Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires At what range do you site in your .22lr

I'm usually after ground and tree squirrels and grouse... Hell a yote fks up I'll be blazin. Anyway what distance is your .22lr sighted in at and why.

Thanks

About 50yrds.

50 yd zero works well enough till about 65 yds. Then will dial. With SV or CCI sub-HPs find 0.8 mils at 75, 2.1 mils at 100.

If optical axis is well above bore axis, remember to hold high at less than 10-15 yds.

50yds with hi-vel and 40yds with standards/subs. This gives me a trajectory that won’t shoot over a squirrel at midrange. You can still work with it on a bigger varmint out to 90-100yds.

Squirrel hunting - 35 yards. Paper punching - 50.

50 yards

I zero at 35yds because it eliminates hold-under.

50. Just put a 10x SWFA back on my 457 MTR where it belongs, and can dial it out if need be.

For now My 10/22 CSC has a 1-4 SWFA, but I might swap it for something with more Xs and side focus for squirrels. Once past 10 yards, holdunder is minimal, and shots over 50 rare. Don’t need more power to hit a squirrel-sized target at the range, but in the woods it’s helpful.

25yds.

.35

For squirrel hunting I use 35 yards. Most others are 50 yds (which also works for 50 feet with standard velocity ammo - mostly what I shoot) and these guns typically have target turrets to allow adjustment out to 100yds/m for silhouette or other shooting activities.

PennDog

50 yards.

The one I use most is zeroed to 50. Most of my shooting with it is at 30-50yds, and my eyes aren't good enough to be real precise with those sights, so it works.

The other is a family passdown that is about 70yds with shorts. The elevation on those sights isn't adjustable, so it just is where it is.

The one I shoot and hunt the most, 25 yards. It wears a 6x SWFA on a 20 MOA base so I dial or use the reticle on quick needs.

^^^^

I MPBR ever rifle I own...

https://www.chuckhawks.com/rifle_trajectory_table.htm

That would be 1.5" high at 45 yards on a .22LR

Beldings ground squirrels are our primary target. Seventy-five yds.

Good picture^^^


That's where I'm at too, as my clubs rimfire events are at 50 yards, sometimes 100, but the majority of the time we are shooting short range. Works well enough for varmint hunting too.

50 yards

This^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Usually for 50 yards since there’s usually a convenient bench at the 50 yard mark at the range. Though I remember reading somewhere years ago that 60 yards was really a more effective zero for most shooting than what the more popular 50 yards zero is.

Ten yards is my usual red squirrel shooting range, so that is where my 77/22 RSI is sighted for. I do have the trajectory charted out to 50 yards, but seldom if ever shoot that far with a .22.

50 yards.

I don't shoot tree squirrels with a .22LR anymore, now shoot them with the .17HM2 'cause it has a flat trajectory out to 100+/- yards.

This. The 17HM2 is like a laser out to 100 yards.

50 yards and then dial...

60 yards, Its the treeline around my home , Armadillos have zero chance in that field for fire.....

50 yards

Fiddy yards, and the site where I do this is the local rifle range.

50 yards with with CCI Mini Mag hollow points.

I can hit anything I’m going to shoot with a 22lr out to 100 yards with a 50 yard zero.

50 meters if I'm shooting my Annie's/Zeiss outfits. Just for the hell of it.

Sighted in my new Browning Buckmark .22 at 25 yards yesterday. With the CT red dot sight on it, this pistol is easily 'minute of squirrel' at that range.

I sighted in an old Remington #4 Rolling Block .22 at 50 feet today. W-W .22CB Long Match ammo. 6-700fps velociy, not much point in going out farther. But, beer cans are in trouble at least as far beyond that I can throw them.😁 I shudder to think of the drop at 50 yards or God forbid 100 yards, so I don't.

My scope zero is at 50 yards.

Dead on at a 100yds, is 4" low at 25yds using stingers. Bullseye at 50yds is about right for around here.

50 yds. for the rifles. 25 yds. for the handguns.

I zero my scoped .22's for 50 yards. Using my preferred hunting load of CCI Mini Mag hp's, my bullet first crosses line of sight at 25 yards and is no more than .5" above or below POA from 15 to 60 yards. With that zero I can forget about trajectory anywhere between 15 and 60 yards and just need to hold a little high on the real close shots. Perfect for small game around here where 60 yards is a long poke at dinner fixins.

In the small game forum I posted my results from hunting tree squirrels this summer. My total was 102 and my average range was 19.68 yards so I use a 25 yd zero.

Run of the mill .22's 50 yd.
Good ones 40 ,60, 77 , 100 meters also 25 50 75 & 100 yards
And couple I know the starting setting much further out 200yard + ...

