A few years ago I got in an argument here, with somebody who swore he had personally seen a .22 bounce off a leather coat.
I’m not taking sides in that argument, but some 22.s are lightly loaded. Sub-sonic ammo is. And some only have the primer to propel it.
Take a frozen turkey to the range and wrap it in a couple of layers of denim. Your friend will be impressed at 100 yds.
I was looking for .22 this morning and you can’t find hot CCI anywhere. The “Velocitor” or 32gr JHP’s are not available. You can find some standard rounds...
“A few years ago I got in an argument here, with somebody who swore he had personally seen a .22 bounce off a leather coat.”
My first time shooting was with a .22 rifle. We were shooting at an old street sign which was laying on the ground, at least 100’ away. It was laying fairly flat to the ground, maybe on 30 degree angle. Each time we hit it, we heard a “Ping!” and figured out rounds deflected off of it and went elsewhere. We learned a lesson when we saw the shallow-angle holes ripped through the steel in multiple places (and no signs of any “deflections”).
Aguila Super Colibri 22 Long Rifle 20 Grain Lead Solid Point Ammunition
Muzzle Velocity: 500 feet per second
Muzzle Energy: 11 ft. lbs
Aguila Super Colibri Armmunition has no powder, relying on only the primer to propel the bullet down the bore. The result is an extremely quiet rimfire round, perfect for close-range pest control or quiet plinking.
WARNING: These rounds are powered by the rimfire primer only. They must only be fired in handguns. If fired in rifles, the bullet may remain lodged in the barrel.
I’ve fired it and still have quite a bit of the stuff, which I use when I don’t want noise. It’s quiet and doesn’t penetrate nearly as well as standard velocity or high velocity. I wouldn’t bet my life on it bouncing, and I’m more than a little skeptical on anyone having seen it if the coat was on a person, but it just might bounce, especially if fired from a rifle.
Fox Creek biker leather will stop a 22lr and may stop a 9mm. It is body armor designed to protect you from hitting the ground at 35 mph.
So maybe...
.22 ammo varies a lot, from subsonic, powered only by the primer to supersonic. Also quality varies a lot by manufacturer, when I was a kid, we had a lot of “high velocity” .22 ammo that was so slow you could follow the bullet to the target with your eyes.
It is plausible for a particular .22 to be moving slow enough to bounce off a leather coat, however, I wouldn’t count on it.
I’ve seen an old U.S.M.C. flak jacket shot with several different firearms. The .22lr penetrated farthest.