.22LR ballistics

P

Pond James Pond

New member
The furtherest I've shot my .22LR bolt gun is about 250m and hit a gong. The holdover was.... steep...

My local outdoor range has a 300m range and it would be fun to set my scope for a 100m "low" zero (where the zero point is one of my BDC markings rather than the crosshair) and see if I can get decent 300m hits. Also good for seeing if my wind compensation is improving!

But for that to be made easier, I need some idea of the BC.

So, what's the likely BC for a 40gr LRN .22LR bullet?
 
A good start, thanks.

Yes, BCs differ between brands, but once I have a rough idea, I just fiddle the number until it matches my drop measurements at at least 2 distances, like 25, 100 or 25, 50 and 100m etc.

I had made a really nice hand-drawn trajectory graph for my .223 including my scope line of sight as well as my near and far zeros. 55gn .223 FMJBT drop after 350 was pretty steep, as I recall!

I'd like to do the same here.
 
It will vary a lot at 300 yards with different brands of ammunition and as noted in the chart BC changes as the speed any given bullet is traveling changes.

I found it easier to just shoot, move and record to get useful results. I built this target stand.

IMAG0326.jpg


And use longer sticks in it so your POI can be feet off of your POA and you still get useful data from the target, can be pretty helpful given that there can be a foot of bullet drop in just 10 yards at that distance.

If you zoom in you can see a regular 18" wide target stand to the left of the large one. Butcher paper is what I use for a backer.

IMAG0150.jpg
 
We regularly shoot .22 rim fires at a 9"gong and empty 1lb propane bottles at 300 yards over at our cabin.

All the rifles are iron sighted [most with receiver or tang sights.

rifles used; 69A winchester, 513 Remington, 2- 52 Winchesters, and the cheater in the group my 1890 Winchester in .22WRF.

Hit ratio is quite high and strings are not uncommon…

The boys, now in their 20's are overtaking the old guys these days…probably something to do with young eyes.

We've never shot for paper groups at that range….just ring the gong or knock the can off the rail.
 
Most have a G1 BC of around .100

Look in JBM Ballistics, they have a bunch of .22lr bullets in their database.

Looking at the RWS Target ammo, to hit at 300 meters you would need to be 85.7 CM high at 50 meters.
 
T. O'Heir said:
"...need to be 85.7 CM high at 50 meters..." Suspect it'd have to be more. 85.7 cm is only 33.7". And Remington Target drops 47.8" at 200 yards.
Click to expand...

The bullet is still climbing. The apogee is about 160 yards, where the bullet is ~176cm/~69inches high.

Feel free to run the numbers yourself.
 
I can't even see a 9" target at 300 M and some of you are hitting that with iron sights.

Wow, my eyesight is getting bad.
 
I just experiment by plugging in different BC numbers into a ballistics calculator until the calculator matches the published 50 and 100 yard velocities of the ammo, I assume that that's the bullet's BC. A BC figure of around .12 to .125 seems to be closest for standard velocity target ammo.

By the way, sometimes you can't exactly match both velocities with any BC number, but you can come very close. Close enough to give you usable bullet drop and wind drift figures.
 
.22 long range

I set up a Savage HB .22 lr rifle with a Bushnell 10x MOA turreted scope, and a 100 yd zero as a practice rig for shooting F-T/R. I have not shot an F-T/R course in several years, but the .22 still has a 100 yd zero, and I have dope out to 200 yds. I have never tried past 200.

We regularly ding a cowbell target (3x6"?) at 200 at a pals place, and worked up a dope sheet that reads thus:


100yd -0-
125 +2.75 MOA
150 +8.0
175 +11
200 +16.75

The ammo is usually Rem Golden Bullet bulk, and the Savage will plunk those bargain bullets into just over an inch most times. Others are pretty close. Bloopers tend to ruin groups with all the budget ammo. Seems like for 50 yds I hold off 1 mil dot, which is about -3 MOA, but that is from memory. I have a homemade zero stop set up in the turret for 100, so do not "click" down to 50, simply hold off, but I do not shoot the rifle in close that much. REcently put a Mil adjusted scope on the rifle, and am trying to work with mils, but have not tested my new dope sheet worked up mathmatically.
 
"I can't even see a 9" target at 300 M and some of you are hitting that with iron sights.

Wow, my eyesight is getting bad."

Long ago(in the days of "penny-a-pop" 22lr), I used to shoot at stuff like weed clumps or junk floating in flood water. {before the flames, this was on private land with 40 acres of flooded timber beyond the impact zone}.
Ranges could be up to 500 yards and I was using open sights(and sometimes most of the barrel) for "aiming reference" vs actually sighting at the target. Fairly surprising results after walking the impacts onto the target. Drop/elevation wasn't the big problem--wind drift was. Literally, a sneeze could change the impact by FEET.
 
I just experiment by plugging in different BC numbers into a ballistics calculator until the calculator matches the published 50 and 100 yard velocities of the ammo, I assume that that's the bullet's BC. A BC figure of around .12 to .125 seems to be closest for standard velocity target ammo.
Click to expand...

Or, you can use JBM Balistics and select your bullet from the drop down list. They all seem to be in there, CCI, Remington, Winchester, RWS, Lapua, Federal, PMC, Eley and Aguila.
 
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