WARNING FROM THE AUTHOR: This article‘s primary outline is in the subject of self defense, self defense ammunition, and covers in great detail the affect’s these types of ammunition have on the human body. This article might be upsetting to those who aren’t used to this subject. Please read at your own risk.
Thank you — Brian Woods

I have been a certified firearms and tactics instructor for a number of years now, during which I have been privileged to teach students in many different areas in the field of firearms. A number of these were concealed weapons courses and when I would ask my students what they planned to carry, each class always averaged at least two to four of them who plan to carrying a pistol chambered in the .22 caliber long rifle (.22 LR) for their primary defense weapon. It’s not only students I hear this from it’s actually a lot of different people that I come across in the fire arms world, whether it be customers in the gun shop, other enthusiasts at the range, it’s just something I am hearing more and more of these days and I feel people are getting this idea from a lot of misinformation that seems to spread quickly in this subject.

To the person who isn’t the serious gun enthusiast this might sound like a smart idea and I can understand their line of thinking; A handgun isn’t the easiest gun when learning how to shoot & be consistently accurate. When it comes to self defense accuracy counts. So people naturally think a handgun chambered in the .22 LR will be easier to shoot, can purchase a nice handgun a lot cheaper, it holds more rounds than most other handguns, has hardly any recoil, ammunition is cheap, and a person can be accurate with minimal training. I will concede that all of these thoughts are absolutely true. I want to be clear that I am not a hater of any version of the .22 caliber round, actually my feelings are quite the opposite. I have found it to be a great training tool, a lot of fun to shoot, a great round to introduce someone who is new to firearms and shooting, excellent varmint hunter and the list goes on and on but the list stops at self defense.

The .22 LR as a self defense round has been debated among firearms experts and instructors ever since carry permits became more easily available across the nation. Personally, I fail to see where there is a debate to be had on this subject. Simply, any version of the .22 is a horrible round for self defense. Any firearms instructors who thinks this round is adequate enough for self defense, frankly, shouldn’t be firearms instructors. I realize that sounds harsh, even a little snarky but when it comes to teaching concealed weapons or general firearms courses, people are putting their lives into the hands of these instructors to ensure they‘re getting taught the correct information. Any instructor who thinks the .22 LR is an adequate round for self defense purposes obviously has never done the first bit of ballistics research to support their theory. This is what we call “information via myth not practice” and there is absolutely no room for it in the world of firearms training.

For those thinking about the .22 caliber as their primary defense weapon I hope to show you in this article which was written using my years of experience, training, & ballistics testing why this round is a bad idea when it comes to anything having to do with self defense.

• The Primary Reasons For The Invention Of The .22 LR Round

Let’s start with a little history on the .22 caliber and why the round was even invented in the first place. The .22 round was primarily invented for indoor shooting clubs back in the 1800’s and was found to be a favorite of small game hunters & target shooters because of it low report & low recoil.

Chuck Hawks wrote the best article on the history of the .22 round and I have admired Chuck’s articles for a long time now, he wrote: “The rimfire principle was used to create the first successful self-contained metallic ammunition. Rimfire cases are constructed with the priming compound spun inside the rim of the copper or brass case, which is crushed by the blow of the firing pin to ignite the main powder charge.

The first rimfire cartridges were .22s, but after the type became established many larger caliber rimfire cartridges were developed in the mid to late 19th Century. Some of these had a good run of popularity until they were superceded by the development of higher pressure centerfire ammunition.”

Later in the article Hawks also stated: “Rimfire cartridge design is limited by the fact that the brass case rim must be weak enough to be crushed by the blow of the firing pin. This severely limits the permissible maximum pressure and thus the performance of the cartridge. I suspect that the advent of more potent .22 rimfire cartridges will depend on the future development of more advanced case materials.”

You can read the entire article “A Brief History Of The .22 Rimfire Ammunition By: Chuck Hawks by clicking the link below: http://www.chuckhawks.com/history_rimfire_ammo.htm

I recommend taking the time to read it, it’s packed with with valuable information and history of this round.

