Long distance with a 22 rimfire

Bill Wynne

Bill Wynne

Active member
Call it Rainbow shooting

I got involved in something new at my local San Angelo Gun Club range. It was benchrest shooting with a 22 rimfire at round steel targets on swingers at 50 yards, 100 yards, and 200 yards. The targets were smaller at 50 yards and were bigger at longer ranges. The 50 yard and 100 yard targets were fairly easy except for an 18- 20 mile per hour wind but the 6" target at 200 yards in that wind was something else. I had an accurate 22 rifle with a 36x Weaver target scope and I was using Eley Match long rifle ammo. I hit the target two times out of the five shots and felt good about it. I was holding off to the right about 16" or so.

I had never tried to shoot a 22 at 200 yards and was somewhat surprised that it was shooting as well as it did in that wind. Well, a couple of days ago there was almost no wind at all so I tried the same thing with no wind. I found I could shoot 5 groups of 2" to 2-1/4". I had to raise the sites about 28 minutes from a zero at 50 yards. It was close to being maxed.

If you want to try long range shooting on a shorter range try this.

Has anyone else tried shooting at a target at 200 yards with a 22 long rifle?

Concho Bill
 
Back when we camped at the same site on a farm property regularly, we had the bunny warrens marked out for us with a peg showing the holdover at each distance. We were able to head shoot them easily out to 150 yards or so off our fallen log bench & connect regularly out to 250 - early in the morning when it was still.
 
Bill Wynne said:
Call it Rainbow shooting

I got involved in something new at my local San Angelo Gun Club range. It was benchrest shooting with a 22 rimfire at round steel targets on swingers at 50 yards, 100 yards, and 200 yards. The targets were smaller at 50 yards and were bigger at longer ranges. The 50 yard and 100 yard targets were fairly easy except for an 18- 20 mile per hour wind but the 6" target at 200 yards in that wind was something else. I had an accurate 22 rifle with a 36x Weaver target scope and I was using Eley Match long rifle ammo. I hit the target two times out of the five shots and felt good about it. I was holding off to the right about 16" or so.

I had never tried to shoot a 22 at 200 yards and was somewhat surprised that it was shooting as well as it did in that wind. Well, a couple of days ago there was almost no wind at all so I tried the same thing with no wind. I found I could shoot 5 groups of 2" to 2-1/4". I had to raise the sites about 28 minutes from a zero at 50 yards. It was close to being maxed.

If you want to try long range shooting on a shorter range try this.

Has anyone else tried shooting at a target at 200 yards with a 22 long rifle?

Concho Bill
Click to expand...

Hi Bill, Monroe Rifle Pistol Club near Dundee, MI does this. Going on 15yrs....
They have CF br score on Tues. and RF br score on Thurs. 16 week league.
After that the fun begins. Tues CF turns to groups. 2 ea 100y. and 200y. Every other yardage and 4 groups.
RF does the 200y thing. They put 2 targets on a target board. Bullseye 36" up. Aim at the up target and watch the bullet fall into the down target.
I watched it a few times. I don't do RF BR. Kinda fun to shoot though......
 
John Kielly said:
Back when we camped at the same site on a farm property regularly, we had the bunny warrens marked out for us with a peg showing the holdover at each distance. We were able to head shoot them easily out to 150 yards or so off our fallen log bench & connect regularly out to 250 - early in the morning when it was still.
Click to expand...

John my friend, I have heard you have a lot of rabbits down there. How big are they. (just kidding about the size)

Bill
 
its called mini palma
seem a 22 rf at 200 is close to a 308 at 8/9/1000...some where in there.
palma shooters practice at 200 with 22 rf for wind calling or what ever those belly shooters do.
 
Bill Wynne said:
Has anyone else tried shooting at a target at 200 yards with a 22 long rifle?
Click to expand...
Old news. US NRA has an official smallbore target for 200 yard prone shooting, dimensions are under rule 4.13:
4.13 200 Yard Target. A-21 - Single bullseye. 8, 9, and 10 rings black. (A-21 C Repair Center)
X ring ....................2 inches
10 ring ...................4 inches
9 ring ...................8 inches
8 ring...................12 inches
7 ring...................16 inches
6 ring...................20 inches
Click to expand...
In the 1990s, I found 200 yard practice w/ a .22 rifle was good training for Long Range prone. (Have not shot 200 yard smallbore in over 10 years, should probably restart doing it, as recent long range shooting performance is slipping badly.) NOTE: DO NOT use cheap .22 ammo. From experience from the mid- to late 1990s, Federal Target ammo is the lowest end ammo type to use. Use anything less, and elevation spread is a serious score killer. More expensive ammo (i.e., Federal 900B, 1000B, or Eley Tenex) holds slightly better elevation, but groups are rounder. (Yeah, great compromise - save $20 in centerfire ammo costs by shooting $10/box rimfire ammo.)

