I would not rely on a .22 unless it was literally the only thing my hands could tolerate. Even with good shot placement, it's just too easy to deflect off bone and teeth and it will not break bone. You're heavily reliant on a psychological stop with the .22, and if we accept the theory that noise and flash increase the "psychological stopping power", so to speak, you're on the low end there as well. It'll do just fine in that block of shootings that end up in the win column based on presentation alone, making noise but missing, etc. It's not what I'd want failing that, though.