a .22 lr question

[greencobra]

yeah, i know, we've probably hashed this one out more than once in the past, but we are after all a firearms forum so lets hash it about some more. what do you think is the farthest, most realistic distance a .22 lr is effective. i'm not talking lucky hits. i can hold a .22 10" contender on target at 80-100 yards and get a decent group, but what about beyond? anyone regularly take their .22 lr out and beyond and feel comfortable taking small game humanely? in colorado, i us to bring my ruger 6" single six into work and shoot prairie dogs at 75+ yards while sitting in the loading doc door at dusk. i had a giant spot that i could turn around and light up the general vicinity. won't lie cause i doubt you'd believe me anyway...i missed a lot. never wounded, when i hit one it stayed put. i'd have done spectacular with a rifle like those ruger m77 heavy barrel ,22 varminters, but... how are you all doing with your .22's?

 

[VTski4x4]

yeah, i know, we've probably hashed this one out more than once in the past, but we are after all a firearms forum so lets hash it about some more. what do you think is the farthest, most realistic distance a .22 lr is effective. i'm not talking lucky hits. i can hold a .22 10" contender on target at 80-100 yards and get a decent group, but what about beyond? anyone regularly take their .22 lr out and beyond and feel comfortable taking small game humanely? in colorado, i us to bring my ruger 6" single six into work and shoot prairie dogs at 75+ yards while sitting in the loading doc door at dusk. i had a giant spot that i could turn around and light up the general vicinity. won't lie cause i doubt you'd believe me anyway...i missed a lot. never wounded, when i hit one it stayed put. i'd have done spectacular with a rifle like those ruger m77 heavy barrel ,22 varminters, but... how are you all doing with your .22's?

The long gong guys up in Maine are shooting 300yds every weekend with 22lr at 3, 6, and 9" plates. The farthest they took their competition out to was 1/4 mi or 440yds and folks were still having consistent hits. Most are running CZ actions in chassis with expensive glass.

 

[PappyM3]

yeah, i know, we've probably hashed this one out more than once in the past, but we are after all a firearms forum so lets hash it about some more. what do you think is the farthest, most realistic distance a .22 lr is effective. i'm not talking lucky hits. i can hold a .22 10" contender on target at 80-100 yards and get a decent group, but what about beyond? anyone regularly take their .22 lr out and beyond and feel comfortable taking small game humanely? in colorado, i us to bring my ruger 6" single six into work and shoot prairie dogs at 75+ yards while sitting in the loading doc door at dusk. i had a giant spot that i could turn around and light up the general vicinity. won't lie cause i doubt you'd believe me anyway...i missed a lot. never wounded, when i hit one it stayed put. i'd have done spectacular with a rifle like those ruger m77 heavy barrel ,22 varminters, but... how are you all doing with your .22's?

Totally depends on the target and how precisely your gun shoots which ammo.

I was able to get sub 1.5MOA 10rd groups out of my 22lr AR at 200 yards. If there’s no wind that day then I can hit 1.5 MOA targets and have engaged targets out to 300 yards with it.

For a prairie dog, I feel like I could have a pretty high hit percentage out to 300 yards, with a good wind read. But if I only have, say, a 3” target for an ethical kill, then that will bring my range in to 150-200 yards. If the wind is erratic and not repeatable, it would bring that range in. Even seemingly consistent wind would make me bring the range in, depending on how much. Too easy for a slight change to throw the little 22lr off course.

The other aspect is penetration. I haven’t seen many gel tests for 22lr at reduced velocities (say sub-800 ft/s). I wouldn’t worry about prairie dogs for penetration really, but anything larger and I’d definitely take that into consideration for max 22lr effective range.

 

[cockpitbob]

Past 100y it is ALL about reading the wind and knowing your dope. Shooting. 22LR at 250y has about the same wind and elevation challenges as. 308 at 1,000y.

Seriously, I've shot plenty of 1,000y matches (when I lived in CA) where guys with 1MOA rifles beat guys with expensive 1/4 MOA rifles because they could read the wind better.

 

[Marlin1]

I can hit chest sized steel at 200 yds with open sites with a lever gun off my elbows.
I know guys that easily go out 300, 400 yds. in friendly competition.
That's with standard loads. 1100, 1200fps.

 

[FancyGunz]

Well the box says it's deadly out to a mile, so.....

 

[Supermoto]

200y is fun with a .22lr. I'm usually pretty consistent on a 4" plate without wind, but 300 is still a challenge.


Lots of fun with a can on a nice summer day when no one else is there


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdS70-9ahMU

 

[Daddy Mac]

View: https://youtu.be/OUM1r_444CY?si=0wbqtmBUx6J-z49X

 

[Asaltweapon]

It’s serious shit to the long range shooters.
The club I belong to is 440.
I was told ammo cost is near quality center fire.