First Look: Federal Premium .22 LR Punch Defense Ammo

While the merits of the .22 LR for personal defense are often debated, there's a new load from Federal Premium that's specifically designed to make the .22 LR a viable defensive round choice. 

“Self-defense isn’t one size fits all. So, whether shooters want to carry a .22 LR handgun as a backup gun, do not feel comfortable with centerfire pistols, or simply want to get more versatility from a rimfire handgun,” said Federal’s Rimfire Product Manager, Dan Compton, “Punch makes the .22 LR cartridge a viable defensive choice for the first time ever.” 

The Punch .22 LR load features a 29-grain nickel-plated lead-core bullet that travels at maximum velocities (1,070 fps from a 2-inch barrel) for deep penetration from short-barreled handguns. Somewhat of a departure from standard .22 projectile designs, the Punch bullet features a flat nose and heavy jacket around a lead core, thus increasing velocity and minimizing expansion so as to increase penetration depth. 

“We’ve talked about making a .22 LR defensive load for some time. We finally decided that people are already carrying .22 LRs, so we might as well build a .22 bullet optimized for protection,” said Compton. “After much research, we decided that for a .22 LR defense bullet, penetration was more important than expansion.”