200 yard smallbore shooting is NOT a popular competitive event in the US, mostly because of equipment limitations. Many scoped rifle shooters found they needed to hold off to hit the target, since their scope mounts ran out of elevation before reaching the setting for 200 yards. Iron sights are limited by elevation as well, though use of an adjustable front sight base helps considerably in this matter.

For more info on US NRA Smallbore shooting, an online copy of the rules is available at https://competitions.nra.org/media/7745/nra-smallbore-rifle-rules.pdf

Hope this helps.
 
rsmithsr said:
its called mini palma.
Click to expand...
Official Mini-Palma targets are 100 yard targets. Dimensions are under Rule 4.15:
4.15 Mini-palma 100 Yard Targets -

100 Yard Target. A-37 - 4 bullseyes. LR (800 yds) target reduced to 100 yards. For use in Prone competition only. 6 through X rings black.
X-ring …………. 1.00” inches
10 ring ................ 2.00” inches
9 ring ................ 2.90 inches
8 ring ................ 3.90 inches
7 ring ........... 4.90 inches
6 ring ........... 5.80 inches
5 ring............ 6.80 inches

100 Yard Target. A-38 - 4 bullseyes. LR (900 yds) target reduced to 100 yards. For use in Prone competition only. 6 through X rings black.
X-ring …………. 0.90” inches
10 ring ................ 1.80” inches
9 ring ................ 2.60 inches
8 ring ................ 3.40 inches
7 ring ........... 4.30 inches
6 ring ........... 5.10 inches
5 ring............ 6.00 inches

100 Yard Target. A-39 - 4 bullseyes. LR (1000 yds) target reduced to 100 yards. For use in Prone competition only. 6 through X rings black.
X-ring …………. 0.80” inches
10 ring ................ 1.60” inches
9 ring ................ 2.30 inches 5
8 ring ................ 3.10 inches
7 ring ........... 3.80 inches
6 ring ........... 4.60 inches
Click to expand...

A Mini-Palma is a fun and competitive match, the 100 yard distance helps in reducing elevation issues that plague 200 yard rimfire shooting.
 
At our annual Xmas .22 rimfire party shoot here in Oz the final targets are balloons bobbling in the wind at 300m.

Shot in teams of two standing on our legs with no rests it is fun. A judge stands behind each team to verify the score.

Don't rely on scope adjustments. Just watch the fall of shot (spurts and dust) on the backrest and work out how much to aim off.

Of course, by the time that your projectile arrives at the target it has bobbed and ducked and weaved.

Such is the fun of a club Xmas party as everybody can be a winner.

Please all you great people keep safe and well.

* dsoggie *
 
Thanks everybody,

There is a wealth of information dished out on this thread from all parts.

John, I wish I could have been with you on those bunny shoots.

Asa Yam, Thanks for the information about the targets. I love your engineer mind.

Dog Hunter and Zippy, Sounds like fun games.

Concho Bill
 
Bil, There is a pantload of this stuff over on SH, lots of pictures of guns shot as well with some impressive optics mounted .
Several are now starting to mess with fast twist barrels as well
 
Asa Yam said:
Official Mini-Palma targets are 100 yard targets. Dimensions are under Rule 4.15:

A Mini-Palma is a fun and competitive match, the 100 yard distance helps in reducing elevation issues that plague 200 yard rimfire shooting.
Click to expand...
with new aqmmo and new barrel you can shoot small at 200 yd. on good day with 22 rimfrire benchrest rifle.
 
Bill

yes I have shot two matches at Lincoln County Rifle Club for years. One is usually in Feb at 100 yds, the other in March at 200 yd. The caliber, in a good rifle with ammo it likes and wind flags, is amazingly accurate depending on the wind. In the wind it is still accurate, but its the shooter who tends to falter. It's loads of fun and I always look forward to it. --Greg
 
like most thing i'll take your word, but the only place i ran into it was a 200 yard version.
thanks
Asa Yam said:
Official Mini-Palma targets are 100 yard targets. Dimensions are under Rule 4.15:

A Mini-Palma is a fun and competitive match, the 100 yard distance helps in reducing elevation issues that plague 200 yard rimfire shooting.
Click to expand...
 
