Accuracy Range for .22LR and .22Mag ?

My son and I shoot 22lr at 100 yards for fun, with correct ammo it's dang accurate just like to move to left or right depending on wind LOL. It's fun o stretch the legs on a 22lr out to 100 yards, set a target up, and a small plinker beside it and enjoy what used to be cheap fun. Using rem 40x weaver 36x scope, CZ 452 thumbhole varmint sightron 4-16, your looking at around 10" bullet drop at 100 yards.

22 wmr, I I like and use this cartridge around 125 yards for small pest varmints. I have never used it for target as ammo is always been to expensive seems for a long time 50wmr close to cost of 40 223 rem. I have a 10/22 mag weaver rimfire classic 2.5-7x28 it's maybe the best pest gun I have ever owned. Stock form not to accurate, I put a magnum research .920 carbon fiber barrel, and a McMillan fiberclass stock... easy to carry weighs less than stock ruger 10/22 mag.

Overall expected accuracy you have correct around 50 yards for lr, 100 for wmr.. that don't mean you can't enjot the 22lr at longer ranges for paper tho..and super small varmints such has flys..smear some meat or such on target and kill humans number 1 varmint of all time the fly LOL(check local state laws on baiting LMAO)

I can do 5 in an inch at 100 with my cz452 and good ammo. I can do much worse with cheap bulk ammo.

for accurate results, what is a reasonable range for .22LR in a rifle? 50 yards?

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It depends on what you mean by "accurate results". If you mean MOA then a .22LR is probably good for 125 yards with the right ammo. But they can shoot way farther than that and hit a target. It's just a matter of how big the target is. Have a look at these videos and see what you think.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuXjMXMGvrA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHI4C9BIdj8

There was a series of videos from a guy that posts on this board showing really well that he could hit targets at 400-500 yards with a .22LR. The first one you can hear the ding on the last shot they took. That was at 500 yards. BTW both videos they were using a a Savage MkIIBTV although one was left handed. I have that rifle and it is a tack driver. It's my best shooting .22 but my CZ is very close. The guy from this board used a CZ if I remember. I wish I could remember his name. Maybe I'll think of it. He consistently hit targets and you could see them move at around 400-500 yards. They obviously weren't pop cans but they weren't huge either.

I consider myself a good shot, not great but good.

With my CZ 452 Trainer, stock, except for a rear peep blade replacement, I can hit a 3" x 4" target at 100 yards, with Remington Golden Bullet, 8 times out of 10, while shooting from the bench.

With my tricked up Volquartsen (Ruger 10/22 clone) and Wolf Match Target, I can get 1" to 2" groups at 100 yards, also shooting from the bench.

I have a CZ 452 Full Stock in 22wmr, unmodified, with a 1x-4x scope. Using CCI Maxi Mags, I can get 2" groups, shooting from a bench.

I hope that helps.

With my tricked up Volquartsen (Ruger 10/22 clone) and Wolf Match Target, I can get 1" to 2" groups at 100 yards, also shooting from the bench.

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I believe you can do better than that with that equipment friend. Here's one of my better groups at 90 yards. This is a little better than typical but not that much better. I can generally do 1" at 100 yards most of the time.



Here's a more typical group shot at 100 yards.



Here's another 90 yard group this time shot with a Marlin 60.



And on the same target with the same rifle. This is only 3 shots because I didn't want to mess up the group I had. I have all the bullets I fired from that loading and they're all in groups of less than 1".


One more shot on a different day at the same distance with the same Marlin 60. There are 4 groups on this target 3 with 5 rounds and one with 3 rounds. That was before I remembered it's possible to load 14 rounds in a Marlin 60. The group marked "1" was the 3 round group.



I have a lot of these but I don't think people want me to post all of them. And I'm not all that good of a shot. I've lost plenty of contests and won a few I guess.

The problem with .22lr is that trajectory is fairly steep. Accurate range estimation is essential.
I have a CZ-452 that with match grade ammo is at or less than 1" at 100yds. A T/C Contender with 21" Match 22lr barrel is also that accurate. I've even gotten 1" 5-shot groups with Winchester bulk 37gr hp's.

I nailed a crow in the back yard at a lased 148yds with my Rem. 597 .22lr which wears a cheap BSA 3x-9x "Sweet 22" scope. I set it to the 150yds setting on the vertical knob and squeezed off the shot.

My Rem. 597 in .22mag is sighted in for 100yds. It's ~+1" at 50yds and -1" at 125yds. Nailed a Coyote with it at 197yds 9yrs ago. It was "stalking" my fiest (small squirrel dog) while it had a squirrel treed in the back yard. I lased him, added 5" (40 clicks on the target knob on the scope) aimed for his neck/shoulder. He did a back flip at the shot, kicked a few times. Rem. 33gr Accutip (Hornady v-max relabeled by Remington).

