Stopping power of a 22 handgun?

dasfux

I'm still shopping for my first hand gun. I've seen some interesting articals about 22 handguns. They are easy to aim and have a light kickback, hence they're use as target pistols. My question is are they practical for home and self defense? A 22 obviously isn't going to pack the punch of a 45. On the other hand a well placed shot with a 22 might do more damange than a wide shot with a 45. Also a 45 is more likely to exit the body, where a 22 slug might remain inside the body doing cumulative damage. 22's have a tendency to have pronouced sights that might snag in critcal moments where as a 9mm is more likely to be a fast draw.

These are just some ideas, I'm kicking around. I wanted to get the input of some of the experts on this board.

Thanks,
Winston

fishermanben

a .22 has very little (if any) "stopping power". That does not mean it is not deadly. If I were you, I would get a double action revolver chambered in .357 magnum. You can practice with .38 specials for cheap, load it up with magnums, and you will have stopping power that equals getting hit with about five .22s at once.

Ben

gap1916

First let me say welcome to GB. That being said, I believe for self defense noting smaller than .380 and as large as you can shoot well. A .22 is better than nothing. Start with the .22 if that makes you feel confident in shooting and work your way up to at least the .380. My 2 cents [8D]

Greg
Former Marine
A N G L I C O

skyman

There's a gentlemen back in a little town in Michigan who walks with a limp and his arm swings a little funny. Seems he got caught in someone elses hen house. When the rooster showed up he unloaded 6 rounds from a 22 revolver into him. Guy got up, walked out and said, "next time use a bigger gun". He actually made it accross the road before he fell.

He lived--true story---use a bigger gun!!

1KYDSTR

A .22 is a GREAT gun to get started with and make no mistake...if it is all you have, it surely beats throwing stones at a home invader!!! I would reccommend getting a 22 to start out with and PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE! Once you are comfortable with that, get yourself that 357.

As for what guns have better sights etc.; there are different sights for every caliber of gun made, so it is difficult to make a blanket statement regarding their effifacy. With time comes the knowledge to ascertain what is right for you!

"When I cease learning...I'm dead"(Me)
"Power corrupts...Absolute power corrupts absolutely"(Descartes?)
"History is written by winners"(Patton)
"You get a lot farther with a kind word and a gun than you do with a kind word alone!"(Al Capone)
"There is nothing lower than the human race...except the French" (Samuel Clemens)

kingjoey

A good 9mm handgun doesn't kick much either. I understand that not everyone has the stones to handle a .45, but one shouldn't handicap themselves by relying solely on a .22 either. JMTC

Joe <stone-swingin' .45 fan[;)]>

Love them Beavers

Salvage33

IF that was all I had, I'd just have to make sure that every shot hit the target, then went click,click,click as I had emptied the firearm. For personal protection, my motto is "if the caliber starts with anything LESS than a 4, it's too small."

John


A friend will post your bail. A good friend will be sitting next to you in the cell saying, "man that was fun!"

jsergovic

Rule #1 of Going to a gunfight ...

See the bold paragraph below.
NOTE: This person likes to write, and goes into details we may nitpick. But he/her is trying, and does manage to get out some good info. I came across this site sometime after my .22 and before my .380 ...

HOW A BULLET DETERS AN ASSAILANT http://www.internetarmory.com/self_defense.htm

A bullet may be effective in incapacitating an aggressor by any of five mechanisms:

Disrupting or impairing the supply of blood carrying oxygen to the brain;
Disrupting the central nervous system;
Breaking bones and the skeletal support structure;
Psychological reasons;
Neural shock.

The respiratory system consists of the nose, mouth, upper throat, larynx, trachea, bronchi, lungs, diaphragm, and the muscles of the chest.? Oxygen passes through the lungs into the blood, and carbon dioxide is given off.??

The body requires a constant supply of oxygen.? Certain cells, such as those in the brain and nervous system, can be injured or die after four to six minutes without oxygen.? Such damage is irreparable, because these cells are not regenerated or replaced.? The cardiovascular system distributes oxygen throughout the body.

