I was thinking of a follow on to Glockduffus's thread denigrating the 22LR. I recollect a story of a bear being shot dead by a single shot with a 22LR. In my life a rabid cat died with one shot of a 22 LR, of course I know of other incidents but I am hoping many will share stories about what they have dispatched with a 22, any bears, any self defense stories. Just trying to keep it real around here.
I knew a fellow, recently deceased, who killed a black bear with a .22 short to the side of the head. I guess the bear rolled and somersaulted and snorted and thrashed around a bunch before it decided it was dead. Just to clarify, this was not a self-defense shooting, it was just killing a bear.
I don't think it relates much to the lethality of the .22...more a comment on the precision of the .22, but my son in law hauled livestock for many years, and the .22 was the go to gun of choice. California law requires live stock haulers to humanely dispatch downed injured cargo animals in a timely manner. The standard of the industry is the lowly .22. In his own words.."we've tried more powerful options (he is a handgunner), not every time, but too often, more noise, more unwanted drama, stressed animals, dramatic gory non fatal wounds, so we always return to the .22 as the most efficient, we hate drama".
Well this is a fine pickle we're in, should'a listened to Joe McCarthy and George Orwell I guess.
Around 1977 a friend and I were hunting ground squirrels in Utah just west of Bear Lake, I was using my 10/22. They were thick as fleas in that area and we walked into a particularly dense mess of them. The shooting was fast and furious and I lost count of how many I had shot. Thought we were clear when a hold out suddenly dashed out no more than 10 yards away. I fired quickly but only winged him.
The wounded ground squirrel charged straight at me! I raised the carbine and squeezed the trigger but my heart sank when all I heard was "click"! The magazine was empty. My mind was racing as adrenaline flooded my system. With the enraged squirrel rapidly narrowing the distance between us I resorted to the only means of self defense possible and butt smashed him with the solid walnut stock which ended the episode immediately. Thank goodness it was an early 1968 model with a metal butt plate, a newer plastic one might have cracked and then who knows what mayhem may have ensured.
And that is a true story...
Gunnery, gunnery, gunnery. Hit the target, all else is twaddle!
I never even had to take my NAA Mini Revolver (.22lr) out of my pocket. I just had to reach for it to cause the unsavory looking guy who had been making a B-line for me ever since he spotted me a couple hundred yards away while I was on a walk with my dog in a large nature park that belonged to the Boy Scouts of America (they occasionally had camp outs and jamborees there, but was otherwise usually about empty of people). When he got within twenty yards, I put my hand in my right front pants pocket to get a hold of the Mini-Revolver, and that was enough to cause him to turn on his heels and abruptly proceed in a different direction.
Know a guy that defended his dog from a black bear with a Marlin M60. The bear had been trying to get into his shed for several nights, guessing for the livestock feed he kept there. This guy kept an old M60 loaded around the place all the time and when he heard the bear ripping on the shed door he stepped outside with the intention of cracking off some shots to scare the bear off. He didn't get his door shut in time and his dog squirmed out and immediately started for the bear. I guess the bear was pretty worked up and the dog didn't spook him, in fact the bear charged the dog and got it pinned against the shed. The homeowner opened up on the bears side with the .22 and the bear ran off. Guy called the sheriff's department and they called the conservation agent. It was decided to track the bear the next day in the daylight. The next day after a fairly lengthy tracking job they found a dead bear. The bear autopsy revealed seven rounds into the chest from the .22. Not sure what he was actually loading the gun with, probably Mini Mag hollowpoint. I do remember the bear weighed a bit over 400 pounds.
Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.
After my brother got out of the army and was going to school, he worked for a private contractor during the summer, killing gophers in National Forests across the Northwest. The guy he ran the crew for was a family friend, and a bit of a POS. Several times, the guy left the crew up in the middle of the mountains with no food, or no vehicles, or no pay. In the middle of one abandoned stint, the crew of about a dozen guys was without food except what they could forage for 3 days, my brother used his Ruger Mark 2 to shoot a doe in the head as she was trotting away at about 80 yards. Two quick shots, one at the base of the skull and one directly in the back of the skull. No one was going to die of starvation, but they certainly needed more than the wild berries they could forage.
