Interesting caliber story

[nailer]

My friend carries a 9mm. Coming home the other evening, he sees a woodchuck near his shed. He takes out the 9mm and shoots. The chuck does a flip, but gets up and starts to move away. Bang. He shoots again. The chuck goes down, twitches a little and gets up again. Bang. The third shot finishes him. All three shots hit the mark, but it took three to end him.
Now, here is my story. I see a chuck near my barn. I raise my .22 mag S&W revolver. Bang. One shot. The chuck is done.
Both incidents occurred at 10 to 15 yards. All shots hit the chucks.
Since then, I have done research on the 22 mag caliber and to my surprise, it is highly regarded. The Swamp People tv characters use it for gators and I've been told statistics show more people are killed by .22 calibers then any other.
Apparently, the high velocity and light bullet work together. The high velocity helps with penetration, while the lightness of the bullet causes it to tumble as it slowly penetrates. What do you guys think?

[PisnNapalm]

My friend carries a 9mm. Coming home the other evening, he sees a woodchuck near his shed. He takes out the 9mm and shoots. The chuck does a flip, but gets up and starts to move away. Bang. He shoots again. The chuck goes down, twitches a little and gets up again. Bang. The third shot finishes him. All three shots hit the mark, but it took three to end him.
Now, here is my story. I see a chuck near my barn. I raise my .22 mag S&W revolver. Bang. One shot. The chuck is done.
Both incidents occurred at 10 to 15 yards. All shots hit the chucks.
Since then, I have done research on the 22 mag caliber and to my surprise, it is highly regarded. The Swamp People tv characters use it for gators and I've been told statistics show more people are killed by .22 calibers then any other.
Apparently, the high velocity and light bullet work together. The high velocity helps with penetration, while the lightness of the bullet causes it to tumble as it slowly penetrates. What do you guys think?

I think your friend should use a 45 next time. :P

EDIT:: As for why the .22mag took down the chuck and the 9mm didn't on the first hit... Shot placement. A .22 to the heart will drop it immediately. A 9mm shot to a kidney won't.

[MT1]

I think you are on to something here but there are other factors also.

Depending on the location of the shot, it is very possible for a 9mm to do less damage than your .22 mag. If your friend's shot missed all vital organs the ground hog won't die until it bleeds out.

.22 mag rounds have a very light jacket to increase expansion. Were you using hollow points? If so, they will fragment even in small animals where 9mm will pass through without expanding. This is especially true with 9mm FMJ that seldom expands.

Supposedly more people are killed by .22s but then again, more .22s are sold than any other caliber. The sheer volume of .22s skews the odds.

Regardless of the many opinions/facts your post will generate, just tell your buddy you must be a better shot!

I have two .22 mags and they are great at taking ground hogs out to about 150 yards. I think I read somewhere that they have 2.5x the powder charge of a .22 long rifle.

[capitolcop]

Can't shoot a chuck with a semi-auto...just saying.

[MT1]

Capitolcop - Good point. I am sure he was using a 9mm revolver. Maybe a Ruger SP101?

[capitolcop]

I have no doubts!

[spblademaker]

The toxicology reports showed that groundhog #1 was high on PCP!!!

[Manxdriver]

[QUOTE=MT1;1992441]
Supposedly more people are killed by .22s but then again, more .22s are sold than any other caliber. The sheer volume of .22s skews the odds.

QUOTE]

Let's not lose sight of the fact that ALL US military troops carry a .22 rifle. Well, it's a .223, but technically, it IS a .22 . I am not sure if they are counting it this way in the stats though.

[OwnTheRide]

Two years ago, there was an explosion in the porcupine population in the area where I go hunting. We decided to make good use of my .45.

It was common to require more than one (NY, 10-round) mag of bullets just to get the f'ers out of the trees they were hanging in. We're talking hits here - you could see the reaction, and see fur/quills flying. Multiple people shooting, so it's not just one person with bad aim.

Shocked the hell out of me. I think we took out four porcies that weekend, each one was the same thing - took 10+ rounds for each one.

[rwb1500]

Two years ago, there was an explosion in the porcupine population in the area where I go hunting. We decided to make good use of my .45.

It was common to require more than one (NY, 10-round) mag of bullets just to get the f'ers out of the trees they were hanging in. We're talking hits here - you could see the reaction, and see fur/quills flying. Multiple people shooting, so it's not just one person with bad aim.

Shocked the hell out of me. I think we took out four porcies that weekend, each one was the same thing - took 10+ rounds for each one.

You shoot .45acp up into a tree? Ever think about the trajectory of those rounds?

Bullets don't just turn into water vapor after they leave your sight...