding up here!

Probably 30 years or more ago, I owned a Colt Jr. in .22 short. I know it'll go through a 2X4, but not by much.
As I've always said, with a mouse gun you have to change tactics. Forget center mass. Shoot for the head. Then while the BG is distracted by this sudden pain and blood, you run like hell!
However, in this scenario, I'd be doubtful of success.

The big advantage of carrying a .22 short is the size of the weapon. When you irritate someone by shooting them, you'll appreciate the smaller size when they stick it up your rear.

If you didn't like the question, why even reply. I just wanted some opinions on the stopping power of a .22 caliber short round. Sounds like you got all disturbed and frustrated over nothing!

I thought the NAA mini-revolvers were designed to be carried fully loaded with the hammer resting on a notch between the charging holes. Way back when, I used to carry a High Standard derringer in .22 Magnum as a back up gun. I would never consider carrying anything for self-defense in .22 Short. In your training, you should have been told to aim for center mass of a threat. Trying to place a shot to the eye, in a high stress situation is not going to happen, especially considering the handgun you are using. You need to talk to your department's firearms training instructor. What department are you with?

Once in a while I would carry this little .22 caliber short revolver, with the hammer resting on an empty chamber.
Carried just a few times as a last resort weapon. I just wanted some opinions on the stopping power of the .22 short bullet.

Robert, I guess you are an expert on the .22 caliber short bullet?

Expert? No.

But the first pistol my dad let me shoot on my own was his Beretta Minx, in .22 Short, when I was 10 years old. That was 50 years ago. I've been shooting the cartridge in countless guns since then, so I'll venture to say I know a little bit about it.

Bam-Bam sounds like a Mickey Mouse too!

It is small and light, and can Kill.

No need to get Nasty there, Big Guy!

Put a fork in this one. It's done.

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Only a cold warrior

Hey, you sound like another "know it all too."

In my much younger days I worked at a hospital as an emergency room assistant. Two ambulances arrive, the first ambulance has an 82 year old man with a bullet wound to his forehead. The second ambulance has an 80 year old woman with a bullet wound to the temple.

She had enough of him and shot him. She felt remorse, called 911 and then shot herself.

Both bullets were under the skin, the doctor plucked them out with forceps. The wounds were cleaned and bandaged, they got tetanus shots as well.

I don't know what became of them, their kids said they had been bickering forever.

The weapon was a 22 revolver, fired close enough for stippling on both. I would not select a 22 as personal protection.

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U.S. Coast Guard, retired CPO

Samuel Clemens put the little Smith & Wesson 22 into perspective by his recollections in his famous book Roughing It.

I was armed to the teeth with a pitiful little Smith & Wesson's seven-shooter, which carried a ball like a homopathic pill, and it took the whole seven to make a dose for an adult. But I thought it was grand. It appeared to me to be a dangerous weapon. It had only one fault--you could not hit anything with it. One of our 'conductors' practiced awhile on a cow with it, and as long as she stood still and behaved herself she was safe; but as soon as she went to moving about, and he got to shooting at other things, she came to grief.

The Secretary had a small-sized Colt's revolver strapped around him for protection against the Indians, and to guard against accidents he carried it uncapped. Mr. George Bemis was dismally formidable. George Bemis was our fellow-traveler.

In my breast pocket of my vest I carried a small Smith & Wesson twenty-two caliber pistol . . . one day, as my vest happened to be open, the butt of the pistol was exposed. Nick saw it and asked, “What’s that?” I took the little revolver out and showed it to him. The minute he got it in his hands he just roared with laughter, and exclaimed, “Oh, look at the play toy!” Then he broke open the gun, and taking out the cylinder looked through the barrel, chuckling as he did so. Finally, handing back to me, he said, “Boy if you shoot me with dat and I find out, I will put you across my knee and spank hell outa you!”

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Gary
SWCA 2515

I ran on two .22 GSW at Pendleton in the 70s. One was like the case Oracle just mentioned (mid Forehead that simply lodged just under the skin) and a young Marine that walked up to the South gate stating he thought he had been shot. The only indication of a wound was a spot of blood by his right clavicle. The entrance would had (apparently) already closed. IIRC, that slug was found (on X-Ray) against the scapula.

Those are just two instances of a .22 causing minimal damage, because they were stopped by bone. In my 30yrs of EMS, I've also seen cases where a .22 had caused considerable organ damage (apparently) because there was nothing 'hard' to stop it... Including (on one call) where the slug entered between two ribs and caused a collapsed lung.

Basically, it all comes down to what it hits (or doesn't hit).

