What 22lr handgun and ammo for self defense? (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 7/26/2025 11:45:27 PM EDT
[Last Edit: yobo][Edited]
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If you had to use a 22lr handgun for self defense what gun and ammo would you choose from what is currently available. My parents keep a pair of 6” S&W 422 pistol from 1980’s loaded with CCI Minimag 40gr solids. Due to their advanced age and arthritis they can’t handle much recoil anymore so it’s what works for them. Both pistols have been well used as my siblings and I were taught to shoot on these pistols. In all these years I don’t remember a single time this pistol had failed to function with this ammo. As for me I would choose Ruger MK3 Standard loaded with CCI Velocitor ammo. |
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Eley high speed 42 grn lrn or CCI 40 grn LRN MiniMags. Put my elderly MIL in the longest barrel Ruger SR-22 for the most velocity and a hammer she could cock before racking the slide. Now, there's the Ruger LCP .22 LR Lite Rack, but not much penetration. The Ruger .22 Charger is technically a pistol, easily suppressed, you can add a pistol brace and a binary, and 25 round mags. If they can rack it on a dead hammer, there's the Kel-Tec & S&W 30 shot .22 WMRs with more punch than anything I've previously mentioned. |
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Originally Posted By mini14jac: S&W 43C. Can be fired from inside a pocket. 8 shots. Not ammo sensitive. The trigger may be too stiff for some people to operate. I've run into elderly women that can't reliably operate a centerfire DAO revolver trigger. |
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Originally Posted By backbencher: I've run into elderly women that can't reliably operate a centerfire DAO revolver trigger. I have an older relative with the same problem. I fixed her up with a Beretta .22 Bobcat with the tip up barrel. She has no problem with the trigger and it runs CCI Minimags just fine. She loves it. It doesn’t have an extractor so it wouldn’t be my first choice. If the Ruger LCP 22 would have been available then, it would have been a better choice. |
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I have a Ruger LCRx 8 shot which is very reliable but the trigger is on the heavy side. Of my other rimfire pistols I would choose my Glock 44 with Glock Tritium Night Sights like I use on my Glock centerfire pistols. My second choice would be my Advantage Arms standard 1911 kit on my RIA government frame. I’d load either with CCI Mini Mags 40 grain plated round nose. The slide on my Glock 44 is harder to cycle than the 1911-22 but they both have been very reliable with ten round magazines. I’d test these three handguns and let them choose the one they like best. Glock 44 Factory Tritium Night Sights.  1911 22 LR, Advantage Arms conversion kit with RIA frame, biggest disadvantage is it is heavy. An AA commander kit on a light weight aluminum frame would be great. Lanbo’s Armory has a very good selection of AA kits and magazines with good prices.  The Ruger LCRx has a 3” barrel, light weight with an XS big dot luminous front sight.  |
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Ammunition wise, three things have jumped out at me in my own ballistic gel testing: 1) Federal's 29 gr Punch does well in both short and long barrels giving roughly 14" of penetration whether its fired from my 2.4" Beretta Bobcat or my 3.9" Walther PP. It's designed for handgun barrel lengths and velocities and does very well within those parameters. 2) Winchester's 37 gr Varmint HE round is not handgun optimized, but also does very well with around 12-13" penetration in the Bobcat and 14" penetration from the PP. 3) if you are shooting a .22 LR handgun with 3.5" or longer barrel length pretty much any 40 gr high velocity .22 LR round will give 12-14" penetration. Consequently, with a 3.5" or longer barrel, just save money and shoot a quality high velocity 40 gr round. With a short barrel shoot the Federal or Winchester rounds above. Handgun wise, this first one will upset some folks. 