Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire .22 semi auto rifle for home defense?

I have shot a few feral dogs and cats with a 22LR, because that is what was in my hand when they became a target. Usually with less than impressive results on body shots.

And one time, I put four 40 gr 22 LR slugs from a Rem pump rifle behind the ear of a crippled horse, he did not even flinch. Yeah, sure, the X in the forehead would have dropped him, probably instantly. But I was not aware of that then. Every animal I had seen put down was with a round behind the ear. One round from the cop's 40 to the same place solved the issue.

When a 100 lb deer can easily run 100 yds after the aorta has been blown off of his heart with a 30-06 165 gr ballistic tip at 2600 fps impact velocity, I sure as hell do not expect a 22 LR to instantly stop a 250 lb predator intent on doing harm to me and mine.

And there was a big (70 lb?) feral black lab bitch which had been pestering my cows off and on for a couple weeks. I finally got sights on her at fifty yards, Marlin 1894 carbine in 41 mag with a 170 Sierra HP loaded to the nuts with H110. A perfect heart shot on the dog, sleeping in the shade. She leaped to her feet and took off at a dead run, with enough presence of mind to run East to the only gate in the pasture, before heading West toward where ever she had been hanging out. She made it about 100 yds before she tipped over.

I was certainly grateful she ran away from me instead of toward.

Sure a 22 LR may well (eventually) kill the armed intruder in your home. But he might easily kill you, your wife, and any other occupants of the house before he tips over.

It is just as easy to keep a compact handgun or carbine close to hand in an effective cartridge as it is a 22. Hell, even an M1 Carbine would be much superior. And it would fit well into most of our collections.

Simple perspective on my part, but if a fella wants a self defense gun, the cartridge is well down the priority list on important stuff to consider.

Does it fit?
Can you hit?
Is it reliable?


Just a few things to think about.

Yeah, there is the discussion about SD, BC, Drift, Drop, KE, stopping powder, phase of the moon etc. I got a clue for those who have never shot anyone. The bad guy doesn't have to be dead to stop him. The operative word is incapacitated. Circumstances might alter perspectives but nothing is guaranteed. What's a bigger target than a brain pan? The lower abdomen. What do people need to get around? Legs. How do you shut someone up? Mangle the throat.

Self defense is a dynamic event which seldom conforms to expectations. Guy shows up with a knife and gets within a certain distance then mebbe his knife and your gun are an even match...it doesn't matter much what your gun is chambered for. I will tell you this. I never saw a gut shot man that didn't cry like a little girl. If you don't like the noise, shoot hm again.

795 is my barn gun. Just checked it the other day for mud dobbers in the barrel and Rem-oiled it. Can is right on my workbench, by the rack, specifically for this purpose.

You mean you guys only have one firearm for home protection? Not me either. My 10/22 is the only long gun that fits in the flip top bench by the front door. When I filled in for guys out sick or on vacation summers up on the kill floor at the packing house, I was pretty surprised to see a .22 handgun used on the cattle that came back to life on the rail after the pneumatic knocker didn't put them out. One shot, done deal and those cattle were full grown, tougher than average and a whole bunch thicker than any human. I've also read that a .22 soft lead bullet is real dirty and if not immediately fatal, sepsis can take them out a few days later.

I don't question that but unless those experiences were from autopsies, apparently the victims were still alive at that point and possibly even still able to function and react physically.

Why pick a 22 LR for self defense, with the primary goal being to quickly stop the bad person from continuing their bad action? If it’s al you have on hand or all you can afford that’s a different story.

!0-22's are nice, premium 22 auto rifles. But I bet if you do some shots on paper with both of them, you'll think more highly of the 795 than you do the 10-22.

I'm neither here nor there on micro-groove barrels. They don't seem any better than any other on most center fire rifles. In fact, being a cast bullet enthusiast for a large part of my life, I tended to shun them on centerfire rifles.

But that medium/heavy microgroove barrel that Marlin puts on their 795's is a peach. The rest of the rifle is just garden variety decent. But Marlin puts a dandy barrel on their .22 rifles. Microgroove barrels and .22 long rifle go together like ham and eggs.

