paulleve
NES Member
I picked up a Savage MKII about six months ago to punch paper with, and one day decided to I try it out at my club's long range. After adding a few new rails to the rifle, I can say it's my most fun gun of 2022 so far!
I started off with a 20MOA rail. This allowed me to dial in enough elevation to hold on at 300 yards, but even with the scope maxed out I had to hold way over to get hits on the gongs at 400 yards. Today I replaced the rail with one that offers 40MOA. The good news is I can zero at 50 yards and then dial in elevation for a dead hold at 400 when using HV ammo.
So, how far does the bullet drop at these ranges? This rifle likes Aguila Super Extra for this type of shooting, and based on the dope data I've collected, here's how it performs:
50 yards: Zero.
200 yards: 3 foot drop. Dial in 19 minutes of elevation. (That's 76 clicks on a standard 1/4" at 100 yards type scope!)
300 yards: 9.75 foot drop. 39 minutes of elevation. (156 clicks.)
400 yards: 23.7 foot drop! 71 minutes of elevation. (284 clicks!)
It's a challenge shooting at these distances, given a .22 ballistically at 300 is similar to a .308 at 1k, and wind can really move a .22 round when it's way out there! However, this afternoon I shot for two hours and it cost me about $20 worth of cheap Aguila and CCI SV. I've got lots of toys that can reach out harder and further, but it's definitely a blast getting hits on steel with .22LR at these distances!
I started off with a 20MOA rail. This allowed me to dial in enough elevation to hold on at 300 yards, but even with the scope maxed out I had to hold way over to get hits on the gongs at 400 yards. Today I replaced the rail with one that offers 40MOA. The good news is I can zero at 50 yards and then dial in elevation for a dead hold at 400 when using HV ammo.
So, how far does the bullet drop at these ranges? This rifle likes Aguila Super Extra for this type of shooting, and based on the dope data I've collected, here's how it performs:
50 yards: Zero.
200 yards: 3 foot drop. Dial in 19 minutes of elevation. (That's 76 clicks on a standard 1/4" at 100 yards type scope!)
300 yards: 9.75 foot drop. 39 minutes of elevation. (156 clicks.)
400 yards: 23.7 foot drop! 71 minutes of elevation. (284 clicks!)
It's a challenge shooting at these distances, given a .22 ballistically at 300 is similar to a .308 at 1k, and wind can really move a .22 round when it's way out there! However, this afternoon I shot for two hours and it cost me about $20 worth of cheap Aguila and CCI SV. I've got lots of toys that can reach out harder and further, but it's definitely a blast getting hits on steel with .22LR at these distances!
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A good .22 at 200 yards has all the marksmanship challenges of a .308 past 600 yards. It's all about reading the wind, unless the distances are unknown, then estimating distances doubles the fun. For a precision rifle guy, the skill-building and fun per $ can't be beat.
