Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires 22 WMR zero distance?

What do you guys use as your zero distance on your 22 mags?
I just picked up a CZ 455 bull barrel 22 WMR and will be using it mostly for prairie dogs around the house and the other small vermin that show up occasionally.
Thanks.

Did you get a scope yet? There are scopes with reticles designed for the various rimfire rounds that allow you to zero at say 50, then use extra aiming points farther out. If you already have one with say, a duplex, I'd suggest 75-100 yards and then figure out your holds for various ranges around your "spread". Hell, if I could shoot here, I'd have little markers placed all over the yard. Lucky you.

As with any cartridge, pick an arbitrary sight-in distance that is firmly within your comfort zone, then experiment at other yardages to determine exact holdover/under at those distances. Knowing the exact distance to the target of the moment and knowing how much to adjust for that distance is more important than a theoretical "ideal sight-in distance". For that kind of shooting you plan, a rangefinder is as important as the scope you have, and the ability to dope the wind.

My scope is a Leupold 3.5-10×40. It is a FFP scope so the reticle changes with magnification and the hold overs change as well.
I'd never had a Leupold scope with this feature but it sure is nice.
The reticle is a mildot improved I believe they call it. At the low setting there is just a duplex, but there is a a few lines.
At higher magnification there is the mildots but with small dots in between.

My buddy and I used a Marlin 22 mag bolt action ( 7 round magazine, Model 783??) for our short range woodchuck rifle years ago, when we found that our 222 Remington’s and 22-250 offered little challenge for those 100 -125 yard shots.

We sighted in for 100 yards. I used Winchester 40 grain hp 22 mags. They grouped about 1.25-1.5” at 100 yards. Good enough for head shots at chucks to about 150 yards ( our max limit, but head shot max was about 125 yards- just held on top of their head at that distance.

My scope was an El Paso Weaver 4x. No complaints.

Worked well for our needs back then.

I have a Ruger American .22 Mag. I have it zero-ed at 100 yards with CCI 40gr. bullets (all types of CCI 40s seem to shoot to the same place). I have a 3-9x scope on it, it shoots pretty well.

It hits about a half-inch high at 50 yards, and about that, low, at 125. I consider that, "good enough", for my needs. I have been pretty happy with it, and it's slick, and handles well.

Cool, thanks guys

Generally speaking I'd zero at 100 if 150 were the outside of my range.

I'd zero at 75 if I were planning to keep my shots to 100 or so.

My decision on max range would mostly be based on the ammo my rifle liked and how flat it shoots.

^^^^^ This ^^^^^

My priority would be to find the brand and bullet weight/style that shoots the best groups and then zero accordingly.

I really like the plastic tipped 30 grain bullets in my Remington 597 when calling varmints in tight cover and generally zero at 75 yards.

Well I went out and shot the new CZ today. Got it zeroed at 100. The groups were not the best. I am going to have to play with ammo as suggested till I find some that it likes.
Appreciate the insight fellas. My buddies 7 year old shot it more than I did. Hard to keep them little guys focused very long.
I had taken out the old Remington .22 rifle too. It has the front sight hood and Lyman peep sights. It shoots really good at 50 yards. Let my buddies other 2 boys and wife shoot that one for a long time until they ran out of ammo....

I spent most of my time getting the 6 Creedmoor sighted in. I just mounted a new Burris XTR II scope on it.

I have had three or four .22 mag rifles, and they all seemed very picky about which load they liked and none liked the same one. I have a Marlin 882 no that likes the 40 gr Win Super-X HP best, while my 9422M like the Winchester Supreme lighter bullet. Other rifles liked the Federal load with a Sierra bullet which has been discontinued now, I believe. Another liked the Remington with a V-Max bullet. It can get expensive trying them all!

I played with a couple .22WMR's for a while, but since squirrels were/are my primary targets I never found a load that gave acceptable enough accuracy out past regular .22 LR match ammo distances in the target rifles I use for that endeavor so the Mags didn't pose a real advantage. And for a close-ish range walking around varmint rifle I always used .22 Hornets so again the .22WMR's were an answer to a problem I didn't have, so away they went.

