.22 LR Lethality

[Longitude Zero]

Target impact and location of impact is ALL that matters.  Even as deadly as a 22LC can be a hit in the foot will stop nobody from continuing their deadly assault been there seen that.  As KB said the only sure fire method is to disconnetc the brain from the body as high up the spinal column as possible.

Close range shotgun hits are nasty and generally fatal more often than not.

[a|ex]

here's a post of a group of frat boys going after an asian ccw.

http://www.myfoxphilly.com/dpp/news/local_news/012010_Family_Of_Eddie_DiDonato_Speaks_Out_After_Shooting

the article tries to make the shooting victim a hero, but the jury viewed the surveillance video and saw the shooter as defending himself against 3 attackers.

the shooting victim was shot 6x within 5 feet with a .38 pistol. he will recover. as i pointed out, caliber size doesn't matter if you can't aim correctly.

surveillance video here

http://www.myfoxphilly.com/dpp/news/local_news/Old_City_Shooting_01_17_10

the shooter needed more range time, but he sure was quick to draw and unload. punching while shooting isn't something i've considered practicing.

[Popcop45]

WARNING: The link below contains photos of actual gun shot victims of various calibers including the .22LR.

Click at you own risk

http://books.google.com/books?id=JpwNhdcT6xAC&pg=PA41&lpg=PA41&dq=terminal+ballistics+.22+lr&source=bl&ots=tnFO0qncjs&sig=xFBdWDxOIgukbGW1iIPC-CGS-ew&hl=en&ei=WpNJTcXrO8H38Abk_eyoDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CGgQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q&f=false

[Kilibreaux]

Interestingly a lot of hunting guides carry a .22LR and claim it will handle anything they encounter.  In reading and endless number of posts over the years I've noted people using standard .22LR ammo to dispatch Deer, Moose, and even Bear...and of course the .22LR has been used in a "sporting mode" to take every species of "game" on earth.

My own experiences growing up in the south confirm that while we always aspired to have larger calibers, our inexpensive, single-shot Sears brand bolt action loaded with whatever was on sale for 50 cents a box took care of whatever was shot with it.  The big calibers were certainly explosively impressive - the .44 mags, .30-30's, '06, and even the 7mm Rem Mag, but take away the departure of body parts and the ubiquitous .22LR would do the same job just fine, and this was BEFORE The modern era of hypervelocity ammo that is amazingly destructive by comparison.

Aside from the priming method and heel-based bullet-to-case interface, the modern .22LR is a pretty sweet round that makes all the sense in the world for a "survival aresenal."  The latest generation of "assualt" cartridges such as the 5.7x28 deliver .22 Mag kinetic energies in a more expensive package, while at the same time top-of-the-line .22LR ammo achieves approximately 2/3rds the energy of such rounds.

Go back and watch the video of the Reagan attempted assassination - four people took hits from SHORT barreled .22 revolvers and not one jumped up and chortled; "that didn't hurt, what a punk round!"  Reagan WOULD have died if not for quick response and modern surgery, Brady was "vegetablize," some DC police chief was dropped, as was a Secret Service agent who can be seen in the video taking an abdominal hit...he went down and didn't jump up bragging about how the puny .22 didn't do any damage.

I have at least 5000 rounds of 7.62 on hand, and another 3000 of 5.56 not to mention ample 00 buck and slug loads, as well as .45ACP and 9mm for "the day," yet I have over 10,000 rounds of .22 ammo quietly awaiting the same catastrophe because it costs a LOT less money so I can afford to keep a lot on hand, EACH round will accomplish the same thing each round of the bigger stuff will, and I can "afford" to send out 15 rounds per second of .22LR easily by comparison to the big calibers.  A five round burst of .22LR costs far less than just ONE centerfire round and delivers 650-1000 lb-ft of kinetic energy which is more than enough to make anyone pause and say, "oh!"

[kandyredcoi]

with all this being said, and i DO agree that the .22lr is NO JOKE and i also consider it as a good survival/shtf ammo

which brand/type of .22lr would you guys/gals recommend to be the best for sd/hd purpose?

[Popcop45]

We had a shooting involving the .22LR in our jurisdiction just a few days ago. I can not get too specific because it is still an open case but here are some facts:

13 year old male took a single .22LR round from a six inch barrel pistol. Non contact range. The round entered the soft tissue just posterior of the chin. It continued through the nasal cavity into the cerebral cortex. The round stopped just short of exiting the top of the skull. Although there was not much blood loss, the victim was pronounced deceased within 5 minutes of the call. As soon as I hear the ammo type I will update the post.

[kandyredcoi]

which reminds (if i can find it, i will post it) of a recent post/article on another forum, pretty much that shot placement probably wins over caliber...but we'll save that for another thread

[imschur]

http://www.defensivecarry.com/forum/defensive-ammunition-ballistics/124113-firearms-stopping-power-different-perspective.html

I would like to see a study that soley deals with shootings by LEO. I want to know how trained shooters with propper ammo fair in shootings.