Don't laugh at a .22 like many do

[Engineer1911]

Bring enough gun

I have shot prairie dogs with a 30-06 and watched them crawl to their burrows more than once. I have also dropped prairie dogs on the spot with a 22 LR. Accuracy counts, multiple hits are better.

In a home defense situation, multiple rounds of 22 LR beats a cell phone, loud words, or a 911 call every time.

 

[CajunBass]

We all have heard about the mythical 320 pound meth addict who's going to take a dozen 22 bullets in the chest, then beat you to death with your own gun. I'm sure it happens. I just wonder how often it happens? Sure if it happens to YOU, it's once too many, but just how often? On the other hand, the Armed Citizen column in the American Rifleman is full of accounts of citizens who used 22's to repel boarders. If he takes a hit, or even sees the gun/hears the gunfire and runs, that's a win.

I've known a few people who got shot with a 22 for one reason or another and survived. Every one of them said it hurt like XXXX. They had no interest in doing anything but getting to a hospital.

I don't use a 22 for S/D but I sure wouldn't leave one on the kitchen counter to run get something else either.

 

[mg357]

Heck NO! I don't laugh at the .22 it is good cartridge is has its own role to play in shooting sports and hunting just like its centerfire brothers have their own role to play in shooting sports and hunting and in self defense.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

Where I live the 22 is the go to gun to pouch deer with. It is cheap to buy so if you drop it and run when the DNR show you have not lost a whole bunch. A 22 a spot light a head shot and it is meat on the table.

Speaking from experience or just observation..........
Someone tells me that a .22 won't stop anyone I turn to them and say come at me and let's see. Pretty much ends that conversation.

 

[accessbob]

I like to shoot and I can shoot a lot more with a .22 than with my .40 as I can get 500 rounds for the same price as 50 of my .40. So 10 times the fun for the same price. Unless necessary it won't be my defensive weapon but for having fun it can't be beat.

Sent from my LG Optimus Elite using Tapatalk 2

 

[Ray]

For an instant stopping, like Jeff Cooper used to say, aim for the lacrimal duct.!
Regards, Ray

 

[OLDSTER]

.22 cal

Surely most of you must remember a fellow named John Hinkley ? He damned near took out the US Govt. armed with a "Saturday Night Special" loaded with .22 shorts

 

[RobertJ.]

No argument that a .38 will put a bigger hole in someone than a .22. However, lethal force is not always necessary to deter a threat. A leg or arm shot might be sufficient. And consider the legal consequences. Killing someone in self-defense may be justified in some circumstances but it's not hard to make a case that just wounding the attacker would have been the wiser and less risky course of action.

One shouldn't shoot to kill. One shouldn't shoot to wound. One should shoot to stop a life threatening action. If shooting is truly justified, one shouldn't shoot someone "just a little bit". And, if the shooting is justified, and the BG dies as a result, then the BG actually killed himself by the course of his actions.

Of course, that's just my opinion.

 

[rwsmith]

I agree

On the practical side, what's cheaper or more fun to shoot all day long without hurting your hand or shoulder?

Comments, agreeing or disagreeing, welcomed. Thanks.

I agree. I would really like to have a .22. You can shoot for hours for a few $$ and with little fatigue. I load my 30-06 down to rounds with light bullets that are very close to a .22. Funnest round I have to shoot and they don't hurt. My wife and boy love them. As kids (ammo was cheap but money was scarce) we could share a couple of hundred rounds between us and plink in the woods or off the railroad tracks. In my .357 ninety per cent of the rounds that I shoot wouldn't make the good defense rounds. And even for home defense I'm not going to use anything stronger than a .38 special load because I want to keep my hearing. Sure I like to load up big kabooms and kicks, but it just ain't necessary for good shootin'.

 

[chud333]

I will always own a brace of .22's for small game hunting and just for
shooting "fun". What is more inexpensive and fun to shoot all day
than an accurate .22 ? I will probably never use one for SD though.
Have a 12 gauge at home for that and i choose to use at least a .38
caliber revolver for carry. But to each his own.
I would'nt want to get hit by a rimfire.

Chuck

 

[Sunfang]

I think that many people overestimate the fortitude of the average criminal. Most bad guys would think "Argh! I've been shot!" the calibre would likely not matter. I think it would take a truly determined "or High" attacker that could continue an attack after recieving one or more hits from the lowly .22 long rifle. Also many elderly people can shoot the .22 quickly and accuratly where a more potent cartrige might tax their physical abilities.
The .38 special would be far better choice for two legged predators but, the .22 lr is much better than sharp fingernails.

 

[YogiBear]

Aloha,

Agree with cajun lawyer when people belittle the 22.

I tell them the same, "Let me shoot You with my 22"

The answer I usually get is "NO, you're too good a shot"

Just because they know I can shoot a 22 very well

 

[LennyLames]

It's the optimum round for the zombie apocalypse. Plentiful (initially), lightweight, and compact. You can wipe out an entire mob of walkers/shufflers with just a single brick of ammunition by shooting their cranio-ocular cavities, an application where larger, heavier, faster rounds are overkill. You don't need much hearing protection to preserve your sense of hearing which is necessary for continued survival (You need to hear the walkers coming, although I'm sure you can smell them even when they're slightly downwind of you). When defending, you won't attract the attention of zombie hordes from two counties over. You can also shoot many rounds rapidly with minimal fatigue-inducing recoil, with the rate of fire being limited by magazine replacement time and unfortunately further reduced (albeit minimally) by a misguided worldwide ban on "high capacity" magazines instituted just a few months before the first zombie cases appeared. Bring it on, zombies. I can switch to a full magazine while I still have a live round chambered, and many of my firearms function even without a magazine inserted.

Subsonic .22 is also accurate even with factory rounds, and it would be challenging to attain such a level of accuracy without having to develop new loads and reload your brass as with other calibers. .22 is such a time saver and a cost saver for many applications.

I'm actually looking for a .22 bolt action rifle. Perhaps I should acquire one of those nice An$$$chutz match rifles.

 

[etc1006]

I've got my M&P 22 pistol loaded with hollowpoints with a Streamlite on it in my nightstand. Works for me at this time, til I either buy the Taurus 40 or Beretta 380 from my retired LEO buddy. I have them here, hanging on the inside of the door of my safe with the nifty Velcro holsters I got from the place online that has all those safe accessories. Works for now til I get my Glock or my elusive 6900 series in decent shape....

 

[NFrameFred]

Of course everyone understands we're talking about 'if you can go heavier it won't hurt and you'll be better armed'. But I've had several smaller statured people and some elderly folk in some classes in the past that were not able by virtue of hand strength because of age , arthritis, or other factors, of handling even a gun the size and recoil of a light 38, much less to overcome the recoil spring on a semi-auto of even a .380.

For folks like this, many times a .22 is the only alternative to optimistic hopes and good wishes that nothing bad confronts them and a call to 911.

And has been offered already - I have yet to see anyone volunteer to take a hit from a .22 to demonstrate it's ineffectiveness . . .

 

[Jonny Cannon]

Anyone read the book "Unintended Consequences?" I think it used to be banned in your country, but I'm not sure. Good read, and I think the character in that book makes some amazing (albeit ficticious) shots with a .22

Cannon