I can just hear the:
Oh crap. Old Sledge has has forgotten to take his old man medicine again today and here he goes with another one of those I forgot to take my meds senile posts. Well maybe, I can't seem to remember if I took those things this morning or not.
I've mentioned in a couple of different threads that most of the women in our group will be using .22 LR weapons. I'm sure most of you dismissed this out of hand as I would have myself in years past. But after having to actually think about how to accomplish a whole list of objectives in preparing for a tshtf situation. I came to the realization that I was using bias in my weapons selections.
After looking at tshtf as a big picture I came to realize that the .22 LR Semi Auto rifle was close to a perfect fit for a prepper concerned about defense of their AO. ( That's not to say I would recommend it as a guerrilla warfare weapon.)
These are the reasons I've arrived at this view.
It is a very inexpensive weapon system.
.22 LR in all of its variations is very cheap. 1,000 rounds can be had for under $50 making it no problem to reach bulk quantities in storage.
The round is very accurate and will do way more damage than you would think a bullet that size should.
It offers the ability to take small to medium size game. Larger game can be taken with a head shot.
The .22 is not a loud round. Meaning it will offer a degree of concealment because the sound of the weapon being fired will not travel as for as it will for a larger caliber.
Due to the lighter weight and smaller size of the weapon and the ammo they are less tiring to carry and more individual rounds can be carried easily.
A .22 LR round is quite capable of killing a man if hit in the head or the heart.
In a shtf world being hit by a .22 LR round anywhere is in essence a death sentence. Infection will set in and with out drugs and wound cleansers to combat the infection that person will either die or be disformed for the remainder of their short life. (The same will be true for ordinary scratches so it would be prudent to consider this in your preps.)
I know some will say, "But if you haven't hit them in the head or the heart they won't be incompacitated and will probably be able to continue the fight." In essence this is true. In practice, not so much. After taking a bullet to the torso of any size, unless their immediate life depends upon it or their is another strong motivating factor, the will to fight is over. In the fight or flight equation, flight immediately gains the upper hand in that persons mind if there is any opportunity to do so. Due to the infection factors mentioned in the previous paragraph. Without the proper medical care which will be unavailable that person will not be back to harass your group again.
These are my thoughts on the .22 LR as a prepper defensive MBR. If you have differing or additional thoughts on the subject please continue below.
