Effective range of .22 rifle

[arod757]

I found my old Remington Nylon 66 I had when I was ten buried in a closet at my mother's house last month. I cleaned it up and took it out to shoot at 50 yards just using iron sights. Not bad; a lot of fun.

I put a 3-9x40 scope on it, and I want to see how accurate I can shoot it. So what's the effective range I can expect out of a .22 rifle? Should I stick to 50 yards with the scope, or can I go to 100 and expect any kind of consistent grouping at that range? Thanks for the input.

[jimlongley]

I hunted squirrels and rabbits with my Nylon 66 and wouldn't have been afraid to attempt a 100 yard shot.

[Liko81]

Short answer: Your average .22 plinker with $15-a-brick ammo can reliably tag a squirrel or rabbit at up to about 125 yards from benchrest if you know what you're doing. Translated to punching paper, that's a grouping of about 1 minute of arc (MOA), or about 2 inches at 100 yards, about 3 at 150.

Long answer: Depends on the setup you're using. With a good scope, properly mounted, decent ammo (I like Remington GBs as cheap and pretty reliable; there are FAR better match-grade offerings but they can be more expensive than hunting rifle rounds), a benchrest and a little practice, I would not be surprised if you could shoot a .5-MOA group at 100 yards from the same rifle. That's good enough for a varmint headshot out to about 200yd; however a standard .22 fired from a rifle is transsonic (it starts supersonic but slows to subsonic) which affects accuracy at that range. The maximum effective range of a standard-velocity .22 tops out at around 175 yards; beyond that it doesn't have sufficient oomph for a clean kill. You can find hyper-velocity .22 rounds (e.g. Hornets) that will stay supersonic longer, take more energy further, and thus avoid both problems; however they do not work with all rifles (the bullet's nose is often longer, which can jam some makes). You can also buy subsonic rounds that solve the problem the opposite way (most match-grade is subsonic); the disadvantages with subsonic when hunting are that range makes a bigger difference as the bullet's fall will be sharper at distance, and that your varmint will hear the shot before the bullet gets there. They are, of course, less lethal at range even though they're more accurate.

[arod757]

Thanks for the great info. I'll take the rifle out and try to sight it in at 100 yards soon and see how I do.

[NcongruNt]

Short answer: Your average .22 plinker with $15-a-brick ammo can reliably tag a squirrel or rabbit at up to about 125 yards from benchrest if you know what you're doing. Translated to punching paper, that's a grouping of about 1 minute of arc (MOA), or about 2 inches at 100 yards, about 3 at 150.

Long answer: Depends on the setup you're using. With a good scope, properly mounted, decent ammo (I like Remington GBs as cheap and pretty reliable; there are FAR better match-grade offerings but they can be more expensive than hunting rifle rounds), a benchrest and a little practice, I would not be surprised if you could shoot a .5-MOA group at 100 yards from the same rifle. That's good enough for a varmint headshot out to about 200yd; however a standard .22 fired from a rifle is transsonic (it starts supersonic but slows to subsonic) which affects accuracy at that range. The maximum effective range of a standard-velocity .22 tops out at around 175 yards; beyond that it doesn't have sufficient oomph for a clean kill. You can find hyper-velocity .22 rounds (e.g. Hornets) that will stay supersonic longer, take more energy further, and thus avoid both problems; however they do not work with all rifles (the bullet's nose is often longer, which can jam some makes). You can also buy subsonic rounds that solve the problem the opposite way (most match-grade is subsonic); the disadvantages with subsonic when hunting are that range makes a bigger difference as the bullet's fall will be sharper at distance, and that your varmint will hear the shot before the bullet gets there. They are, of course, less lethal at range even though they're more accurate.

It's worth noting that normal "high velocity" rounds (most ammo you use for plinking) starts to transition to subsonic at about 45 yards. The further you get beyond that, the more pronounced the irregularities in POI will be.

The fastest .22LR ammo I'm aware of is made by Aguila, called Super Maximum. It has a 30 grain bullet, with a muzzle velocity of 1750fps, and should stay supersonic out to 100 yards at least. I couldn't find ballistics data for it offhand, but it appears that Cabela's carries it in bulk, and other places have it as well.

[Rugrash]

Strangely enough, my buddy sent this to me link the other day.

http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubbthr ... Post503007" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The experiment got out to 300 yards w/ unexpected results.

-Rug

[mr surveyor]

very interesting article on the long range turkey shoot. I can also attest to the .22 effectiveness. I managed a farm in the '70's for an educational institution and often carried my antique 1893 Win .22 pump in the truck, and on the tractor when feeding livestock. There were always coyotes around, and they knew that as long as the engine sound didn't stop, they were probably safe. One day while moving a tractor past our freshly mowed and bailed hayfield I spotted a coyote chasing a field mouse, or grasshopper about 100 yards away. I stopped the tractor, and tried to keep the rpm's up so as not to alert him, and got off a shot. It missed, and he didn't react to the pop of the .22 short (mine was the old gallery model gun used in the indoor home galleries at the turn of the century), but he did see the dust fly up where the bullet hit the ground. He chased 3 "dust bugs" before my 4th round hit him broadside. He dropped like a rock from a .22 short to the heart.

I would say that even a .22 short, with proper shot placement, can be very effective.


surv

[UpTheIrons]

Back in the days when Cable TV was a new thing, when I was in 4-H, our silhouette postal league shoots had those ram targets at 109 yards, and we'd make 'em dance. There was plenty of power behind those little lead slugs! If you've ever done any silhouette shooting, you know how heavy those targets are, too.

