Effective range of .22 rifle

[mr.72]

1" at 100' is no problem. I can shoot that well with my Marlin semi-auto and bulk ammo. 1" at 100 yards, not exactly.

Certainly with a match-type rifle, high-end optics, and match-grade ammo, 1" groups at 100 yards is more than achievable with a .22LR. I am not talking about doubting those claims. But I hear people talking about taking their plinking rifle with a Tasco 4x32 scope and bulk-pack ammo shooting 1" groups at 100 yards, and I don't buy it. In other words, let me hand you my rifle with my ammo and let's see if you can get 1" groups at 100 yards consistently. I am sure there are people who could do it, but those would be truly exceptional shooters and not your normal person, and this relies on a lucky series of 5 or 10 consecutive consistent rounds from the bulk pack of ammo.

Note the OP was regarding shooting a Remington Nylon 66. This is not a match rifle. I don't think you are going to make head shots on squirrels on a regular basis at >100 yards with a Nylon 66.

Personally, with garden-variety ammo and sub-$300 rifles, particularly semi-autos, I think the "effective range" of a .22LR from your average shooter is more like 50 yards. If you want rimfire at 100+ yards, then .22WMR is more like it, and >200 yards, .17HMR. The momentum of the bullet in a .22LR is too small to keep the thing from being blown by the wind or dropping unpredictably at 100 yards.

MHO of course.

[lrb111]

sorry I meant 1 inch at 100 yards. Change your ammo to start with. Get something reliable to rest your rifle on. Practice. You can do it.
A nylon 66 was my first .22., 40 years ago. It was plenty good enough, for longer range shots.

[WildBill]

You might try faster bullets. CCI Stingers com to mind. fwiw, 1"at 100' is pretty common.

Faster bullets means higher velocity. Higher velocity doesn't mean high accuracy. As I recall, .22LR match ammo is slower than most.

[mr.72]

OK-

According to Federal's web site:

http://www.federalpremium.com/products/ ... aspx?id=43" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you zero the scope for 50 yards, then The 510 "Champion" ammo that I am using shoots POA at 50 yards, and 5.6" below POA at 100 yards. It is already dropping by 50 yards. The peak of the arc is more like 40 yards. A 10mph wind will cause 5.1" of drift.

Looking at the bullet trajectory chart, that's -5.6" at 100 yards, but it's another 5" or more every 20 yards after that. I don't know how you are going to hit the head of a squirrel if you don't know whether it's exactly 100 yards, 110 yards, or 90 yards? There's a 5" difference in POI from 90 to 110 yards!

Those are pretty big numbers.

Check out this page http://www.gunsmoke.com/guns/1022/22ballistics.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Notable quote from the bottom of the page:

"The tables above also contain drift data calculated for a 15 mph wind crossing the bullet path from the left at 90 degrees. The data also shows the lead necessary to hit a target moving from right to left at 10 mph. Since the target is moving into the wind, the bullet path first leads the target, then falls behind it as distance increases. Under these conditions, it takes a lead of almost 4 feet to hit the target at 100 yards. Now that would be some shot!"

some shot, indeed.

[NcongruNt]

You might try faster bullets. CCI Stingers com to mind. fwiw, 1"at 100' is pretty common.

Faster bullets means higher velocity. Higher velocity doesn't mean high accuracy. As I recall, .22LR match ammo is slower than most.

Right. As mentioned previously, just about every .22LR round that starts out supersonic will go subsonic before 100 yards. That transition to subsonic causes irregular turbulence on the surface of the bullet, seriously affecting the accuracy. Stingers aren't fast enough to stay supersonic out to 100 yards. Even CCI's "Velocitor" goes subsonic before 100 yards according to their own data (1436 at the muzzle, 1084 at 100 yards). For reference, the speed of sound is approximately 1116fps.

I mentioned previously (not sure if it was this thread or not) that the only ammo that might stay supersonic out to 100 yards is made by Aguila and called "Super Maximum". It has a muzzle velocity of 1750fps. I haven't found any ballistics data on it, so I can't be sure that it will, but it would be your best bet if you insist on going the "faster" route. There's a reason competition shooters use subsonic ammo, and why every "match grade" .22LR round is subsonic.

[WildBill]

To answer the original post. The effective range of a .22LR rifle is about 50 yards. I always wanted one of those Remington 66 Nylons.