22lr accuracy at distances beyond 50 yards, and fun shooting

MCMXI said:

For long range, is the consensus that supersonic ammunition is better than subsonic? Running some numbers, a 40gr bullet at 1,600 fps with a G1 BC of 0.15 goes transonic between 100 yards and 125 yards.

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I don’t bother with subsonic ammo for 22LR - 40grn at 1600fps, we’d be talking 22WMR - dropping down to 1050 would take away way too much from the WMR.

The stubby bullets we’re talking about in 22LR, which only start out BARELY supersonic, don’t seem to get destabilized too much by the tiny smack in the tail they experience when falling transonic. For 22LR, it’s pretty easy to find subsonic ammo, and it certainly doesn’t hurt, but it doesn’t seem to be as critical as it can be for big centerfires. Not at least to 400yrds.

@Varminterror, thanks. I have more than a few thousand Remington Golden Bullet rounds so am hoping that they shoot well from my new BXR. I shot a steel target today at 200 yards using SK Match and was disappointed in the performance. I was able to hit the 7-1/2 wide steel target almost at will once I had the elevation dialed in but I could see rounds impacting all over the place.

@MCMXI - it’s certainly a different game than shooting a centerfire. The rimfires do scatter pretty quickly at “long range.” What might be an inch at a hundred can easily be 6 at 300.

It might be “junk ammo,” but like you, I also have thousands upon thousands of Golden Bullets, and I do a lot of my distance shooting with it. Not as tight as more expensive ammo, but 1/3 the cost, typically. I just took delivery of 1500 more last week, after a Black Friday sale - should get my son through the spring bunny hunting.

@Varminterror, when I worked at Remington, I bought 10 bags of GB at $15/bag which was the most we could buy. Each bag contained 1,400 rounds! Like an idiot, I sold 5 bags at my cost to a Remington employee that wasn't able to buy from the store in the plant. I still have five bags or so which should last me a while.

Here's my 200 yard target from this afternoon. Once I had the elevation figured out I would say that most of the hits were in the lower half of the target. The target is 7-12" wide. The head is 2-1/2" x 2-1/2". I would like to find a load capable of keeping most of the shots inside the head but this might be unrealistic, even under ideal conditions.

I have steel out at various distances but I expect the 400 yard target will be the upper limit for the .22LR. I'll probably end up putting one of my Vortex Viper PST FFP mil/mil scopes on the BXR, maybe the 6-24x50mm.

For long range, is the consensus that supersonic ammunition is better than subsonic?

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Out of some long or short barreled .22’s “standard” will be sub, sometimes even high velocity. From our testing what you didn’t want was the ammunition transitioning from super to sub at the targets range.

Viewing it from the rear using a telescope you can see bullets do quite odd things as they go down range.

Obviously going faster eliminates the time a bullet can be pulled to earth by gravity, using a shorter range “zero”.

So instead of aiming many feet above the target like this.



You are holding much closer to POI relative to POA, even the impact is masked from the down range super sonic crack.



That said, both can work but from what I have experienced, I try and avoid the transition between the two the most.

MCMXI said:

@Varminterror, thanks. I have more than a few thousand Remington Golden Bullet rounds so am hoping that they shoot well from my new BXR. I shot a steel target today at 200 yards using SK Match and was disappointed in the performance. I was able to hit the 7-1/2 wide steel target almost at will once I had the elevation dialed in but I could see rounds impacting all over the place.

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I'm picking up a BXR tomorrow. If it's any kind of a shooter it and the CZ 452 will be my long range 22s. Remington Golden Bullets are usually relegated to my Henry or the 22 revolvers. I'll have to try them out in a couple of other guns.

kidneyboy said:

I'm picking up a BXR tomorrow. If it's any kind of a shooter it and the CZ 452 will be my long range 22s.

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I really like the BXR but did order a Kidd trigger for it. It's early days and I've only tried SK Match ammo so plan on trying other brands and types to find what shoots best at "long" range.

MCMXI said:

I really like the BXR but did order a Kidd trigger for it. It's early days and I've only tried SK Match ammo so plan on trying other brands and types to find what shoots best at "long" range.

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I've decided that next year is the year of expensive 22 ammo.....
The CZ likes Eley Club so I'll be starting with that.

Pic is a 25yd target

My only 22 rifle is a ruger 10/22 with iron sights. We shoot at 10" targets out to 100 yards both paper and steel targets. Just trying to hit the target in a consistent general location. Not shooting for real accuracy but it is still fun.

Picher said:

Just found my "Prove-It" target My best 10-22 target that had 10 consecutive 5-shot groups averaged .47" at 50 yards. Best was under 0.2", which is rediculous, but the rifle had a Shilen bull-barrel and a lot of action work and bedding. Only a couple of non-factory parts besides the barrel. I did all the work myself and wrote some "Do it yourself information" on the 'net, but it's been long enough that I can't find much.

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Deleted

Deleted, Sorry.

Saw Ernie's topic and couldn't help but post some. Here's my Ruger Mk III/2X Barska (though I much prefer the 2X Nikon with target turret and credit card-shimmed Burris Signature Pos-Align rings)--



I can net more than 100 MOA out of my 2X Nikon/Burris ring setup now, which takes me way out there (screwing around mostly).

This rifle started out as a Remington 581, with removable magazine and a 22" barrel (Bought new for $55 in the 1970s.) When I started shooting informal rimfire benchrest, I installed a used Rem 541 Bull Barrel, but it wasn't shooting as well as I'd hoped. Meanwhile, the gunsmith who worked on a used Remington 40X for me had a Lilja bull-barrel that he thought was defective, so removed it from his rifle, but it turned out to be fine. I had him shorten it and turn it down to sporter configuration and fitted to Rem 540/580 shank, then I installed it, using only High-Strength Locktite and it's been on there for about 15 years.

