Precision .22lr as long range trainer

[wally]

I just picked up a Ruger Precision Rimfire and mounted a Primary Arms 4-14X FPP R-Grid Xmas tree reticle. Zeroed it 3" high at 50 yards, tweaked it a bit shooting steel plates at 100 yards and then moved to 200 & 300 yards.

Needed to hold about 6.5 mil at 200 and ~12mil at 300. Heck of a lot of fun. Had a head wind of about 10 mph that was pretty variable which made the 300 yards shots pretty challenging, but by the time I was done, I was ringing the 8" plate about 12 of 15.

I notice that in my ballistics calculator the Aguila 40gr "standard velocity" I was using with a 100 yard zero is a pretty good analog at 200 & 300 yards to the 155gr .308 I've been using at 400 & 600 yards in terms of drop and drift.

.22LR 200/300 .308 400/600
PATH: -32.8/-108.5" -30.1/-103.6"
TOF: 0.60/0.95 sec 0.56/0.93 sec
DRIFT: 12.7/26.9" 16.6/41.8"

The drift looks pretty far off in terms of "inches" but in terms of MILs its 1.7/2.4 for the .22lr and 0.76/1.9 Since I plan to mostly dial for elevation and hold for wind I think it'll help when I do get to shoot longer ranges. The .308 drift at 300 yard is 0.82 MIL so my .22lr reads should drictly apply to my 300 yard .308 shooting.

Anyone else using a "precision 22lr" rifle at 300 yards as an analog for higher calibers at longer ranges in hopes of improving their ability to "dope the wind"? Since 300 is a far as I can get for the time being, my hope is what I learn with RPR will translate to the .308 when I get to shoot longer ranges.

 

[Varminterror]

I’ve been shooting 22LR’s as practice analogs for over 20yrs. My most recent is a Savage Mark II BSEV which I restocked into a ProVarmint from Boyd’s. Below, the HBIC is practicing the PRS Speed Skills stage at 100yrds on 3” targets, with the same lateral spread (25 and 50yrds apart) as the standard centerfire CoF.

I’m planning to work toward a 700 footprint 22LR this season so I can rebuild a copy of my centerfire match rifle, but the Savage has done very well for me. I do more than half of my live fire practice with this rifle, instead of burning barrel life from my centerfires.

 

[MarshallDodge]

I really enjoy shooting my CZ455 Tacticool / Pro Varmint at extended ranges. The outdoor range that is closest to me, and open year round, is 100 yards and I find centerfire rifles to be boring at that distance so I bring the CZ most of the time. The dirt backstop is the side of a mountain and is covered with little rocks and pieces of clay pigeon to pick off, or I setup some mini steel silhouettes to have fun on.

A few weeks ago, one of the other shooters brought up his NRL 22 targets and we had a lot of fun with that, including a Know Your Limits target setup at 25 yards with .25, .50, and .75 inch steel targets. Shooting a .25" target at that distance proved to be fun and challenging.

I have shot out to 300 yards one time and agree that it is a blast to see how well you can do with the little cartridge.

 

[doubleh]

I use a Ruger precision rimfire out to 200 yards as that's as far as the gunclub range goes to now due to the longer distance being closed a couple of years ago because of the actions of two dummies. Any farther involves a long and rather rough drive. It's excellent for increasing skills with longer range capable calibers but that is not my main purpose. I just do it because it's fun. If I do decide to make the drive and shoot longer distances it will helpthough.

 

[12Bravo20]

While I don't shoot at 300 yards very often, I do use 22 rifles for practice. I have a Savage MkII that is setup just like my Savage Model 12 308. I also have an AR22 setup like my precision AR15. It's fun and helps when I shoot my centerfire rifles.

 

[desidog]

My go to, home from work, shooting: was .22lr off the back patio. Soda and coffee cans hung from bushes out to 200 yards. Due east, so with a setting sun you could see the heels of subsonic rounds going down range. Major quality of life /enjoyment /mistake was moving... neighbor proximity sucks.