Damage to the vascular system is the most likely occurrence to result from a shooting.? Blood vessels will be either severed or torn.? Usually blood loss, hence unconsciousness, is a very gradual process.? An assailant must lose at least twenty percent (one quart) of the body's total blood supply in order to be incapacitated.? A blood loss of 50 percent usually results in death.? However, even with the heart totally destroyed, an assailant can remain functional for full and complete voluntary action for 10-15 seconds, due to the presence of oxygen already in the brain.

The fact that the brain can survive for a very brief period of time after the body is technically dead has been known for centuries.? During the French Revolution, the mob found great delight in the grisly sport of finding a head freshly severed by the guillotine that blinked or grimaced.

Consider that a man with a 44-inch chest will measure approximately 13- to 14-inches in diameter through the torso.

It is generally regarded that penetration of ten to twelve inches of soft tissue by a bullet is the acceptable minimum performance standard for a self defense cartridge.? Penetration in excess of eighteen inches is excessive, and represents a waste of wounding potential, particularly if the bullet exits the attacker's body.??

The foregoing criteria is not hard and fast, and common sense should prevail.? For example, penetration of 8 inches is usually adequate to inflict effective wound trauma capable of terminating criminal hostilities when conditions are favorable, such as a shot placed front to back through the sternum.

In a home defense situation, shots to an assailant will likely be frontal or quartering frontal.? Major blood vessels and vital organs will be encountered at bullet penetration from six to eight inches.??

The ten- to twelve-inch minimum criteria provides a degree of insurance in the unfavorable event that a bullet requires abnormally deep penetration to reach vital areas.? This can, and does, happen quite often in real life homicidal encounters.? Examples include the presence of non critical tissue, such as a shielding or obstructing arm which must be traversed by the bullet, an unusual angle of the bullet path through the criminal's torso which increases distance to be traveled to vital areas, or the fact that one's attacker is exceptionally chunky or huge.??????

Disruption of the central nervous system is produced by a shot to the brain or cervical spinal cord.? Instantaneous collapse will result.? The most effective shot placement is to the cranial vault of the head or to the brain stem.? The problem with a skull shot is that the head of an assailant is a relatively small and rapidly moving target.? Also, the bones of the skull are extremely tough.? There are numerous incidences where a head shot has resulted only in a superficial glancing blow when the bullet ricochet off.? Should the bullet actually enter the brain, crushing and hydrostatic shock will induce immediate incapacitation.? The cervical spinal cord is only about the thickness of one's little finger, offering a very elusive target indeed.

While most bullets of reasonably sized caliber are capable of breaking bones, this occurrence alone is not likely to bring about a termination of hostility by incapacitating the aggressor.? A shot to the pelvis will tend to *, but not kill.?

Psychological predisposition may cause some people to collapse or capitulate when shot.? This "Oh my God, I've been shot" reaction may greatly outweigh the effects of any actual physical trauma.? The psychological response to being shot is extremely variable.??

Emotional fainting may occur.? This type of neurogenic shock is a physiological mechanism attributable to a psychological cause.? The walls of the blood vessels possess muscle fibers which allow the vessels to constrict or dilate.? This enables the body to adjust blood flow in response to external conditions such as heat and cold.? Intense emotions such as fear can also cause widespread dilation of * blood vessels.? The vascular capacity may increase greatly, beyond the capability of the blood supply to fill it.? The force exerted by gravity may draw blood into the legs and lower torso to the extent that the brain is deprived of oxygen, resulting in unconsciousness.??

In addition to emotional fainting, psychological incapacitation can result in a situation whereby the attacker may voluntarily decide to cease aggression and surrender.?

The psychological reaction is very erratic, unpredictable, and unreliable.? It may not occur in everyone, especially in a highly motivated criminal bent on death and destruction (yours).?