Many years ago...

I built a "500 yard .22". This came about after a week of camping where I managed to walk some rounds in on a 500 yard target by observing impacts and aiming progressively higher into the trees. I decided to see how good I could get (with the venerable Ruger 10/22 platform no less!) with a purpose-built rifle. The project cost a small fortune (which probably did not improve results much), and in the end there were no Ruger parts left in the rifle. I custom made scope mounts that held the scope high enough that you could have the rifle pointed at ~30* and still look over the barrel. Everything about the rifle was premium, the ammo only 'department store premium'. At the end of the day, in that same windless spot, I could expect 7-8 hits out of 10 shots on a USPSA target (just shy of 30" tall). Windage was pretty consistent but vertical used the entire target. No great accomplishment, but I think I found the limit of the .22 rimfire.

GsT
 
Back in the 90's my highpower club in Ohio would have a 200 yard 22lr rifle match once a year. I had 2 Springfield M 1 rifles
in really good shape and good shooters. One was open sights and the other a period 8X Unertyl scope. It was special shooting
the first match of the day with the sun at our back because you could see the bullets drop out of the sky into the target. That
was special.
I did watch through a 100 mm Unertyl team scope at Camp Perry and see 556 rounds come down into the targets at 1000 yards
and if the sun was just right watch it start to cork screw. I thought they were pulling my leg until they let me watch.
Sadly, both of the Springfields are gone but to shooters who appreciated them for what they were. A real bear to find factory magazines!!
Regards,

JoeMcNeill
SW Arkansas
 
Used to shoot service rifle out to 600 yards. When scoring, I could watch the vapor trail left by bullets on a humid day. Some would corkscrew tighter and tighter and eventually settle before going into the target. There are those that say this doesn't happen. Well, seeing is believing. If there is no vapor trail, you can often still see a "disturbance in the force" caused by the shock wave.

Speaking of shock waves, one time I was on a 737 seated right even with the engine cowling. We were behind due to waiting for passengers from a connecting flight. The pilot said he was going to try and make up the time. The wind noise from air rushing against the plane's skin was deafening. I looked out and there was a line coming off the edge of the cowling, which was a shock wave. Things on different sides of the line were offset, as if I was looking through a broken pane of glass. When we finally slowed to land, it went away.
 
Bill Wynne said:
Thanks everybody,

There is a wealth of information dished out on this thread from all parts.

John, I wish I could have been with you on those bunny shoots.

Asa Yam, Thanks for the information about the targets. I love your engineer mind.

Dog Hunter and Zippy, Sounds like fun games.

Concho Bill
Click to expand...

What I really like is Pool Cue chalk at 200y. 5 red and 5 blue. 6PPC of course. No wind flags. 10 rounds only.
 
same but 660 yd

GeneT said:
I built a "500 yard .22". This came about after a week of camping where I managed to walk some rounds in on a 500 yard target by observing impacts and aiming progressively higher into the trees. I decided to see how good I could get (with the venerable Ruger 10/22 platform no less!) with a purpose-built rifle. The project cost a small fortune (which probably did not improve results much), and in the end there were no Ruger parts left in the rifle. I custom made scope mounts that held the scope high enough that you could have the rifle pointed at ~30* and still look over the barrel. Everything about the rifle was premium, the ammo only 'department store premium'. At the end of the day, in that same windless spot, I could expect 7-8 hits out of 10 shots on a USPSA target (just shy of 30" tall). Windage was pretty consistent but vertical used the entire target. No great accomplishment, but I think I found the limit of the .22 rimfire.

GsT
Click to expand...



That was also many many years ago. Target frame was made of 2 doors standing on an olive tree. The rifle was a factory Anschutz with regular scope mount and a lot of hold-over. The hardest part of it was to find that damned Lapua 60 gr subsonic and extremely still mornings cause we could not place winflags and has to rely on leaves/branches movement. We were definitely not good at that.

Any supersonic would not reach the doors. Supposed some transonic issue at that time.
 
Back when I was shooting with the state National Guard service rifle team, we played around at 600yards with our 40x .22lr rifles. When we were able to get hits on the 6' square target frame, but the pit crew said the bullets were not penetrating and falling into the pits. Lots of hold over and Kentucky windage.
 
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