The only issues I’ve ever had with 22 is in automatics. Revolvers and lever actions zero problems. I’d take either of those over a knife any day.

If it puts a hole in somebody where there wasn't one before - well, it's sure better than nothing.

modern ammo vs old myths

This is one of the highest quality gun channels on KZfaq.

A young woman in our area shot a guy who laughed at her for threatening him with a 22 when he was going to come through a screen door and attack her. She warned him and as he cut through the screen she shot him in the heart. He dropped dead instantly.

2 ways I've had issues with the .22 round, 1st is the use of cheap ammo and 2nd is my failure to keep the firearm clean.

There are people who don't clean their firearms for thousands of rounds!? I do mine every time I put anything through them.

CONGRATULATIONS!!! You just identified the reason so many people have reliability issues with 22lr. THEY DON'T CLEAN THEIR GUN! My Dad drilled the importance of cleanilg my gun(s) after each & every use. And I have had about 3 FTF in the last 10 years with 22lr. And all these were cheap, bulk box ammo.

.22LR unreliable? I shoot a lot at my own range and I shoot almost entirely .22LR. Out of the last 3000 rounds fired here, I have had only one fail to fire. That is actually pretty reliable in my book. Yes, I have been shooting for 65 years and the key is to keep the guns cleaned and tuned. If you don't care about your guns, you don't have any room to complain about ammunition.

I remember the older .22lr ammo having miss fires a lot when I was a kid. now days I really cant remember having issues.. cci ammo is great

David killed Goliath with a rock, remember that.

This video is so much better than a lot of the fear mongering against .22lr.

I would absolutely second your recommendations of using high quality .22 ammo and using a revolver if a rimfire is chosen for self-defense. My experience has been that CCI ammo products in the individual round packages give very little trouble in terms of ignition in a good revolver, although I've seen some very small autos that didn't have a hard enough firing pin strike to adequately crush their rim. I spent years running the firing line at indoor Bullseye matches, and the sheer number of rimfire "alibi" strings we had to run every match taught me a lot about bad things that can happen to .22 ammo. I'd avoid the bulk stuff like the plague for actual defense use. Last weekend alone I had a 5% ignition failure rate with some El Cheapo bulk pack .22 LR in several known reliable firearms. Good video, thanks for doing it.

Very informative video. I've carried a 22 for many years and in that time I've learned that keeping silica packs in my ammo boxes and a little bit of chapstick around the bullet keeps moisture out. I've rode a motorcycle in the pouring rain a few times and my revolver still fired. Every few months I'd empty and reload, just in case. Being a bouncer & repo man...22 was a lightweight & reliable back up. Thanks. I enjoy your videos.

This is why I only use CCI ammo in my S&W semi auto. I also have had no failures to feed after highly polishing the feed ramp. It is very reliable and easy to shoot accurately.

I just bought a Walther P22. First gun purchase. Bought it for practice and home defense. This is all new to me. I bought the pistol to practice and move up to higher caliber.

Paul Harrell recently did a video where he fired several thousand rounds of 22 out of several different firearms to see if different brands or loads were inherently more or less reliable. While there was a difference between the more and less expensive ammo, they all had a much higher out of the box dud rate than centerfire ammo. Out of none of the brands did he have zero duds.

I have been into guns for only about 8 years now and after trying many kinds of guns and in different calibers I have come to the conclusion that if you have a good quality 22 pistol like the Ruger SR22, M&P22, Beretta Bobcat, or the Browning 1911-22, keep them very cleaned and moderately oiled and using CCI ammo works even better then the 25 or 32. CCI Stingers are the king of reliability and are my C&C ammo of choice.

My anime waifu uses a .22lr pistol and has never encountered reliability issues of any sort so based on that I can highly recommend using a .22 for self defense.

i was raised on a farm and we put cattle down and hogs one shot behind the ear puts them to sleep ready for the table

Knowing how to clear a jam quickly is very important. A failure can happen with any gun.

1:30 When you need toilet paper and your hand touches the raw cardboard of an empty roll.