I modified the factory trigger so it breaks at 1.5 lbs and installed an over-travel screw. The Scope is a Simmons 6.5-20X. The stock was an aftermarket semi-finished blank for an Anschutz 600(?) series that I picked up from the "used stock barrel" at Kittery Trading Post. I decided to put a flat slab at the forend for better benchrest shooting, but it doesn't interfere with offhand shooting. The action is set in Acraglas and the barrel is free-floated. It also has a single-shot adaptor.

The rifle isn't a Rimfire Benchrest competition rifle, but I used it in our local Plinker matches and it held its own. It's also a blast to shoot offhand and I use it at 50 feet indoors quite often.

That's one good-lookin' rifle sir!

Thanks Steve!

LiveLife said:

Those of you getting small groups at several hundred yards, what ammunition are you using?

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Talk of longer distance shooting is encouraging me. I had originally intended to test the new Collector 10/22 out to 50 yards and maybe 75 yards with the most accurate ammo identified from my testing (Currently testing around 20 different ammo) but will consider testing out to 100 yards (farthest distance I can shoot in my current shooting spot) - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...lector-3-break-in.859106/page-2#post-11310458

d2wing said:

I am impressed.

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Me too.

20 + years ago I had a browning buckmark 10" bull barrel that I would shoot to 100 yds at clay pigeons. Haven't done much since though.

Hey I got one of those now--Buckmark Varmint. Actually enlarged the barrel's stock screw to accept a bipod stud, and rigged a tall Harris bipod on it for a walking prairie dog setup. Stuck the Nikon 2.5-8X LER scope on it and it's a fun shooter sir.

Have a Ruger Charger/Kidd match barrel that I stuck a Horus Vision 8-26X on top of in shimmed Burris Pos-Align rings. I can net 140ish MOA from 100-yd. zero out of turret and reticle. Couple years ago took my nephew out prairie dog shooting with it and lasered one at 477 yds. Dope called for 90 MOA up, so we dialed it and on the 9th shot he nailed it. Died in the top of it's hole and we got the pic for whatever it's worth. Don't shoot at these distances very often but it sure worked that day.

sscoyote said:

Ruger Charger/Kidd match barrel ... prairie dog shooting with it and lasered one at 477 yds ... on the 9th shot

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And I struggle to get 0.5" groups at 50 yards with my 10/22 ...

Picher said:

This post reminded me of my Ruger Standard Auto that I mounted a 2.5X Weaver on, back in the 1960s. One day I was walking around the woodchuck fields with the pistol and a rifle and noticed what I thought was a rusty can about 100 yards away in a hayfield. I decided to plug it with the pistol, bracing against a small hardwood. I shot and heard a weird sound...more like a "plop" than a "ding", so I went down to check. I was amazed that the large "can" turned out to be a dead woodchuck...freshly shot through the head.View attachment 878375

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(Due to the short eye-relief of the rifle scope, I cradled the gun in the crook of my left arm when shooting offhand.)

sscoyote said:

Hey I got one of those now--Buckmark Varmint. Actually enlarged the barrel's stock screw to accept a bipod stud, and rigged a tall Harris bipod on it for a walking prairie dog setup. Stuck the Nikon 2.5-8X LER scope on it and it's a fun shooter sir.

Have a Ruger Charger/Kidd match barrel that I stuck a Horus Vision 8-26X on top of in shimmed Burris Pos-Align rings. I can net 140ish MOA from 100-yd. zero out of turret and reticle. Couple years ago took my nephew out prairie dog shooting with it and lasered one at 477 yds. Dope called for 90 MOA up, so we dialed it and on the 9th shot he nailed it. Died in the top of it's hole and we got the pic for whatever it's worth. Don't shoot at these distances very often but it sure worked that day.

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Wonder just how fast the bullet is moving at that distance.

I remember my first small bore match....I shot with a Marlin 25N and an old tasco scope....I could not get enough to even see the rams at 100....so I just guessed....lets see the wind is doing this....I held about here in practice....got one ram.

Seen some videos of long distance 22 rim fire shots......Well lets just say I will take the high road (yea I know amazing for me right) on comments on an animal shot at that distance.

fpgt72 said:

Wonder just how fast the bullet is moving at that distance.

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My Charger with Eley Black only shows a pinch under 82moa at 477, so I imagine I’m trucking a bit faster, but I’m showing 680fps impact velocity. Good for about 41 ft.lbs., or 0.87 Taylor KO factor (had to triple check my math there, because I’ve never yielded a fractional TKO before!). So a lot more punch than a BB gun - similar speed but ~6-8x more bullet weight - but certainly about as low as can be found in a firearm - not surprisingly.

Don't shoot at that distance too often honestly--but I figured it probably beats death by poison. I will admit that I'm not the one who defines the std. for morality when it comes to shooting pests at any range. Vel at 475 was ~750 fps (like a pellet at the muzzle) with about 50 ft lbs.

LiveLife said:

And I struggle to get 0.5" groups at 50 yards with my 10/22 ...

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Me too sir, especially with hunting (HP) ammo. Mostly I'm just using Armscor these days, as the terminal effect is about as good as anything I've used so far, and accuracy is about avg. for most hunting ammo I've tried. Have some hollow pointing tools I'm using to help with netting terminal effect out of some match ammo now but feeding in some of my 22's is a real problem. Will keep working at it though off and on.