Five .22 Cartridge Velocities as Advertised, in Rifle, in Three Pistols

AmmoLand ^ | March 9, 2023 | Dean Weingarten

[No.6]

Your revolver seems similar to the little Beretta 21a. The CCI velocitor and stinger rounds are the nominal standard for defense. The newish Federal Punch proved 1-shot effective vs a very thick woodchuck and gets my thumbs up.

Test of course… advantage being even “premium” 22 isn’t costly.

[mad_as_he$$]

lol..True. I once had a .22 Ruger pistol with a very short barrel that was so loud nobody wanted me to shoot it at the range while they were there. There is something to be said though for the physical shock of the first round when you shoot someone - military medics tell me that with many guys when they get hit they go into shock almost immediately and that it is almost always depends on how much damage is done with the initial injury. Others do not go into shock. The theory is that it has to do with how much adrenaline they have in their system already.

In any case my motto is: The best gunfight is the one you don’t have.

[South Dakota]

A feedlot I worked for killed cows using .22 long rifle

[Georgia Girl 2]

I used to only run CCI maxi mags in my Keltec PS 90. Its great ammo. Now I run CCI velocitors and stingers in my Ruger SR .22

[marktwain]

Here are penetration tests in ballistic gel, various .22 cartridges out of 2" and 4" barrel lengths.

[Scrambler Bob]

US manufacturers are said to use 24-inch test barrels. It makes sense manufacturers would use the longest commonly available barrel to test their ammunition.
= = =

I thought that max velocity for 22LR was about a 16 to 18 inch barrel.

That’s where the powder is all burned. Bullet starts to slow after that.

Considering target usage - Longer barrels give longer sight radius. I think they result in more even round to round performance.

And, two 18-inch barrel rifles will give different velocities. Bore and chamber differences can do that.

[Big Red Badger]

Yuppers-—
Three Critical factors
Location,
Location and
Location!

[gundog]

The Velocitors use Speer Gold Dot bullets. They’re designed for hunting. I don’t know if a 4” barrel would do them justice.

These may better serve her purposes.

[marktwain]

With the hyper-velocity cartridges, you probably gain a little bit with longer barrels.

Yes, there are individual barrel differences. Those could be more than the differences between an 18" and a 24" barrel.

The longer barrels are definitely quieter.

[T.B. Yoits]

Tell her to be like Thor, and go for the head.

...or the other one.

[NorthMountain]

A friend of mine with a dubious past says: “Hit someone in the eye with any .22 and they will decided to do something else.”

The "something else" may very well be "collapse to the floor and thermally equilibriate with the environment".

[smokingfrog]

With .22 LR, velocity is largely dependent on the weight of the bullet.
Something like CCI Green Tag would be a good round to use for a baseline comparison.
Your data shows that you don’t necessarily need to use subsonic ammo in a pistol in order to take advantage of the suppressor.

[Do_Tar]

If a 22LR is the largest caliber she can control, I would argue that that IS her “optimal” round.

Just some unsolicited advice:
I’d suggest having her try a low power .38. Especially if you have, or can borrow, a revolver similar to hers in .38.

“Matt’s Bullets Comfort Plinker .38 Special Ammo” has a ridiculously low advertised recoil.

[Paal Gulli]

This is not the BATFE-prescribed method for measuring the length of the barrel on a firearm.

When dealing with the ATF, guessing isn't good enough.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_v5c_p1Uju0

[Mean Daddy]

I really like my Ruger LCP .380 mostly for its ability to fit in my front pants pocket.