Way to many variables to put your life on the line. Caliber, distance, clothing, etc. etc.. Why would you even ask about this?? IMHO you'd be better to turn around and run.
Jim

Years ago I had an Astra Cub .22 short. Imagine an X on a hogs head between the ears and eyes and it would kill a hog deader than 4 o'clock. Larry

The only "stop" possible when faced with a knife wielding aggressor is a CNS hit. You can shoot someone through the heart/major artery and they will die but only after killing you.

That would be a good plan if not for the "under knife attack part". The so called "mouse guns" may save your bacon at bad breath distances and with a good choice of aiming point(center of mass won't cut it). But at those distances the knife attacker has the "edge"(pun intended), assuming he knows how to use the knife.

When the OP opened up the distance to 10 to 15 yards instead of feet and considering is original firearm option The best answer became "get the heck out of there presto!".

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Expect the unexpected

From the daily news that I read pertaining to Chicago, you have a dozen or more murders or shootings a day there.

I believe I would be looking for a caliber and weapon with a whole lot more potential than the scenario you are asking about

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Pete
I ain't no fortunate son

Yeah the Baby Browning is only a BUG and last ditch option. I call it my GOMA (Get Off Me A******) gun. Of course if someone is already on top of you with a knife, it doesn't much matter what caliber you are armed with. You're already cut/stabbed and the best you can do is try to get the guy off you before you're killed - and/or try to take him with you.

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Send lawyers, guns & money...

And also. There are knives and then there are knives.

This thing was made with one sole purpose. Well you can use it to clean under your fingernails too. If you have a steady hand.



Technically it's a dagger but...

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Expect the unexpected

You know the whole premise in the original post was ridiculous. Stopping power of a 22 short with all the other stuff thrown in Stopping power is something that can change with every incident. We once dealt with an idiot who chased a person who didn't pay his bill at a hotel. The clerk gave chase and finally stopped doing so after being shot 5 times with a 25 caliber Colt. The shooter pointed it at a police officer who promptly planted 6 rounds of 38 special in the guy. He was stopped though. No the 5 25 cal rounds were not very life threatening. I told the fool that he needed to not get pain meds to let him keep hurting till he learned his lesson. Short answer.. yep a 22 short can kill. If someone shot me with one It would stop me from continuing....OK...lets put this thread in the graveyard where it belongs. Rant Over

Just after shooting the bad guy with that I can envision the bad guy saying with a deep voice "you shouldn't have done that ..."

I've used them on an occasion or two in a 5 inch revolver for varmints on my rural property. They were so ineffective that I don't use them for that anymore. I don't even like to use .22lr in a handgun for that, even though it is superior to shorts in just about every way except for the report they put out. JMO, but using a .22 short in a rifle is questionable for anything other than plinking let alone in something with that short of a barrel and hoping it will be effective. It would be a much better tool for shooting tin cans and they probably should be made out of light aluminum at that.

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M&PC FS BG Shield+ 642 686+

I agree that a 22 short has no stopping power and isn’t effective as SD weapon. But let’s not get carried away on badmouthing 22s in general. I know that a lot of shooters aren’t hunters and didn’t grow up in rural areas.
They didn’t have use for a 22 of any kid. Anyone who has trouble killing squirrels and small game with 22LR is a poor shot, because he must have missed. The 22 is the number one gun for putting down steers to be butchered, small game and many deer are killed with them. We don’t have 2lb ground squirrel here in Ohio but I have shot hundreds of squirrels and varmits with 22 and a good part of them with a K22. I wish somebody had told us Redneck Hill Billies that 22s were no good and we wouldn’t have killed all those animals with them. Go on You Tube and guy in Texas had video of hog shooting with a Ruger 10/22. He is shooting over bait at fairly close range but is laying them down wholesale.

I think of this toy more as jewelry or maybe a dog stopper if you are out taking a walk and Kujo shows up and that's a MAYBE A DOG STOPPER kind of thing, a really big maybe.



Those are cute toys. I bought it years ago because it was cute. Carrying it, which I did sometimes, was more for grins than anything serious, like in a vest pocket so I could amuse my friends. I did carry it in a pocket a few times when I was jogging but it flounced around so much I just strapped on a fanny pack with a real gun inside and put that little toy away.

Cocking it is NOT easy. So there's that problem. Getting off a second shot is even harder. So, my question is, why are you carrying that toy and pretending that you have a gun with you?

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Come and take it!!

several years ago a friends father had a few too many and went nuts and shot his granddaughter and a friend of hers with 22 shorts. He shot her in the head but bullet didn't penetrate the Skull. He shot her friend in the forearm. In her case the bullet fragmented and the Drs spend time picking out pieces of lead from under her skin. Her friend had a broken arm and the bullet went in about 1/4 inch into his side. Both recovered fine. The grandfather then shot himself in the temple. He was dead on the spot.