My favorite round out of my P22 is the Aguila SniperSubSonic, or as Uncle calls them, “those stubby Aguila rounds“. I’ve had some fun comparing terminal ballistics of rounds before, and I thought it would be fun to do it again.
A 60 grain .22 LR round clocks in at about 700-750 fps out of my Walther P22. That equals 75 foot pounds of energy.
A .32 S&W Long pushing a 98 grain bullet at a measly 705 fps is going to generate 108 foot pounds of energy.
A .32 S&W (not Long) with an 85 grain bullet at 680 fps is going to generate 87 foot pounds of energy.
Compare that to a 40 grain CCI Mini-Mag, which from the P22 is pushing 900 fps; that comes out to 72 foot pounds of force.
A .25 ACP 50 grain FMJ actually has less energy (67 foot pounds) than the Aguila rounds out of my P22. Of course, it probably feeds a bit more reliably.
Now, this is all a fun game, because foot pounds of force don’t necessarily equal reliable stopping power. At the same time, it’s educational to note that the .32 S&W Long, which was the standard police cartridge of the NYPD for quite some time, offers very little in the way of a ballistic advantage over a 60 grain .22.
Of course, if I really wanted the “perfect” carry gun, I’d just figure out a way to bubba my P22 into carrying a .25 ACP necked down to hold one of the 30 grain TNT bullets that CCI uses in their .22 Magnum loads.
The right way to build a handgun for the 25-22 would be to start with one chambered for the .25 and rebarrel it. The magazine could be modified by notching the floor plate to clear a couple of guide wires brazed into it.
We are sentimental about the .32 S&W Long here, but the incident which inspires these feelings was one where the simple fact she had a gun and was prepared to use it was sufficient.
I have no beef with the .32 S&W Long, if someone decides that it is “the gun” for them, more power to you!
Additionally, as a target round, the .32 with a hollow base wadcutter is fantastic.
Already been done. Somebody decided a .25ACP necked down to .22 would be the perfect bullseye gun for certerfire class, which didn’t have a caliber restriction at that point. A couple of pre war Colt Woodsman pistols were converted and shot like gangbusters, especially in rapid fire. After a few matches, the NRA redefined the class and they were history.
I remember hearing something about those; I was always curious. What I’d be interested in though is cranking up the velocity and seeing how fast we can drive one of the CCI hollowpoints.
The thing is that the new load would probably exceed the pressure limits of .25 ACP guns, and a new design would have to be purpose built. If I could just get Beretta to lift that restraining order…
I bought a brick of the Aguilla when they first came out, then discovered that they won’t chamber in any of my semi-autos. Stuck shooting the rest single shot.
Arrows fired from bows only have about 60 foot pounds, but they are so heavy they can pierce flesh easily.