[joepa150]

for a 22LR? I have a mark II and I would never use it as my weapon of choice for home defense or personal defense. I am extremely accurate with it and IMO I would be surprised if I couldn't stop a BG with a few rounds.

Recently I saw 22LR hollowpoints. I was always under the assumption that hollowpoints are mainly for self defense? What is the intended purpose of 22lr hollowpoints?

 

[Katana]

Good question.

My first thought is maybe for hunting? I can't recall ever seeing any soft point .22 ammo, but I also don't own any .22's so it's not like I look for the ammo when I'm shopping.

But then I'm reminded that there are people out there who use a .22 as a SD weapon or as a backup gun. I'd guess it's aimed more at those people.

 

[LethalStang]

22's are the most dangerous firearms out there. More Cops are killed with them than anything else. Several well placed shots with a 22 can be more effective than a couple erratic ones from a 45.

 

[Lewis128]

Rodents and birds.

 

[sniper58]

Good question.

My first thought is maybe for hunting? I can't recall ever seeing any soft point .22 ammo, but I also don't own any .22's so it's not like I look for the ammo when I'm shopping.

But then I'm reminded that there are people out there who use a .22 as a SD weapon or as a backup gun. I'd guess it's aimed more at those people.

They're out there - primarily used for target work. Eley Tenex is a world class cartridge, significantly slower than what's available locally and is EXPENSIVE. I used that ammo for Int'l Match back in the day.

 

[RebelRabbi]

If a 22 is what you have for defense then it's what you have. There are far superior calibers available. I would load it with CCI Stingers or Remington Vipers. Truth is Hollow Points are probably NOT going to expand from a 22 pistol Bbl.

 

[Ram Rod]

22lr HPs were intended for small game hunting. Upon impact, increasing the diameter of the projectile. and turning a pin-punch into a ball peen hammer and more force per square inch. In the personal defensive scenario, the 22lr could be effective, but more effective in the hollow points than lead round nose, or even plated bullets. Less chance for skipping around skull bone and such. 22lr for SD? In a rather small percentage of situations I would imagine. Some will say it's better than nothing, but sometimes it may be like poking a grizzly bear with a stick. I like better odds, and if all I had between me and a grizzly bear was a stick, then I would run. Not that the 22lr wouldn't be effective, it just depends on what your thoughts are as to the definition of 'effective'. It should make most turn and run to stop being stung. The human head is a very small target, and mostly bone. I once made the mistake of shooting at a feral cat with my pellet rifle (spring action cocking..1000fps) and using pointed pellets. A direct head shot was effective enough to make it run very far away. Away from my property and my animals. Two weeks or so went by and I saw it again one day in the nearest town checking out a local car wash dumpster when I realized I should have used a flat point pellet instead. I'm just sayin'.

 

[HotGuns]

Hollow-points in .22's are much better game killers than lead round nose.

When squirrel hunting, you want them to drop out of the tree immediately.

When using solid lead, if you hit them anywhere other than the head, they will run off...often into a hole in the tree and you'll never see them again.

I use only hollow-points for hunting.

 

[DaiUy]

22 lr?

I have not touched a 22 lr since 1972. Certain guys in SE Asia carried 22 lr hollow points in Ruger or Hi-Standard semi auto pistols with surpressors. They were used against village dogs or sentries.

I would rather use a .38 wadcutter for SD or close contact work.

In the old days, hitters used 22 lr in pistols, so they must be somewhat useful for SD.

DaiUy

 

[RETSUPT99]

Simply a better vermin killer.:yup:

 

[BugDude]

I grew up shooting 22s for many, many years (rifles and handguns). I was (perhaps still am deep down) somewhat of a 22 nut. I used round nosed brass for competition target shooting as they were more accurate than hollow-points in 22 when really tight groups are involved. The cavity of the hollowpoint actually trapped some air and caused a small degree of wobble and slight inconsistencies. I used hollowpoints for squirrel, rats, and rabbits (yes, I rabbit hunted with a Remington Filedmaster pump 22...the one gun I regret selling the most...I still have my old competition 22 pistol).

