longer ranges with 22lr

R

rifleman8

New member
Does anybody here shoot their .22 past 100 yards? How well can you shoot at that range? Prone and sitting I group around and under 6" at 100yds, but have never had the chance to push it out any farther (local range stops at 100). My gun is a Savage MKII, 4x scope. How would this fare at a longer range? Would subsonic or supersonic ammo be recommended?
 
My friend has an accurized 10/22 that we were shooting at about 125 yards off hand. We were getting about 6-8" groups with us being the limiting factor... the rifle is surprisingly accurate. Shooting long(er) ranges is entirely possible with a .22, its just that the wind will make it a pain and since most people don't shoot their .22lr that long of range, there aren't as many rifles meant for long distance shooting.
 
You can shoot a 22 quite accurately beyond 100 yds if you know the trajectory. Supersonic ammo is quite accurate out to about 160-ish yds, then the transonic turbulence will have it hitting all over the place. Subsonic ammo is accurate well beyond the capabilities of many shooters. I used to fire subsonic 22LRs at targets out to and beyond 300 yds, but bullet drop that far out is measured in feet instead of inches.
 
savage

I've got a Savage 93TR with a Bushnell 10x on it that we shoot at 125 or so, the dx to my backyard backstop. It is zeroed "on" and 100 and +1/2 MOA puts it on at that dx. With bulk ammo it shoots about 1.25-1.5 MOA. One of those orange spin type .22 targets, 2" or so in size is pretty easy to hit from bipod, and butt sandbag.

We occassionally lob .22 at cow pies way out there, 200 plus, which is a hoot, but only guess at drop and hold over. The mil dot scope helps with that.

Got a 6" metal disk at the 125 bacstop as well. Normally shoot a peep sighted Mossberg m44 at that, sling and sitting. I might go 80% on that . Off hand with the peeps, much worse. I'd be happy with 6 for 10. With the scoped savage, I'd take the same average,
 
At one time smallbore shooting at 200 yards was a regular event. A club I belonged to held informal 20 shot matches. The target black was about 13 inches across with a 5 inch ten ring. The results were eye opening. With the range dialed in and calm winds the heavy target rifles with match ammo scored in the 190's. Surprisingly the sporter guns scored in the 170. Doping the wind was the challenge. It's great fun and proof that the lowly .22 can reach out.
 
long distance with the .22

Most I have done is 50 yards, I will have to try 100 yards, you folks have peaked my interest.:D Cliff
 
While 50 yards is the norm, our range is 100 yard max, and shoot a 10/22 at that distance often (accurately). We have two range officers that shoot 22LR pistol at the 100 all the time. The cartrage is capable of over 100 yards, the question is are we.

Jim
 
I've never target practiced beyond 100 yards with a 22. The thing is dropping like a brick at that distance. IIRC, CCI Stingers zeroed at 75 yards are like 1 1/2" low at 90 yards and close to 3 low at 100.
 
prairie dogs

I have permission to shoot on about 15000 ranch acres for prairie dogs. I use a pair of Marlin 60s with 12 and 14 power scopes on BKL mounts. I use sandbags on a portable bench. Especially when there is dust at the hits or in snow when I have elevation, I make shots from time to time at 220 yards, and did make a one shot kill at 346 using a holdover to the bottom curvature of the scope. Measured it back to the suv and two witnesses.

I have a 200 plus shot photo in rimfirecentral.

It was seeing the dust from my first attemped long ranging shots that convinced me to keep trying.

SNOW: yes they came out a week ago...Not all of them but maybe it is the daddys. I start hunting anytime now. There is a fluff when you hit western dry snow which shows what your holdover is doing.

You can learn a lot about trajectory at 200-225 which it the longest "useful" range with dust as your indicator. My obsevation is that at say, 220 there is a 12" variation on impact from the sandbagged aim....but that gives a good 30-40% chance of a hit, or a set for repeat shots. P-dogs tend to continue sitting or move slowly after the first shot at that range because there is little noise from that far away.
 
