Replies

However, if you shoot someone with a .22 short round from a short barrel pistol, well you might as well beat them over the head with the pistol. It will probably be more effective.

The Israeli El Al airline security officers assigned to that detail by the General Security Services [ShinBet] thought otherwise, and found the reduced loads used in their .22 Berettas [loaded in .22 long rifle cartridge cases for feeding through the pistols magazines, but at .22 short velocity levels] were quite okay. I had the chance to shoot with a couple of those operators, who thought that shooting off a 500-round box of ammo was a good warmup, and that my Browning GP was unnecessarily noisy. A few also used the .22 short chambered Astra model 2000 *cub* as a backup handgun; the little Astra makes even a Walther PPK look large by comparison; I used to keep one as a backup in my handcuff case. But again, you have to practice with it to get the desired result.

There's at least one recorded case of an elephant being killed by a .22 short. And do not ever think that if such a weapon is pointed your way that your life is not in danger.

I'm fairly fond of little guns, so you're preaching to the converted. Like I said, it's all a matter of how you use and what your needs are. I imagine El Al security thinks that's a good round so as not to penetrate the plane if it's fired. They're also extremely well trained and are infinitely more capable than most of killing a person with one shot from a .22 short.

I also don't think, as a lot do, that higher velocity is always better. As I said before, a high velocity 9mm can go straight through a person without their even realizing they've been shot. A person shot with a .380 on the other hand, which is about the same size round but with less velocity, would definitely know they've been shot, especially if you're talking about hollow points.

If anyone thinks being shot with a .22 short is no big deal, just take a quarter inch screwdriver and stab it in your neck. One is just as lethal as the other. But going back to the OP about stopping power, it's the last thing you'd use for stopping power.

assassinations of unaware, unarmed men and stopping a determined attacker are two very different things. A .45 is nothing much, really, with most loads. The Plus P Mag Safe .45, or a hot reload with the 117gr Aquila 4 segment prefrag, tho, will do a pretty fair job, with no more recoil than normal .45 ammo.

If I'm not mistaken, I seem to recall that one of the largest bears ever taken in North America was shot just behind the ear with a single shot .22 caliber rifle by an aged Native American woman.

The bear, a grizzly IIRC, was looking for an easy meal. Instead, the old woman got a very nice rug and plenty of bear meat.

"There's at least one recorded case of an elephant being killed by a .22 short."

I'm sure there is.

We heard last year of a full-grown Alaskan Brown Bear that was killed by one pellet from a .410 shotgun that penetrated its nose, went up his nasal cavity and hit his brain. I'd hate to count on that happening if I was in a similar situation, however.