I really tried to like the WMR's but in the end I said "meh".

I think that the .22 Magnum is a niche cartridge and something of an acquired taste.

I have had an on again, off again, relationship with it for about 50 years and have found that it is a better killer of larger varmints, say anything over 10 lbs., than the 17 HMR, but not typically as accurate as the .22 LR, 17 HM2, or 17 HMR due to more inconsistent ammo than those 3 rimfire cartridges. I'm sure that Eley, or any of the other match grade rimfire ammo makers could make better .22 Magnum ammo if there was enough market demand for it.

I like .22 mag though I'm shooting a .17 HMR now. I generally zeroed around 75 yards. My last 2 .22 mag rifles were a Winchester 9422 mag and a Ruger 77/22 boatpaddle .22 mag. Both did their best work with the CCI Maxi Mag +V load giving roughly inch and a quarter 100 yard groups. The polymer tipped rimfire ammo didn't exist back then. I still shoot .22 mag in a 10" Contender barrel and it, too, really likes the CCI +V hollowpoint ammo.

Gonzaga: Up until about a year ago I had "given up" on the 22 Magnum cartridge. This started when the amazing 17 HMR came into my life in the form a new Ruger 77/17 HMR V/T!
This Ruger 77/17 V/T was so much more accurate and the cartridge so much more lethal on all manner of Varmints/small game/predators/wild Turkey and the like that I simply put my 22 Magnum Rifles and pistols aside.
This transition from the 22 Magnum to 17 HMR took place back in early 2,003.
I set my 17 HMR Rifles to be 1" high at 100 yards and go from there on "Kentucky holdover".
My Smith & Wesson Model 647 (6 shot revolver with 8 3/8" barrel) is scope sighted dead on at 75 yards).
For the last 15 years myself and virtually all of my Varminting friends have had little to do with the 22 Magnum - much preferring the improved accuracy and lethality of the 17 HMR for the same or in many instances less cost per round.
Then a few years back the ammo manufacturing folks started "improving" the 22 Magnum with several styles/types of improved projectiles for the 22 Magnum cartridge.
Theres been a little movement since then back towards the 22 Magnum.
Just over a year ago I came across a N.I.B but previously owned Browning T-Bolt Varmint weight barrel Rifle at a give-away price. I bought it and put a Weaver V-16 (4 to 16 power) variable scope on it.
I tried several types of "new and improved" 22 Magnum ammunition and found one that shoots rather well.
I used the same 1" high at 100 yards sight-in for the 22 Magnum Browning T-Bolt and that worked pretty well for me last Ground Squirrel season and so far this season.
I am still firmly convinced that the 17 HMR is a skosh more accurate and more lethal than the 22 Magnum on all the Varmints, predators and small game I Hunt.
It also shoots flatter and is easier to hit with at "extended ranges" (like 200 yards plus!)!
My good friend Mark has a CZ heavy barrel in 22 Magnum that I brokered the deal for him on.
That CZ Rifle is just a tack driver.
I think he uses a 100 yard zero on it - its been a real performer the last couple of years in the Ground Squirrel Colonies for him.
I say go for the 1" high at 100 yards sight-in.
Best of luck with your new Rifle.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

75 yards unless you have a specific range you plan to use it for

Thanks for all of the insight fellas. For right now it is dead on at 100. I will need to find some ammo and try them out. My buddy has a real prairie dog problem and is just begging to get thinned out. There are several houses in the vicinity so not too much long range work to be done. 300 yds and in is the norm.

300 yards so you may just have to walk it out when you start shooting. I see you are from Raton. Road the train into their several times for Philmont treks.

Yes sir, they shut down the back country down this year due to severe drought conditions and the wild fires in the area.
Really sad, that's going to hurt the business' in Cimarron.

Magnum Research semi auto here, sighted in at 50.