Historically speaking, more civilians have probably been killed with 22s than any other single round...but those were likely intentional and not defensive shots. Not my choice for a defensive round, although I feel I could make do with my 22s if I had to. They're still fun and cheap to shoot!!!!

 

[BugDude]

CCI Stingers are good hollowpoint rounds for squirrels and rats. They also make 22lr shot shells (like a mini bird shot round in 22 lr). I've carried them in my H&R 922 snub revolver for snakes, but they're not very effective. Nice concept though. 22 magnums are a different story alltogether. I have a magnum cylinder for one of my 22 revolvers and 2 Henry 22 magnums rifles (lever action and pump action). Fun as heck to shoot and ggood for small and medium game in hollowpoint rounds. 22 magnum is not a good round for target shooting (even in roundpoint). It is a small projectile pushed by a lot of powder. I've found the projectile actually rises over certain distances due to the velocity relative to the size/weight/shape of the projectile. Still, the lever action Henry rifle is more fun to shoot than one person should be able to have. I use golf balls for targets.

 

[REDTAIL]

CCI Stingers or Rem Yellow jackets is all that I use for all small game hunting, especiasly, on Bunnies with a good head shot, saves a lot of meat, to eat.

 

[SteveinNEPA]

22 hollowpoints are great for hunting as Ram Rod explained. AS far as self defense, maybe if there was absolutely NOTHING else then yes, other than that It may be like a tick bite to a tree rat IMO.(depending on the circumstances of course)

~Steve

 

[joepa150]

I was thinking probably for hunting.

Like I said earlier I wouldn't choose a 22lr as a defense weapon but if that was the only thing I have, I wouldn't run and I would be very confident in using it to defend my family.

For those who think that it is like poking a bear with a stick, do you know of any tests that show how ineffective a 22lr is?

I know you can't compare this but many many years ago I had a bb gun.
http://www.crosman.com/airguns/pistols/1377C
It states max velocity as 600 fps. I shot a rabid squirrel (long story) from 20 feet away in the head. It did a few flips and died. At closer inspection I saw the bb went into its head with no problem.

Now a standard 22 lr has a velocity around 1080 fps. Also I would assume 22lr is heavier than a BB.

I am no expert but do not think a 22lr would bounce off a person's chest or skull.

 

[Ring]

.22LR

 

[joepa150]

Interesting

"The .22LR is the cheapest, most commonly available ammunition to be found. While the performance of this cartridge in ballistic gelatin is correspondingly among the least effective of all cartridges, non-expanding bullets fired from pistols and moderately-expanding bullets fired from rifles can almost always be counted on to meet FBI performance standards."

.22LR

 

[OldVet]

I used both HP and solids during my varmit-hunting days (ground squirels, rockkchucks, a coyote on occasion), and I never really noticed much difference between the two. Now on occasion, I bored out the HP and "X"'d the tip with a knife blade and that tended to make them a bit more "explosive." But not much difference with factory bullets; there's not enough velocity to make much expansion on soft (flesh) targets.

 

[Majorlk]

22's are the most dangerous firearms out there. More Cops are killed with them than anything else. Several well placed shots with a 22 can be more effective than a couple erratic ones from a 45.

Please cite your support for this statement. This line of BS has been floating around for years and I have yet to find anything to substantiate it. Same deal that more people are killed by .22LR than any other round.

Both statements are urban myths, unsupportable by any factual evidence.

 

[joepa150]

Please cite your support for this statement. This line of BS has been floating around for years and I have yet to find anything to substantiate it. Same deal that more people are killed by .22LR than any other round.

Both statements are urban myths, unsupportable by any factual evidence.

Yeah I don't know if I believe that one. The only thing I can think of is maybe the 22lr is used to train new LEO or military and they may have a lot of AD because you may be handing a gun to a 18 yr old kid that never handled one.