1) Umarex/Walther did a surprisingly good job with their redesign of the Walther PPK for .22 LR. I have a Walther PP (the sanitized British L66A1 version) and magazine availability issues aside I like it a lot. Accurate, decent trigger, and reliable - with due regard for avoiding rim lock when loading the magazines and using quality ammo to reduce potential for primer issues. When I bought an Umarex/Walther .22 LR, it was with very low expectations. I mean, it's made by Umarex and has a Zamak frame so how good could it be? At around $290 for the nickel version when they first came out I also wasn't investing much into the experiment. I was surprised to find that while the polish wasn't up to PP standards and some of the small parts looked a little on the "functional" side, it was indeed a Walther PP series design with a minor modification in the form of P22 style barrel shroud and liner with a tensioning nut. I was even more surprised to find it was accurate and relentlessly reliable. The biggest change was in the magazine, increasing the feed angle slightly, and also significantly reducing the the potential for rim lock both through the greater feed angle and a wider magazine body.      2) The Beretta 71 is never a bad choice. The barrel is long enough to get reasonable .22 LR handgun performance, its very reliable, and the alloy frame makes it suitably light for comfortable carry. Plus it's large enough to shoot well, and small enough to easily conceal.  3) A DA/SA .22 LR revolver offers a couple advantages. The Taurus 922 for example is J frame sized, and holds nine rounds. It's easily concealable, easy to shoot well (for a snub nose revolver) and if you have a failure to fire, just pull the trigger again.  
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I've been out of the .22LR world for several years. I was intrigued to see how many hollow point and self defense .22LR rounds are on the market these days. Speaking of which, I was also interested to see they are all around the 30gr mark, whereas a standard .22 is 40gr. |
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Originally Posted By TheVanillaGuerilla: I've been pretty happy with federal punch ammo So, a .22 Long 29gr vs .22 Long Rifle 40gr? No, I wouldn’t want to be shot with either, but mass & velocity help penetration. Has anyone checked the .22 Long in gel? If you like it, great. The concept eludes me & trying to understand it. In silenced guns I use standard velocity CCI 40gr and in non-silenced, CCI Velocitor 40gr. I have some 42gr Gemtech subsonics, but am down to a couple thou. |
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Originally Posted By 32ACP: So, a .22 Long 29gr vs .22 Long Rifle 40gr? No, I wouldn’t want to be shot with either, but mass & velocity help penetration. Has anyone checked the .22 Long in gel? If you like it, great. The concept eludes me & trying to understand it. In silenced guns I use standard velocity CCI 40gr and in non-silenced, CCI Velocitor 40gr. I have some 42gr Gemtech subsonics, but am down to a couple thou. Originally Posted By 32ACP: Originally Posted By TheVanillaGuerilla: I've been pretty happy with federal punch ammo So, a .22 Long 29gr vs .22 Long Rifle 40gr? No, I wouldn’t want to be shot with either, but mass & velocity help penetration. Has anyone checked the .22 Long in gel? If you like it, great. The concept eludes me & trying to understand it. In silenced guns I use standard velocity CCI 40gr and in non-silenced, CCI Velocitor 40gr. I have some 42gr Gemtech subsonics, but am down to a couple thou. Lucky Gunner shot several loads into clear ballistics gel several years ago. I've not seen any calibrated organic gel tests. |
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When my Mom hit her mid to late 80's and her previous guns became unusable due to arthritus, she transitioned to an old, proven reliable, Colt Challenger (10 round mag fed). Loaded with CCI Stingers as we had a ton of them, they cycled the gun every time, and they killed littler critters pretty well for a 22LR. Today there might be better choices but anybody that got to Mom's house had already gotten past mine, so..... |
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Two videos for thoughts, .22LR is pretty good.  . 22 Hollow Point Effectiveness.  THE TRUTH ABOUT CCI UPPERCUT |
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I'd love a factory loaded version of Cutting Edges .22lr 32gr Copper Solid.  https://www.ssusa.org/content/review-cutting-edge-bullets-22-lr-reloading-kit/ Likewise, Lehigh was supposed to come out with a .22lr version of its copper XD projectile, but nothing seems to have come of it. https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2019/12/11/sneak-peek-lehigh-defense-develops-22lr-ammo-with-solid-xd-bullets/  Or as a simplified option, a .22lr Hardcast polymer coated. I had thought that was what Federal was doing with the Punch but it's actually quite soft lead, so much so it expands on impact when fired from a rifle despite not being a hollow point... |
