Because .22s bounce around inside the skull..

[Rampant Colt]

Lately it seems nearly every forum i go on there is someone who insists on using a .22LR for self-defense because they claim that the bullet "will bounce around inside the body like a pinball" (or inside the skull)

Where did this originate from? Mob hitmen? Isræli Mossad? History Channel? I remember watching a show on A&E about the psycho hitman, Richard Kuklinski, and he claimed he used .22s and .25s for mob hits for that very reason.

If the bullet has enough energy and momentum to bounce around the skull or body, wouldn't it stand to reason that the bullet would continue in a straight line unless deflected slightly off-course by bone..?

[Nephrology]

It originates in the bottom 6th empty can of bud light, some place, some time, long, long ago....

[GIJew766]

The way the original story goes, or so I've been told, is as follows:

The .22 has enough energy to enter the skull (body is another variation, but I always heard "skull" back home in SC), but not enough to exit. Also, so the claims always went, the fact that most mob hits were execution-style, the gunshots would go in from the rear of the skull and wouldn't have enough mass or velocity to generate the force required to punch through the thick frontal bone of the skull.

I'm no ballistics expert like the good Doctor is, and I've never had any desire to test the theories. However, the second portion of what I wrote does seem to be based in enough medical truth for me to somewhat believe.

Considering the frontal bone of the skull is the thickest and strongest bone in the skull, I could see how it would be hard for a small projectile to manage to perforate after dumping a considerable amount of energy via the initial penetration of the occipital portion of the skull and the subsequent route through the meninges and brain tissue.



H

[rsgard]

I have seen pics of some truly wierd entrance and exit wounds from 22lr. Not to say those characteristics are specific to the 22lr caliber.

I would guess the biggest reason people thing 22lr bounces inside the body is because the projectile is small enough to be moved around the body by the circulatory system if it comes to rest and a vein or artery of sufficient size. Bird and buckshot can do the same thing. Big blood vessel plugging hunks of lead floating around in your blood can kill you even if the GSW didnt.

[Eirerogue]

I've seen multiple autopsies of gunshot victims from 22 LRs. One thing they DO is fragment dramatically and it's a mess. I've seen the "bounce" off ribs and spine.

Don't know about the urban legend, but it's a nasty round internally.

[GIJew766]

...[B]ut it's a nasty round internally.

Aren't all rounds nasty once they are allowed to do their jobs?



H

[rsgard]

I've seen the "bounce" off ribs and spine.

Im sure you would agree deflect is probably a more correct term.

The angle of deflection can be extreme under certain conditions i guess. I cant think of anything specific but i know i saw pictures in medic class that seemed to defy common logic on how a GSW should be

[sjohnny]

The first suicide I ever responded to was a guy that shot himself in the forehead with a .22 pistol. The bullet entered the front of the skull and went in a perfectly straight line 3/4 to 7/8 of the way through the brain. The bullet was in one piece but it was smooshed. Just another one for the "it won't necessarily do the same thing every time" file.

[Nephrology]

OK, OK, let me give you a slightly more thorough answer as to why that simply isn't the case.

For something to bounce, there must both a medium too hard for the projectile in question to penetrate and there to exist sufficient energy for the projectile to accelerate in the opposite direction.

Thus, for a projectile to bounce, it must both encounter a barrier of such density that it cannot penetrate, and still maintain sufficient energy after impact to be redirected in another direction.


Thus for a bullet to actually "bounce" inside the principle cavities of the human body (intracranial, thoracic, abdominopelvic) it would not only need to encounter bone of sufficient thickness to deflect a bullet, but it would also somehow have to retain enough energy to change direction and continue on to another path.

Unpredictable combinations of angles, bullet types, velocities, materials (both of the projectile and the target) can cause all sorts of outcomes in terms of ballistic performance but bouncing is not going to be one of them.

Im sure you would agree deflect is probably a more correct term.

The angle of deflection can be extreme under certain conditions i guess. I cant think of anything specific but i know i saw pictures in medic class that seemed to defy common logic on how a GSW should be

Deflection is indeed a much better word.

[481]

Given the low impulse of the .22, I doubt that the .22LR possesses the ability to be deflected more than once or twice before coming to rest inside the human body.

The use of the phrase "....bounce around inside the body like a pinball" carries with it the implication that there will be several (perhaps three or more?) such "deflections"; an improbable terminal ballistic scenario to say the least.

Sounds like an episode for the "MythBusters" if you ask me.