History Main / LittleUselessGun

There is [[JustForFun/TelevisionIsTryingToKillUs a common perception]] that any round smaller than a .38 Special is essentially a joke bullet unable to do any real damage. The truth is that GunsDoNotWorkThatWay. Guns, by definition, are weapons that are designed to kill. Just about any gun made today can inflict a mortal wound in one shot, though a small-caliber bullet probably won't drop you on the spot. Even the oft-mocked .22 Short can tear deep enough into a human body to tear major veins and arteries, and if the bullet reaches the throat or vital organs, the damage ''will'' be severe. Even pneumatic weapons firing small pellets at low speed, like airsoft guns or BB guns, can inflict lethal injuries if they hit someone in a critical area such as the temple or the heart. This is exactly why airsoft events have very strictly enforced safety rules about minimum engagement distances and protective equipment. It's also why it's both frequently forbidden and a bad idea to use [[AbnormalAmmo frozen paintballs]].

On the other hand, small-caliber firearms, such as .22 rimfire "Purse Guns", are ''worthless'' against most forms of ballistic armor, which will stop a small caliber round ''flat''. Literally, the bullet will flatten to the width of a coin, or thereabouts. Higher caliber pistols like the .45 and 9mm are more likely to get through lighter armors but aren't guaranteed to do so, while rifle rounds like the 5.56 require modern heavy-duty armor to have any chance of stopping them. Even then, some bruises or even broken bones will result from the force of the shot. Some have even mentioned this as an ''advantage'' that non-penetrative shots have over penetrative ones--a bullet that pierces the vest but in a (relatively) nonvital area might be ignored for the moment, but it's a ''lot'' harder to attack someone if you're gasping for air from broken ribs caused by a bullet smashing your chestplate in.

* ''Film/DeathOnTheNile2022'': As in [[Literature/DeathOntheNile the novel]] (see below), Jacqueline de Bellefort shows Poirot her .22 caliber pistol (here a heavily engraved Sharps four barrel pepperbox of mid 1850s vintage) and describes it as "practically a toy". Poirot later [[IronicEcho ruefully echos]] this comment as he examines the gun after it has been used to murder Linnet Doyle.

** Played straight, however, with both the Zip 22 and the M231. The Zip 22 is your average, low damage 22 LR pistol, which is basically the modern rendition of the Kolibri (see below). The M231 is the complete opposite: so opposite it loops back around the spectrum and ends up being useless again, featuring a fire rate of over 1000, which wouldn't be so bad if the recoil wasn't terrible. So terrible, in fact, that you literally have to aim at the ''ground'' so the recoil can kick up and actually hit your enemy, besides the fact that there aren't any iron sights. The fact that the stock is just a ''cylinder'' explains it: firing the weapon while braced against your shoulder in real life would more than likely result in extreme pain, which is why it's ''mounted'' in real life.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/MenInBlack'' animated series, the opening sequence ends with Jay drawing the Noisy Cricket out of his jacket and Kay (who pulled out what looks like a shotgun) giving it a skeptical side-eye. Though K's side-eye has less to do with underestimating the Cricket and more about how J could bungle using it...

* In ''Film/MenInBlack'', the "Noisy Cricket" is the size of a small, cheap water pistol, and it's dismissed as "completely useless". [[HandCannon It's capable of blowing a hole through a completely sealed door]] and sending the user [[RecoiledAcrossTheRoom flying the opposite direction]]. The funny thing is that it functionally ''is'' near-useless, but for [[AwesomeButImpractical the exact opposite reason]] of what it looks like it would be. [[AllThereInTheManual Background materials]] suggest that the Noisy Cricket's standard function is significantly toned down from what is seen; it's meant to be a [[HiddenWeapons holdout gun]]. It's given in an overpowered state to rookie agents as an object lesson... or a form of hazing. In ''Film/MenInBlackII'', Agent K [[spoiler:in his neuralized state]] is given one that does not have the comical level of overcharging, and in [[WesternAnimation/MenInBlack the animated series]] J receives a silencer for his (which is at least twice as long as the actual gun it's screwed to), which reduces the power of each shot but also allows him to fire it without bowling himself over.

* In ''Film/TheBoondockSaintsIIAllSaintsDay'', Romeo is given a dinky little .22 caliber pistol on his first vigilante mission as a form of hazing. It's so small it can't even be used for a decent PistolWhipping.

* .22 pistols are often seen as this due to their iffy penetration and minimal stopping power, which is why they're typically used for shooting targets and small animals instead of people. Most gun enthusiasts and experts consider them better than nothing, but worse than almost everything else. Proponents of such tiny calibers frequently lean on the extremely common and worn-out cliché "''[[NeverHeardThatOneBefore Bet you wouldn't stand in front of one!]]''" defense (or worse, [[StopBeingStereotypical offer to shoot the person with it]] to prove its effectiveness), even though most people wouldn't want to stand in front of a toy airsoft gun, but that alone doesn't make it a good choice to trust your life with.

* ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemptionII'''s Varmint Rifle is an intentional example in that, much like its RealLife counterpart, it's not meant to be used for combat, but rather for shooting small game, such as rabbits, allowing their carcasses to be collected intact, as opposed to being obliterated by a larger gun. Using it on a human can cause that person to bleed out and die slowly.

* In ''Film/MenInBlack'', the "Noisy Cricket" is the size of a small, cheap water pistol, and it's dismissed as "completely useless". [[HandCannon It's capable of blowing a hole through a completely sealed door]] and sending the user [[BlownAcrossTheRoom flying the opposite direction]]. The funny thing is that it functionally ''is'' near-useless, but for [[AwesomeButImpractical the exact opposite reason]] of what it looks like it would be. [[AllThereInTheManual Background materials]] suggest that the Noisy Cricket's standard function is significantly toned down from what is seen; it's meant to be a [[HiddenWeapons holdout gun]]. It's given in an overpowered state to rookie agents as an object lesson... or a form of hazing. In ''Film/MenInBlackII'', Agent K [[spoiler:in his neuralized state]] is given one that does not have the comical level of overcharging, and in [[WesternAnimation/MenInBlack the animated series]] J receives a silencer for his (which is at least twice as long as the actual gun it's screwed to), which reduces the power of each shot but also allows him to fire it without bowling himself over.

* The first gun you find in ''VideoGame/SystemShock'' will likely be the Dart Pistol, which fires weak darts or tranquilizer rounds; neither is very powerful, and they become outright useless the second you start meeting enemies with armor thicker than a sheet of paper. Even the very first weapon you find (a lead pipe) does considerably more damage, so it's not really worth bothering with at l. The remake does away with it entirely in favor of giving you the minipistol sooner, but it likewise becomes obsolete after the first couple of floors (particularly once the Skorpion becomes available; it uses the same ammo but has a much higher fire rate and magazine size).

* The first gun you find in ''VideoGame/SystemShock'' will likely be the Dart Pistol, which fires weak darts or tranquilizer rounds; neither is very powerful, and they become outright useless the second you start meeting enemies with armor thicker than a sheet of paper. Even the very first weapon you find (a lead pipe) does considerably more damage; so, not really worth bothering with. The remake does away with it entirely in favor of the weak but upgradable minipistol.

* The first gun you find in ''VideoGame/SystemShock'' will likely be the Dart Pistol, which fires weak darts or tranquilizer rounds; neither is very powerful, and they become outright useless the second you start meeting enemies with armor thicker than a sheet of paper. Even the very first weapon you find (a lead pipe) does considerably more damage; so, not really worth bothering with. The remake does away with it entirely in favor of the weak (but upgradable) minipistol.