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 21A loaded with Aguilla 60grain 22. I don't know how it would work on a two legged attacker, but I no longer worry about a neighborhood pitbull that gets out sometimes when I am on my daily walk. One in the belly and they remember not to fuck with you ever again. |
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M&P 22 compact with plain old 40 gr solids. In a larger pistol or revolver I'd step up to 22 Magnum. My uncle for years put down cattle for slaughter with a Ruger Single Six in 22 Magnum. If it will make it thru a cow skull, I think penetration on people would be just fine. |
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With a .22 I'd tend to go with mass first, then velocity. In other words, I wouldn't use any of the light-bullet, hyper velocity loads. I'd stick with the standard 40 grain bullet and push it as fast as possible. So I'd concur with you that the Velocitor is a good choice. Winchester and Aguila also offer 40gr hyper velocity loads. As for what...well I have a S&W Model 63, I suppose if I was going to carry a .22, I'd carry that one. |
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Ruger SR-22 has been discontinued. Have been stocking Charter's 8 shot .22 Mag, and have jacket pocket carried a few times. Can't recommend em b/c half of em have arrived in non-salable condition. ETA: Ruger 22 Charger has also been discontinued, Ruger intends to sell those as $0 stamp SBRs IIUC. |
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Sounds like the OPs parents have guns that I assume they are familiar with . I see no reason to change horses mid stream . Federal punch shows promise but my favorite is CCI velositers . Full 40 gr with more speed than the minimags. Steer clear of Stingers , first off they have a weird case length that doesn't play well with some chambers and while they have good energy because of their high speed the light bullet is light on penetration . Does it have to be a pistol? A 10/22 gives you more power and once you get it on target most folks can rip off shots much faster than with a pistol |
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Originally Posted By jagdkommando: https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/146923/EB6E8C6D-C972-47A3-9B06-4FEC1316C18D-1821875.jpg 21A loaded with Aguilla 60grain 22. I don't know how it would work on a two legged attacker, but I no longer worry about a neighborhood pitbull that gets out sometimes when I am on my daily walk. One in the belly and they remember not to fuck with you ever again. This or the Beretta 20X Do It Yourself or other threaded model. What suppressor are you using? I'm thinking of the Dead Air Mask but it is 5.1" long. |
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Originally Posted By spydercomonkey: I'm still surprised a company hasn't come out with a .22lr Hardcast for SD. Federal punch uses a harder nickel plated bullet. That’s how they get so much penetration from such a light weight for caliber projectile |
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Originally Posted By StevenH: Federal punch uses a harder nickel plated bullet. That’s how they get so much penetration from such a light weight for caliber projectile Originally Posted By StevenH: Originally Posted By spydercomonkey: I'm still surprised a company hasn't come out with a .22lr Hardcast for SD. Federal punch uses a harder nickel plated bullet. That’s how they get so much penetration from such a light weight for caliber projectile How much penetration are they getting? |
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Originally Posted By backbencher: How much penetration are they getting? Originally Posted By backbencher: Originally Posted By StevenH: Originally Posted By spydercomonkey: I'm still surprised a company hasn't come out with a .22lr Hardcast for SD. Federal punch uses a harder nickel plated bullet. That’s how they get so much penetration from such a light weight for caliber projectile How much penetration are they getting? Federal says 13.75” Attached File |