I'm real tickled with mine. It'll shoot bugholes with that old dirty Thunderer bulk ammo from Remington. Mini Mag shoots just about as well,...but costs 3X as much.

I get the saw and don’t see a shovel, but what are the wrenches for?

The folks that scoff about using a .22 for home defense never seem willing to line up and take a few to the torso to prove their point.

Well,...I can't say for sure. But My general impression is,...the average, garden variety son-of-a-bitch isn't going to respond too well after getting a 10 round magazine dump slammed into his face and neck area from a .22 auto loading rifle in about 3 seconds.

He's a daisy if he does, by damn.

I've owned a couple of 795's over the years as well as what used to be the best selling .22 of all time, the Marlin model 60. I've probably owned more than a half-dozen 10-22's over the years and currently have one and another in the house that I gave to my boy. Daughter got a Winchester 94-22 which is a lot cooler gun than a 10-22 IMO. Had another bought for the boy but gave him the choice between it and the 10-22 and he wanted the more modern gun. Oh well. I explained the differences and he made his choice.

That particular 10-22 was the least reliable of any I've owned. It's long gone replaced by the boy's and my current one, both takedowns. The 795 is probably the most customizable .22 rifle going other than a 10-22 which has everything beat to hell on that score.

I like Marlins. I don't know that they're better than a 10-22, but if cost is in any way a factor, Marlin wins, at least last time I checked. That Marlin probably cost half what a 10-22 does now.

You can get an extended mag for that 795. I've just got two factory mags out in the shed, but there is an appeal to a 25 rounder.

https://gunmagwarehouse.com/promag-marlin-795-22-lr-25-round-black-polymer-magazine.html

Ftw! I may have to order one of those myself. I didn't even know Pro-Mag made one.

The general consensus is,..the aftermarket mags for the 795 are dung.

The good news is,..the factory mags are dandy.

I don't really mind. 10 round mags are enough for me.

9mm and 45 pistols for me.
.22 lr in any platform....is pest control only.

Btw....post office dropped off a 1022 take off bbl from PSA.
Gonna see if it helps my '70 fingergroove

Dan is that a red dot on your rifle?
If so what brand?

and there have been no cases where people have been shot multiple times with larger calibers and still continued to fight...if all I owned was a 22 LR yes I would certainly use it, if a 223 was available I would not use the 22lr.

I not only worked for years as a paramedic, but, we were based at a hospital. So I got to go into the ER and work there, and see what was what with a GSW.
I remember one time, a guy was brought in, shot in the back, in the top of the right shoulder with a .22.
Doc said "Cut off his shirt and get xrays."
I cut off his shirt with the paramedic scissors, and the xray gal took pics from his skull, down to his waist.

We were working hard on this guy he was in bad shape. And the xray tech came back in five minutes, no bullet!

Doc said "Goddammit cut off every inch of clothes I want xrays from the skull, to the toes! Now!!"
So I cut off his boots I mean those paramedic scissors will cut through anything. Cut off his pants. Xray gal shot every square inch of the patient.

And she came back, the little .22 slug was in the left side of the guy's ass. And, the shooter was not up in a tree, he was shot square in the back, and the bullet ricocheted around his chest, and belly, and wound up in the ass.
I have been up in surgery with a doc working on a .22 gsw, docs hate these little slugs because they bounce around and no telling what soft tissue they have damaged. It is not imagination it is fact, that the .22 is unique in this way.

Shoot a guy in the back with a .38 special, the bullet goes right straight through, not so, with the demonic little .22
The little .22 is a unique and deadly man-killer.

On the other hand I have seen a guy, hit in the thigh with a .22, he went home 3 hours later with a band aid on the hole. Little bitty entrance and exit holes, too small for stitches, didn't hit the bone, didn't hit the artery, guy got some penicillin and a tetanus shot, and two bandaids and a ride home.

Yes, Millett SP-1. I have 3, 2 are presently mounted. The other is on a 77/44 and does OK most days.
This was 8 shots.

That looks good enough for me!