Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires Craziest shot with a rimfire

I had my first HMR zero-ed in at 100 yards, but I was still in my first box of ammo (it was scarce in 2002) and had a crow land about 180 yards out into the field. I wasn't really sure where the bullet would hit, but tried a shot anyway. The crow took off squawking to beat hell, but only made it to the timberline when I heard him crash into the tree branches and hit the ground. I was pretty happy with that little rifle (and still am happy with it). Later, with a different scope on it, I hit a prairie dog at 250 yards, first shot. It tipped over and kicked for awhile. Last time I ever shot at something that far away with that tiny little bullet, though. Not enough azz behind it for those distances.

Offhanded a crow about 50 years ago...maybe halfway down a 20 acre field so maybe 220 yards, with a heck of a Wisconsin cross-wind blowing. I remember holding over the crow about 30" and maybe 2' into the wind! I was using a Remington 121 pump with a Weaver A4 if memory serves me right on the scope (could have been the B4), likely shooting Remington Golden bullet Hi-speed solids. The crow flopped around for a bit but was dead when I made it through the snow/ice/mud of that blustery March day. Maybe my best rifle shot ever!

I shot a groundhog with a 7.5" barrelled single six at 115 yards once. Hit him right in the chest with a Winchester power point and he just keeled over.

I've shot a few crows out of the air with both 22 rifles and handguns but missed many,many more

112 yards , ranged, with a 22 lr from a Rem. 510 22lr made in 1940, 4x scope. Rem subsonic lr ammo G-hog facing me on all four feet with some wind. Thought i was shooting Win PP ammo, my go to 22lr ammo. On shot hit the g-hog in the dimple below the neck between the front legs, DRT.

A friend of mine had a beautiful, tiger-stripe stocked 10/22 when I was a kid. He let me shoot it one day at the deer lease (I was 10 or 12 at the time,) and I couldn't seem to miss. A meadowlark was perched in the top of a mesquite about 120 yards away, and I popped off, "I bet I can hit him in the head."

I will never forget his response. "If you can hit that thing in the head, I will [bleep] in my pants!"

Well, I did, and he didn't; but it was a lucky shot that made for a lifetime memory... We still laugh about that time to this day.

Back in the olden days, a Leupold 1.5-5 was pretty good for wing shooting with a 10/22. Stingers of course. That's all I'm saying.

My dad shot a a deers head a long way off many years ago.
The bullet was supposed to drop and scare the deer our of the field.
She just dropped.

Middle of summer, his uncle's farm. Straight as an arrow, must have had keys to the church,
Uncle Jake had a fit.
Hid the deer quick, to come back when it was dark.
When he went back, the old man had dug a deep grave and buried it.


Took him a long time to get out of that doghouse.

Did the same thing to a turkey but with a 20ga.
Saw a flock a long way off, laughed, said I'll scare them.
Fired a shot, they ran off.
Hunting rabbits, when they got to where the turkeys had been, one wss stumbling around.
Clubbed it and took it home. One BB, straight across both eyes.

Neither of these stories exhibit good sportsmanship or gun handling rules.
Instead, they are interesting, and reinforce "the never point at something you don't want to destroy rule".

Many years ago I had a Browning Lever action 22 lr...... my dad had several discarded car batteries, I proceeded to set one battery on it side.As a challenging target I paced off the 40 yards or so distance. Aiming at the right terminal with open sights and young eyes I fire a cci mini-mag down range. I was far enough away I couldn’t see where I hit........ but the shot just felt right. I walk up the the battery to find I had hit it perfectly. The lead terminal had a wound channel the looked as if a scoop of lead was removed and the interior of the cavity was washed with copper mini-mag. I knew it was more luck than skill and proceeded directly to the barn for a hacksaw to save my treasure and memory....I hadn’t thought about this shot for many years, until hearing a few other stories of lucky shots. Here’s a couple pictures of my luck

I was going to sight in my savage 23 with iron sights for squirrel season, when I got out of my truck at the range a crow flew up in a tree at the hundred yard line.. I loaded a shell in and off hand aimed at the crow, when I fired the crow folded his wings tight to his body and dropped like a rock to the ground.. I checked him and had hit him in the center of his breast.. I was truly shocked.

flying coot from a moving car (young and dumb(me that is)) Every one in the car still talks about that shot 50 years later.
coot was matching our speed, the Plymouth fury was a stable boat of a ride. was like shooting a stationary target even at 40 yards.

best shooting was laying a dime flat on a fence post and skipping it off from 25 yards without leaving a mark on the post with my 22. wish i were young again!

