Theoretical 22LR question

Single-Sixer thanks for the good comments. As for the knee ee had the Pagans and Hel's Angels in a territory dispute and one favorite was kneecaping. Ran one where the patent was rolling around on the ground swearing but effectively incapacitated the big problem was a 1911 laying on the ground beside him and a fast bleed from the popliteal artery no one had applied a tourniquet and we had a lot of work to get him to the hospital alive.

As for head shots I like to point to Phineas P. Gage and the American Crowbar Case.

Grobin, I understand you support the .22lr as a possible SD caliber. Question do you carry a .22lr as a SD caliber and since this is about a single action 6 shooter what about that gun? This post started as just about the .22lr bullets, but that gun and caliber is the package the guy is using. As I recall the guy is doing so while camping and hiking, not in a big city. To me that is SD against what one might encounter be human or animal. I won't restate my thoughts they are further back in this thread. Not trying to pick a fight it's just a question. We are all entitled to our opinions.

The SD I carry both as a back-up and for special work is a NAA in 22lr/22WMR, I carry both cylinders-not sure why-from habit. For awhile I carried a Colt Woodsman as a duty carry-mandated by the Park.

Grobin,
Thanks for answering my question. I will say the .22WMR in a single action 6 shooter was a popular or the most popular gun/caliber carried by trappers around here. As said by someone else on here, ranchers and livestock slaughter guys use a .22lr to the head of cattle and it drops them. Fish/Wildlife folks here use .22lr in a rifle against smaller problem animals. They have there place.
We just disagree on them for use as a self defense caliber and gun.

While I have used a 22 for SD it's adequate not ideal. I used to carry a mkII as a trail gun as the places we were hiking and hunting allowed taking small game as camp meat. I prefer a 9mm as it is available in many different hand guns, some excellent some not so. But it's not for camp meat and as I don't hunt anymore I don't carry hikeing.

Speaking of carrying a single action 'small' caliber revolver into the woods:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEnE1fVRtwA

A friend has one comming, don't know if he ordered new or if it's used. He was going to get a BFR in 30-30 to match his Henry but decided he needs more backuo. Looking forward to firing it!

22lr is not a good choice for defense under any circumstances.
That would be bad advise imo. I would tell who ever to reconsider!
Especially if he knows nothing and asking for advice ps

Since this thread is still going, don't know why.
It's mt belief that any gun is better then no gun.

"It's my belief that any gun is better than no gun."

I think we'd all agree with that premise, and most all would agree that IF one has any options in choosing a personal SD handgun, the rimfire case at the local gun emporium is not the best starting point to find one.

Re-reading the OP's first post, there is no option for a different gun beyond the friend's SA Ruger in .22LR, so I'd say the CCI Velocitor 40gr HP's would be MY choice for ammo.

Velocitor. It will expand slightly out of a handgun and still penetrate well. 2nd from left in this pic.

Cholo said:

I believe it's all about penetration when it comes to a .22 LR. Somehow this all doesn't sound right. The hole I'm digging gets deeper :mrgreen:

Click to expand...

You're not the only one. I would choose solids over hollow-points too. To me, the HPs will expand far too quickly, even in clothing and not get to the important bits.

Until it became reliable, I used to regularly carry my Iver Johnson TP22, stoked with CCI Mini Mag solids (that thing *loved* those things).

My tactics for that pistol were basically aim at the face/head/neck of bad guy and empty the mag.

Aqualung

It's all about how much energy gets transferred to the target and where! To be effective a 22 needs to hit in a limited number of areas. If the round transferred the energy to clothing layers it's ineffective, but if it simply goes through the body it's ineffective! I alternate Velocitor hollow points with mini mag.

Realize that in many cases of SD or HD simply fireing a shot ends the situations!

Sorry but I've used enough solids on small game to be completely unimpressed with how they perform on tissue. You want at least a little deformation or to use a flat point like the SGB. "Energy transfer" is meaningless. What you want is tissue damage. How much energy is expended or "transferred" is irrelevant.

Energy transfer is what causes tissue dammage!
I saw one case where a guy was shot with a 50 BMG @ ~100 m and as it was an armor piercing round it just went through him with minimal energy transfer and so very little tissue damage!

No it isn't. Bullets are what cause tissue damage. Unless you can determine how much energy is used to destroy tissue versus what is lost as friction, used to deform the bullet and what is absorbed by the soft tissues of the body, no reference to "energy" has any meaning.

If I have a bullet thrown at me it doesn't have much energy and will not cause much damage; well I suppose if it's thrown at 100mph (146.7fps) it might do a little damage. Your assertion is nonsense. Why do you think we worry about muzzle energy!??

Muzzle energy has never been a proper gauge of a cartridge's effectiveness. It's a sophomoric concept, only useful for selling velocity to those who don't know any better.

Sir I find myself in awe at the depth of your ignorance.

grobin said:

Sir I find myself in awe at the depth of your ignorance.

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Ignorance??? You're clueless and have no idea how clueless you are.