.22 lethality video.

[rockriver]

video a buddy sent.
2 old boys test a .22 against a 1/2" pine board.
comments?
I've got my bb gun..
I may go look for a .22!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUM1r_444CY&feature=em-share_video_user

[Matt In Oklahoma]

I've seen this video before. I'm not sold on all their points and the claims however
IF I only had one gun it would be a .22. It's a test and not conclusive in killing results but shows a decent amount of knowledge and usefulness.
I think that everyone should have one and understand it's role. There have been heated debates on it being someones MBR and I stand by my thoughts of if thats all you can afford for now or thats what you can handle then thats what you should have.
I've killed everything that walks, crawls or flies here with one, within limitations of course. I've worked homicides and seen a few things where one was used. My wife has been shot with one.
I'm very partial to the Ruger 10-22 and CCI stingers but everyone has their preferences I'm sure

[WiseOwl]

My 10-22 Carbine is my MBR. 25 round Ruger BX's to go along with stingers and yellow jackets. They fit in the tacticool vest that is supposed to hold AR and AK mags just fine.
In this territory, 60-80 yard shots are the norm. At that distance, these are VERY lethal with well placed artwork.
Anything more than that, tres cero ocho flies just fine.

Lets play!

[Tackleberry]

Most people do not have body armor or flak jackets so a .22LR is not an unreasonable choice for a MBR. I do subscribe to the idea that in a PAW, ANY type of gunshot to the torso will have a good chance of being lethal due to lack of medical attention. You can carry a ton of .22 ammo and a 10/22 is incredibly reliable. Not sure about I would want to rely on the "knock down" power of a .22LR but again there's a good argument to be made for the .22LR.

[Grand58742]

I suppose I'll have to be the dissenting opinion here...

While yes, the .22 LR can be lethal, I do not want to take my chances with something that might incapacitate given enough time and something I know will incapacitate a whole lot faster. And something with pretty limited range since most people rarely practice further than a hundred yards and generally a whole lot less. And many have no idea what the ballistic drop will be past the 100 yard point. Simple ballistics equation. The .22 LR is just not suited since it will take a whole lot more time to work than a 5.56, 7.62x39 or .308 will. Sure, you may get lucky with a CNS shot, but I don't believe in luck.

It's all about velocity and energy AND penetration. And the .22 LR just doesn't have sufficient energy to do the job of effectively creating a temporary and permanent cavity in a human body that will cause immediate serious trauma like a 5.56, 7.62x39 or .308 will, especially at extended ranges. It's meant as a target and small game round and not a serious show stopper. Now if it's the only thing you have in hand, use what you have, but relying on something that is marginal at best for stopping an attacker and with fairly limited range even in a PAW situation is not the best idea. It takes time to kill a larger target like a human and in that time you can be wounded yourself. And the attacker or group of attackers is sitting back two hundred yards taking pot shots at you.

Now you have to add in windage to the equation. The .22 is a plaything for the wind, even more than most cartridges since it's so light. Even a 5 MPH wind will drastically change your point of impact versus point of aim at 100 yards or more. And that goes up exponentially for longer range shots.

I salute the good ol boys for going out and doing the test, but a pine board does not a good ballistics template make. The pine boards are all about how far a .22 will penetrate, not how much energy it will dump into a target or how big a wound channel it will make. No serious ballistics tester on the planet will suggest using a .22 unless no other means of defense are available.

Again, if it's all you have, than use what you have. But "lethality" is a pretty broad term that the video uses pretty loosely.

[Matt In Oklahoma]

No matter if you carry a 22 or a 50cal get out and use it. Hunt with it. Then you will know what it can and can't do no science needed. It ain't man killin but killin is killin

Only part of SURVIVAL is man killin. Them critters you got in your garbage now ain't leaving. A bears brain is through his eyeball with a 22. A raccoon is 8lbs of meat for my family's rice. That dried hide is a chew toy for the teething toddler or the dog. The tail is a windicator hung from a tree at 100 yds from the house. Them guts are stink bait or jaw trap bait for more food. The bones are tools, alarms or trap pain.
That's survival

If all ya have is a 22 then learn it but yes you should always try and improve your position with a better caliber.

[rockriver]

well, some good info. in addition to the video.
idea.
an invite to
post any similar tests, practices on any and all cal.

[dusso]

If you are highly skilled and sneaky enough, you can make a .22 autoloading rifle suffice. However, for shtf it would be wise to have one with a short barrel, folding stock and suppressor, so that it's concealable and so that regular .22lr ammo is subsonic when fired thru it. . Also, you don't have to settle for having just a centerfire or just a .22lr. Ciener makes .22lr conversions for the AK, the AR and the Mini-14. So you can have both a centerfire and a rimfire, with just a 20 second parts swap.

The military uses 1" pine boards as their minimum, rough, unplaned ones, originally, cause a .25 auto will just barely pierce one, and a .25 auto is just barely lethal. 150 yds is pushing a .22lr rifle, way beyond anythng practical. It's dropping like a rock at that distance, and drifting in the wind like a balloon, too. Don't kid yourself about such things. Lethality and stopping power are not at all closely related, either.

If you pop somebody in the guts with a 22lr, better expect him to be functional for many minutes afterwards, if not hours. Hit him in the guts with a 223 softpoint, tho, and it will blow pieces of him out on the ground. 95% of the time, he won't be doing anything but lying there dying. About 2 in 100 won't be stopped by 308 ball to the chest, either, nor 12 ga slugs. At least, not for several seconds.