Even the .22LR is formidable!

[CZ_]

I was doing some experimenting with small caliber bullet penetration and expansion using backstops that consisted of one old phone book, six inches thick old newspaper, and finally some old 2x4 wood in back (just in case). First I tried .22 Cap and it made a nearly clean hole (only slight bullet deformation), and it penetrated almost half way through the phone book. Then, I shot a .22 LR (Winchester Super-X round nose) and the performance was amazing. It not only went through the phone book, but it left a golf ball sized exit hole through it and went another (approx) 2.5" through the newspaper. After I retrieved the bullet, it was severely deformed and expanded very well (this was NOT a hollowpoint so I was surprised to see any expansion). The bullet is nearly flat (it acted like it got crushed).

This was shot out of an old .22 JC Higgens semi-auto tube fed rifle that has about a 20" barrel (I am guestimated because I don't feel like measuring it). While paper is certainly not a good indicator of how it would behave in a human body, I am pretty sure that even a .22 shot from a rifle barrel length should have pretty decent stopping power.

 

[Marko Kloos]

.22LR out of a rifle barrel is a whole different ball game from .22LR from a pistol or a revolver barrel. This is not to say that .22 out of a short barrel can't be lethal (just ask Bobby Kennedy), but a .22 load out of a long tube has a respectable amount of punch to it.

 

[CZ_]

^Agreed, I certainly wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of a .22 LR from a rifle barrel. Well, actually...I hope I am never on the receiving end of any bullet...even from a short barreled .22 LR or .25 ACP! Any bullet can be lethal, some just "stop" better than others.

Just for fun, I just measured the barrel length and I got 22" (my earlier estimate was close).

 

[contender4040]

22 mag

I had done some informal testing to an old balistic vest side panel firing .22lr, .22mag, .380, 357mag, 40s&w, 9mm, and 45acp. The .22mag did the most pentration followed by the .357mag and then the .22lr.
The 22lr was from a rifle barrel while the .22mag was from a 10" barrel.

 

[Dave R]

Yes, .22LR penetrates very well. Just makes small holes and doesn't dump much energy.

Remember, when Hinkley shot Reagan with a .22, Reagan didn't know he was hit until he was in the car and coughed up blood.

If I shoot someone, I want them to know they've been shot RIGHT NOW.

And yes, without medical intervention, Reagan might have died from the .22 wound. It just would've taken a while.

 

[CZ_]

Yes, .22LR penetrates very well. Just makes small holes and doesn't dump much energy.

Granted, my test was from a rifle (and the test was done against paper), but the .22 LR certainly didn't make a small hole. As I said earlier, the "exit" hole from the telephone book was roughly the size of a golf ball. I have no way to know what it would do against flesh and blood (I don't hunt for example), but based on what it did to paper (the telephone book) it certainly appears to do a great deal of damage. I will try the same test using a shorter barrel next time...I have a 5.5" barrel .22 LR pistol (Ruger Mk II) and a 1 5/8th inch NAA mini that I can test. I'd be interested to see what they do compared to the rifle barreled test.

 

[Hard Ball]

We are often told that small caliber pistols are totally ineffective, however:
During World War Two the British Special Operation Executive (the SOE) conducted an extensive series of tests of all currently (1942) available handguns to decide what they should arm their agents sent on missions to the occupied countries to kill key German officials and collaborators.
The SOE concluded that a .22 Long Rifle automatic piatol was the best weapon. Their firing technique was to fire 10 rounds into the intended victims upper chest cavity. Agents who did this in the field reported that their victims almost always died very rapidly and were seldom able to cry out or shoot back.

 

[jtduncan]

To date, the largest Grizzly bear every taken by a modern firearm is by a small Indian woman using a .22lr rifle. Placement.

 

[CZ_]

To date, the largest Grizzly bear every taken by a modern firearm is by a small Indian woman using a .22lr rifle. Placement.

This sounds like she was lucky, and perhaps also had the skill to hit it in the right spot. I certainly would never recommend anyone carrying a .22 LR rifle to defend against Grizzlies though.

 

[vanfunk]

Prepare to be dazzled by this anecdotal info...

Four years ago my uncle was vacationing at his camp in the Adirondacks. Early one morning he awoke to find a smelly black bear making a beeline for the fridge. As my uncle sprung from bed (buck naked) to retrieve the only weapon he had available (marlin .22), the bear proceeded to rip into a six-pack of Utica Club beer and chase it with a roll of paper towels. Suitably emboldened by his refreshment, the bear then came for my uncle. Perhaps he was looking for companionship, as my uncle is rather ursine himself (250 lbs, 6'3", and quite hirsute), but my uncle wasn't in a social mood. He fired one shot COM into the bear from about 15 feet, upon which the bear uttered an unintelligible expletive before fleeing the camp. My uncle then proceeded to consume the remaining 6-pack of UC. The next day, as my uncle rose for his moring constitutional, he found the bear stone dead 30' behind the camp. The bear, dressed out by local law enforcement, weighed 225 lbs. The moral? Wll, I don't know. Is the .22 a killer? absolutely. Is it the best medicine for any man, beast, feast or fowl over 20 lbs? Definitely not, but the disadvantages can be weighed against the amount of beer on hand at the moment.
Deep thoughts,
vanfunk

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Did anybody bother to write down the particular spot that small Indian woman with a .22 rifle shot? Things like that might be good to know.

 

[Lonnie Jaycox]

Another anecdote: I was on a hike with my uncle some twenty years ago and we came across a lrge deer caught in a barbed wire fence. Its leg was stripped to the bone so my uncle knew it could not survive and was in terrible pain. He pulled a 22 lr pistol and shot it one time in the chest from about 15 yrds. It dropped like a rock, flopped two or thee times and was gone. I was amazed (I think he was too.). So many of the people we talked to about hunting with used to wonder if a 30-30 was enough. After that I assured them yes.

 

[Deadman]

When I first heard reports of Chechen snipers attacking Russian soldiers in the current Chechan conflict, the report in SOF detailed that the Chechen snipers had a tendancy to aim for the Soviet soldiers groin region.

I later read here on TFL that the Chechen snipers used .22 rifles with home made suppressors from plastic bottles, making it very difficult for the Soviet troops to gauge where the snipers where.

End result - the Chechen snipers have managed to pull off these long range castrations so many times that the moral of the Soviet troops is (pun intended) shot to hell.

Who would have thought during the cold war that the Soviet army would be scared of .22lr?