.22 Magnum Critical Defense?

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The only handgun I have that my wife will shoot is a .22lr/wmr Heritage Rough Rider. So, I did some testing to see what happened. I started out shooting through milk jugs refilled with water.

Winchester Dynapoints completely obliterated the first jug. I was amazed at the damage it caused. The jug literally ripped in half. Not on the seam but in a jagged line where the bullet entered and exited. However, by the third jug it was completely jammed in the sticker on the back side.

CCI Maxi-Mag hps did better at penetrating through four jugs. However, the impact on the first jug was so minimal that I used it two more times. I had a pretty .22wmr hole through four jugs.

I then switched up and decided to fill up some old "Bolthouse Farms" juice bottles and see what would happen. The juice bottle is 32ozs with a screw on top. It also is made of a denser, thicker plastic. I didn't have many of them so I just stood them two deep.

The Dynapoint did something I did not expect. It began to tumble in the first bottle about half of the time. It would then tumble through the back wall and all of the way through the second bottle. Where I had two entry holes overlapping the exit hole from the second bottle was big enough to slide my pinky cleanly in to the jug. They tumbled in a perfectly straight line and left a pretty nasty exit wound.

The CCI bullets didn't do much different than they did in milk jugs. They hit and put nice 22wmr holes through both bottles. There was something screwy with the CCI though. It didn't tumble, but it didn't fly straight either. A shot closer to the top and dead center came out the bottom left side of the second bottle. A shot nearly dead center came out about 1/2" higher and 1/2" left of the entrance hole. Another set of bottles showed some wacky results. Once the CCI got in there it was a crap shoot where it would exit.

I have no explination for the change in performance from one jug type to the other. I came away with a puzzle and a semi-answer. The answer is this, it is what my wife will shoot and both will get at least six inches of penteration. That isn't ideal but should work in most cases. With the way my wife shoots anyone coming down the hall torwards our kid is in trouble. So, I stagger the rounds to get that hard initial impact followed by the deeper penetration.

I would love to try the Gold Dots, but nobody ever has them in stock.

A side question:
Can anyone explain the drastic difference in performance from one jug to the next?
 
No less than Bill Jordan thought a .22 Magnum J-frame would make an excellent BUG. Said the little round did allot of damage for it's size. He had allot of experience in such matters. For a home defense gun for the recoil shy and folks with hand problems the new Kel Tec PMR with 30+1 rounds of .22 Magnum would make an interesting home defense gun. A revolver in the same caliber for carry sounds like a good option. the only complaint I've heard is that the trigger pull weight on the revolvers has to be pretty stout to assure ignition on any rimfire cartridges. Don't know if it's true of the little Magnum.
 
.22 Magnum Critical Defense

Has anyone actually seen/shot the new Critical Defense ammo in 22wmr? Seems to be more of a mythical beast than anything.
 
I haven't shot the Critical Defense, but I have several boxes of the Speer's competitive prodcut...Gold Dot in 22 WMR. I have shot it. Can't tell all that much from punching paper, but I like the concept, and it's loaded in my NAA Black Widow and my S&W 351c.
 
"How do you like that 351c?"

I love it, especially with some personalizing I have done.

I changed the front sight from the standard white dot to a gold bead, and I added Altamont rosewood boot grips. Looks quite nifty, and I love to shoot it. The trigger pull is much better than what some would have you believe. Yes, it's a stiff pull at first, but at the end of pull it's nice and crisp. I can pull it about half way back and hold it, almost as if I'm cocking it with a hammer, and then it's essentially like a single action pull the rest of the way.

Very lightweight, easy to carry in pocket or IWB. Shoots very accurate, too.
 
Has anyone actually seen/shot the new Critical Defense ammo in 22wmr? Seems to be more of a mythical beast than anything.
Click to expand...

No, every sight I check is sold out. I saw this thread the end of march, been looking ever since with no luck. The "dealers list" was no help either.

Like some others here, Id be very grateful if someone knew of a store that carried this load.
 
.22 WMR Hornady Critical Defense

On some of the websites (I use MidwayUSA) you can get an email when they have something in stock. When I got my email that the .22 WMR Hornady Critical Defense was in stock I immediately went to the website and ordered some. I think that's the best way you are going to get this stuff for now, while there is still short supply and high demand.

As for personal defense, sometimes you have to adopt the "any gun is better than no gun" philosophy, depending on the situation. My buddy is new to the shooting sports and while she totally enjoys going to the range to shoot she is still recoil shy. Tried a S&W .357 loaded with low-recoil .38's, that didn't work. Tried a 9mm and a .380 which both made her nervous. She loves her S&W MKIII Target pistol so I thought "what the heck" and got a Taurus 941 which holds 8 rounds of .22 WMR. She loves it, and as long as she will keep shooting it and practicing with it then we can work back up to the .380, then the 9mm, and maybe the .38 again.

I think it's just a matter of experience and getting used to the recoil; and in many years of teaching I found that more people were in fact more gun shy because of the noise than they were from the actual felt recoil. She's a lot more comfortable at the range when it is nearly empty than on a Saturday afternoon when it is packed full and there are some very loud booms coming from some of the nearby booths.
 
I finally found some of the Hornady Critical Defense .22 Magnum ammo at a gun show. I think I paid $17 for a box of 50. Now I have to try it out to make sure it functions in my Pug.
 
Pug has a 1" barrel and the hornady ammo was tested for expansion from 2" barrels. I have a 1" barrel mini mag also, and wonder if this ammo will be any better. Less muzzle flash but maybe no expansion.
 
I hope yours is more accurate than mine. I shot my Pug the other day with a two hand hold at fifteen feet and the group could be measured in feet rather than inches. When I got it home, I checked it with a bore light to make sure they had remembered to rifle the barrel.
 
Found some today in a Midway email ad ... ordered a box, blv it was $14.50 for 50 rounds .. pricy .. going in my Pug ....
 
Hi All, Sorry to bump a dormant thread.

Has anyone since chronographed this new ammo, in particular in longer-barreled handguns?

There's lots of talk of 2" .22WMR's which aren't in the arsenal.
However a 4" S&W model 48 IS, and I'm hoping to pick up a Single-Six 4-5/8" sooner or later. I'd like to know what people have found with this newer short-barreled ammo in standard service length barrels.

I chrony'd some Maxi-Mag and Dynapoints in the 48 last year and came up with something like ~1150fps for the 45gr Dynapoints and ~1350fps for the Maxi-Mags (touching true 'magnum' handgun velocity at least). If these new ammos can beat the Maxi's with more powder burnt in-barrel, I'd spend the money.

Cheers,

-Daizee
 
Test:
I recently fired one through a phone book from 2 feet, out of an NAA MiniMagnum with 1 5/8" barrel...

Results:
The bullet made it through 1300 pages, with a little expansion but not quite as big as a .32.

Side notes:
- from the same distance and gun, 22 mag ball ammo makes it through 1500 pages...
- from the same distance and gun .22 LR CCI stingers make it through 750 pages, with the same expansion as the Critical Defense
Hope this helps!
 
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