.22LR Magic Bullets?

B

Blue Crab

Inactive
Pardon the apparent stupidity of this first post and all but I was reading a Stuart Woods novel and the .22/big scope shooter gets in a tree 103 yards from a house, fires and breaks thru a kitchen window, hitting the soon-to-be-deceased guy in the temple and dropping him.

I have owned many .22s; yeah, I hear they'll go a mile but is this shot/result even possible? Would the .22 LR have that much power, even assuming the accuracy?
 
Interesting first post. The accuracy is absolutely possible with a match target .22. Go look at some really accurate .22's doing bugholes at 100yards, done everyday. With a shot to the temple, of course it would still be very deadly after a measly 100yards.
 
However, it's unlikely that a .22LR bullet fired at a distance of 103 yards would hit the intended point of aim after breaking through a pane of glass.

"Literary license."
 
I haven't read the book in question, but does the author actually say it's 22LR? It so, then I agree about literary license. It may be possible with other .22 caliber rounds...such as 22 magnum or the Hornet round...maybe.
 
is this shot/result even possible? Would the .22 LR have that much power, even assuming the accuracy?
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It is ABSOLUTELY within the capabilities of the "lowly" .22LR. Not even much "literary license" involved. Hitting a person (sitting, standing still) in the head, even after breaking a single window pane is not really difficult. Hitting them in just the right spot for an instant kill with a .22LR is not guaranteed, but entirely possible.

Certainly much closer to reality than Mack Bolan making multiple 600yd head shots from a cabin cruiser on Lake Michigan, with a .460 Weatherby and 20x scope taking out Mafioso on a golf course...

I had to draw the line at that one...:eek:
 
Possible, of course, but thru glass I doubt it..... I've tested shooting thru glass years ago with 22LR and you would be amazed how glass deflected bullet and these were fired from only 10 yards.
 
It's certainly not out of the question, but the likelihood of making the shot through glass is low. The shooter would be taking too great of a risk and would likely opt for a more sure bet. That's the "drama" shot.
 
Thanks Gents. I felt it was extremely unlikely shot, as several pointed out. I'm OK with literary license but my BS meter is always on. "The shooter" was a retired CIA genius who built the weapon so it was doubtless match grade. He definitely stated .22LR.
 
Only time shooting 22LR at a measured 100yds was a side match at a high power match. Shooting prone with a sling, iron sights, 10 minutes to sight in and fire 10 rounds. All of the rounds for score came it at less that 1/2 inch from point of aim. With a rifle I had never fired before, though similar to one I had used in high school 8 years earlier.

And 44AMP, the last time I was in my local book store Mack Bolan was in the Science-Fiction section.
 
Hey! Don't be knocking The Mack, Jack!!!!!
Guy's my hero.

But on the .22 LR question:
Accuracy is absolutely there.
When working with two standard CZ 455s last year, one suppressed & the other a full stock, both could very easily have taken such a shot at 103 yards.
No match rifle or ammo needed.

One, in fact, out-shot a CZ .223, all at 100 yards, all three guns scoped.

The window pane would have been the No-Go, though.
Bullet should penetrate, but slowing down as much as a .22 rimfire bullet does by the time it gets out to 100 yards, plus busting glass, plus deflection, I say "Myth Busted".
Denis
 
Hitting something with any level of accuracy after shooting through anything with any substance requires that the intervening material be hit pretty much at right angles. That provides the best chance that the bullet will continue in more or less a straight line.

Hitting anything at an angle is going to cause some deflection even if the bullet penetrates.
 
Federal specifically tried to address the 'deflection through glass problem' with a 'tactical' line of bullets reviewed here:

http://www.hendonpub.com/tactical_response/articles/2013/0910/ammunition_for_tactical_operations

Their (Federal) understanding of the dynamics of glass impact was that a softer bullet is better than a harder bullet. A soft bullet will deform to the exact angle of impact, then penetrate, then continue along the line of fire rather than to resist deformation and deflect or tumble (break-up).
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Tom Clancy a favorite author of mine had a detailed description of the hero using a Savage-Anschutz .22LR against a building full of drug dealers in the book 'Without Remorse'. FYI I like Clancy a LOT more than Stuart Woods.
 
I think most here are confusing glass deflection with tests done on angled automotive "safety" glass. Huge difference than a thin single pane of glass that you can break with a few pounds of force.
 
I don't have a .22 or I would definitely test out this myth on my next outing. I don't think it's that unrealistic
 
I can assure you, if a tender blade of grass can deflect a bullet, a single pane of glass will do the same. It would take an absolutely perfect 90° hit to the pane with an perfectly shaped nose on the bullet/projectile to gain the highest possibility of maintaining the bullets course. Energy transfer is a tricky beast.
 
I'm not confusing window glass with auto glass. :)

It doesn't take much to deflect a small .22 bullet, particularly out to 100 yards where it's lost considerable energy.

You'd be shooting windows at 100 yards on your next outing if you had a .22? :)
Denis
 
At 100 yards a .22LR from a rifle will be doing 900-1050fps, depending on the exact load chosen.

More than enough to be fatal, if the bullet hits in just the right spot. From a rested position, with a scoped rifle, a 100yd shot is essentially a "gimme" for someone who knows how to shoot.

Deflection through a single pane of window glass? OK, possible, even likely some deflection, BUT I don't see that as a deal breaker.

Remember the fictional situation is an assassination. A planned shot. perhaps the author's killer isn't as thorough as I would be, but it seems to me that a competent one would allow for shooting through both a closed and open window. It would require some testing, but I believe that one could find the spot where the usual deflection would still deliver the bullet to the desired target area.
 
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