.22LR @ 180 yards- Does this seem reasonable?

[Mike6158]

I went to the range today and zero'd the rifle at 100 yards. The best group was the last three. All three touching in a cloverleaf right in the middle of the bullseye.

Someone posted about weighing / sorting the rounds and I now understand why lightbulb A box of 50 rounds seems to have little clumps of bullets that shoot nearly the same, in no particular order, but sometimes coming in series with one another. It took me a few rounds to stop chasing impacts with the turret but once I did that I could see a pattern forming.

The net result of today's trip was that I now have a drop chart for my rifle (with the ammo I used today) and I know not to expect consistency unless I sort the bullets by weight (which I assume is going to be inconsistent due to powder charge).

Next I moved over to the 200 yard range and did some testing.

The mirage was tumbling around from a 5 - 7 mph wind coming from about 160 degrees (to my line of sight). Downrange, at about 120 yards, the wind was being blocked by trees and the 100 yard berm. At the 100 yard berm the wind seemed to be affected by it.

I put a pistol target next to my intended target to help me find the initial poi. I aimed at the top ring of the target (3' tall) and the first 5 shots hit 36" low. I dialed the scope up 18 moa and fired 5 more rounds. The group was high so I dialed down to 17 moa. This group was low so I dialed in 17.5 moa and shot the last group. Bingo. Unfortunately I didn't keep the target. Groups were in the 3" - 4" range with the best being about 2.5" I think that if the wind would have layed I could have tightened that up a little.

I am glad that I finally made it to the range but I have a lot more fun shooting cow poo in my pasture Range estimating and windage make it more fun

 

[rhouser]

With my TC Classic and a bushnell 3x9 .22 scope, I can routinely shoot MOA 5 shot groups at 100. (I count on it out when I take the rifle out of the case). Shoots wolf target best and then toss up with REM SubSonics and CCI SGB ammo. Zero at 50, top of bottom retical post is dead on at 100. I will take head shots at crows within 100 and can make them (but not always ). .22 rimfire rifles are just flat fun. rc

 

[sinister]

That's a very good group.

If you can get to 200 yards try an NRA SR-C target (the ones the highpower shooters will use at 200 and 300 yards).

".22 Palma" training shot at 200 on the NRA SR-C is great 1,000 yard training -- wind will affect the 40-grain .22 LR bullet like a .308 at 1,000. The X- and 10-rings are generous but realistic and will give you a good indicator of the rifle, scope, ammo, and your ability to hold groups and correct for wind changes.

 

[308]

Good 22's and good ammo will suprise you at long range.
I have a 10/22 rigged for lr work and have shot it up to 400 yards.

At 200 4 to 6 inch groups are a regular happening in no wind conditions.

At my friends range at the 200 yard target we have a 12" circle and a 4" circle metal plate and when every thing is just right you can keep 4 of 5 on the 4" plate at 200, but here again I reiterate its got to be one of those no wind days. Later 308

 

[BillR]

I have two rifles I shoot LR with quite a bit but to date I haven't spent much time on shooting paper which I really need to do but I just seem to find more time to shoot PD's than I do paper.
Rifle #1 is a Kimber 22 SVT with a Leupold w/Stoney Point Turrets 6.5X20X40
Rifle #2 is a Remington 541 HB with a Nikon UCC w/Turrets in 6.5X20X40
Both are very accurate rifles with Wolf TM ammo and 100yd MOA groups are very easy on a calm day, and I mean little or no wind at all. Kick it up to 10-15 and forget groups. Especially if its a variable wind. Go any higher and forget it altogether.
One thing I do a lot of and that if forgetting about the paper except for getting the gun shooting pretty much dead on giving me a starting point and then walking the shots in on PD's This works even in the wind unless its too variable but once you get close then its just using a bit of Kentucky windage. Its a whole lot more fun trying to hit a PD at 400 than paper at 200.
I keep watching your thread to see what your getting for drops so I can work it into my data. Gives me more time to shoot Pd's rather than paper that way.