The .22mag is roughly 2-3 times more powerful than the .22lr.
My .22Hornet is ~twice as powerful as the .22mag. I occasionly shoot deer with the Hornet. (can't quite call it "hunting", just pick your choice of deer burger and pull the trigger).
Longest field shot I've ever made with the Hornet is ~125yds. Nailed a fox one evening that was checking out a doe I shot that I broke it's shoulder/spine with a 40gr Sierra HP and was bahh-ing saying "good bye". He got "greedy" and was going to eat "MY lunch"... The Hornet ripped him so bad, the hide was worthless...and nothing to stuff...

It was "stalking" my fiest (small squirrel dog) while it had a squirrel treed in the back yard.

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I have a fiest. It's a fine squirrel dog. It's an even better watch dog. It chased off 2 bears that had just killed one of our cats. I saw it chasing them up the hill across from my house.

.22LR is no different than any other ammo when it comes to learning to adjust for the drop it's going to have. I do the same thing with my .223. It just takes 400 yards or so to really make it start dropping off substantially. I guess my hillbilly ways hold me back on that really because I don't adjust the scope. I just adjust where I aim. And if I have to aim above where the scope will see I start having problems. I generally pick a spot above my target to aim at. It works for me because there are no good places to shoot past 500-600 yards.

for accurate results, what is a reasonable range for .22LR in a rifle? 50 yards? * * * maybe 100 yards?

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Can only speak to .22lr.

50-yds, in my view, is the general sight-in distance (especially for squirrel, chipmunk, or rabbit culling), and anything under an inch is great.

That said, it also depends on the rifle and, to some extent, barrel length.

With ammo it likes, my 16" CZ Scout can hold an inch and sometimes better at 50-yards. Not so at 100yds. It's a short range shooter.

OTOH, my 28.6" CZ Ultra Lux will stay inside an inch @ 100yds, assuming little or no wind, with .22 match ammo and even certain makes of "average grade" rimfire fodder, like Winchester 40gn Power Points. The UL just likes that load even though it's not considered "match ammo." Eventually, I'd like to try this rifle on a target hung at 200yds using some of the super high-vel stuff and see how it groups.

My 453 Varmint, with its thick 20" tube and set trigger, is picky about what it will shoot well, but with ammo it likes it shoots REALLY tight. I've gotten sub-.500" shredded holes a few times at 50-yds.

With the .22lr, you need to experiment with various makes of ammo in order to learn what shoots well in yours and at what distance.

NRA and ISU target shooting is done with .22 LR at 50 yds, 50 metres, and 100 yds.
There is some shooting done at 200 yds with .22 versions of buffalo rifles. Said to be comparable to doping the wind with a centerfire at 600-1000.

I don't know the current state of .22 WMR ammo, but the .17 HMR is very accurate. Don't hear as much about it, I guess people have quit paying the price for it to plink with.

A friend and I spent about 6 months playing with .22 LR at different ranges with everything we could get our hands on.

The absolute best was 5/8" 5 shots at 300 yds with a bolt action Walther (156" of drop over that distance) but even had a 5 1/2" Ruger mark II with a Leopold on top that would shoot 3.5" at 100.

If there is zero wind and you have optics there are a number of .22 rifles, with the right ammunition, will group inside a little yellow post it note at 100 yds.

So when I took a class from Major EJ Land ( if you are going to name drop, go big) I asked if he ever had his Marines shoot .22s. I was of course thinking about standard out door 100 yard shooting or 50 meter or even 50 foot indoors.

He said they did, especially on days it was difficult to close the road that runs through the middle of the Quantico rifle range making 600 meter shooting impossible. He then went on to say they used .22LR at 200 and 300 meters! He sais especially his match shooters thus got plenty of practice making sight corrections for drop and especially windage.

So for paper punching it is accurate enough for meaningful training for serious rifle shooters, nation level competition of USMC school trained Scout/snipers, to 300 meters.

Oh and before the bouncing off the card board backers comments start up, at 300 meters a 40 grain solid standard velocity round is going just as fast out of a Annie 54 Rifle as it would be moving at the muzzle of a Beretta 21A pistol some THR folks carry for self protection.

-kBob

I have a Russian VOSTOK CM 2 that will put 10 eley edge under a dime at 50yds and shoot 1" or less at 100yds on a calm day

For .22LR .. 100 yards
CZ 452 or if you can find one a Brno. The Annies are too expensive for me personally. A good scope and ammo the rifles like, 1 inch is reasonable.

Many more ammo options for long rifle ammo over the magnum so for targets the .22lr makes the most sense.

