A few of my shooting friends and I have been having some fun with .22 LRs at long-range that I wish to share with all of you. It has not only been fun but on hell of a learning tool when it comes to learning how to read wind and conditions.
A few years ago we started shooting 22 LRs at 200-yards and have now pushed the range out to 400-yards. While I do not advocate the 22 LR cartridge as a long-range round it never the less is fun to shoot at these extended ranges. As a learning tool it will teach the shooter very quickly what wind and other condition will do to the bullet in flight. I believe that this is true because the little 22 bullet is a round nose with a low BC and is traveling at a low velocity.
It all started with playing around at the clubs shooting range shooting at small metal targets that we shot with handguns. Someone got the idea to post them at 200-yards and have a go at them with the 22 rifles. It fast became fun and adictive. We started to learn that all 22 LR ammo is cot created equial, and most that is on the market is not siuted for shooting at long-range. We have tried about everything that is available from the cheap bulk ammo to the very expensive target ammo. Much to our suprise the expensive target ammo didn't do very well much past 50-yards. The very cheap bulk ammo was to inconsistant in velocity to be accurate past 25-yards. Hyper-velocity ammo was a real joke! The best ammo that we found in testing over the chronograph was Federal 22 Lightining. The velocity was up around 1240 FPS and Sd was lower than everything else except the very expensive target ammo. Thing started getting serious as we shot more and more over the months. We started using wind flags that were posted at the firing line and at 25-yards and 50-yards. This was a big help in reading the wind and group sizes became smaller and smaller.
For some long-range fun with your 22 LR try small targets like empty shotgun shells at 200-yards. Placed on a sand burm you will see the results of your shot when the bullet makes impact. Clay pigeons are not much of a challenge once you get started, but they do present a challenge at 400-yards.
All you will need to give it a try is a good rifle/ammo/ and a scope that works. I would like point out that a scope of at least 10X should be used, and if you have a scope with a hight mag. use it. The better you can see the target at LR the better you will be able to hit it and see where your bullet impacts. If you don't have a place where you can shoot at extended ranges try shooting benchrest at 50-yards and it will suprise you! The wind and condition will play hell on the little 22 LR at that range also.
Longest kill to date with my 22 LR was made last month. At a range of 232-yards I dispatched a trophy class bull chipmunk on the second shot. The first shot missed him within a fraction of an inch and seemed to confuse him. He sat up and looked around and the second shot took him through the ears. It took 23 1/2 MOA over the 50-yard base zero to put that bullet on the money at 232-yards. Was it fun? Not for the Munk, but it was for me!

Sounds a whole lot cheaper than half a buck for a .30-caliber shot and a lot more fun.

Me and my buddies used to do stuff like that alot, shoting our 22's at long range... It is a good lesson about trajectory, and wind, because both are so extreme...

quote:

Originally posted by Brent Yates:
Me and my buddies used to do stuff like that alot, shoting our 22's at long range... It is a good lesson about trajectory, and wind, because both are so extreme...

Brent:

Thanks for your service guy.. and get home safe and sound Dude!

cheers
seafire

I have an ace of hearts shot at 200yds through the heart. It was a dare since everyone thought my 880SQ looked the part of a sniper rifle. It was luck, but I passed it off as skill anyway since it was the last card left. I use license plates hung at 400 for the sound. Usually these are for centerfires, but when they're resting the .22's come out. My oldest (8yrs) will be better thean me some day. She gets the plate as much as she misses already.

I've got a video here somewhere's of shooting praire dogs at long range with pistols. My buddy and I were in Colorado bow hunting elk and we had spotted a bunch of praire dogs and were discussing how fun it would be to sling a few arrows at them. The rancher that owned the land drove up and told us to have a ball and asked if we had guns instead becuase he wanted us to shoot them. All we had along was a Colt officers Model .45acp and a little Beretta Minx (I think)in .22 Short. This little pocket pistol is very accurate considering it is only a couple inches long. I was on the Air Force marksmanship team and used to be pretty good with a pistol so I started lobbing .22 shorts at them. I connected several times at well over 100 yards with both the .45 and the little .22. The funny part is when my buddy tells people they tell him he is full of sh!#. Well, he filmed most of the shots while I was shooting and it is hilarious watching me shoot that little peashooter at such long ranges tipping over PDs. I also bought a Wather GSP Olympic type pistol while stationed in Germany. THAT IS ONE TACKDRIVER OF A PISTOL!!! At 100 yards a clay pigeon doesn't have a prayer. I have fired at them out to 300 yards in my field. I love long range pistol shooting....especially with a .22 because you can shoot all day for a few dollars.

We shoot 200 yard mini palma at our club with .22's and we have alot of fun doing it. It gets windy in our area fast though so High scores are hard to come by at times. I've never tried it at the 300 yard range but now you have me curious. I know its about 25 minutes from a 50' zero to 200 yards depending on gun and ammo. I know off the top of my head it was 105 clicks on my iron sights and way more on my 1/8 scope...usually just cranked that sucker a few times and shot with wind going lol.

