I know…..you can’t use .22 in any configuration for self defense. All the experts say it has to be 9mm. Or is it .45 ACP? Maybe .38 Special or .357 Magnum? Over time, there was always a newer, better, more efficient bullet, but let’s talk a bit of history before I tell you what’s on the horizon for .22 today.
Many years ago, think Roaring 20’s, Prohibition, between the World Wars, whatever, .22 was a good choice because it could be easily hidden. Think of the gangland executions where a bullet to the back of the head from a .22 sent a powerful message. Over time, .32 ACP became a thing, and crime fighters like the FBI started carrying .38 Specials to keep up with the armaments criminals were using.
.38 morphed into .357, then .45 ACP after World War II as the G.I.’s returned home. 9mm became the de facto world cartridge, hence the thinking that 9mm is a good choice for self defense. If you get two or more gunners together and start talking about self defense rounds, you will get two or more different opinions about which is the best choice.
If you’re on the ground scuffling with a bad guy and you only have a .22 available, remember how many orifices the human head has that a bullet could enter. Any of them would do tremendous damage.
Enough of that – the point of this post is that Federal has released a .22 round it has named Punch, released just last year. Up to now, law enforcement and military requirements usually drove what ammunition we could buy commerically. Punch was designed for the public, not law enforcement or the military. Federal decided civilians shot their guns for different purposes, so the bullets had to different.
As Federal puts it: “It utilizes a 29-grain nickel-plated lead-core bullet, with a flat nose and a heavy jacket. Essentially, the bullet is designed to hang together and minimally expand, thus increasing penetration depth. As to ensuring the bullet bores an appropriate distance, Federal soups up .22 LR Punch, with the ammo listed at 1,070 fps from a 2-inch barrel.”
To make things even better, Punch’s retail price from Federal is about 10 bucks for 50 rounds. That’s competitive with the normal range for most brands of .22 LR.