 

[Mike6158]

Bill,

Here's the zero wind range data that I worked up the other day. I cross referenced this with LoadBase 3.0 calculations. Ie I shot at 100 and 200, input the data, adjusted velocity until it matched, then wrote down the intermediate and longer values.

Yards MOA
100 0.00
125 3.90
150 8.10
175 12.60
200 17.50
225 22.40
250 22.70
275 33.20
300 39.00

 

[BillR]

Thanks, those drops pretty closely follow what I have wrote down. Which kind of ammo are you using and the stated velocity for it?
No wonder I'm running out of scope with those drops. Also the reason for the Kentucky windage. needed. Going to have to find a better scope base as I hate using more spacers using the Leupold rings and bases. I think it puts a bit of stress on the tube. Might have to switch to the Burris rings to get rid of the pressure so I can get more elevation. Just some thoughts is all.

 

[Mike6158]

The ammo is Federal Premium Gold Medal. 40gr but no velocity is specified. Backing into it from LoadBase I get about 900 fps. One of these days I'm going to drag the chrony out and see what it really is.

I put a 20MOA base on my Savage. Every little bit helps.

 

[Oliveralan]

I was out at my property today with my buddy Matt (aka. Trebark) and the woman in charge was getting sick of the noise from my 300 wby imp and other big boomers, so we got out my ruger 10/22s. banged on steel real consistently at 178. Then moved it out to 250 (a 18"x24" plate) and could hit about 50% of the time. Using kentucky windage and elevation. We had a simmons 3-9 scope so dialing drop was a no go. We still had our other target at 407yards still set up so what the heck, launched some lead at it. GREAT fun! you could actually see the bullet in the air tumbling and sometimes see it spinning sideways when it clipped a branch! In the end we dug one bullet that had hit the frame holding the plate, it had penetrated about .2", not deformed at all, and had been coming down at an angle steeper than 45degrees!! We heald 22ft above the targets. We were shooting CCI minimags 40gr HPs.

 

[FAL Shot]

I routinely shoot prairie dogs beyond 100 yards with my CZ 452. I have a Burris Timberline scope with AO and ballistic reticle, and a Bushnell laser rangefinder so ranging is no real problem. The wind doping is what's hard to figure. It can be blowing one way in your face and exactly opposite at the prairie dog. Most days I am limited to about 125-150 yards. With Velocitors and a calm day, 200 yard shots are very possible. Stingers go transonic at about 100 yards and accuracy goes away after that. Velocitors start slower at the muzzle, but end up faster past 100 yards, so they are the best long range ammo for me. Subsonics are accurate in no-wind conditions, but that is something a Montana prairie resident hardly gets to experience.

 

[ColoKeb]

I shoot some 4000 rounds a year at prairie dogs. Favorite spot is a grass strip airport.
With the owner and my buddy watching I said "lets see if I can get that one".

Flipped him on his back with legs flailing.

Measure: 346 Yards.

Most of my 22LR shooting is 80-130 yards with a good scope and Kentucky windage.

 

[BigJ45]

I shot a 2.385" 5 shot group at 200 yards with my Savage MarkII TR yesterday so I'd say it's possible.

 

[isaaccarlson]

I can tell you it is VERY possible. I have been catching some flak over my 200 yard groups as they have ranged from .406" to 2.31". I can usually shoot 1" groups if it is steady wind or calm. Keep practicing and find the ammo your gun likes best. Keep it subsonic. Mine likes CCI Standard Velocity. It shoots about 1070 fps. Keep up the good work!

I use a CZ 455 22LR. I have pillar bedded it and done some bolt work. It wears a Tasco 6-24x42 mil dot scope with a custom made elevation turret.

 

[bangotwango]

I often shoot my mkII at 200yds at my plinker reset target with wolf match ammo. Being a slow round it has quite a bit of drop(im on the bottom of the vertical crosshair on leupold br32) but those 2" steel circles just keep tingin. It is definetely a blast.