Marlin model 101 single shot, back in the mid-70's. Please note-this is not something I have ever been very proud of doing, but it sure was one heck of a shot. And a true story(one or more members here may have been witnesses, but doubt they will ever admit being there to this day). We lived on a farm, and my father was caretaker for his boss's horses and one stubborn gelding pony. Every night it would break through the barb wire, to get into the neighbors sweet corn. Naturally I was the one summoned to retrieve it. After a few weeks of this pattern, it was getting old. One day a few of us were shooting up by the barn, and I made the remark I'd like to shoot that damn thing. As a joke, I took a one hand grip, pointed that 22 about ten feet over the pony, closed my eyes and shot into the air. I opened my eyes, the horse hit the ground, kicked once, and was graveyard dead. We later paced it at close to 300 yards. The friends there started scattering quickly, and yelling "you killed Star" ! I told them no way, maybe knocked him out....what are the chances of a bullet dropping ten feet, drifting another 5-6 feet left, and perfectly severing the spinal cord on a pony ? Apparently pretty good. A couple days later when people realized he was not sleeping, numerous game wardens and trooper's showed up. They figured it was shot from the road, and for 10 years I never told anyone any different. When they skinned back the neck to check the entry/exit hole out, and found that small 22 caliber hole in the neck and notified my father.....I could tell by the look he gave me he pretty much knew what the real story was. Ten years later in a bar it was the first question he asked me......did you kill that damn horse? He still don't believe it was an accident 40+ years later.

I will start by saying I was young and stupid...

I went to a friends house to visit. He had an old 22 LR and they were having trouble with robins messing with their garden. I took a practice shot with the rifle and the bullet at about 30 feet went 2 or 3 feet to the right of the point of aim. Then a robin perched on their TV antenna. With my friend and parents watching, I shot the robin off of the antenna. Open sites of course.

Then there was my Marlin semi auto that was made for Western Auto sales with a 4X scope. A friend and I had been out hunting ground squirrels by a lake and were waiting for your ride home. Out on the lake were a number of mud hens, a.k.a., coots. I would say the range was a good 200 yards. We had a discussion regarding the likelihood of hitting one. With a good hold over I hit my target on the first shot.

About 1995 I was shooting .22 rifles with a friend at a local club. We had a bunch of clay pigeons on the 100 yard berm which was about 5 yards behind the target frames.

Was shooting sitting with a sling and it was not much of a challenge hitting the new birds, the small pieces were tougher.

I had a Remington 40X Custom Shop repeater with a 2.5-10 Leupold scope and Winchester 40 grain SUPER-X ammo. Firing at shot at one of the new birds it didn't break but could see a hole... I told my friend not to shoot the bird... Went down later and found that the bullet was dead center... Still have the bird down stairs in the reloading room....











The one .22 pistol shot I can remember is with a 6" S&W Model 53 with the .22 LR cylinder in it. My girlfriend and I were walking along a pipeline . There were a half dozen starlings in a dead tree about 90 yards away. I took aim at one and dropped him stone cold dead...


...luck happens....

Bob

I was out hunting jackrabbits years ago in the fall with my old Browning T-Bolt scoped with a 4x Leupold. The rabbit #'s in Idaho were near a cyclical high that year and we had already shot a large # of bunnies that day. We were heading back to the truck when I saw a Jack making it's way across the sage in front of me about 50-75 yards away. I was just about ready to fire when it stopped behind a good sized sage bush. I waited a minute or two, hoping it would hop out and stop again for a shot. When nothing had happened, I got impatient and decided to fire a round into the bush to see if I could "flush" it out. Much to my surprise, when I fired blindly into the bush, the jack jumped straight up into the air several feet, dead when he hit the ground... perfect head shot! My high school buds just about came unglued!

Sitting on my friends back porch cleaning some guns after coming down from the hill shooting....

We could hear a golpher digging on the burm about 30 yards away. Stared started looking at the burm for a bit.... eventually saw a dandilion moving at a different rate than the rest of the wind blown grass. Golpher was underground munching on the roots. Grabbed the ruger mkII, stood on the bench to get a better angle. Guessed where the golpher would be at the base of the plant and shot. No more movement. Couple minutes go by and still no more movement or noise- maybe i hit him? Maybe just scared him? Got a shovel, dug right at the base of the daneilion in question and there was the dead gopher with a hole right in his ear.

High school, summer, four boys in a ski boat running up and down Chocolate Bayou south of Houston. We took turns water skiing, and trying to stay on a home made plywood "ski board." Just goofing around and having fun. As the sun started down behind the clouds in the west, we pulled in all the ski ropes and headed back up the bayou for the boat ramp. I had a cheap little .22 auto pistol with me--can't remember the make or model--but it was a classic Saturday Night Special.

One of my buddies straddled the bow as we headed back with the boat on a plane as fast as it would go. We passed a seagull leisurely flapping its way down the bayou a good 80-100 yards out. My buddy asked me for the pistol, and said that he was going to shoot it. We all hooted and hollered, and I handed him the short-barreled semi-auto pistol with a round in the chamber. He waved the barrel in the general direction of the seagull and pulled the trigger. The seagull folded up and smacked straight down into the water, never moving again as long as we could see it.

Shooting cottontails while they were running is where I seen some shots that looked impossible.But some how we made them.Lots of fun.

When I was a kid we were dirt poor lived off deer meat and rabbits 12 month a year. My dad put me on a stump and said he was going to chase a deer past me I had an old rolling block Remington single shot doe came by at 100 yds or so I did not know better so I put blade between her ear with lots of daylight showing above her head and fired, she dropped stone dead! I think I was about 6 or 8 then. My dad came by asked what I shot at I told him the story and he laughed but to humor me walked down to where I said she laid. His eyes looked like dish saucers when I got there.

Friend of mine grew up really poor. He has a 22 he said they shot more underwater than on top.
Shot fish to stun them in the creek on their farm. He wold also climb up in trees and shoot down at them when the fish came to the top addled they would jump in and grab them.