I’d recommend getting a scale and weighing your ammo; (with willing suspension of disbelief) assume bullet and case weight is universal, and group them by weight. Between the primer and powder, most rounds will be similar, but taking out the ends of the bell curve will curtail a few shots where you would otherwise wonder what the h happened.

 

[TonyAngel]

I did a lot of shooting with .22lr and it is challenging. I shot a remington 40X with a weaver 36X on top. Amazing what a 10mph cross wind can do to that little bullet at 50 yards. What it taught me was the value of learning to read the wind at varying distances between you and the target, not just the wind at you and the target. There were many time where the flag just forward of my firing line was pointing one way, the flag near the target was pointing the opposite way and the flags in between were showing something different.

CCI standard velocity was a good ammo too. For the price.

 

[W. Bittle]

Although I have not done it in a while, I used to use my old 10/22 from 50 yards to 200 yards.
I had an odd way of working different ranges. I would use sub sonic at 50 yards. Standard
velocity at 100 yards and the CCI 'Minimag" for 200 yards.
The difference in elevation hold overs was far less using the three different types of ammo.
In my 10/22, the windage did not change for the three different types of ammo.
But, if you shot the three at, say, 100 yards, there was an appreciable difference in
the point of impact with respect to elevation. At 200 yards I would plink small soda cans and
those clay fragments with no problem using the CCI ammo.
a .22 with a scope set to 4 power at 200 yards can be as much a challenge as
using a 6.5X55mm at 600 yards with a 10x scope. Using a .22 with iron sights
or a low power scope at 50 - 300 yards is great practice for long range shooting.

 

[Varminterror]

I’m not sure I see a terrible amount of value in trying to line up certain yardages for drop and drift unity. A wind change or lot change of ammo will negate that relationship...

The real practice is simple - observe wind indicators, make a call, shoot to prove whether the call was good or bad. Elevation is easy - You’re just dialing or holding a given number corresponding to your calculator or DOPE. No magic there. If you dial, it’ll all on your horizontal crosshair anyway, and if you hold range, it’s a little more or a little less free glass above or below... who cares? Just shoot far enough that the wind is going to take your bullet far enough away from POA LOS to register as measurable (not just part of your raw group size) and observe how close your calls line up with your results. I don’t see utility in lining up 287 yards and a 9mph wind causing the same drop and drift with a 22LR as 593 yards with a 308... just get in the wind and start shooting.

 

[W. Bittle]

The real secret to 500 - 1000 yard shooting is to practice and learn superior trigger control
as well as how to read variables like wind and mirage. Using a .22, you can do a lot of cheap
practicing for trigger control as well as wind. At 200 yards, the .22 will drift with a cross wind
because of the low velocity and the poor BC of most all .22 projectiles. Any shooting
is good practice. It helps you develop aiming, holding and trigger control. Of course, nothing beats
actually shooting your long range rifle. But, we don't always have easy or close access to 1000
yard ranges. Many times I will just use something like my Henry Golden Boy with it's
open sights at 100 yards. I concentrate on proper trigger control as well as
proper aiming relative to wind to plant small groups. I also use guns like
my Swedish Mauser and my Persian Mauser with open sights at
100 - 300 yards. That is good practice because you get trigger control
practice plus it gets you used to recoil and you can train yourself with such rifles
to resist and stop flinching. Flinching is the number one reason why many can not shoot
long range. You even fart while shooting at 800 yards and you will miss.
You need to learn to be rock steady and to never jerk the trigger or anticipate the shot
and recoil. This takes a lot of practice.

 

[Varminterror]

The real secret to 500 - 1000 yard shooting is to practice and learn superior trigger control

I wouldn’t call it a “secret,” and I wouldn’t say it’s unique to 500-1,000yrd shooting. You won’t ever shoot small at any range if you aren’t skilled at trigger management. Mechanical errors like poor follow through are linear, so that which spreads your groups by an extra 1/2-3/4 MOA at 100 will do the same at 1,000.

...how to read variables like wind and mirage.

