It’s just a matter of shot placement right? .22 would give you the least recoil and easiest follow up shots wouldn’t it? Penetration is decent enough too, and there’s no deafening bang to concuss you. Conversely over penetration is not much of an issue with it either. So why aren’t we all using it?
Have I thoroughly baited you? Hope so, while this was mostly tongue in cheek these very reasons were the impetus behind the American 180. An interesting sub machinegun in .22lr.
But to the real discussion, there is often a discussion over shot placement and stopping power. If you somehow are unfamiliar with that (how did you even end up here?!) it come down to the placement camp says that the placement of the bullet is most important in stopping someone and the power camp says that the amount of energy imparted into the target is most import.
Both have there merits, but there has to be an upper and lower bound? Like the article opened with; why not just use .22, or on the other end say .50AE?
So what is the minimum? What is the max? Make your case below.
(I would say keep it a civil debate but this is the internet, let it fly!)
Scattered Shots 
Eh,home self,18″mossy/12 gauge double 0/knoxx stock,no more recoil then the .22,that said,all you have is a .22 at moment,tis a excellent self defense tool!
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I’ve seen a lot of bullshit on the internet over many years disparaging the .22 as a defensive load, and basically saying that the .22 is of no value in that role.
Sure centrefire loads are gonna be better *if you can put rounds on target*, but that’s a big if.
Effectively zero recoil means that women, small men and unskilled shooters can control the guns and have a much better chance of landing a large number of effective hits in a high stress situation. And those little hollow points can do a helluva lot of damage.
I wouldn’t choose a .22 for myself, but I’ve had over 45 years of military and civilian firearms experience, and fired hundreds of thousand of rounds in that time. I know how its done. As a starting point though I’d be quite happy for my wife to be armed with a .22 semiauto. And I’m pretty sure that I could defend myself effectively with a .22, if it came to that.
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.22 as a self-defense round has a bunch of demerits, but the demerits are obvious and have been done before. What are the merits?
First, low recoil means good accuracy and FAST follow-up shots—much faster than anyone really has a right to. Need to put down five or ten shots in the span of time it takes you to sneeze? .22 is your number.
Next, it’s CHEAP. Forget the .22 trainer and just practice with the .22.
Finally, both the guns and the ammo are SMALL and LIGHT. From micro-pistols like the Ruger LCP2 in .22 to 10-22 Takedowns to a zillion other options, you can get a lot of fun in a small, handy, light package, with a mess of rounds on-board. Feel like you’d like to have more ammo? A box of 50 will slide right into your pocket or that one weird zipper pouch on your backpack. A spare mag will only take up a little more room than that.
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Obviously you can make anything work if you have to but…
Personally I’d say the new hot loaded .380s are the minimum bound, and then hot 10mm or 357 sig would be the upper bound. Below that and its questionable and above your follow ups are either going to slow down or get spread out. Caveat emptor naturally
And as much of a .45 fan as I am, I have to say the newer 9mm loads out there are probably the sweet spot.
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