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Originally Posted By StevenH: Federal says 13.75” https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/128204/IMG_7648_webp-3736361.JPG Originally Posted By StevenH: Originally Posted By backbencher: Originally Posted By StevenH: Originally Posted By spydercomonkey: I'm still surprised a company hasn't come out with a .22lr Hardcast for SD. Federal punch uses a harder nickel plated bullet. That’s how they get so much penetration from such a light weight for caliber projectile How much penetration are they getting? Federal says 13.75” https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/128204/IMG_7648_webp-3736361.JPG Where do they list that test? Impressive:  https://www.outdoorlife.com/guns/22-lr-for-self-defense-ammunition-test/ |
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Originally Posted By backbencher: Where do they list that test? https://www.federalpremium.com/partner-in-protection/throwing-punches.html |
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Originally Posted By StevenH: https://www.federalpremium.com/partner-in-protection/throwing-punches.html Originally Posted By StevenH: Originally Posted By backbencher: Where do they list that test? https://www.federalpremium.com/partner-in-protection/throwing-punches.html Thanks. Very impressive from a 2" revolver barrel, and in calibrated organic ballistic gel. That meets some minimum standards for carry. Would still prefer .22 WMR 40 grn FMJ/TMJ in that application, but looks like .22 LR Punch is viable. |
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Originally Posted By backbencher: Thanks. Very impressive from a 2" revolver barrel, and in calibrated organic ballistic gel. That meets some minimum standards for carry. Would still prefer .22 WMR 40 grn FMJ/TMJ in that application, but looks like .22 LR Punch is viable. Originally Posted By backbencher: Originally Posted By StevenH: Originally Posted By backbencher: Where do they list that test? https://www.federalpremium.com/partner-in-protection/throwing-punches.html Thanks. Very impressive from a 2" revolver barrel, and in calibrated organic ballistic gel. That meets some minimum standards for carry. Would still prefer .22 WMR 40 grn FMJ/TMJ in that application, but looks like .22 LR Punch is viable. I’ve found it reliable in semi auto guns too. Runs great in my Glock 44. It’s quality Rimfire like Stinger & MiniMag |
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Originally Posted By StevenH: I’ve found it reliable in semi auto guns too. Runs great in my Glock 44. It’s quality Rimfire like Stinger & MiniMag Originally Posted By StevenH: Originally Posted By backbencher: Originally Posted By StevenH: Originally Posted By backbencher: Where do they list that test? https://www.federalpremium.com/partner-in-protection/throwing-punches.html Thanks. Very impressive from a 2" revolver barrel, and in calibrated organic ballistic gel. That meets some minimum standards for carry. Would still prefer .22 WMR 40 grn FMJ/TMJ in that application, but looks like .22 LR Punch is viable. I’ve found it reliable in semi auto guns too. Runs great in my Glock 44. It’s quality Rimfire like Stinger & MiniMag Years ago I put my late MIL in a long barreled Ruger SR-22, wish that had been available then. Stocked her w/ 40 grn LRN CCI mini-Mags, which I considered marginal, but would do on the neighbors dogs which sometimes got loose. |
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Originally Posted By StevenH: Federal punch uses a harder nickel plated bullet. That’s how they get so much penetration from such a light weight for caliber projectile Originally Posted By StevenH: Originally Posted By spydercomonkey: I'm still surprised a company hasn't come out with a .22lr Hardcast for SD. Federal punch uses a harder nickel plated bullet. That’s how they get so much penetration from such a light weight for caliber projectile Thats actually a misnomer, the Federal Punch are soft lead. They get better penetration because the 29gr bullet is shorter, so less likely to tumble the way a longer 40gr tends to when passing through gel. Punch is actually very soft lead, so soft in fact that despite being a non hollow point it still flattens out when hitting denim covered gel when fired from a 10/22: https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2022/05/09/22lr-punch-rimfire-report/ I have to imagine that hitting bone it would be likely to flatten out, hence the continued desire for a Hardcast .22lr.  |
