.22 LR long-ish (long-er) range

[silveroak]

I've tightened the barrel-to-receiver fit on the M&P 15-22s. There was at least half-a-turn on both and just a bit more past that. Next I'll relax the scopes and see if they can be trued with the appropriate moderate torque values.

As an aside: I'm skittish about anything requiring elbow grease on MSRs. Castle nuts, flash hiders, etc. These earlier M&P 15-22 require flash hider removal to remove the hand guard front cap to use the barrel-and-handguard (what I have) the Tacticool-22 tightening tool. I can't bring myself to muscle the flash hider on these keeping in mind the polymer upper and lower. I've cut out the plastic handguard fronts cap lest I must muscle the barrel attached to the plastic upper. It does not carry any critical function, as I understand.

This holds true for all-metal receivers for me. Gunsmith visit when "force" is required. Comments?

I've ordered a dedicated inch-pounds torque wrench to remount the scopes and eliminate any possible pinching to the assembly .

Wil post after all set and fired.

 

[MrBorland]

Ask more of your rifles and your skills, learn where your limitations fall, and learn to raise them

Amen.

I don't shoot nearly as much as I had been, but it's still about pushing & improving. My current range is limited to 100 yards, but no worries - one can get inventive. Getting teensy groups off the bench at 100 is a worthy goal, but can get equipment-based & pricey quickly. To avoid the rabbit hole, I try to get off the bench. Stand, sit, get prone. Or start from a standing position, then sit or go prone. Use a bipod or to use a sling. Maybe use a timer - from a standing start, go seated and/or prone and try getting 5 in the black in...I dunno...30 or 45 seconds (50 or 100 yards, respectively)? Lots of new skills to practice...

Best wishes to the OP.

 

[DMW1116]

200 yards doesn’t seem too unreasonable but it would take a little dialing in. I’d start at 100 and walk out at 25 yard increments. Accuracy wise I think my Marlin 60 and 10/22 could do it. Maybe my Henry too. When I first started shooting I tried some Interceptor from Aguila. It shot about 2 MOA out to 100 yards. If it could hold that it would be good to 200 for 6” or 8” targets. They aren’t recommended for my Marlins but my Henry is nearly as accurate and would handle them no problem. They might be incompatible as I never tried them in the Henry though.

 

[Varminterror]

Here’s a screenshot from a 22LR ELR group nearby one of the ranges I’ve joined since I’m working so closely with a partner in TX this year. You’ll note in this rule/CoF change announcement, they have a 500yrd target in their CoF, and they’re SHRINKING it from the 2023 season ~4moa standard to only slightly over 3moa…

 

[silveroak]

200 yards doesn’t seem too unreasonable but it would take a little dialing in. I’d start at 100 and walk out at 25 yard increments. Accuracy wise I think my Marlin 60 and 10/22 could do it. Maybe my Henry too. When I first started shooting I tried some Interceptor from Aguila. It shot about 2 MOA out to 100 yards. If it could hold that it would be good to 200 for 6” or 8” targets. They aren’t recommended for my Marlins but my Henry is nearly as accurate and would handle them no problem. They might be incompatible as I never tried them in the Henry though.

Yes, I've tried the Interceptor and have a lot of it. It is definitely loaded "hot", if you could say that about .22 LR. Since buying a significant amount of it, I've since backed off and decided to "standardize" on the more common regular high-velocity .22 LR since (as my thinking goes) at the longer distances other factors become more important the the velocity advantage diminishes. I think of as self-defense-in-a-pinch ammo... Another one of the same breed is the CCI Velocitor. Never had any, but want to try.

 

[DMW1116]

You might want to check out the 22 Long Range video by Mark and Sam After Work on Youtube. They have a different take on velocity and the advantages it provides. Mark prefers Velocitor, but they shoot much further than 200 yards.

