Originally Posted by Duckford

There were true stories of African game keepers putting down bull elephants with an old 6.5 mm rifle, by shooting them correctly in the eye or another soft spot int he massive skull to deliver a fatal hit. Than again, if you took that into the bush chasing after a wounded bull elephant, guides and experienced hunters would call you a damned fool for putting your life into the hands of a less than adequate firearm, arrogant for putting your life into the hands of your marksmanship. When dire situations arise, there is little time to aim, and firepower being a very real advantage for stressful, less than perfect situations, your choice of firearm or load can be the difference between life and death.

There is a very large difference between shooting an unsuspecting police officer, ambush style, under the arm with a pistol, and pulling a gun to defend yourself from another person who is the aggressor and calling the situation and much of the circumstances. Large difference between murdering a human being not seeing it coming, and being on the defensive, with perhaps someone on top of you, and very little time to aim, and with angles that are less than perfect. The choice of firearm, round, and load can be the difference between life and death.

At best, .22 LR is a very poor, if not desperate or arrogant choice of defensive caliber. Its deficiencies are many, its performance poor, and its only advantage is being cheap, and easy for disabled people to shoot. If you can afford better, and aren't a 90 pound grandmother, or with a very serious disability, there is no real excuse for carrying something more adequate when the stakes, life, are so high.

Enough talk of shot placement. 22LR does not make anyone inherently accurate, and .454 isn't inherently impossible to aim. Shot placement is not magically guaranteed with a smaller caliber, and not magically impossible with a larger one. There are those that can shoot better with a .44 magnum than some can with an air pistol. Expecting perfect shot placement in close range self defense is either wishful thinking, or arrogance on part of the shootist. Picking squirrels out of a tree at 50 yards is one thing, shooting a 350 pound heroin addict who is 2 feet away from you and attacking you, and stopping him when determined, are worlds apart. You can shoot a paper target "between the eyes", but if you can't pull it off on a real man who is really trying to kill you, perhaps the choice of caliber will matter for where your bullet really does hit.

Once again, we see a cult of people who will never forget a single incident where their caliber worked, but will discard and forget every time it failed. You should pick the caliber for the job, and not justify or rationalize your choice of caliber for everything simply because you like it.