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Originally Posted By spydercomonkey: Thats actually a misnomer, the Federal Punch are soft lead. They get better penetration because the 29gr bullet is shorter, so less likely to tumble the way a longer 40gr tends to when passing through gel. Punch is actually very soft lead, so soft in fact that despite being a non hollow point it still flattens out when hitting denim covered gel when fired from a 10/22: https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2022/05/09/22lr-punch-rimfire-report/ I have to imagine that hitting bone it would be likely to flatten out, hence the continued desire for a Hardcast .22lr. https://cdn-fastly.thefirearmblog.com/media/2024/05/16/14447116/the-rimfire-report-federal-22lr-punch-out-of-ruger-10-22-more-effective.jpg?size=720x845&nocrop=1 Originally Posted By spydercomonkey: Originally Posted By StevenH: Originally Posted By spydercomonkey: I'm still surprised a company hasn't come out with a .22lr Hardcast for SD. Federal punch uses a harder nickel plated bullet. That’s how they get so much penetration from such a light weight for caliber projectile Thats actually a misnomer, the Federal Punch are soft lead. They get better penetration because the 29gr bullet is shorter, so less likely to tumble the way a longer 40gr tends to when passing through gel. Punch is actually very soft lead, so soft in fact that despite being a non hollow point it still flattens out when hitting denim covered gel when fired from a 10/22: https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2022/05/09/22lr-punch-rimfire-report/ I have to imagine that hitting bone it would be likely to flatten out, hence the continued desire for a Hardcast .22lr. https://cdn-fastly.thefirearmblog.com/media/2024/05/16/14447116/the-rimfire-report-federal-22lr-punch-out-of-ruger-10-22-more-effective.jpg?size=720x845&nocrop=1 Yeah, the gel tests from a 16" barrel weren't nearly as impressive as from a short one. Overspeed is a thing for centerfire pistol hollowpoints, unsurprising that defensive ammo designed for short barrels wouldn't be viable out of a 16". Just use 40 grn CCI LRN MiniMags from the 10/22, they'll penetrate fine. Or Eley LRN high speed 42 grn rifle. |
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Originally Posted By backbencher: Yeah, the gel tests from a 16" barrel weren't nearly as impressive as from a short one. Overspeed is a thing for centerfire pistol hollowpoints, unsurprising that defensive ammo designed for short barrels wouldn't be viable out of a 16". Just use 40 grn CCI LRN MiniMags from the 10/22, they'll penetrate fine. Or Eley LRN high speed 42 grn rifle. Originally Posted By backbencher: Originally Posted By spydercomonkey: Originally Posted By StevenH: Originally Posted By spydercomonkey: I'm still surprised a company hasn't come out with a .22lr Hardcast for SD. Federal punch uses a harder nickel plated bullet. That’s how they get so much penetration from such a light weight for caliber projectile Thats actually a misnomer, the Federal Punch are soft lead. They get better penetration because the 29gr bullet is shorter, so less likely to tumble the way a longer 40gr tends to when passing through gel. Punch is actually very soft lead, so soft in fact that despite being a non hollow point it still flattens out when hitting denim covered gel when fired from a 10/22: https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2022/05/09/22lr-punch-rimfire-report/ I have to imagine that hitting bone it would be likely to flatten out, hence the continued desire for a Hardcast .22lr. https://cdn-fastly.thefirearmblog.com/media/2024/05/16/14447116/the-rimfire-report-federal-22lr-punch-out-of-ruger-10-22-more-effective.jpg?size=720x845&nocrop=1 Yeah, the gel tests from a 16" barrel weren't nearly as impressive as from a short one. Overspeed is a thing for centerfire pistol hollowpoints, unsurprising that defensive ammo designed for short barrels wouldn't be viable out of a 16". Just use 40 grn CCI LRN MiniMags from the 10/22, they'll penetrate fine. Or Eley LRN high speed 42 grn rifle. Well what's notable here is this isn't a hollow point, its a solid flat point, and it still expands. A sign of unusually soft lead imo. |
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