Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire handgun stopping power

Gotta wonder why all the pigs I've shot with CB shorts fall over dead with one shot. Oh wait, it's a rifle....sorry wrong thread. 🙄

My wife's cousin's husband is a surgeon.
He says if someone get shot and comes into the emergency room, and the bullet penetrated the diaphragm, the patient will live if he is on duty and die if he is not.

I was not going to argue with him.
The guy does not own a gun, and sees a VZ24 bayonet lug and front sight on my workbench and asks me if that is a Mauser.

Gotta love the arrogance of a surgeon.

I want that kind of attitude on my side.



P

better question would be who makes the most reliable 22 ammo now a days

FYI, every fraction of an inch of extra barrel increases the velocity. That includes the extra 1/8" of the "standard" model with the half moon front sight. But, the ball detent that holds the cylinder pin in place on the standard model is not as robust as the system that holds it in place on the Pug and similar models. It makes a difference if you shoot it a lot.

That's the A&E term, for the rest of us it's "little fkr's"

Thanks Cheyenne,

I'll keep that in mind.

If I were at sneezing distance, shooting most things behind the ear doesn't require much integrity or force.

Ass to fronting four legged stuff or taking out running gear requires a little more than a 22 lr; a needle in the brain isn't the same as a needle to a ham hock, so this whole "stopping power" argument requires a bit of common sense, if that exists anymore.

After reading the entire thread, I am certain I don't want to be shot, ever, even with a 22LR.

I read or heard recently, that many wounded by gunshots are not "stopped" by the shots, but the the thought of dying and simply quit what they are doing to get shot in the first place.

Something to consider on the topic if I may. The OP presented data in context of head/torso incapacitation or not and I'm fairly convinced it is a simplistic view. Conventional wisdom says the head/torso are primary points of vulnerability, and I won't argue that for the most part. I suggest however the objective is to stop the altercation first and foremost, and I pose a question. What does it take to stop the party? Well, death will do it, but so will a lot of other things. One is absolute agony which may or may not lead to death of the perp. One example is a lower region gut shot, or perhaps a bit lower and to the side, and poking a hole in the femoral artery. How about a kneecap shot? Ball joint in the shoulder or the elbow joint? Any of those will turn the cards in your favor and it really doesn't matter what one is shooting. What matters is what you can do when that moment arrives. If you're face down in a gutter after getting jumped by some gang bangers and your field of vision is mostly filled with tennis shoes and ankles, what you gonna do Willis?

One of the things that many folks overlook in such discussions is what the actual scenario is and perhaps have a vision of an OK Corral contest. It can happen like that, but odds are probably not. Might be more likely you will be going to your car at night; opening the door to a stranger; be present during a holdup.....you never know until you're there and facing the devil.

Another suggestion? Carry a gun you're familiar with and more importantly, one you are competent with. What it is doesn't matter nearly so much as how it's used. Case in point was illustrated by a flight school buddy who go shot down in Nam, woke up face down in the dirt with his right hand holding the butt of his S&W issue .38 and three dinks laffin' and poking him in the ass with a bayonet. He rolled and killed them with three shots and they never got off the first round in response.

Try facing someone armed with a 9mm Glock and see how you do with your 22lr. They will take you down with 1 shot and you will only get one shot at them.

For those who want to use the .22, try to get your hands on Finn Aagards .22 tests a few years back...American Rifleman and Finn Aagard selected works. Cut to the chase...PMC Zappers doubled the penetration of anything else in wet phone books at 15 ft. As a further curiosity he used a .380 with 90 gr Black Hills in the same medium...penetration? 5.5 inches compared to 10 inches for the PMC's. Test gun was a MkII Ruger, bbl length unknown.

You're right. I'd forgotten that. Also, I was wrong about the solid bullets. This is from wikipedia:

It had been loaded with six "Devastator" brand cartridges, which contained small aluminum and lead azide explosive charges designed to explode on contact; the bullet that hit Brady was the only one that exploded. On April 2, after learning that the others could explode at any time, volunteer doctors wearing bulletproof vests removed the bullet from Delahanty's neck.

The author discusses that point in the article. His view is that the sample included many 9mm shootings that resulted in more than one hit driving down the "one hit stop" percentage.

Here is a link to the article.
http://www.activeresponsetraining.net/an-alternate-look-at-handgun-stopping-power

How many shootings are double taps that don't give the person enough time to fall before the 2d one hits?

Now, now, don't be throwing variables into the pot.

"Try facing someone armed with a 9mm Glock and see how you do with your 22lr. They will take you down with 1 shot and you will only get one shot at them."

Depends on who's the best shot and who shoots first. A little .22 bullet between the eyes will turn the biggest baddest man walking the earth into a pile of dead meat.

Back when I lived in Nevada, my hunting buddy and I made life a living hell on the jackrabbit population. Shot the with everything from .22LR to .458 Win. mag. most of the time though we used handguns, mainly in .22 LR. We got to where one shot kills were fairly common. One day we were out and about and the gun I had with me was an old 1917 S&W army issue I'd gotten for a fair price. The only ammo I had was hardball so when Mr. Rabbit presented a decent shot I took it. The rabbit flinched and my buddy's brother told me I'd missed. I said I didn't and shot that rabbit again. Once more it flinched at the shot, then walked off. We followed it for about 30 or so feet when it just laid down on its side and kicked a few times. On inspection there were two holes right behind the shoulder just where I'd said I aimed. Kind of made me wonder about the effectiveness of the .45ACP and hardball at least on jackrabbits. Handloads with a 200 gr. semiwadcutter were a lot more effective on those bunnies.
Paul B.

LOL, I've shot a couple rabbits with the 230gr FMJ flat points from my 45 ACP out in Wifes bean patches in the garden, they thought as long as they sat still I couldn't see them, point being, the bullets kicked up a nice pile of dirt behind the rabbits, they hopped or ran a short distance and died, not much indication of a hit, 22LR HP's will definitely show a hit better, they also kill them much faster.

Boys, as a trauma doc, I assure you that “finding the bullet” is a low priority in GSW surgery. The bullet is inert. Hell, I’ve had a 22 bullet sitting in my chest for nearly 40 years and I still ain’t dead. You can leave it in most of the time. The real problem is stopping the bleeding, and it was persistent bleeding from small vessels that nearly killed Reagan.