By: Warren Gray

Copyright © 2024

“What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog

in the fight — it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”

— President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1958

During the January 2024 SHOT Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, CCI introduced their brand-new .22 LR Uppercut Defense ammunition, a 32-grain, jacketed hollowpoint round, with a muzzle velocity of 950 feet per second from very short-barreled handguns.

I own a Walther P22Q Military target pistol, and I’ve previously written articles for Gunpowder Magazine on “.22 LR Self-Defense Ammo Testing” from February 11, 2020, and “Walther P22Q Defense Testing” on September 15, 2022, for which I rigorously tested seven different, popular, .22 Long Rifle loads for their possible self-defense potential, firing each of them into wet, natural, modeling clay to provide a reasonably accurate measurement of bullet penetration and expansion.

The Walther is my trail gun, which I sometimes pack in case of snakes, wild dogs, or rabid raccoons on a forest hike, and it’s definitely not my first choice for self-defense against humans, but serious attacks against hikers do occur from time to time, and a .22 LR pistol is certainly much better than a rock, a stick, or any other makeshift tool that you may pick up in the forest. No one wants to be shot, and an armed felon will usually flee the scene as soon as a law-abiding citizen draws a pistol, but in that very rare instance in which they stand their ground, your trail gun will have to suffice.

CCI .22 LR Uppercut Defense ammunition. Photo credit: CCI

CCI understands this harsh reality, so their new .22 LR Uppercut Defense ammunition is specifically “designed for semi-auto pistols, optimized for 2.5-inch to four-inch barrels,” according to the printing on the ammo box itself.

Jason Slinkard, the CCI product director, stated that, “We’ve talked about making a .22 LR defensive load for a long time…we set out to build Uppercut…to achieve the best in terminal performance…(The) Uppercut bullet is designed for expansion and weight retention. Uppercut achieves eight to 10 inches of penetration in ballistic gel, with controlled expansion out of short-barrel pistols. Upsets result in a beautiful, deep, six-petal design.

CCI .22 LR Uppercut Defense ammunition. Photo credits: CCI

CCI .22 LR Uppercut Defense ammunition. Photo credits: CCI

“What makes this product stand out is its plating thickness…The copper jacket plating on Uppercut measures six-thousandths, which is similar to popular, .22 Win. Mag. JHP bullets designed for self-defense from Speer. This design feature is a key to its overall effectiveness as a self-defense bullet.” In fact, the Uppercut design features the thickest jacket of any CCI .22 LR bullet, enabling the bullet to retain its weight while reaching the critical penetration depths required for self-defense, and nose skiving ensures that the petals peel back for uniform and consistent expansion.

CCI states that the bullet typically penetrates consistently from eight to 12 inches, which is a bit shallow for self-defense ammunition, but in line with other .22 LR ammunition. During my own ballistic testing with wet clay, for example, the CCI Mini-Mag hollowpoint (HP) penetrated 11 inches, compared to 12 inches for the flat-nosed CCI SGB, 8.5 inches for the CCI Stinger HP, 10.6 inches for the Browning BPR HP, 12.2 inches for the Águila Interceptor HP, 12 inches for the flat-nosed Remington Viper, or a mere 6.5 inches for the Remington Yellow Jacket HP (which also expanded to .468-caliber!). So, eight to 12 inches is really not bad for the Uppercut, all things considered.

CCI .22 LR Uppercut bullet penetration in ballistic gelatin. Photo credit: CCI

Since October 1, 2023, both CCI and Federal ammunition companies have been owned by Czechoslovak Group (CSG). One of Federal’s newest .22 LR self-defense offerings is the Federal Punch round, using a 29-grain, flat-nosed bullet for deep penetration without expanding. I’ve personally tested the Punch ammo in my Walther P22Q, and used it once to euthanize a rabid raccoon, but it consistently lacked the recoil momentum to cycle the slide and eject empty casings and had to be cycled by hand.

Needless to say, I’ve never used Federal Punch ammo again. I’m sure that it works well enough in revolvers, but was definitely not reliable in my Walther trail gun, which is designed for high-velocity loads, and is currently loaded with CCI Stingers, at 1,112 feet per second, and expanding to .403-caliber in my actual, ballistic testing.

In addition, not everyone feels comfortable with the snappy recoil or larger size of a 9mm pistol, and female shooters, in particular, seem to enjoy the relative accuracy, controllability, and low recoil of a .22 LR handgun.

Female shooters appreciate the low recoil of a .22 LR pistol. Photo credit: Daniel Gray

In any self-defense shooting situation, shot placement is usually the decisive factor, and the .22 LR, with very light recoil, definitely provides the best-possible opportunity for a smooth, well-placed shot against either animals or humans. Even tiny, .22 bullets hurt, a lot, and stopping-power studies from 1,800 actual shootings have proven that felons hit with a .22 LR were incapacitated by just one shot to the torso or head 60 percent of the time (better than a 9mm or .45 ACP), primarily due to better shot placement.

CCI Uppercut ammunition. Photo credit: CCI

In a sudden self-defense situation, where all you have is a .22 LR pistol, every small advantage counts, and your ammunition choice could be a decisive factor. If I had to defend myself against an armed, human assailant with only my trail gun available, I’d want ammo specifically designed for reliable penetration and expansion from a small handgun, which is exactly what CCI Uppercut Defense ammunition is designed to do.

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Warren Gray is a retired U.S. Air Force intelligence officer with experience in joint special operations and counterterrorism, and is an NRA member. He served in Europe and the Middle East, earned Air Force and Navy parachutist wings, four college degrees, and was a distinguished graduate of the Air Force Intelligence Operations Specialist Course, and the USAF Combat Targeting School. He is currently a published author, historian, hiker, recreational shooter, and hunter.