Here in Canada lots of people use .22 for self defense. i have seen alot of gang members carry it

Want to thank you for being very through with the information you release and backing it with your own tests

Again, your advice is reasoned and well thought out. Also, presented pleasantly, not gruffly and "ready to kick your butt" style that so many try to do on the internet.

Great information in this video!!! Both my teenage daughters are very comfortable shooting a 22LR pistol, but not so much even when they step up to a 9mm pistol. They find the 22LR pistol (M&P 22 Compact) very controllable and they are not afraid to squeeze the trigger when shooting. When shooting a 9mm pistol (Glock 17, Glock 43, Ruger 9E, or Canik TP9SFX) they tend to flinch with each squeeze of the trigger because they don’t really want to squeeze the trigger. I have had 100% success with CCI Mini Mag ammo in my M&P 22 Compact and Ruger 10/22 rifle and it’s great to see that your efforts have produced the same results.

I rarely ever have any issues with CCI mini mags threw my P22. I feel 100% comfortable carrying mine as a edc.

Out of the hundreds and hundreds of 22 I’ve shot I’ve had maybe 2-3 ftf - that’s from a ruger 10/22 and a mark iv. I only buy cci which I do believe make the best most reliable 22.

Excellent video series, keep up the great work. I have a Walther TPH and it runs pretty well with Stingers

Your advice of changing out the ammo every couple of months is good opportunity to use the ammo in target shooting to keep your skill up.

I just came across your channel and I have to say that this is a great show!!! Simple, to the point, no fuss or blabbering on about nonsense or reading from a "sponsor of the week" cue card. It's awesome. Subscribed!!!

At the end of the day if you own any firearms and can’t hit the broad side of a barn you are up the creek without a paddle (Shot Placements)

With my 10/22 I get malfunctions every 10-20 rounds with bulk federal ammo and a 25 round mag. With CCI mini mag I've gone through 500+ rounds without a single issue. Not a pistol but the same principal applies.

I was not surprised with the results of the test, I've hunted with all types of 22's in all kinds of conditions and I can't remember the last time I had a malfunction with the ammo. Great information, great advice, great video, great channel!

Over 40 years, I can count on one hand the number of bad .22 rounds I've ever had and I've fired thousands.

Thank you, your videos are very factual and informative which are helpful when it comes to making decisions for conceal carry and home defense.

I recently ran across a box of .22 shorts in my ammo stores that belong to my dad- they were probably (at least) 30-40 years old. Some were so oxidized, they wouldn't even chamber. But if they went in the pipe, they went bang.

Growing up in Lynchburg Va as a kid, we lived off 22mag.

This has quickly become my favorite "gun channel." Very professionally done. Keep up the good work, all of you.

This has been a really good series so far. I'm looking forward to the rest.

Awesome, love how you guys test tons of the gun myths and "facts" that are repeated ad nauseum across the gun world. No BS, great information and good prices on ammo!

Great video. I was curious about cci’s and 22 ammo in general getting wet from sweat and I am glad you did the test you did. Cci is some good stuff definitely worth the extra penny’s per round to carry over bulk ammo. I like a 22 for a backup or throw in the pocket to go to the store gun. it is definitely a scary round and I can’t imagine any bad guy doing to well after taking a few 22 bullets to the head. I had a Ruger lcr 22 with an internal hammer and the trigger pull was horrible. Hard to beat a little naa mini or beretta bobcat.

Good Channel. I like the videos. Concise, factual with proper disclaimers and claim parameters. All so far are interesting. Keep it up.

Interesting results. Greatly appreciated your unbiased tests, as always.

Before using CCI I would say yes, I was having constant jams in all my .22s. SR22, P22 and Ruger MK2. After switching ammo the dependability went way up

That .22 torture test did surprise be a bit. I wonder how bulk packed bargain priced Wally World stuff would have held up.

Literally one of the most detailed and thorough gun Channels on KZfaq. Love how this guy tests and tests to make it scientific

Excellent information. Thank you for posting!

Got to love the CCI MINI-MAG!!!

22 LR is cheap enough to rotate it every range trip

Thank you for the information , very helpful.