My dad would also take my match rifle in the deer stand and he'd head shoot turkeys out to 100 yards with it. There aren't enough people out there who respect the lowly .22 and what it can do.

<rant & generalization mode ON>
So many people have been told for so long that it's 'just' a beginner round, and they just don't understand the true lethality of it.
<rant & generalization mode OFF>

[NTexas_V-Star]

I remember back in the day (read: when I was 13-16) when I would carry my dads semi-auto Winchester .22 around the wooded areas and my families properties.. One of those tube fed guns. Open sighted, if i could see it, I could hit it.

I was hell on critters. Squirrels, rabbits, woodpeckers, crows...even taking ducks off my grandpa's pond with headshots. Those were the days.



Come to think of it, i'm going to have to go dig that old thing outta my parents storage room and dust it off, clean it up, and give it a whirl. You know...for old time's sake .

[LarryH]

When I was a kid, the 50-round boxes of .22 ammo had a warning to the effect that .22 rounds were hazardous to a range of 1 mile. Have to admit I haven't looked at the 550-round box in my range bag (note to self: look at the box tonight).

[Rugrash]

My first shooting experience was with a .22LR pistol. I have quite a few .22's in my collection and as ammo prices have continued to rise (for other calibers) I've seen myself moving back to the .22. I've finally gotten a 1911 conversion and I'm close to getting an AR upper as well. I've also been revisiting the argument about if you could have only one firearm. My previous answer was a 12ga but I'm thinking that my Ruger 10/22 might be its new companion. I guess this is for another thread though.

-Rug

[mr.72]

I have been shooting my .22 rifle quite a bit since I got it in November. Probably shot 1500 rounds since then, combination of off-hand, bench rest, or sitting/kneeling shots, using both open sights and the 4x32 scope, ranges from 15 yards all the way to 100 yards.

If it is zeroed at 50 yards, then it shoots 6-8" low at 100 yards and about 3/4" high at 15 yards. I have shot Federal 510 and Federal "Wal Mart" Bulk pack, the 510 is more consistently accurate. I am sure with a mil-dot scope or something like that you could shoot accurately at 100 yards, but I think in general it would be pretty hard with a normal + reticle to make consistently accurate shots at 100 yards.

I know you guys are fondly recalling making accurate shots at 100+ yards and I am sure that if you know exactly how to accommodate the drop, figure for wind, and you are shooting off a bench with very good optics then it is certainly possible to achieve 1 MOA groups. The best 100 yard groups I have ever been able to shoot with my rifle is more like 4" (ten shots), and I am more like 2" at 50 yards and I can hit 9mm shell casings all day long at 15 yards. I will believe 1" groups from a .22LR at 100 yards only when I see it.

FWIW at 100 yards I managed to get 1/2" groups with a M14. I think the biggest issue with a .22LR is wind, and variability of ammo.

[WildBill]

I know you guys are fondly recalling making accurate shots at 100+ yards and I am sure that if you know exactly how to accommodate the drop, figure for wind, and you are shooting off a bench with very good optics then it is certainly possible to achieve 1 MOA groups. The best 100 yard groups I have ever been able to shoot with my rifle is more like 4" (ten shots), and I am more like 2" at 50 yards and I can hit 9mm shell casings all day long at 15 yards. I will believe 1" groups from a .22LR at 100 yards only when I see it.

Firing 1" groups from a .22LR at 100 yards is certainly possible. See this link: http://www.championshooters.com/Anschutz-sp.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Of course these are very high-end rifles and triggers with high-end optics and high-end shooters. Note that these are Anschutz sporter rifles, not their target rifles, which are even better. For those shooters with off-the-shelf semiautomatic "plinkers", I will believe it when I see it.

[Keith B]

I know you guys are fondly recalling making accurate shots at 100+ yards and I am sure that if you know exactly how to accommodate the drop, figure for wind, and you are shooting off a bench with very good optics then it is certainly possible to achieve 1 MOA groups. The best 100 yard groups I have ever been able to shoot with my rifle is more like 4" (ten shots), and I am more like 2" at 50 yards and I can hit 9mm shell casings all day long at 15 yards. I will believe 1" groups from a .22LR at 100 yards only when I see it.

Firing 1" groups from a .22LR at 100 yards is certainly possible. See this link: http://www.championshooters.com/Anschutz-sp.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Of course these are very high-end rifles and triggers with high-end optics and high-end shooters. Note that these are Anschutz sporter rifles, not their target rifles, which are even better. For those shooters with off-the-shelf "plinkers", I will believe it when I see it.

When I shot smallbore in high school on the NRA Junior Team we had folks that could consistently shoot that well with a match rifle. Also, you will not get the consistent accuracy as much unless you add match grade ammo like CCI or maybe Lapua

I can tell you I would not have gotten my Master classification without the higher end rifle.

[lrb111]

I know you guys are fondly recalling making accurate shots at 100+ yards and I am sure that if you know exactly how to accommodate the drop, figure for wind, and you are shooting off a bench with very good optics then it is certainly possible to achieve 1 MOA groups. The best 100 yard groups I have ever been able to shoot with my rifle is more like 4" (ten shots), and I am more like 2" at 50 yards and I can hit 9mm shell casings all day long at 15 yards. I will believe 1" groups from a .22LR at 100 yards only when I see it.

FWIW at 100 yards I managed to get 1/2" groups with a M14. I think the biggest issue with a .22LR is wind, and variability of ammo.

You might try faster bullets. CCI Stingers com to mind. fwiw, 1"at 100' is pretty common. Lot's of info over here http://www.rimfirecentral.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;