After my brother got out of the army and was going to school, he worked for a private contractor during the summer, killing gophers in National Forests across the Northwest. The guy he ran the crew for was a family friend, and a bit of a POS. Several times, the guy left the crew up in the middle of the mountains with no food, or no vehicles, or no pay. In the middle of one abandoned stint, the crew of about a dozen guys was without food except what they could forage for 3 days, my brother used his Ruger Mark 2 to shoot a doe in the head as she was trotting away at about 80 yards. Two quick shots, one at the base of the skull and one directly in the back of the skull. No one was going to die of starvation, but they certainly needed more than the wild berries they could forage.
Sounds to me as if the .22 Ruger would have been better used against the guy who abandoned his employees leaving them in a dire survival situation.
Just my opinion.
L.W.
"Always go straight forward, and if you meet the devil, cut him in two and go between the pieces." (William Sturgis, clipper ship captain, 1830s.)
After my brother got out of the army and was going to school, he worked for a private contractor during the summer, killing gophers in National Forests across the Northwest. The guy he ran the crew for was a family friend, and a bit of a POS. Several times, the guy left the crew up in the middle of the mountains with no food, or no vehicles, or no pay. In the middle of one abandoned stint, the crew of about a dozen guys was without food except what they could forage for 3 days, my brother used his Ruger Mark 2 to shoot a doe in the head as she was trotting away at about 80 yards. Two quick shots, one at the base of the skull and one directly in the back of the skull. No one was going to die of starvation, but they certainly needed more than the wild berries they could forage.
Sounds to me as if the .22 Ruger would have been better used against the guy who abandoned his employees leaving them in a dire survival situation.
Just my opinion.
L.W.
The real crime is that my brother kept working for the guy for two more summers. His whole family were a bunch of scumbags. Parents in an "open" marriage, all the kids lied and cheated and stole their way to great government contract jobs, all the while dismissing the notion that laws apply to everyone.
I am prone to agree with you, and if it were the 1800's, I'd have pulled the trigger myself, if need be.
From memory, I think at least twice active shooters at a school used .22 LR firearms to murder students at school. One was a girl who said she did what she did because "I don't like Mondays." A Ruger 10/22 was her weapon. I'm not going to say her name but the year was 1979 and the school was Grover Cleveland Elementary. The other was in 2012 in Chardon, Ohio. A Ruger MK II handgun was the weapon.
EDIT: The title of the post asked about self defense with the .22 rimfire. Obviously these school shootings were not self defense. They were cowardly homicidal attacks on innocent individuals that unfortunately had no means of protection. For clarification.
Last edited by MOGC; 12/15/20.
Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.
A new recruit to the county sheriff's dept went nuts on an apartment balcony where he was hanging out with other young folks. He shot at least 1. Someone in apartment grabbed a .22 rifle & killed him. I can't remember all the details. This was 2-3 yrs ago in knox county, Tn.
From memory, I think at least twice active shooters at a school used .22 LR firearms to murder students at school. One was a girl who said she did what she did because "I don't like Mondays." A Ruger 10/22 was her weapon. I'm not going to say her name but the year was 1979 and the school was Grover Cleveland Elementary.
I remember that. I was in High School when it happened. It was quite the subject of conversation with classmates.
It got in the chicken coup and killed his chickens. Pop went out and the dog got kinda [bleep] with him, so he shot it. One 22lr in the chest, dead dog.
Owner showed up about an hour later. Dad told him he’d show him where his dog was after the guy cleaned up all the dead chickens. 🖕
“Life is life and fun is fun, but it's all so quiet when the goldfish die.”
A few years back, an elderly fellow in Northern Ky. had criminals come into his house though the basement & rob him.
A few weeks later he heard them again & placed himself in a chair in view of the basement door, while armed with a 22 rifle. The thieves entered the upstairs & the old man cut loose. One punk got away & was later caught. The other SOB got a body bag for his trouble.
The home owner didn't get charged, actually in most parts of the state they get donations in cases like this, but the Law took his rifle for evidence. One of the web sites I visit was in the process of gathering donations to help the man arm himself again. They didn't have too, as a gun shop local to the homeowner saw to it he was taken care of the next day.