Love that more content is coming out

I used to carry and shoot my Beretta 21A a lot. It was mainly a backup and a deep concealment piece (has been replaced with a Glock 42). It doesn't like bulk pack of any kind. It definitely prefers hotter .22, and especially CCIs. It is VERY sensitive to being dirty. I usually try to clean the barrel every 100 rounds, or after every range session.

Great video! I'm glad to see someone finally taking on the pocket pistol debates. My feeling on .22 reliability as in failure to fire issues is they will come and go in batches. I've seen hundreds if not thousands of rounds with no failures to fire from multiple bricks of ammo and then I've seen half a dozen from the same brick. I suspect personally it has something to do with bad manufacturing process in most cases...maybe a machine is out of alignment or something similar causing a few questionable rounds to slip by.

Great video, and great music at the end!

highly informative and educational, great video coverage LGA.

I was shot with a 22 long rifle years ago hurts like hell

I've put hundreds of rounds through my Ruger 10/22 without 1 issue. It's small enough to navigate around hallways and has a 25 round magazine. A few .22 to the stomach and one to the crotch will stop any intruder.

Great video, great science, great representation. I highly recommend the Ruger SR22 if you are willing to carry a .22LR

Thank you for the testing!

Back a couple decades ago I regularly shot 4 position NRA small bore rifle competitively and ammo selection was critical. Shooters obsessed about quality and reliability even amongst the most premium of ammo like RWS and Eley. Guys would argue not just about ammo but which production lots of a particular ammo offering was best. As years have gone by I have noticed fewer and fewer of these rhubarbs and I think that as time has gone by all the rimfire companies have tightened up their quality with better chemistry and better automation. It is hard to find crappy 22 lr these days. Some is better then others but the days of 5-10% failure rates are past.

Chris, your sense of what kinds of tests are practical is very, very good. Thanks for all the information. Please keep it coming.

👍 thanks for doing the experiment and thanks for posting.

Solid content that’s very well delivered.

The odds of having to actually fire a weapon in self defense is about one in a million. The odds of a .22lr failing to fire is about one in 200. So, the odds that your weapon will not fire in a life-or-death situation is one in 200 million. I can live with those odds in order to EDC a pistol that is light, fast to get on target, and can fire rapidly and accurately.

Great video. I think when you start going into the .22LR handgun discussions, trigger pull will be a key factor to discuss. Many of the .22LR revolvers have extremely stiff trigger pulls vs. their .38/.357 counterparts. So while someone with a physical limitation may want to (1) pick .22LR and (2) pick a revolver (no slide racking, easier to deal with a misfire), they may still be better off with a .38spl due to trigger pull weight. The discussion matrix gets more complicated when you add up all of these layers and I can't wait to see what you guys come up with!

Great info and video! Another thing I might add is .22 pistols are less forgiving to dirt, dust and lint. It's a great idea to field strip the gun and wipe it down every couple of weeks if you carry it every day. I use an old toothbrush. While I don't carry a .22 anymore, I still wouldn't be afraid to do so again if needed. Thanks for the video!!!

Love that retro intro/extro music. We’re talking 1930’s there.

I've fired probably 20k rounds of .22LR ammo, perhaps half of which was CCI MiniMags. I've also shot about 15k of centerfire ammunition, of various types. I've had three ammunition failures, two of which were centerfire (and one of them was a commercial reload.) One was in .380, and the other in .38 Special. Both fired on their second attempts. I've had one rimfire failure, with a round of Remington Golden Bullet ammo, and it was in a newly-acquired Heritage Rough Rider. That round never did fire and was destroyed. So, that's been my experience. If I have to depend on .22LR ammunition, I'm confident that CCI MiniMags, especially those sourced from the 100-ct plastic sleeves, will step up and serve me well.

I’d love to see you test the Phoenix arms hp 22. It’s a super cheap pistol that most folks say is surprisingly reliable. I’d like to see it put to the luckygunners test

Thank you for a clean straightforward approach to this sometimes controversial subject. While not my EDC, sometimes in hot weather all I can tote is my Ruger LCP.22. I feel better now doing so, and of course enjoy shooting it anyway.

I've fired hundreds of shots out of my Wrangler, aint never misfired in its whole life. In fact i've had more dud rounds with my 9mm.

