Have you used a 22LR in SD?

R

rep1954

New member
If you have used a 22 LR handgun in a self defense situation and care to share your story feel free to do so in this thread.
 
SD no but I was at a college function and I had to confront someone that looked to be stealing from the college. ASB officers were often left in charge of college facilities and I was managing an event when a person of suspect was spotted on the grounds. They were driving through the new construction site rummaging through things. All I had on me at the time was a Western Derringer in .22. I was confident in my skill with this derringer as I had reworked it replacing the firing pins and springs and the selector spring and even welding up the selector so it would select the barrels better.

It turned out to be nothing but the next week I ordered a Davis in .38 Special for my college hideout carry gun.
 
Never used one for SD (and won't), but I've talked to people over the years who've been shot with a .22 (which is why I won't :) ).
Denis
 
You know, in thinking back, never actually did personally run across anybody who'd managed to die from being shot with a .22.
Dimly recall hearing of one suicide case where the guy'd shot himself in the head & was successful.

The first .22 LR shooting victim I encountered, who'd been shot in the chest, was debating whether or not to have the bullet removed.
Met quite a few who survived various higher calibers, several who didn't.

Including one guy who'd shot himself through the chest on a suicide attempt with a 12-gauge at contact distance.
He was not happy, but was still alive & conscious.

The .22 rimfire's an old debate.
I wouldn't carry one for SD unless it was all I had.
But, didn't mean to derail the thread.

Looking forward to seeing many first-hand stories of successful use of the caliber for SD, and I don't mean merely presenting or pointing. :)
Denis
 
2 months ago I was a juror to a case where a kid tried robbing two drug dealers and shot/killed them with a 22. I believe shot placement was key as the medical examiner stated that both had heat of the moment heart/lung area shots. Of course there were also shots that had no real effect.
 
Shooting a few months back in my area . 22 to chest round broke in half one piece went into his guts other nicked heart and exited back. He drove 3 miles to a country store . Off duty nurse worked on him and kept alive Was medvac to UK hospital Alive well and home at present . Waiting trial on shooter.


I never used a 22 . Did draw a Beretta 25 one night in a parking garage. Guy ran so fast I don't think 25 or 22 could have caught him. :D
 
I know two people who have survived being shot with a 22. Both were mugging victims. Both said it hurt like the devil himself had grabbed them. They both said the only thing they were interested in doing was getting to a hospital.

I've known two people killed with a 22. A murder suicide. One shot to the back of the head. DRT. The second one, the suicide, shot herself several times in the chest. Coroner said she lived for "a while" but no doubt suffered a lot. His conclusion..."she wanted to punish herself." I know, that's just a SWAG, but knowing the woman involved, and the "rest of the story", it made sense.

But no, I've never used a 22 in a self-defense situation. I would, but never have. I've always had an alternative.
 
I have not used a 22lr for self defense, but I know of one Navy or Marine fighter pilot who was shot down off the coast of North Vietnam. Parachuted and picked up by NVN fishermen who got a big reward for capturing a pilot. When the helicopter came to rescue him, he shot one of the fisherman when the other two were distracted. The shot fisherman is presumed dead, the others jumped overboard and the pilot was rescued. He had a 22 hidden under his flight suit.

I was a USAF fighter pilot and carried a nine shot revolver (22lr) for years as a survival gun. In the war, though, I carried a 38spcl.
 
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For more clarity...

It is always best to not write anything about a use of force incident, SD or other, in which one has been involved.
 
5 or so years ago my neighbor attempted suicide with a .22 rifle. He is still alive but hasnt been the same since. He shot himself in the chest.
 
I would not want an attacker to get madder with .22LR wounds at a close distance. The Israelis use .22LR for crowd control by immobilizing their attackers with knee shots. .22 calibers have speed but little energy for defense.
 
With a sectional density of 0.10, a projectile needs 100joules of energy to consistently penetrate a typical human thorax with sufficient lacerative effect. This is very little energy required to do so.

But because bones and barriers exist, we must raise the threshold to 200joules of energy to be able to defeat or glance off of bone and still penetrate deep enough to cause maximum damage across the thorax.

Our threshold is 200joules with 0.10 sectional density.

Your usual 40gr 22lr traveling at 1200fps generates 175joules of energy with a sectional density of 0.12.

This is barely a sufficient caliber by the threshold given, but absolutely a deadly loading.

You don't need stories to tell you 22lr doesn't play games.
 
President Reagan was hit by bullet ricocheted off his car. He was gravely injured. At least one office at the scene of assassination died of gun shot wound. The assassin John Hinckley fired a 22 revolver.

-TL
 
22lr is no doubt capable of hurting and killing. But self defense is not about that. It is to stop the threat to your own life as quickly as possible. In this sense, it is probably not the best choice. But it shouldn't be a non-choice either.

-TL
 
if you look at historical shooting data the .22 LR round has been surprisingly lethal. Take a look at the Greg Ellifritz data:

http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/alternate-look-handgun-stopping-power

34% of .22 LR gunshot wounds were lethal, a lethality rate that (incredibly) was higher than that for every other handgun round from .380 auto up to .44 Magnum.

That is not a reason to recommend the round for self-defense, since 31% of those shot with .22 LR were not incapacitated regardless of hits, and that percentage is higher than for all other handgun calibers other than .25 ACP and .32 caliber.

I would not use .22 LR as a self-defense round, but there is absolutely no doubt that it can kill.
 
If I had nothing else, or could not reliably use a larger caliber, the .22LR would be a much better choice than carrying no weapon at all.

There's an old joke, 'Shooting someone with a .22 will give you a definite advantage in the fist fight that follows'.
 
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