There are more people killed by .22LR in the United States every year, than any other round. It's not a good stopper (CNS destruction) out of a pistol barrel, but it's very effective at causing people to bleed out over the course of 30 minutes.
Another thing people tend to forget, is that modern ammunition, loaded in older calibers like 22LR and 9MM, is significantly more powerful than loadings available 60-70 years ago. More powerful both in terms of ballistics, due to better powders, and terminal effect, due to better bullets.
This is the reason the FBI abandoned the .40S&W chambering; their testing discovered that modern 9MM ammo surpassed the original criteria of the .40, while subjecting the shooter to lower recoil, allowing faster follow-up shots, with more rounds in the magazine. .40 is basically obsolete. .45 would be too, if it didn't have a niche as a subsonic option.
Bottom line, I wouldn't choose a 22LR for self defense, but if I had to, it would be a carbine. Out of a 12-16" barrel, a hot 22LR like a CCI stinger is plenty deadly, and has similar muzzle energy to a WWII era 9MM Luger round.
There are more people killed by .22LR in the United States every year, than any other round. It's not a good stopper (CNS destruction) out of a pistol barrel, but it's very effective at causing people to bleed out over the course of 30 minutes.
Another thing people tend to forget, is that modern ammunition, loaded in older calibers like 22LR and 9MM, is significantly more powerful than loadings available 60-70 years ago. More powerful both in terms of ballistics, due to better powders, and terminal effect, due to better bullets.
This is the reason the FBI abandoned the .40S&W chambering; their testing discovered that modern 9MM ammo surpassed the original criteria of the .40, while subjecting the shooter to lower recoil, allowing faster follow-up shots, with more rounds in the magazine. .40 is basically obsolete. .45 would be too, if it didn't have a niche as a subsonic option.
Bottom line, I wouldn't choose a 22LR for self defense, but if I had to, it would be a carbine. Out of a 12-16" barrel, a hot 22LR like a CCI stinger is plenty deadly, and has similar muzzle energy to a WWII era 9MM Luger round.