First off, let's address reality.
>.22lr has shit tier ballistics past 80-100 yards
>.22lr has no "hydrostatic shock" or stretch cavitation damaging ability
>.22lr will always be an awful choice against anything behind cover or armored.
>reloading .22lr is time consuming and generally not worth it.
>penetration, piercing cover, AP ability is all super inferior to other rounds

All that aside it does have a lot going for it. It's cheap, light, accurate, very low recoiling, and (contrary to fuddlore) oftentimes lethal. What I want to know is how far this goes. I'm sure everyone's heard the story of the bear being taken with .22 long, or the story of the guys killing 2 elephants with .22lr, but what I want to know is this: Is the whole "you need X amount of weight/energy" complete fuddlore bullshit? Is .22 capable of piercing pretty much any animal's skull? If not, what is the practical limit? How repeatable are these types of stories with your average shooter (who knows to aim for the head, ofc) I ask here because /k/ usually isn't dragged down by the "ethics" bullshit, you can usually find out what actually works (on a good day). I also wonder because if it will kill most animals it would make it an even more god tier shtf round. Don't worry, I'm not one of those ".22lr is the only round you'll need" or ".22lr for self defense" people, I realize pretty much anything is better for that. I'm talking pretty much purely super effecient hunting or shtf ability. I wouldn't go picking fights with it, but if a 10/22 is all I had I sure as hell wouldn't flip it around and use it as a club.

Unrelated, but does anyone else besides me want a .22 cylinder gap sealing revolver (ala Nagant revolver) really badly? I think it's a great fit personally.