I have. 22lr ammo that's 30+ years old. Still works. Never fails. Have had cci that failed out of a new box.

Just a passing FYI, the 22lr is the round of choice for assassins. Low noise, penetration but not much exit wounds.

Thanks for the great channel and website with top-shelf balistic tests! My only 22 LR an Armscor m1600 that was gifted to me in the 90s. I replaced the handle with a Feyachi one and added a reflex red/green sight. I use Remington Thunderbolt 22 LR and only have the occassional issue after thousands or rounds; I do clean it after each range day. While it is a favorite range gun for my son and I, it would not be my first, second, or third choice as a defensive round.

I’m still amazed after reading a story of an elderly Canadian woman, Bella Twin who shot and killed a record-sized grizzly bear with a .22 in 1953. She was an experienced trapper and knew to shoot it in the side of the head and dropped it. I think it provides a good insight as to how important shot placement is and how much that can improve the performance of any round, no matter how small

Good info. I've been looking at the S&W 43c, lightweight 8 shot revolver with a nice front sight, any chance this will be one of the bug guns you plan to review?

A small revolver with 22 mag and I feel confident with it, 22 lr maybe

Fantastically informative!

Absolutely GREAT video. Loved it.

I did a similar test, I left different brands soaking in a glass of water for 90 days, only the Aguila super extra red and yellow box all shot 100% CCI Stingers shot at 90%.. all others failed to shoot 0%

My experience from the Emergency Room and Operating room makes me think that I would rather use a .22 than a .25 ACP. I remember one guy who was shot in the side of the head from 2 ft. away with a .25. It nocked him unconscious, but the bullet only penetrated the outer layer of bone (outer table) of the skull, but did not penetrate the inner table. So he had a concussion and a bad headache, but he didn't get his brains scrambled. I have never seen someone shot with a .22 that didn't have significant injuries. Now 'stopping power' is another question. The most extensive injuries, short of death, was with a 30-30. Apparently, the guy fell down just as the bullet hit him in the butt. Everything in the pelvis was gelatinized: colon, urinary bladder, ureters, as well as the blood supply to the penis and testicles, which had to be amputated. But that's another story...

Very informative. Thanks.

I shot about 550 rounds of CCI Mini Mags and had 2 light primer strikes, put them back in the mag, turned the round so the 1st hit was up top and both fired off on that 2nd hit.

Excellent video. I'd be curious to see how some of the bulk 22LR ammo would hold up after your test. The CCI ammo's reliability doesn't surprise me. It's worth the extra money.

No need for underpower when you got about 20+ rounds of it going down the barrel in seconds

Awesome content!

Good video and very informative.

That 1500 round test pretty much debunked the 22 reliability myth again. All you need is a quality gun and quality ammo, the same as with any caliber you choose. Don't buy the cheapest gun and the cheapest bulk ammo. In my experience, bad magazines are more common than bad ammo. The slightest imperfection can ruin all your fun.

Honestly I have a Glock 44 for a carry and it has been great. Lower quality or lower velocity round do malfunction though.

Excellent review 👍👍👍

Great video! I have thousands of cci mini-mags and velocitors through my ruger 22/45 with no failures; I clean my firearms after every range outing. Some of the bulk ammo will produce a problem sometimes so I stick with cci-the most reliable .22's made-lol

I’ve put 3,000+ rounds through my SR22 without cleaning it

In my experience, CCI makes the best .22 ammo. I got some federal rounds a few weeks ago, the box had 250 rounds in it and at least 20 of them were either crooked or bent, and one of them was just a shell. I couldn't find the lead in the box either. But with CCI rounds, they've all been really good. I think because they won't fit in the tray if the bullet is malformed.

THANK YOU FOR SAYING WHAT ALOT OF USE BEEN WAITING FOR ALOT OF LIKE 22

Great video! 👍👍

in a “semi” it’s an argument i would do revolver only, personally

Re: Cleaning. I'm old enough to remember advice from older relatives and friends of the family that cleaning a .22 rifle is actually counter productive. I clean mine anyway, but there seems to have been some difference of opinion. Just a thought.

Thanks for your testing and your report. This confirms my experience. I only fire premium rimfire ammo.

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