 

[silveroak]

I am happy to report that it was the scopes. I took a chance on two other budget scopes in hopes that they'd work and track (of the same vendor worked well on a 5.56).
Both rifles are hitting steel at 200 without issue at 17 MOA elevation as per the calculations. I took extra care mounting these, ring positioning , torqueing, ensure reticles are not canted.
Now I will see if I can tighten groups at 100. These (M&P 15-22) are semi-auto blowback guns with mil-spec AR triggers, I am using Mini-Mags, heard they are not the best for semi, and transonic issues...
But the ballistics and scopes do work out.

 

[Varminterror]

You might want to check out the 22 Long Range video by Mark and Sam After Work on Youtube. They have a different take on velocity and the advantages it provides. Mark prefers Velocitor, but they shoot much further than 200 yards.

Mark & Sam’s video isn’t necessarily the best authority on top performing ammunition at distance.

It’s well demonstrated that the wind sensitivity of supersonic ammunition becomes problematic at distance. Yes, it’s easy on certain days to have one group end up smaller than another group, but on more days, the less sensitive ammunition will hold the smaller groups. Hence why more folks - almost all folks - shooting competitively with 22LR’s are shooting subsonic ammo.

 

[silveroak]

Follow-up question for everyone.
When zeroing windage, is there any sense to back off to 50 or even 25, from 100? I am getting a feeling the variations at 100 are detrimental for windage zeroing.

 

[Chuck R.]

I use 50yds, but that's because it's the shortest distance from my bench. My bench runs down the length of my dam (50-300yds) and there's no such thing as "zero wind" at my place:

I can go shorter, but it's just as easy to shoot 50yds, then use combination of a Kestrel wind meter, wind flag and my ballistic app to see the effect of the wind and compensate with my zero.

 

[Varminterror]

Follow-up question for everyone.
When zeroing windage, is there any sense to back off to 50 or even 25, from 100? I am getting a feeling the variations at 100 are detrimental for windage zeroing.

There's no real detriment to zeroing shorter - OTHER than the fact the influences are smaller, and the changes you make are smaller. So those variations which are revealing themselves at 100yrds may be hiding themselves at 50yrds. But If you want to zero elevation for 100yrds and zero your windage at 50yrds, no problem. Take the opportunity to make sure you don't have any equipment offset error or tracking drift as you do this work - if your wind creeps disproportionately as you walk out farther and farther, then you may have an offset built into your rifle/scope/mount which needs to be remedied.

 

[silveroak]

There's no real detriment to zeroing shorter - OTHER than the fact the influences are smaller, and the changes you make are smaller. So those variations which are revealing themselves at 100yrds may be hiding themselves at 50yrds. But If you want to zero elevation for 100yrds and zero your windage at 50yrds, no problem. Take the opportunity to make sure you don't have any equipment offset error or tracking drift as you do this work - if your wind creeps disproportionately as you walk out farther and farther, then you may have an offset built into your rifle/scope/mount which needs to be remedied.

Thank you. I am used to zero at distance when possible line of thought, but with .22 LR, I am unsure if I want to be subject to 100y variations as far as windage (there are days when it is all over the place). Something to think about...

 

[TonyAngel]

Man, it seems that these days threads about shooting long range. 22lr attracts a bunch of attention. Shoot 22 to longer ranges sure is fun. I do it because I don't play golf.

Ammo is a very important factor when it comes to .22, especially when you're trying to reach out. I'm a big fan of CCI SV, but when that is failing me, I'll also try out the available lots of Eley Contact and SK Semi Auto. For inexpensive ammo, I've had lots of each that got me out to 300 consistently.

I know it sounds counter intuitive, but for longer ranges, I'd avoid super sonic ammo. The faster stuff is more sensitive to the wind. Punch the data into your ballistic calculator and you see that the holds increase with velocity.

 

[Gun-Reck]

What is the fascination with range.

Small targets, say a golf ball, at 75-100 yards, is good shooting for squirrels and rabbits, especially from field positions.

Velocity/trajectory/drift play havoc on a .22 LR past that.

 

[Walkalong]

What is the fascination with range.

Small targets, say a golf ball, at 75-100 yards

Well, for starters, a golf ball at 75 to 100 yards isn’t a small target for a match grade barrel and ammo…..

But it’s just fun to shoot farther.