We shoot a lot of ground squirrels in the North East corner of CA on alfalfa fields during the spring. One can shoot 1000 rounds of rimfire on a good day. I use several rifles for this but my favorite is my fixed up Ruger 10/22 with Leupold 3.5X10 scope. I sent it to Premier reticle for dots at every 50 yards up to 400 yards, plus windage dots. It works really well.
I hit many at 250 yards but average only 1 hit per 10 shots. I shoot standing off of Stoneypoint shooting sticks. It is pretty stable and great practice for big game hunting. After 20,000 rounds, 150 yard shots become pretty easy. Past that and it gets tough, as they are a small target and the 22 drops so fast. Probably 4 to 5 squirrel heights between the 200 yard dot and the 250 yard dot so it takes a few shots to find the right hold. It wouldn’t be possible with a bolt gun as you would loose the sight picture when working the action. With the auto you can see the hit in the dirt and instantly correct the hold. If the squirrel will set still for a few shots you can hit him. If there is much of a side wind then all bets are off as the bullets are really affected.

My longest shot was 300 yards on a particularly fat squirrel who was very tolerant of my harassment. There was a strong and constantly varying breeze that produced a row of hit marks in the dirt 4 feet on either side of him. I would get off a few shots then he would go down his hole. After a while he would be back up and this continued for some 20 minutes. Using my 300 yard line and 10 MPH windage mark, I figured at some point the wind would actually be 10 MPH. On my 60th shot he fell over.

My father enjoys his 17 HMR(Volquartsen). That thing is extremely accurate and he hardly ever misses. He shoots off a good bench and limites himself to 200 yards. At the end of the day he adds up his misses and any more than 10 is chalked up to bad shooting.

We often will shoot about the same number of squirrels but I with my 22 will have fired many more rounds than he. Our debate is over who had more fun.

Shooting 22 rim fire at 400 yards?!

You lot are glutton for punishment!
Anyone who wins anything it would not be due to his ability, but sheer luck!

hi
even if i don't beleive in shooting games past 100 yards with a 22lr. but i have to admit it is not unpossible to hit target with a 22 lr at that range. last summer we had put some claybirds on the ground at around 400 yards a tad over 600 steps for fun shooting with a 6,5x55 . a few claybird were left on the ground, we decided too try with a 22 lr topped with 3-9x scope after a few shots for evaluation . it was easy to shoot the clay birds(on the ground not in air) with 22 lr . it was a sunny day with no wind at all. it is possible to shoot realy far with 22 lr ,but nothing to try for hunting. 400 yard is even too far for a centerfire rounds.
regards
yes

I have found that about 200 yards is the max range that you can reliably hit targets with (my) rimfire 22 lr. After that the bullets get pretty irratic and you are playing odds -- it is still pretty fun though. I got a crow at 220 yards last fall! Two shots (one spotter and one hitter) in about 8 mph wind - probably more than a little luck.

I have been into tactical long-range shooting for some years now--especially reticle applications for LR shooting. This education came in very handy 1 day several yrs. ago when i was out with a buddies kid hunting coyotes.

The kid had brought his SA 22 Marlin that had a Harris bipod, and Simmons 3-9X riflescope. It was quite a nice little outfit really. We were walking back to the truck from a coyote stalk, and i took a look thru the scope. It was the simple plex reticle that appeared to subtend about 6 MOA to lower post tip from x-hair @ 9X. I told the kid (who had already had some education in LR shooting) that if he cranked the scope down to 3X it would give him about 18 MOA trajectory compensation (3x6=18) to the lower post tip, and that might get him to about 300 yds. We were walking thru a pr. dog town at the time so we set up off a mound for a couple shots. I ranged a couple dogs at 290-something, and the kid set up and shot. The 1st shot was just short, so he Kentucky elevated, and nailed the PD. The dog rolled off the back of the mound, but of course it didn't kill him and he came back up and hesitated for a second--big mistake cause this kid is no avg. shooter. The next 22 hit him once again, and he rolled off the back of the mound once again, dead. His buddy ran up on top, and the next 22 or the 1 after nailed him too, killing the dog, and he rolled off the back of the mound too. Sure enuf when we got to the mound there's 2 adult dogs dead on the back side. Fortunately we got some good pics, and they will be published in a Varmint Hunter article soon.

In the not too distant future Keystone Arms will be putting out the old Chipmunk Hunter/Silhouette pistol. I should be getting 1 to test in .17 HMR, and i'm gonna put the PFI Rapid Reticle on top, that should allow me 300 yds. trajectory compensation. I'm hoping to get close to that range for jackrabbits and crows. We'll see.

We shoot clays at 200yds. What is kinda neat is that with the sun just right, and a good scope,. you can see the 22 bullets for just a fraction of a sec. before they hit. We spread about 50 or so out and take turns with two guys shooting from benches. We can hit about 3 or 4 out of 10 shots, depending on the wind. Guy who breaks the most when they are all gone wins.

Now here is a fun little toy for long range plinking that really works. It's a Rapid reticle scope. The drop reticle is setup for 22LR rimfires and goes out to 200yds. The reticle is on the 1st plane so it works at all powers. I've had a lot of fun with it. they've up quite a bit since I bought mine, but what hasn't.

Terry

We have shot over here on 300 meters with 22 LRS, i have borrowed both a Brno Varmint and a Anschutz with a Bushnell 10x Tactical with mil Dots in. It was easy to shoot on 300 meters with the Anschuts. And it was was learning to understand how to imitate the .338 *LPM SPecial on very long range with the .22 load