• The .22 Has A Higher Rate Of Failure To Fire Than Center Fire Ammo

The manufacturing process of the .22 rim fire ammunition is known to be fast and cheap which makes it have a higher failure to fire rate than that of the larger caliber center fire counterparts. A primer compound is spun around the rim then the brass is crimped around it sealing it in. The firing pin hits around the rim of the cartridge (thus the name rim fire ammunition) igniting the primer which ignites the burn process of the gun powder. The reason the failure to fire rates are so much higher than normal center fire ammunition is because sometimes the primer compound doesn’t get spun all the way around the rim or damaged during the crimping process. When the rim gets hit by the firing pin and hits upon a spot where there is no primer, the round will fail to fire.

Now I want to be completely fair here, the manufacturing processes have gotten a lot better over the years and failure to fire rates have dropped significantly. I remember in the late 80’s getting the bulk bricks of the mid grade ammo and at least a quarter of them failed to fire. Even the higher quality ammunition bought in smaller quantities would have a quite a few that would have the same issues. So I don’t want to mislead people thinking that their .22 ammunition is completely unreliable because the fact is now a days failure fire rates are less and less common in .22 ammunition. But my point here is from the view of self defense and the truth is the .22 is much more likely to have a failure to fire issue than center fire ammunition and when it comes to self defense you just can’t take that chance, period. Encounters by criminals where self defense is needed happens very close, very fast, and most times that one shot is all you have time for so you do not want it to malfunction.

• The .22 LR Is Unpredictable Upon Impact

Believe it or not one of the most deadly rounds to get shot with is the .22 LR. I can feel the WTF look on your face. I will admit that’s a hell of a statement considering how this entire article is advocating against this very round for self defense, but hear me out. One of the biggest problems I have with the .22 round is the UUI or unpredictability upon impact, meaning, when the bullet hits a dense surface you have no idea what it will do. There are a number of reasons this bullet reacts this way; Not powerful enough, the bullet tumbles in flight after a certain distance and/or hits a dense surface. I have had many people tell me “If an attacker got shot in the face a few times they will leave you alone”. I will concede in most cases this is probably true. When someone gets shot with a .22 caliber round the internal trajectory is completely unpredictable. If the round hits a bone upon entry it can cause the bullet to take a path in another direction. This can actually happen quite a few times depending on how many bones the round encounters. By the time the round comes to rest it has left a trail of damage.

Unfortunately this damage is severe but not severe enough to cause death right away. I have heard reports of people being shot in the head with a .22 and the round doesn’t penetrate the skull. Instead the bullet follows around the skull under the skin and exits out behind the head doing no more than epidermal damage. There have been reports of the round entering in by the neck, hitting the collar bone, and ending up in the leg. The bullet leaves a trail of damage as it moves throughout the body. While this wouldn’t always be an immediate death, it’s a nightmare for doctors to try and find the damage. This is why the .22 is such a dangerous round to be shot with. The damage from a larger caliber center fire round is direct and usually travels in one direction. This makes the damage easier to find thus quicker to start repairing the injuries. So with all that said, I concede there is no doubt you can die from a .22 gunshot wound, eventually.

That is one of the biggest problems is that word eventually. When it comes to self defense the main goal ins’t try to kill the person attacking you. The goal is stopping the person attacking you the fastest way possible, death is an unfortunate side effect. This might sound like an odd way of thinking, I agree. Looking at it from this perspective might make more sense; No reasonable and sane person thinks about killing when they are in that situation. People usually don’t have time to be in a vindictive retaliatory frame of mind. Most people that are trying to save their own life are thinking “I’m not letting this person take my life and I am stopping it”. When a person is in the fight or flight state and the person picks fight, this is how a normal person brain focuses.