This.

50 yards for my ones with higher magnification.
Lever guns and low power scopes, 25-30 yards.

I usually sight mine in at a local range where I sight in all my guns. Sorry couldn’t resist

Boo

Zero at 20 with subs, and that zeros at 50 also for the Contender and a couple of bolt actions. 50 with the 10-22 with HV.

50 yards with around 1060 fps ammo, 60 with 1250 fps and the times that I used Stingers or Velocitors I sighted in at 70 yards.

50 yards with standard velocity ammo. Hasbeen

50yds / rifle & 25yds / pistol. All ammo types.

Shaq: I have a BUNCH of Rifles in caliber 22 L.R. that I use for Ground Squirrel/Small Game Hunting using high velocity hollow point ammunition. I sight these in at 100 yards dead on and using "Kentucky Windage" (hold over/hold under) for longer and closer distances.
My 22 L.R. pistols that I use for Small Game and Ground Squirrel Hunting are sighted in at 50 yards.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Zero @ 50 yards! memtb

Experience is an amazing thing.

50 yard zero with standard velocity ammo, bullet first crossing line of sight at 20 yards. So you could say zeroed at 20 yards? It works anyways.

25

Usually at 25 yards, then check it out to 50.

I have a scope Nikon 3-9 BDC 150, which seems to work pretty well. I actually zero’d @100 using the 100 yard hash mark, figuring that it would make the longer shots more accurate. When testing at 50 or less merely adjust mentally(Kentucky Windage) for the slight discrepancy! memtb

Well, last night I sighted in my 10/22 CSC at 10 yards, into a bullet trap, in my basement. First I put the Tract 3-15x42 against the bathroom mirror and centered the reticle. It was already in good rings from its last assignment, so I wrenched it down on the Ruger, set the focus at 10yards and power at 3x. Rested it in my old MTM cradle and squeezed one off (Eley Target). That one landed dead center 3/4” low, which experience shows will put me very close at 50. Fired four more into one slightly oblong hole. Set the knobs to zero.

Once I fine-tune it at the range and verify the ammo is acceptable, I’ll reset the zero and install the zero-stop knob. That scope came up short on clicks at 200 yards mounted on a 15moa rail, but the Ruger’s integrated one gives me 15moa more to play with. Can’t recall how much adjustment I used on the previous rifle or in which direction, but all things being equal, I should be good to hold right on at 200.

Pappy, will that trick work with the latest .22 I picked up, a cute-as-a-button little #4 Rolling Block, with ladder sight on the barrel?😁

My .22 squirrel rifles are generally sighted in at 30 yards for those that shoot high speed ammunition well. Those relegated to standard velocity ammo are sighted at 25. I like to stick to head shots and this works for me.

Well played my friend. You simultaneously poked fun at me and waved yet another of your nifty acquisitions under everyone’s nose. Nice work. 💃🏻

Have to warn you though, as soon as the poly dries, I’ll be posting pics of my latest FN in retort.

Just a general observation on this thread. Seems like sighting in distances is like "if the shoe fits, wear it". The western guys with the longer range targets sight in at 50-100 yards. The eastern guys at closer to bayonet distance at half that or less.

50

Unless I’m hunting grasshoppers, a 50yard zero allows me to hold right on to oh, 50 yards.

I don’t hunt grasshoppers…….anymore.

I think too that assumptions have been made here concerning ammo and scope height above bore centerlines. We tend to view the world based upon our own approaches to mastering it. What is "normal" for me (generally a rifle shooting standard velocity or slower match ammo through rifles fitted with either vintage target scopes or precision aperture sights) won't be "normal" for a guy shooting high velocity stuff out of his squirrel rifle. And the remark about regional difference in needs, coupled with individual needs (classic position target shooting, benchrest, squirrel hunting, gopher shooting, tin cans and pop bottles, grasshoppers and dragon flies, etc.), makes for an interesting mish-mash of protocols for sight-in. This is a good thread!

My .22s are mostly just for fun and practice right now. Back in the Spring, I decided a nice midrange Hornet load would be my choice for any squirrel shooting, and at least some Fall turkey hunting this year. Not the most accurate load fir that gun, but comparable to my .22s and with more whomp. The LW deserves some field time too. Plus, every time I run into another hunter, it’s a conversation piece.

Yep. I plan to utilize a Hornet with cast loads in the neighborhood of 1600fps this year too, as I've done off and on in the past. Now to re-think my ideas about what constitutes "point blank range" with it again.

