One truly dependable .22 RF manufacturer....CCI

Mini Mag or Velocitor would be a good choice.

And the best .22RF rifle for that purpose MIGHT be the Full-auto AR 180 with at least the 77 round mag.....

Sounds like at this point, for your gun, CCI Mni-Mags are the answer. For self defense, at the risk of sounding like a heretic, I believe reliability trumps accuracy. Something that you know is gonna go bang every time. And, again, just my opinion, at the range that it becomes self defence as opposed to a sport, believe MOA becomes a moot point.

My normal defensive round is a 310 grain WFN/GC, .44 mag. Outdoors, away,usually, from other people. My likeliest concern is a bear gettin too close for comfort. I think that same round would be a poor choice indoors, or in most urban settings.

As a defensive round, I,m not entirely convinced the .22 is 100% a bad idea, somewhat depending upon the setting. Live on the outskirts of town, and at any given time, there,s a good probability of there being people on the other side of the walls of my home. The possibility of over penetration,or, put it another way, accidentaly shooting somebody I had,nt itended to becomes more probable. One of those little guidelines for shooting, be aware of whats behind your target comes to mind.

As far as penetration goes, .22s have been used quite often for slaughtering cattle, one round fired into the skull at fairly close range. Never personally seen it take more than one shot. And at a reasonable distance, setting aside ethics or legality for a moment, a .22 will kill a whitetail easily enough. Not a huge size difference.

All that bein said, unless there is CNS disruption, it may not be the quickest way to end an arguement.

As an American I would never be "limited" to using a 22 LR for self defense. I can own as many firearms as I can afford and I always have something bigger than a 22 LR handy.

If I was going to use a 22 caliber for self defense it would be an AR platform in 5.56 (223) topped with a Trijicon ACOG sight. I was trained on one and if it is good enough for the military it is good enough for my home. When your life or the life of your family is on the line it makes no sense to skimp on adequate firepower.

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Originally posted by Pirate's Life:
As an American I would never be "limited" to using a 22 LR for self defense.

Neither would I.

I posted this question to get opinions on the state of .22 LR cartridge development.

Little bit of info for you rambos: There are more people killed in America every year with a .22 rf than all of the other calibres combined. And too, I have a couple of ruger mark 2s (.22LR) that are over 40 years old that have never had a failure to feed nor to fire. And they've been used in some pretty adverse conditions.

quote:

I have a couple of ruger mark 2s (.22LR) that are over 40 years old that have never had a failure to feed nor to fire. And they've been used in some pretty adverse conditions.

You must lead a charmed life to never had a miss fire or a failure to feed with 22rf ammo

I thought I might add this. Speer makes a 22 Magnum Short Barrel Personal Protection load that uses a 40 grain Gold Dot bullet. I believe muzzle velocity is 1495 fps and muzzle energy is 195. Some of us have mentioned the 22 magnum if were relegated to a 22 rimfire and that load there seems to be a good one.