• The Criminal Element, Drugs, And Interactions During Attacks/Robberies

Like I stated in the previous section, the whole point to self defense is stop the threat as quickly as possible. When a normal person gets shot, even just once with a .22 caliber round, the brain registers the seriousness of the situation. Panic sets in, then pain, adrenaline dumps, and then shock sets in. This would stop your average person right in their tracks. The problem in today’s society is people aren’t be attacked or robbed by normal people. Drug addiction plays a key role in robbery or violent crime. The addict is robbing people to get drugs or attacking someone because they are high on them. The most dangerous drugs being abused that make people react this way are; methamphetamine, opiates, PCP, and methylenedioxypyrovalerone. All of these are highly addictive and can make people very dangerous and unpredictable when on them. When people are high on these type of narcotics everything changes in the chemical distribution in their brain. These drugs mostly effecting the parietal lobe & thalamus of the brain. The parietal lobe functions in processing sensory information regarding the location of parts of the body as well as interpreting visual information and processing language and mathematics. The thalamus is located at the top of the brain stem and is the main function that processes the signals from the nerves when a person feels pain.

When a person is on these drugs and get shot they process the events completely different than a sober person. The brain on these types of drugs does not process the pain of being shot nor does it process the realities.

Going back to the .22 caliber round, it simply doesn’t cause enough immediate damage to stop a threat like this. Yes, it could eventually cause death but the problem is until it does that person is going to keep coming at you. When I was in the police academy I have seen many videos of people being shot while on drugs. One guy got shot 5 times in the chest with a .357 and he kept coming after the officer, granted not for very long, but my point is he was still trying because his brain wasn’t processing the information like it should have been.

• Having A Big Enough Caliber For Self Defense Is Key And The .22 Does Not Cut It

In the world of firearms & self defense the key is to carry a big enough caliber that if, god forbid, you had to defend your self the round will do enough arterial or nervous system damage to the attacker that it will stop the attack immediately even if they are on these drugs that were stated in the previous section. Because their brains aren’t functioning like normal people’s, it will take this type of internal bodily damage to stop them. I completely understand this is a particular gruesome topic, but if you are carrying for self defense you have to understand how these things work and why the .22 round will not do this type of damage to stop a person attacking you who are on these type of drugs.

These are the elements you should look for in a good self defense round and handgun:

• Impact Energy — A big part of impact energy is hydraulic shock (also known as hydrostatic shock or fluid shock). When a bullet enters a living target, the energy is such it creates a fluid shock wave that is carried internally outward at the entry point causing neural tissue damage, organ damage, and even bone fractures. This is important, maybe the most important, because it is this hydraulic shock that can actually do more internal damage than the round itself, this is important when trying to stop an attacker immediately. One of the biggest problems with the .22 round, even those made specially for self defense, is that it lacks the muzzle velocity to create significant enough hydraulic shock to ensure the necessary internal damage.

• Hollow Point Ammunition — this is a type of bullet that upon impact of tissue the bullet peals open into a wider caliber almost like a flower opens it’s petals. These “petals” that open are sharp to cause more internal damage to the tissue and arteries. Never carry ball ammunition for self defense because for one, it does not do enough internal damage and two, states have made it illegal to carry this type of ammunition for self defense because of the possibility of over penetration. Over penetration is when the round goes straight through your intended target and keeps traveling possibly hitting an innocent bystander or could go through the exterior walls of a house that is close by (for those of you who do not know what ball ammunition is, its the type of ammunition you usually buy to practice with).
• Choosing An Adequate Size Caliber For Self Defense — It is important when picking a self defense round that you choose one that is a big enough caliber for self defense. It is important to choose a round in a large enough caliber for self defense but not so big that you can’t control it when firing. I don’t recommend anything smaller than a .380.

• Choosing The Proper Size Handgun — The trick to choosing a handgun dependable for self defense is to choose one big enough in size that you can practice with it at the range but it be small enough to carry concealed for self defense. The compact guns such as the Kel-Tec are great for extreme close encounters but the accuracy is lacking past 15–20 feet. I recommend something around the size of a Glock 26. This size firearm is compact, it’s accurate for many yards, and can shoot a big enough caliber suitable for self defense.