Consciousness can be lost due to neural shock.? An area at the lower part of the brain-stem largely controls human consciousness.? This area, called the reticular activating system, can be disrupted by physical damage, by pressure from the cranial vault, by intense emotion, or by physical pain.? It is speculated that various organs of the body can send pain impulses to the brain stem indicating a severe or overwhelming * injury.? The reticular activating system responds by producing a functional? "shut down", which results in loss of consciousness within a second or two.? PCP, heroin, and to a lesser extent alcohol and adrenalin, are known to impair this function.? This sometimes results in cases where a high or intoxicated aggressor seems immune to gunshots and will not stop hostilities even though wounded by multiple handgun, rifle, or even shotgun rounds.

To reiterate and emphasize:

The ability to produce instant incapacitation is not possible with any handgun round, unless the central nervous system is hit. This involves penetrating the brain or hitting the cervical spine.

Blood loss resulting from a shooting is the primary cause of incapacitation.? The greater the tissue damage and disruption, the greater the bleeding.? The process can be slow.? * blood loss on the order of twenty percent is required to produce unconsciousness.? One's assailant may be fully functional during the time preceding unconsciousness.

Incapacitation depends on the physical, emotional, and psychological state of the assailant.

The onset of incapacitation can be delayed by the presence of narcotics, alcohol or adrenalin in the assailant's blood.

Cardiovascular organs and vessels will only be destroyed if they are directly hit by the bullet.? Hence, the ability of a bullet to penetrate is extremely important.? Minimum penetration is regarded to be 10-12 inches of soft tissue.

The intended victim should keep shooting as long as the assailant poses a threat.

The shooting skill acquired with practice promotes the confidence and resolution which allows one to prevail in an armed encounter with a criminal aggressor.? Hence, familiarity with one's firearm of choice is essential.

bobski

ask robert kennedy what he thinks of 22's. ask a couple of cold war russian agents what they think of 22's.

former air operations officer SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 2. former navy skeet team, former navy rifle/pistol team member. co-owner skeetmaster tubes inc.. owner/operator professional shooting instruction.

nunn

If you are good enough, practiced enough, and cool enough to hit the eye sockets of a moving assailant, first time, every time, under stress and in bad light, a .22 will suffice for defense.

That said, in the vast majority of cases where armed citizens use firearms for defense, no shots are actually fired. This doesn't mean that you should COUNT on not having to fire, but you probably won't.

SIG pistol armorer/FFL Dealer/Full time Peace Officer, Moderator of General Discussion Board on Gunbroker. Visit www.gunbroker.com the best gun auction site on the Net! Email gpd035@sbcglobal.net

heavyiron

dasfux,

Good question with a multitude of opinions.

I could not recommend anything less than 32 caliber for self-defense. This is lower than most people would recommend.

If you are a beginning shooter and are not used to shooting a firearm with recoil - the 22 may serve just as well.

Most people on this forum including myself have never shot a human being, including myself, and I pray I will never be confronted with that situation. So as you can see most of what we are saying here is conjecture.

The truest statement I have every heard about the effectiveness of firearms is that if you can't properly place a shot into the vitals of your game, then it really doesn't matter what caliber of gun you use.

My ultimate recommendation then is to use what you feel you can shoot most accurately under pressure.

Regards,

HI[8D]

Ray B

I shouldnt but I can't resist- so here's my $.02: A .22 bullet will kill any person that ever lived, from Goliath on down. The problem in self defense is that the agressor needs to be stopped, not necessarily killed. That's where the discussion regarding cartridges advantages/disadvantages lay. I will refrain from boring with my opinions, but I will provide two situations: following a detective being killed by a person high on drugs, after the detective had fired six .38s through the felons heart, the inquest, which was in San Francisco concluded that in such situations the only effective way of stopping someone is with heavy buckshot loads that hit low and take their method of locomotion out; SECONDLY, a few years back I fired four shots at a large elk, missing all four. I recall absolutely no sensation of recoil; to the extent that after I got done looking for blood, hair or anything that would indicate a hit and finding nothing, I began to doubt that I had even fired the rifle. I had to go back to where I was sitting and pick up the empty cases laying where they had ejected from the 375 H&H. When you're focused, you'll feel nothing.

warcrob

There is an old saying "beware the man that owns only one gun, for he knows well how to use it!"

If you ain't got a sense of humor you got no business bein here!