I just bought a Walther p22 pistol, what bullet has the most stopping power for this...

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olimpia111111

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...gun? I know it is not a strong caliber, but it is small and i can carry it around. I was told to use the supersonic hollow point to achieve maximum damage. What is the difference in stopping power between supersonic and subsonic .22?
 
Its hard to say exactly. Usually a hyper-velocity round like the Aquila Supermax or CCI Stinger would have a lot more power (I'm not sure if it would be double or triple the power but it would be in that range?), but that's in a rifle length barrel. In a pistol length barrel, the benefit from the increased charge of powder in a hyper-velocity round is probably minimal (since .22LR rounds take between 12 and 16 inches to fully burn all their gunpowder). In a 4 inch barrel, most of the powder charge won't be burned in the barrel and you'll not get the full benefit. (Probably all you'll get is a bigger muzzle flash as the powder ignites in the air in front of the muzzle.) Since that's likely the case, I'd recommend you simply get a 40 grain hollow-point loading. You could go with the CCI Velocitor (a 40 grain hyper-velocity hollowpoint), but I don't know that it would yield any great improvement in performance.

As far as using this as a defensive pistol, a .22 is better than nothing, but its far from an ideal choice. Because of its small bullets and low muzzle velocity, its just not as powerful as the military and police calibers (.38 Special, .357 magnum, 9mm, 10mm, .45 ACP, etc...) that are commonly used.
 
Yeah, a .22 caliber pistol is not a defensive round. I would suggest nothing small than a 9mm.

Great gun for plinking though.
 
I own the P22 and I would never, ever, carry it for protection!!

Bottom line - the 22 long rifle caliber has NO stopping power unless you are talking about animals in the mouse to rabbit size. Anything larger than a bunny - the laws of chance have more to do than stopping power of the ammunition.

The P22 only has a 3" barrel - or the optional 5" barrel. This is bearly enough barrel to develop the full potential of any ammo.

That - and people who carry a little 22 seem to be more prone to pull it out when not necessary. The 22 is not considered 'less than lethal' like mace or the stun gun - although lowered power it has the potential to kill or cause sever permenent wounds. Where as someon who carries a 45 tends to not pull this firearm since it most assuradly lethal force.

The Walther is only considered for personal protection when on the beach and entering into a swim suit contest.

Give up the Walter - or carry a real pistol. You need the right tool for the right job.
 
The difference is the amount of energy the bullet places on target. The same bullet travelling 900 fps is not going to hit as hard as it would going 1250 fps. FPS is feet per second, it's how velocity is measured in ammunition. Sub sonic 22 is usually between 900 and 980 fps, super sonic, or hyper sonic averages 1200 to 1300 fps for 22lr.

For your Walther, I would suggest either CCI Stingers, or CCI Mini Mags, they make a hollow ppint bullet for each.
 
You should go out a buy a couple of 50 rd boxes of various hollow points. Find out which ones work best in your pistol. You may find that it likes some better than others. Once you figure out which functions best, go from there. Most are pretty similar. CCI Stingers are good. Federal, Remington, Winchester, CCI all make decent ammo. With .22 ammo, it will be more important for your weapon to function without jamming/misfiring and for you to hit the target as it will be the level of performance ont he target. The differences in ammo of that small of a caliber will be pretty small when it comes to people.

You will get a lot of answers saying a .22 is too small for self defense (not my first choice, for sure). If it is all you have, then you go with what you got.
 
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