10" Contender bull barrel match, frequent calm day 1 1/4" with Eley Club. CZ455 with same ammo, about same. Both highly subject to breeze. Ruger All Weather 77 22Mag, best so far is 1 3/4 but not much time on it yet.
Working on 223 cast loads to duplicate lr, wmr, and Hornet velocities.

A few years ago I did a test with some bulk .22LR and a box of Winchester HP's. Bulk ammo dropped 18" @ 100 yds. Winchester dropped 6".

.22lr



shot this as Nationals a last year, 100yd supported prone. Eley tenex out of a shillen barreled Annie.

When I was a

teenager I worked a cattle farm in the summers. On days that no one worked, like Sunday, I'd take the farmer's Model 50 Winchester, .22lr, with a 10X scope on it out to the gas house and shoot ground hogs. There was a soy bean field which was in a triangle with a creek on both sides which was loaded with hog holes on the banks. Some days I'd get as many as 20-25 pigs with this rifle. The longest shot I made was around 150 paces when I gut shot a pig which made it back to his hole. Next day the flies were flying around it so I got him. Up close, the .22lr will kill a ground hog nicely.

Some interesting data from a 1961 Army/Air Force TM:

"Extreme spread of all targets as time of acceptance is not greater than/at 100 yards:"

.22 LR "Lead Ball", 40 gr --2.2 inches.
Penetration: "When fired into 1-inch pine boards, spaced 1 inch apart at a range of 15 feet, the bullet will penetrate the first 5 boards and 1/8 inch into the sixth board."

.22 LR m24 jacketed or gilded for Air Force survival rifle, 40.5 gr --1.25 inches.

.22 Ball, Short, (High Velocity), 29 gr --2.5 inches.

.22 Ball, LR, Western Super Match, MK III or equal (Commercial), 40 gr --2.5 inches.

.22 Hornet, Ball, M65 (Survival), pointed 35 gr, --2.5 inches.

Just some old and generalized though documented governmental references. I can only assume that where not specified, these figures were expected from the 24-28 inch barrels of the various .22 bolt action rifles in the inventory.


Todd.

Back in the day, I used to shoot .22 Metallic Silhouette with my Kimber M82. The 100-yard ram target is the same size as a squirrel.

I zero at 50 feet and confirm at 75 yards -- with this zero, I hold low for chickens (25 yards) and pigs (50 yards), dead on for turkeys (75 yards.) For the ram, I use the tip of the thick crosshair, and the pig (or a squirrel) just about fills the space from the tip of the thick crosshair to the intersection of the crosshairs -- making it easy to judge range.

In late season you can often spot squirrels out to 100 yards and I got to shooting them at that range quite successfully.

I consider the .22 Magnum a good cartridge to 125 yards or a bit beyond -- but again, you have to know your rifle and cartridge and be able to estimate range accurately.

My buddies and I don't really shoot for absolute accuracy but we do shoot standard size ram and pig silhouttes at 200 and 300 meters. It really is all about the ammo. The one important factor we've determined is that it's best start subsonic. The supersonic to subsonic transition for .22lr seems pretty close to catastrophic, and it happens at a much shorter range than you may think.

Cee Zee,

I probably could shoot better if I actually practiced. I figure the Volquartsen only goes out to the range maybe 4 times a year. On top of that, I prefer shooting iron sights twice as much as glass. Wolf Match Target is rather low end for target ammo, even tho it is made by Lapua. Finally, I shoot 10 shot groups. I feel that gives a more accurate estimate of my abilities.

Oh, I also have a Baikal CM-2. Below is a 10 shot group at 50 yards, with Wolf Match Target. For reference, my thumb is 5/8 inch at the widest part. The rifle is complete stock, and this was my first range session with the rifle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMun6pVDBzs

It claims to be a world record, which definitely isn't the case. But it's still impressive

shot this as Nationals a last year, 100yd supported prone. Eley tenex out of a shillen barreled Annie.

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Outstanding group. I did not shoot a 10 X clean at the Nationals, but I wish I did...


I did not shoot this target, but I wish I did. This was fired recently, prone with a sling, at a State Championship and this shooter shot a 1600 for the day. The shooter said he had been tinkering with his Walther rifle for the last 14 months and it is almost coming together. This was such a good group the shooter retained the target after the match. He was High Master for the aggregate.



When you compare Lapua test center data, Lapua has a range that shows both 50 meter and 100 meter test groups, you will realize that such small groups are exceptional, and quite possibly, a statistical fluke. Eley only has a 50 meter range in the US and you can't compare groups at 50 and 100 meters.

However, for the few times I have shot 10X cleans, I keep the targets and claim I do it all the time.