Gel Test: 22 LR for defense — the little round that could?

By Aaron Samsel

The highly recommended S&W Model 43C is aimed at the ballistics gel at close range. Velocity is greatest at the muzzle and I did not want to embarrass myself by missing the block. (Photo: Terril Herbert)
Several years ago, I lived near an older couple at the edge of the Louisiana swamp. Politics and guns were often the talk of our morning coffee chats and it came as a treat when they showed me their house pistol — the gun that was in the nightstand in case of trouble. The gun was a nameless single action revolver in 22 LR. Not long after, I gifted them a box of CCI Stingers for Christmas and ever since that time I got to thinking about how well a 22 LR round would work for self-defense.
It was great for squirrel and the troublesome coyotes that plagued our neighborhood, but what about human predators?
A perennial favorite
The 22 LR is often considered a pistol cartridge today, but in 1887 when it was first developed, it was meant for small game hunting out of a rifle. Like many early metallic cartridges, it used a heeled bullet and a thin rimfire brass case. It used a 40 grain

Source: Guns.com