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Now wait a minute here....Your shooting dogs in the snow.....Scratch my head over that one.....Best shot I ever made with a 22 was at 200 yards I killed a crow...I admit it was an accidental shot...You know how once in a million you get lucky...But there was no snow on the ground then...lol
 
We have a 300yard 9"gong and routinely add empty 1 lb propane cans at the same range over at our cabin. Rules are 1. iron sights 2. any position [with or without rest]. 3 any .22 rimfire.

Rifles usually in play:

Winchester 69A
Winchester 52
Winchester 67
Remington 513
Winchester 1890 WRF
Marlin 39A

The gong rings alot and the cans "tink" and jump.

It seems that the teenage boys are starting to out shoot the old guys for the last couple of years..... wonder what's up with that???.... hang on a sec I've got to zoom in the print is gettin kinda hard to read:)

Mike J
 
My 200 yard targets have been clay pigeons, 2 liter plastic water filled bottles, bowling pin and a 5 gallon bucket so I wasn't shooting for groups but hits. I shoot 100 with a rifle a lot and expect to stay under 2" with a rifle but the fun shooting is offhand pistol and revolver at 200.

On a good day with fair wind expect to make 30% hits on the smaller targets and 60% or better on the 5 gallon bucket. It tickles my giggle, awes the peanut gallery who just got done explaining to me the 22 bullet won't go that far. Best of all the concentration required to hold a good hold over aim point makes my 25 and 50 yard offhand shooting so much easier. Quality ammo or cheap bargain ammo it doesn't seem to make much difference except in my rifle.

Only thing that comes close to a hand gun hit on a small target at 200 is hooking a large fish when you weren't expecting it. It just makes your day.
 
I have tried my Winchester Model 75 target with iron sights at 100 (sub one inch groups), 200 (5 inch groups) and the drop was somewhere in the 45 inch range. I never hit the target at 300. Of the 10 rounds I fired I had one hit on a second target that I had hung below the first.
Since I can’t adjust the sights anywhere near that high it was a guesstamation and since I didn’t really have anything to aim at other than the trees behind the back stop (over 600 yards away.
The big problem with a 22LR is once you pass that magical 125-150 yard range they drop like a rock.
The following is has good data on 22LR.

http://www.6mmbr.com/rimfiretactical.html
 
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I did that once with a .22LR I shot at over 300 yards, but couldnt hit anything, I finally got several cardboard Boxes and made a huge 6'x6' back board, and put my target in the middle, I descovered that the cartridge I was firing fell 8 feet in that distance. I made an 8 Foot hold over and was able to hit my target. The group wasnt pretty, about a 10" group, but was able to hit.
It was alot of fun, and very challenging. :)
 
Way back when, I used to shoot at 5 gallon buckets floating in flood water(on my property) over 1/4 mile. Using an unbelieveable amount of holdover, I could get close about 20% of the time and might hit 1 of 20 shots. Sometimes the windage was nearly as much as the holdover.
With no wind, I wouldn't have any problem dialing in at 300 meters(if the scope has that much adjustment). Shooting even a hot centerfire @1000 yards with a hunting scope has the same limitations.
 
Doping the wind was the challenge. It's great fun and proof that the lowly .22 can reach out.
Click to expand...

imho that's the most difficult thing for centerfire as well. Nice thing about rim fire is you can afford to walk your shots all over the place till you have the target dialed in.
 
I dont have many opportunities to shoot at more than 100 yards around here, so I usually shoot my 22 because it more of a challenge. I find empty 12ga shells at the range and shoot them at 100 yards.
 
Receiver and Tang sights are the answer here. Folding rear leaf set for 25/50/75, tang and receiver for anything longer. With that set up elevation isn't too much of an issue out to 300 or more. But if there is a breath of breeze it's time for some major kentucky windage. Heck half the fun is picking out that fence post [or whatever] to aim at that gets your round into the intended target that's back in the next zip code.

Mike J
 
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