The thing too about selecting a zero for a dedicated squirrel rifle, no matter the cartridge, is how far the shots will typically be - and then memorizing bullet impacts at different distances, closer and farther. I don't own a scope with yardage points delineated on the cross hairs, nor a "modern" scope with quick access turrets. While my vintage target scopes have what one can call turrets, and I usually have a rangefinder in my pocket, I've yet to meet Br'er Squirrel who sits still long enough for me to fiddle with that stuff (let alone those days when armed with a fixed power scope and plain crosshairs), so it's pretty much a "guess the distance and hold over/under" scenario based on my knowledge of my gun/ammo system "du jour".

Sometimes I wish I still haunted the woods armed with a simple .22 with iron sights and simply "hunted" instead of "sniped". That, or a 12 gauge.....

I haven't run into another small game hunter afield since the '90's so conversation starters are a non issue. Back in the '70's and 80's it was fairly common for me to run into other small game hunters but nobody's much interested in anything but deer and turkey anymore.

How true. I don't personally know a single kid who hunts squirrels, but I know a whole bunch that can make their smartphones dance!

Yeah, sometimes I feel like the last dinosaur but I still enjoy hunting rabbits and squirrels. In fact, I still look forward to opening day of squirrel season like a kid looks forward to Christmas.

Usually this^^^. Marlin 25N is pretty damn good at 50. I really need to improve with .22 handgun tho.

Rabbits are scarce anywhere I can hunt them. My neighbor has a friend with land and gets a few every year. Squirrels are abundant in my WMA, but like you said, deer are getting most of my attention now that I have the xbow. Hoping to get at least one in the freezer early and then go after the rodents.

Today I readjusted the red dot on my Victory to 25 yards, down from 50, in anticipation of toting it afield next week.

It was set at 50 for shooting (mostly at) a spinner target.

Like the OP could "afford" a rifle or a fhuqking scope...the "lucky" kchunt. Hint.

Though in fairness,"site" is a BIG word for her. Hint.

Fhuqking LAUGHING!................

This one...

With a 75 MOA rail(I had Bob build me a special run),40+ Mil's available on the erector,DOPE is factored in 10yd increments from 10yds to 720yds. Hint.



The OP needs a co-signer for the tape. Hint.

Fhuqking LAUGHINBG!.............

I hunt squirrels and occasionally manage to spot a rabbit, but I ain't a kid anymore. That's what my zeroing is for, tree squirrels in Alabama. Randomly a shot at a crow at around or a little further than a hundred yards might happen but not often. Not worth the effort of setting up anything for it.

Glass that tracks,repeats and holds zero,don't require any "effort". Nor does a reticle that jives same. GPS coordinates are fhuqking moot,if only obviously. Hint................

All are Tech-Sights aperture sighted...



W/ 36-40 gr. High Velocity ammo: (1200-1225 fps/muzzle)

25 yd. zero, 1/2" low at 50 yds., 3" low at 75 yds..




GR

I like having my rimfires zero'd at 15 & 60 yards....

I use 75 yards as that is the distance I find a lot of my shots for jackrabbits and rock chucks out here in the West. When the distances are greater than say 90 yards it's time for the 17HMR sighted in at 125 yards for the 17g ammo. That gives me less that an inch high at 100 yards and about 7 inches low at 200. Beyond 200 and for tougher critters its time for the .223

I would say that the range that you find most of your shooting would be the ideal for a least one .22lr rifle.

CZ 452 American with CMP surplus Remington SV LR: +1" @ 50 yds, 1.5" low @ 75 yds, 0 at top point of lower duplex reticle @ 100 yds. I only shoot at metal targets at known distances but could guesstimate POI and in-between distances. For hunting I would probably zero for 50 yds since I wouldn't be shooting off of a bench at known distances. If you zero for 50 see where it hits zero again at the point of a duplex reticle since it's another good reference point.

For a vintage Mossberg autoloader with a vintage Weaver K4 plain crosshair, same ammo, +1" at 50 yds, 0 @ 75 yds, -2" @ 100 yds. I don't know what accounts for the difference in trajectory at 75 yds. between the two rifles. Scope height? velocity with different barrel lengths?

SK Standard Plus zeroed at 25 yards--50 yard aim point is shown.

I have the Burris Droptime Rimfire scopes on a couple or three .22 rifles, and the Ballistic Plex reticle seems to work well with HV ammo, if you zero at 50 yards, you've got those tick marks at 75 and 100 yards. I don't shoot a .22LR past that anyway, although there are more tick marks on the reticle. Those reticles are pretty useful.

Leupold's Freedom rimfire scopes also have reticles designed for nearly the same thing, but cost twice as much. and aren't quite as practical as the Burris reticles for making meat. I've got a couple of those, too, but they're on rifles I mostly use at the range. That reticle is awfully fine for using in the squirrel woods.