preface: im hanging out with a girl who has a 22lr pistol for carry

Money is an object so i wont be buying her another gun and her bartending job wont afford her another gun

Its better than rocks or a rape whistle.

If you dont have any 22lr input or are recamending another gun dont
bother unless your buying it for her.


Now she has a 22 so im going to buy some 22 ammo when i see it on the shelves and get her some range time at atleast 10 yards. Im going try to help her with cleaning and the manual of arms on her gun(phoenix arms made in ontario ca, has a hammer). Sent her a youtube video of a guy doing an indepth review for now. Havent had a chance for her to bring the gun down to visit with her yet. So 22 is finicky we all know this, im guess get a match copper plated 22 round as match has some better quality control. As far as hollow points in 22 i wouldnt expect them to do anything. However i saw the article two years ago or so that speer made a gold dot in 22 wmr that expanded quite well. Does anyone have an idea of anything like that in 22lr or should i just have her stick with match copper plater 22lr round?

Again its what she has, she cant afford anything else, i cant afford to buy her anything. So we are working with what she has. Any help is appreciated.

CCI segmented hollow points. Bullet breaks into 3 pieces

CCI mini mags are usually the most reliable, and most expensive non match ammo.

You can't expect expansion and regardless with pipsqueak power the goal should be whatever penetration you can hope for and from my testing the only game in town is CCI velociters.

CCI reliability , full 40 gr bullet and as far as I know quite a bit more velocity than any other 40 gr round. The CCI Stinger has a bit more energy because The light bullet has more velocity but it has function issues in many guns and I believe you would lose penetration because of the light bullet

Supply in many areas is still sketchy and CCI 40 gr solid round nose Mini-Mags would be my second choice.

As with any other self defense ammo/gun choice give it a through test run to check out the reliability of that ammo in that particular gun

CCI stinger, I have defensive ammo for every gun I own, just in case and that's what I use.

When I carried my S&W Model 61-2 Escort as a BUG it was loaded with either CCI Stingers or Remington Yellow Jackets which I preferred.

Reliability of ignition is, IMO, paramount; even over penetration.

Yes reliability of ignition and reliability of feeding , any kind of stoppage in a defense gun is not acceptable .

My limited experience with yellow jackets leaves me not 100% satisfied with the bullet shape . I have a higher level of confidence with the CCI round nose of the Mini-Mags. However if one were to test any particular bullet in a particular firearm (as one should all self defense set ups) and got good function you are good to go. My personal experience with Remington rimfire ammo would make me not likely to recomend based upon my trials with golden bullets and their primeing failures.

I have shot much rimfire in many different firearms over the years  and the ignition reliability of the CCI line has been very very good even in the odd firearm with weak hits.

Same here. I love Stingers.

Mini mags, they won't expand so solid point is fine.  I would suggest lead standard vel CCI next.

Thanks for keeping it on topic and all the replies. Ill get some range fodder the  get some cci's and sew what kind of reliability we can get.

I have some triton quik shoks same bullet that's what I would carry in a 22/

Looking at the Pheonix Arms website, and assuming the pistol under discussion is the HP22, it does say that it is designed for standard velocity target ammo.  Bearing that in mind, maybe steer clear of the high velocity stuff.  I know a steady diet of CCI Stingers resulted in an awful lot of wear in a friend's Walther P22.  Enough wear that I am hesitant to shoot the thing now (he left his guns to us when he died.)

I was able to score 1,200 rounds of CCI standard velocity and so far have shot 800 rounds of it in a SR22.
NO Issues.
Every one of the 800- went bang.
I think it is quite accurate and up to the job as a self defense round.
Now.
That being said, a family member works with some Israilies and was told.
"22 one to the face and the fight is over"

Cci stingers is what I would choose if I had to carry a .22lr mini mag solids would be my second choice

Not always true. Deputy here took one to the eye, then the other five in the upper body. Lost 95% vision in the eye. Identified the suspects and is still alive, although medically reitred.

If I carried a .22, I'd want a high quality solid.    With such a small round, penetration is the issue.

Same for .25 or .32.   I think FMJ would be the way to go.

I have an HP22 and if I were carrying it for defense, it would be loaded with CCI’s; either MiniMags or Stingers. (It would also have the 5” barrel installed.)

As others have pointed out, penetration is a crucial consideration in a small .22LR pistol; second only to functional reliability imo. Shooting with a brother-in-law one time with .22’s at a dump (gotta love Arkansas… ), he was using his ruger 5” or 5-1/2" Mk2, and I had my 4” mk2 and my wife’s beretta 21A. Shooting at an abandoned washing machine from probably 30 feet, the federal 40-grain ‘hi-velocity’ solids from the 4” and 5” guns always penetrated the outer sheet metal of the washer, and nearly half the time also penetrated the heavy steel of the inner washtub. The same ammo from the little beretta never once penetrated even the outer skin. You could literally see them land in the grass after bouncing off the outer sheet-metal layer on the washing machine. It shocked me, but it was consistent; 100% of the time, the rounds from the beretta pocket pistol bounced off, and the rounds (from the same box) from both the four and five inch guns penetrated a minimum of one layer and often two.

The tiny bullet from such a tiny barrel length just has a tiny performance envelope, and really needs as much help as we can give it.

Does Federal HST come in .22?  

In my day to day experience the CCI stingers would be your best choice, though if you wanted you could also buy some .22 thunderbolt for the loud band to scare the shit outta any attacker if the gun itself is reliable.

Let me know if you decide to go with CCI Stingers for her. I have a couple packs on hand you could get locally. I know they are likely hard to find.

I also have a pair of hp22s that my kids shoot; it is small, inexpensive, and reliable. We have run maybe a bulk pack of rounds through both of them so far with no problems. My daughter, however, finds the trigger hard to pull, but i'm sure your friend will have no problem there. I dont think stingers would be good for long term use (cracked slide), but in a defensive situation, longevity is the last thing she should worry about.

I can give yall some tips/tricks for cleaning if you'd like. The takedown lever is a B until youve cleaned it several dozen times.

I like CCI Velocitors, I keep some in an LCR that I carry when I am walking my dog to deal with strays if need be.

Here are some youtube ballistic gel data points you might find useful.

.22LR Three-Barrel Mega-Test #1: Velocitors, SSS, Power Point and Supermaximum

Self Defense Ammunition for the 22 LR Handgun

I've had good results with Aguila High Velocity rounds (1255 fps advertised; I've seen 1240 over my chrono from a 6" 422 S&W).

You can always practice with standard velocity and keep it loaded with the hyper-velocity stuff afterwards; just make sure you know the hyper-velocity ammo is 100% reliable.

Ballistics Data Spreadsheet

Here is a spreadsheet of ballistics data I made,  sourced from Youtube tester TNOutdoors9. Have a look through the .22 section. The only two rounds that come close to performing well are the CCI Mini-Mag, and the Velocitor.

I'd be interested to see how aguila sss does in a gel test.  Might be a viable choice for .22 revolvers that actually yaws.

Edit: I just realized there is a video above.

Have only relied on two .22LR as BUGs.  First Beretta 21A carried with CCI Stingers and 100% reliable with them. Don't have the Beretta anymore.  Second which I still have is my NAA min revolver in .22LR with the 1 1/8" bbl.  Here I carry 40gr LRN for penetration.  Its my ENT (eyes, nose and throat) gun and practice putting those bullets there.


CD