This is the biggest gap between short range and long range shooting. Most folks can learn trigger management and mechanical stability to shoot sub-MOA at 100yrds - most can even learn it pretty quickly. But the ability to make accurate calls for those extra 400-900 yards of wind influence, and the variability of wind across a long range field vs. short range is exponentially more critical at long range.

 

[Chuck R.]

I agree that at distance, once the mechanics are worked out and your gun/ammo is optimized, it's all about reading conditions.

When I was competing in BPCR rifle for long range and silhouette I was in touch with a gentleman who had recently won the international championship that year in South Africa. I was amazed to learn that he lived in R.I. (my home state) which is pretty much void of any LR ranges as are the neighboring states. So I asked him how he practiced and he said it was with a .22LR. He did his load development and testing for his match rifles out to 300yds which he had access to, but his real practice was at 200 yds with .22LR.

In this instance it makes perfect sense because the ballistics for a .22LR are similar to a "hot-rodded" .45-90 with a 550grn. So my next gun purchase was an 1885 Low-Wall replica in .22LR that matched my silhouette rifle...and I shot "a lot". Another thing that helped was spotting for other shooters, good shooters with predictable accuracy. Because then the mechanics and weapon were isolated and I could observe the effects of the conditions.

I've got my own range now that goes out to 760yds, so other than matches I don't get to public ranges much. Before I built my place I belonged to a beautiful private range outside of KC where I'd go and practice frequently. I'd get some weird looks while I was practicing prone or offhand at my scaled down animal silhouettes while using a timer to simulate a bank of animals. I was always amazed at the number of shooters that didn't really "practice", just basically shot multiple guns off the bench, then packed up and went home.

 

[CraigC]

I've shot .22LR's at 200-300yds for years and dedicated a few rifles to the purpose. This week I took two rifles apart and along with a scope and some AR parts I had on hand, put together this 10/22 for NRL22 shoots. The quad rail is still way too heavy as the rifle weighs 12lbs with the 2½lb scope/mount. Made a huge difference when I took it off the AR.

This:


From this:


And this:

 

[CraigC]

I’m planning to work toward a 700 footprint 22LR this season...

Bergara or Vudoo?

 

[Varminterror]

Bergara or Vudoo?

Mine will be Vudoo when it comes together.

 

[CraigC]

Nice! I've seen a few on Facebook groups and they're phenomenal shooters.

 

[wally]

I'm making progress learning to read the wind and conditions. So I'm happy with my rationale for getting this rifle.

Been using the same lot of Aguila Super Extra 40gr Standard Velocity with a 200 yrd zero shooting steel plates at 300 yards. My wind holds have been any where from 1.5mil right to 2.5mil left. What has perhaps surprised me more is the effect of temperature (and probably humidity, but I've no humidity meter) as the elevation holds have been normally been ~6.5mil but have ranged from 5.0 to 7.5 with temps in the low 50s to high 80s. Today was what has been typical for the past few weeks, mid 60s 10-11AM.

Today was what has been typical for the past few weeks, mid 60s 10-11AM. Was holding 6.5mil elevation and 1.0mil left hit 13 out of 15 on the 12" (4MOA) plate. This ammo was ~2 moa (about 1" group but I don't obsess over measuring it) at 50 yards in my RPR when I first zeroed, so all things considered I'm pretty satisfied with my progress, its good cheap shooting fun!

Maybe someday I'll try some better ammo, 1 moa or better, (but this costs as much or more than 9mm ball) and move to the 6" (2moa) plate.

I also usually shoot some cheap Brown Bear 140gr JSP (~2 moa at 50 yards) in my .308 RPR on these same days. The wind and temp/humidity has pretty minor effects at only 300 yards but I'm doing roughly 6/10 on the 6" plate. Shooting at the 12" plate the main issue seems to be vertical stinging (not unexpected with cheap ammo). When the wind is minimal I'll shoot Hornady Steel match (~$0.80 per shot, 2X+ what I paid for the Brown Bear about five years ago) I'll hit 9/10 on the 6" plate, usually its my concentration/impatience as too I often don't wait for the plate to stop swinging between shots.