What distance should I sight a .22 Magnum rifle at?

A

aarondhgraham

New member
A young friend of mine received a used Savage .22 magnum rifle for Christmas,,,
It has a Nikon scope (I don't know the magnification) mounted on it.

We are going to the range Saturday to try it out,,,
What would be the best range to zero it to,,,
50 yards, 75 yards, or 100 yards?

Aarond
 
I agree with the other posters, 100 yds is a good choice for general purpose use. However the .22 WMR, like many other calibers, now has several choices available in bullets, with different weights and different bullet construction for different uses. If you google up the web site for the manufacturer of the ammo you are going to use, most have a trajectory chart that will show you , for instance, how much drop the bullet will have at 100 yds if you zero at 50, or how high it will be at 50 if you zero at 100. Choice of bullet include the standard 40gr plated 22 bullet for general use, 30gr plastic tipped varmint bullets which are very good for prairie dogs and the like with the added advantage that they tend to disintegrate on impact which minimizes richocet if that is a concern, and as much as 50gr hollow point game bullet designed to be effective against larger animals.
So you can zero for the bullet you plan to use at the range you plan to shoot it or you can keep it simple and zero for 100 yds;)

Most important is have fun and be safe as you introduce your young friend to the shooting sports.
 
....It really depends on what you'll be using the rifle for.

Me?
I hunt rabbits, squirrels, prairie dogs, and nearly anything else that's legal, with my .22 WMR.

I sight mine in to be 1" high at 100 yards, with my "general purpose" ammunition (ArmsCor/Fiocchi 40 gr SP/HP). That gives me 125 yard range, without issue; 150 yard range, with slight hold-over; and I can stretch things to almost 200 yards with known drop from the ArmsCor/Fiocchi loads.

When I shoot "premium" loads (Win Supreme 30/34 gr HPs, Federal 30 gr HPs, etc), I don't have to compensate for quite as much drop or drift.
 
My .22 is used 99% for squirrels. Since 30 yds is really a long shot for a tree rat (at least where I hunt), mine are sighted in for right around that distance.
 
Most rifles are zeroed for 100 yards.
Ours are zeroed at 200 yards, since that's the minimum distance we shoot, usually much longer and it just keeps the elevation dialing to a mimimum.

Zeroing at less then 100 yards isn't helpful or practical, even if you shoot short distances since it has little practical effect. Bullet drop/loss of velocity is about nil inside that distance.
 
It may depend on the scope. If it is a rimfire scope, the parallax might be set for 50 or 60 yards, and it might be better set at that range.

In general, if the magnification is 4x or below, don't worry about parallax, unless you are doing some severe accuracy shooting. A higher power rimfire scope should be set about where the parallax is set for, and expect to do your primary shooting at that range. A higher power centerfire scope should be set for at least 100 yards, assuming the parallax is set for 100 yards.

That should work for general usage.
 
I would target it for whatever distance you plan to be shooting it at, but 100 yards is a good distance to sight a rifle at.
 
Most rifles are zeroed for 100 yards.
Ours are zeroed at 200 yards, since that's the minimum distance we shoot, usually much longer and it just keeps the elevation dialing to a mimimum.

Zeroing at less then 100 yards isn't helpful or practical, even if you shoot short distances since it has little practical effect. Bullet drop/loss of velocity is about nil inside that distance.
Click to expand...
Zeroing a .22 WMR at 200 yards would render the cartridge almost useless, due to the drop experienced at that range.

I understand your point, for center fire cartridges; but it doesn't make any sense for a rimfire.
 
Mine is set at 65yards, but i guess 100 would be ok to.

Forget that guy who talks about zeroing it in at 200 yards, thats something you do with a .223 or a .204 but not a .22wmr.
 
I just got back from the range with my Savage 93. It my very favorite plinking gun. They're just so accurate it's plum scary. I have mine sighted in for 50 yards and it will put all 5 rounds in the one inch square. At a 100 yards I have about a 1 inch drop but I can't see that far anyway.

Get that puppy on target and just have a blast. I shot 150 rounds today and really had a nice day to shoot. I took my 30.06 with me and after 3 rounds I said enough of this and put it away.
 
It was a Savage Model 93,,,

So we scoped it in very nicely at 100 yards,,,
It wasn't very far off to begin with.

His last three shots were all within the 1.5" bullseye,,,
Not too bad at all for a novice shooter on a somewhat chilly day.

Thanks for the advice gentlemen.

Aarond
 
I don't believe it is even legal to sight in a .22 Mag at less than 100 yards.

Glad you didn't break the law Aarond. Sounds like a fun day too.
 
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