.22 lr penetration in humans

T

TexasTweeter

New member
We have all heard of the guy that killed the coyote, deer, cougar, exct with a .22 lr, but how many of us believe it? Adequate penetration in living tissue has been a much debated issue with these little guns that most of us first learned to shoot with. "How far will one of these little shells penetrate in living tissue exactly?" My answer, a little short of 7 inches. How do I know you ask? Well lodged in my right glute (yess, that is my right butcheek!" is a .22 lr in Federal match. About 4 years ago I was involved in a hunting accident with my brother, the result of whick is an embarrasing scar that few people other than my wife have see. In Forrest Gump it was reffered to as the "million Dollar Wound" however neither Forrest, or myself ever saw any of the money. I am currently looking through some of my old medical records for the exray of my butt that has a paperclip taped to the outside next to the "entrance wound" and if you follow it diagonnally in you will find the slug at the end of the nearly 7 in wound channel. The thing that i found most interesting about the whole ordeal (and to tell the truth, it really didn't hurt much other than being a bit sore there the next day, which made going to the bathroom a bit uncomfortable) was that there was ABSOLUTELY NO DEFORMATION of the little bullet. It looks exactly the same as it did pearched ontop of its tiny little brass throne. What you ask is the purpose of this post? Honestly I dont know, but all of my hunting buddies have heard the story, and have seen the x-ray, so I felt a bit obligated to share it with my new online family. As soon as I find the x-rays i will post them, untill then enjoy this story, and remember... laugh often. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
I have to ask,was it a hollow point or round nose bullet?The reason i ask is you said it was still in one piece.

It could have been worse.I bet your the butt of all your buddies joke.LOL Just kidding.
 
As a 12 year career firefighter/paramedic, I can attest that probably more folks are killed every year with a 22 than anything else. It is the most common easy to come by caliber out there.. I agree, your lucky a few inches higher and you could be huntng from a wheel chair a cloud stand..
 
You make a point I have known for years. Without immediate medical attention any 22LR to the human torso is usually fatal. It won't knock you down right now but is usually fatal in 1-6 hours, maybe longer if gut shot.

The 22LR is not a toy and will kill even large animals just not quickly.

Jack
 
Federal match is a round nose .22 lr. The scary thing of it all is like I said, it really didnt hurt much at all. The guy in the e-r told me that i was lucky, and that a lot of people shot with .22 and the such ( 25 acp) dont go to the hospital because it doesnt hurt, and that many of them later die of complications and infections when they finally do go. Oh and you aught to see the guys at the courthouse when i set off the metal detectors. they get the little wand metal detector out and it goes off back there by my butt. you can see them almost ask (ary your really hiding something in your @$$!)
 
A 22 bullet in the right spot will kill large animals as tho they were struck by lighting! Probally the most dangerious thing about a 22lr is it's,,,,,, appearence of not being very lethel, it is extreamly so. Were I an assasin it would be my cartridge of choice.
 
Sounds like a pain in the A$$. Sorry I couldn't resist. Spent some time on the streets of SLC in the Gang Enforcement Unit, saw enough gun shot wounds to last a life time. Glad there has been no residual problems. That little .22 is as dangerous as it can get. Just think if it was a .45 .
 
I would hope that my brother would not be squirrell hunting with a 45. And to his credit, he stumbled, and the safety failed. he was young, and had not learned muzzel controll very well yet. It was my fault for not better instructing him. The police had to make a report, and it scared the crap outta him, so i think he got the point. as a matter of fact, him and his twin brother are a pretty good coyote hunting team one of which i would put up against anyone on this board with his various diaphram calls. Trying to get them on here, but they are in collage, and one is an assistant vet, the other a personal trainer, so they dont have much time. what little they do have is spent creaping around in the backwoods of rains county. There is a lot more to this story, including a fake purple heart and a letter from the president, but i will spare you (and me the humiliation) the agony of having to hear it.
 
I have long since held that a .22 is the most dangerous gun around, simply cause it is so cheap to shoot people throw rounds at anything, not giving it the respect it deserves. This, imho, leads to far to many .22 accicents.

Second, I had a cousin that, due to a similar accident, took a .22 in the jaw. After having his jaw wired shut for some time, he turned out ok. However, for years they were pulling parts of the round out of various parts of his body as they made it throug the blood stream. I remember specifically one from his underarm and one near his heart.

Be carefull with a .22
 
Quote:
Be carefull with a .22



Be careful with all firearms! I do know what you're getting at though and totally agree. Lots of people fail to give the little rimfire the respect any firearm deserves. Many unknowing parents get a .22 for the kids to "plink with" and do not recognize how dangerous that decision is unless the kids are carefully tutored in the careful and responsible use of firearms. My dad and I were nearly shot by some kids with .22's once. Dad was looking at a house to buy for rental property. The house was near the outskirts of town and near a little strip of woods where there were some bike trails and kids hung out. As we walked around the house looking it over we heard the crack of a couple of .22's. The owner said, "Oh, that's just some kids plinking. They shoot in those woods all the time, no biggie." Suddenly I heard some strange cracking noises and noticed a couple of braches clipped out of a tree right beside us. It dawned on me the branches were being shot out by bullets and the odd noise I was hearing was .22 bullets sailing by! We ran behind the house and started yelling at the kids to stop. The home owner called the police and I drove on up to the woodlot. I corraled the boys, both with 10/22's and they said, "It's just a .22. It can't go that far!" The house was only about 200 yards away... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smiliesmack.gif
 
Since I've been retired for the last 15 years, things may have changed, but when I was a LEO and the early bullet proof? vests started coming out (I bought my first one in 1965), one of the first things we were told was "Your most serious theat is from an ice pick or a .22 long rifle". I never forgot that warning and agree about the danger of the .22 for humans.

Back in 1965, one of the K-9 officers on the KCPD was shot, point blank with a little .25acp just at the gumline, head on (non-fatal) and at the hospital, the doctor/surgeon was commenting about how lucky he was that it wasn't a .22...
 
Quote:
In the Gang Unit we hunted Squirrels and used .45's /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif



They were skunks not squirrels.
 
There are still many slaughterhouses using 22s. If it will kill a 1500lb steer, it will kill a human.

It often is the assassin's weapon of choice. It's lightweight, small, easily suppressed, and a properly placed shot is always fatal.
 
Tweeter:

You're lucky it missed the sciatic nerve that runs from your lower spine, through your butt, and down our leg. If it had been hit, you might have some serious problems with walking.

-BCB
 
Our neighbor down the road raises and butchers cattle, goes through about 30 head a year, he exclusively uses a winchester 16 pump (22lr). One shot through the head, in a squeeze shoot.

He has been doing it since he was 30 years old on his own (12 years before that he worked at a large slaugherhouse/butchershop and watched it done.)

So you figure he's been using a .22 for 30 years at 30 cows a year, thats 900 head down to a .22lr, not even a whole brick in 30 years of butchering.
 
In the seventies I investigated and accidental shooting that showed me what a 22LR can do. Two teen age brothers coming back to the truck from hunting. They are standing on a gravel road facing each other. One has his rifle pointed down at the road and accidentally discharges. The Remington 22 LR solid ricocheted off the gravel upward and struck the brother in the right wrist. The bullet travel up the forearm into the bicep. It then ricocheted off the bone in the arm and entered under the right arm and travel through the chest, throught the heart and came to a stop in the left arm. The subject died at the scene.
Any time I hear someone say "It's just a .22, I cringe.
OC
 


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