For one reason or another, for some people 22lr factory ammo is it. The Federal Punch 22lr may be the best of the pure penetrators. The gel penetration tests I've seen seem to show it does what Federal says it does. If you have to use a 22 check it out.
For those interested, these are the WW2 .22lr FMJ developed for the OSS.
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t..._22-1-1024.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/TP92wtW/main-qimg-f...e5624c203.webp
"According to Dr. John Brunner in his book on OSS weapons, the pistols were initially issued with standard velocity Remington .22 long rifle commercial ammunition. In July, 1944, it was observed that the use of soft lead bullet ammunition would violate the Hague Accords so a request was made to develop full metal jacketed .22lr ammo. General Donovan directed that the use of these pistols be suspended until supplies of jacketed ammunition could be issued.
In spite of this, the guns continued to be issued and used with standard ammunition while FMJ ammunition was being developed by Remington. The new cartridge was designated T-42 and Brunner reports the first 20,000 rounds were made available to OSS by February 8, 1945. By the end of that month, nearly 1 1/2 million rounds of T-42 had been produced by Remington with nearly 2 million more produced by the end of May.
The T-42 was adopted as the M24 in May, 1945 with some minor changes to the bullet length and weight. Remington produced them through lots RA 5007 produced after 1946. According to Woodin Volume III, lots RA 5008 and 5009, consisting of 4 million additional cartridges, were made in 1967. I think the M24 is still standard and the approved cartridge for .22lr used in combat conditions."
I always told folks asking my advice that .22's and .25's could kill but seldom stop an attackler and added that the person shot would likely die in a hospital. My opinion is that .32's and 380's are in this category. I've owned a basket full of these calibers but bought them because of the nifty, neat, and keen handguns in which they were chambered. I include the .22 Magnum in this unreliable category. It seems that more mouse caliber advocates are showing up on forums like ours. I say like ours because we have fewer dilettantes than most other forums. The last statement sounds as if I'm putting all mouse gun advocates in the dilettante group. Not so. Sometime we deny where we fit. I'm an advanced plinker with Fudd tendencies. We have folks here who are in more serious categories. They train, attend classes, and study. Stephanie is an example.
Trivia: Remington worked on a .267 Rimfire that is usually described as an upgrade of the .25 but could not get it to work well in their regular .22 rifle actions; high pressure, poor accuracy. I once saw a picture of a revolver modified for it but that one really dropped out of sight fast.Quote:
Originally Posted by revolvergeek
FWIW... this load does work pretty well on small game. As did the 42gr Winchester Super Silhouette truncated cone bullet (that I wish they would bring back). I always attributed their effectiveness to the flat noses. Much more like hollow point bullets, than regular round nose lead, in their effects on animals I've used them on.Quote:
Originally Posted by the Schwartz
Unfortunately, CCI hasn't made much of the SGB as of late... maybe not at all in the last couple years. They do still list it on their website. https://www.cci-ammunition.com/rimfi...llet/6-58.html
This is probably the only reason I need not to carry one for anything beyond varmint elimination. If you are a super secret assassin or even just a secret assassin, disregard this.Quote:
Originally Posted by BehindBlueI's
In terms of ".22lr Penetrator" options, Cutting Edge has release custom copper solid .22lr projectiles and reloading dies.
https://cuttingedgebullets.com/shop/...e-bullets/22lr
https://www.ssusa.org/articles/2021/...-reloading-kit
https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/...lets-22lr-kit/
While these are intended for long range .22lr rifle competition, the solid lathe turned copper construction and wide meplat would likely also make them great candidates for a 22lr SD loads. Or as an offensive OSS type load for suppressed .22lr pistols...
https://www.ssusa.org/media/h04ouk2w...gedge_fm-5.jpg
These would be the only option I'd consider for serious use or something along those lines, which should yield the deepest penetration assuming it doesn't tumble (which is shouldn't do easily given a wide meplat). Still not confidence inspiring though...Quote:
Originally Posted by spyderco monkey
It's all relative. I certainly dont keep .22s for defense, and if I had recoil averse family I'd give them one of my 5.7s, which is really the goldilocks zone in terms of low recoil / good penetration / high capacity / high reliability.Quote:
Originally Posted by Thy.Will.Be.Done
But for tens of thousands of Americans probably spanning a century, .22lr has been their SD choice, and so its actually pretty shocking to me that only recently has a dedicated SD load been developed for it.
Since I have a bunch of .22's, I would also like to have a SD load available to keep on hand so they could serve as a 3rd line defensive item / 'handout guns.' Likewise having some proper .22 SD ammo available for friends and family.
When Covid first happened, the initial 2 weeks to stop the spread time period was pretty spooky in my area. Business boarded up, grocery stores running out of food with shoppers looking covetously at others shopping carts, extremely minimal police patrols. Lines out the door at every gun shop, with not a round to be found.
I ended up talking with my immediate neighbors in my cul de sac about their security plans. Next door neighbor had unfortunately sold their .38 a month prior, leaving him with only his .22 Buckmark, while the woman across the street had their fathers old .22 bolt action in the closet. My buddies Dad only had a .22 Woodsman. I'm sure our neighborhood was not unusual in this ratio of .22s to 'real guns.'
It would have been nice to have had a stash of "CCI Hardcast" type SD ammo to hand out in that scenario. (They'd have to be pretty good neighbors indeed for me to hand out any of those solid copper handloads though :cool: )
Very interesting! I will have to dig into that a little.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim Watson