You can find numerous ballistic tables for . 22 LR online. There are multiple ballistic calculator apps that'll give you excruciatingly detailed information about what a bullet should do at a specific distance. These can all be very useful tools.
Why You Shouldn't Use 22LR for Self Defense. Carrying a 22LR or using one for home defense isn't a good idea. While it's certainly better than a sharp stick in the eye, even the most powerful 22LR load is anemic compared to even a 32 ACP. Unless it's literally your only option, don't use a 22LR.
22 Short launches a 29-grain (1.9 g) bullet at 1,045 feet per second (319 m/s) with 70 ft·lbf (95 J) of energy from a 22 in (559 mm) rifle barrel and can penetrate 2 inches (51 mm) of soft pine. As a hunting round, the high velocity hollow point Short is useful only for small game such as tree squirrels and rabbits.
You will note that the time of flight to 500 yards is approximately 1.84 seconds. If the bullet had been fired in a vacuum, it would only have taken 1.36 seconds to complete its journey of 500 yards.
The . 22 LR is effective to 150 yd (140 m), though practical ranges tend to be less. After 150 yd, the ballistics of the round are such that it will be difficult to compensate for the large "drop".
The . 22 has reportedly killed more people than any other caliber - simply because there are so many weapons that shoot it. It has a lethal range in the hundred or 2 hundred meter range.
Much like centerfire cartridge rifles are considered “accurate” if they can post a sub-one-inch group at 100 yards, . 22 LR rifles are considered accurate if they can do the same at 50 yards. Many rifles shoot smaller groups, but one inch at 50 yards is a common baseline.
22LR was quite perfect powerwise, being powerful enough to enter the skull, and then ricochet around inside the cavity thoroughly scrambling the brainmatter, but not powerful enough to exit and make a mess, so all in all a nice tidy quiet kill.
While the 22lr is accurate and easy to shoot it does fail to penetrate adequately. The 9mm, on the other hand, was specifically designed as a combat cartridge. As the standard round for the US Military and NATO, it is much larger and powerful than the 22lr.
22 LR has ample energy to penetrate the human skull and has had military application in WWII and Vietnam primarily in covert assassination by close range PBI (17).
Currently the 22 LR ammo that strikes the best balance of bullet weight and muzzle velocity to achieve the greatest power is CCI's Stinger 22 LR Ammo. This round has a 32 grain CPHP bullet loaded to a muzzle velocity of 1,640 fps. The hyper-velocity Stinger cartridge boasts a whopping 191 ft lbs of muzzle energy.
22 go through a body? 22 caliber. . 22 bullets can tumble a lot once it hits soft tissue, causing severe tissue damage. I'd much rather be shot with an AK47 than by my son's Ruger 10–22, because the 7.62 round has a better chance of passing through my body (assuming nothing vital is hit, of course).
I searched around the web, and kept seeing 50 yards come up as another common option, but without any real explanation why. So I decided to do some experimenting and calculating, and came up with about 35 yards as a great all-around zero for a precision 22LR.
22 LR is “the best” round for self-defense, or even a good choice for many firearms owners who can use a more powerful cartridge. But the . 22 LR may be the best option for certain shooters, as a primary or back-up firearm, and if this is the case, they need to choose the best ammunition and firearm for the job.
The overall mortality rate of 61% is comparable to that of other series of civilian gunshot wounds including those in which more aggressive surgical management was undertaken.
22 calibre rabbit rifles kill more people than any other type of gun. http://www.gunpolicy.org/documents/5561-22-calibre-rabbit-rifles-kill-more-peopl... Contrary to their popular image as low-powered "bunny guns," . 22-calibre rifles are commonly used in multiple shootings.
9mm Luger - Our Top Pick. 9mm Luger (also called 9x19 Parabellum or simply 9mm) was once considered a subpar option for personal defense. Times have changed. Today, the 9mm is the most popular cartridge for both law enforcement and civilian concealed carry, and it earned that popularity fair and square.
The best compromise to sight in a 22lr rifle shooting “high velocity” ammunition, with a telescopic sight is 0.5 inches high at 50 yards. That will drop to be dead on at 60 yards, and will be about 4.5 inches low at 100 yards.
22 can be used for many small-game hunts, such as squirrels, rabbits, foxes, woodchucks prairie dogs and more. The . 22 Long Rifle is an excellent tool for target shooting, hunting small game and training new shooters.
22 LR that I checked suggest the best zero is at 75 yards if you sight-in to minimize the variation from the line of sight as the bullet moves down range (sight-in for maximum point blank range). The trick of this calculation is that the bullet leaves the barrel below the line of sight of the scope.
The most common . 22 LR uses a bullet weighing between 36 and 40 grains traveling between 1080-1260 feet per second. However, some low-velocity loads travel much slower, like Federal's American Eagle Rimfire Suppressor. This cartridge uses a 45-grain bullet traveling only 970 fps.
Historically, firearms chambered in . 22 have been used for things like hunting small game, pest control, plinking or training new shooters how to use a gun for the first time.
Generally speaking, the velocity of a 22 caliber rifle round or handgun round can range anywhere from 1000-2000 fps (feet per second). This is equivalent to around 735 mph (miles per hour) to 1470 mph. For comparison, a 45 caliber round can travel up to 900 mph.