Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires Yardages

This is a pet peeve of mine but why do a great many posters show rimfire group targets without having the listed yardage on the target?

I am always suspect of posted "bragging" targets but when there is no note of yardage on the target the red flag goes up a bit more.

I would not be surprised that many of the targets are shot at 25 yards or less, and then when they are posted without a yardage note the poster is hoping that it will be assumed to having been shot at 50 yards. That way they are not exactly fibbing, they just are not laying out the complete story.

drover

I generally shoot at 50 yards, since my clubs rimfire matches are held at 50 yards. That is where I like to keep them dialed in at. The kyl, golf ball shoots, and bullseye rimfire matches are all shot at 50 yards. If I were shooting closer, I'd be using a pistol or bb gun.. Don't get too worked up about it. Just ask in the thread you are talking about. Guys shouldn't have a problem with telling you or even showing you the distance targets are shot. Yesterday, I thought about posting a pic of the range, and the footprints leading to the target in the snow. You could have counted those. ha ha...


Furthermore, if I start watching a Youtube video of guys shooting their super fancy highly accurate "precision" rimfire, and they say they are shooting at 25 yards, I instantly go to a different video. Sometimes I'll even hit the thumbs down. For centerfire rifles, I don't shoot targets less than 100 yards. For a rimfire, I don't shoot targets less than 50 yards. Just a cold hard rule for me.

You could get mad about centerfire shooters as well. I never state 100 yards on my targets, but I always mark when the target is shot at 400 or further out. Some guys think, geez, that .8" group isn't very good. Well, it's shot at 400 yards, dummy.. ha ha...

I can see wher you are coming from though. Some guys will throw in a target shot at 50', and you have to zoom in on the target and see that. Hey, at least they marked it as such. But they can be misleading in a way. I don't think they do that purposely. Most guys here are pretty cool. I can appreciate the fact that they probably shoot more than some of the other guys in the other forums. At least when I have started some shooting challenge threads here, I get more participation from these guys. And that deserves some respect..

I always shoot at 50.. I love the guys who claim they’re easily shooting under an inch at 100

Same here.

drover

I was telling bsa..the other day I was shooting a new vudoo and sk rifle match groups were making me happy at 50. Dead on zeroed and nice and tight

I moved the target out to 100 into the full wind and groups opened up to 2” and impact was 2 full inches to the right

I shoot at 50 as that is what all of the matches I shoot are shot at.
Will go longer ever now and then but mainly stay at 50.

for me competitive shooting on silhouettes in the yards at local non-formal matches are 25, 50, 75, 100 yd

more formal NRA or international matches are 40, 60, 77, 100 meters
bench rest matches everywhere I've attended are 50 yards

of course you're a local clubs that do things differently. or if you're into the long range silhouette with 22s a lot of them do them out to you know six seven eight hundred yards..

It worked/works for Cooper…
I thought for years those test targets were shot at 50.

Hahaha yeah me too..what are they 35, yes?

That’s my understanding, 35 yds and centerfire at 50yds. I will say, a 57M I had in .22WMR and sent back to Cooper to rebarrel in .17HMR when it came out was scary accurate. The .22WMR barrel was a shooter too.

Had a BIL years ago that showed me impressive targets, first time visiting their house his bench was no more than 40 yds from the target frame.

It's interesting to see what everyone is working on and how they're doing but It doesn't matter to me if they're misrepresenting target distance.

It's the internet after all but you can figure out pretty quick who's playing it straight and who's padding their ego.

For me, Air rifles start at 30yds, 22lr is 50yds to compare ammo and shooting offhand silhouettes to keep me from thinking I know what I'm doing...

All of my shooting is at 50 yards. Just fun range time.

I do most of my pleasure shooting with .22's at 50 yards. Can't remember the last time I shot a .22 rifle at a paper target less than 50 yards away. Our range isn't set up for that anyway.

But all my competition .22 shooting is at 100 yards. The competition I engage in is American Single Shot Rifle Association stuff and there is no event for that at less than 100 yards. 1/2MOA groups are commonly fired in those events, with enough sub-1/2MOA groups to open your eyes. At our last match of the season last year I shot a .420" group and was cock-a-hoop until a lady posted a .390" group and I had to settle for 2nd place. (We were both shooting BSA Internationals and Eley Tenex.) Five shot groups by the way, and I sure as hell don't pull that off every time. The Wind is an everlovingbitch.

There's a little less pressure in 100 yard score competition because nippers on the next highest scoring ring counts the higher number. Ten shot scores of 250 are fairly common, and typically the number of center hits solidly inside the 3/4" 25-ring decides the day's winner. I took it on the same weekend as above with a 250-9C, and it was a squeaker because the 2nd place guy shot a 250-7C.

My physique denies me the opportunity to shoot offhand or from prone anymore so it's strictly benchrest for me. But, I've witnessed some scary good offhand shooters turn in targets that look like they were fired by duffers off the bench.

Drover:I commiserate with you - I got tired of asking both rimfire and centerfire shooters WHAT range their "posted groups" on this forum were shot at.
I test 22 L.R. ammunition in a Rifle for "accuracy" at 50 yards (on windless days).
I test 17 HMR ammunition in a Rifle for "accuracy" at 100 yards (on windless days).
I test 17 Mach2 and 22 Magnum ammunition for "accuracy" in a Rifle at 75 yards (on windless days).
Then I go about ascertaining "drop" at varying distances once I have chosen my rimfires most accurate ammunition.
Then done and shooting is most all at small game and Varmints.
Distance is amongst the very first bits of information I post here, when describing accuracy/group size.
Without the "distance" group size and grouping pictures are useless posts.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I practice at 50, 100, and 200 yard. Bolt and semi auto. I rarely post photos of groups. I do very much appreciate BSA1917 effort in documenting and posting photos as he does.

At one of the clubs we have a 22rf JFF steel silhouette shoot at either 50 or 100 yard. Shot off a bench, any front rest or bipod, no rear bag.

The steel is odd shapes, a giant washer, figure 8 with centers open, wagon wheel, thunderbolt, 1/4 moon crescent, 1/10 scale ram, 1/5 scale chicken & pig shapes like that. Most have about 1 1/2" or so area either vertical or width to shoot at. We also have some 3" & 4" square and round feel good targets we hang now and then. All targets are hung on short lengths of chain.

We hang 5 steel targets spread out over 25 foot or so wide, some higher or lower by 3 foot or so. Idea is to shoot one shot at each target left to right, then left to right again with a 2 minute time limit, 10 shot total. This is 1 relay. Then shoot the same again for 2 relays for score.

Hi score is number of hits <20 is max> in lowest time.

The target order can change, say begin left to right for this first 5, then right to left for the second 5. Mix it up every weekend. Sometimes 50 yard, sometimes 100 yard.

It's a fun shoot.

Other club has a 200 yard steel 1/5 scale ram silhouette, 20 targets that have to fall off of rail to count. 20 minute time limit, any rest any bag, shot off bench.

That sounds like a lot of fun. I was at the local range once when a guy showed up with a small pickup load of steel silhouette targets. Small chickens, pigs and rams. He asked if I cared if he set them up, and I helped him. He shot everything offhand. I think the furthest target was around 75 yards out. He said he had a shoot to go to in Boise, and he wanted to practice his offhand shooting. I guess it's pretty popular. Looked like a lot of fun.

My hands were too cold man!!!! Cant I just show the picture, and you can guess how far it was?




Bwahahaha... I will say it was 25 degrees and the wind was blowing 8-12 MPH..

I can't see the target in the photo but I'll throw in my guess as 100yards-ish. Yay or nay?

To be honest I typically shoot 22LR at 100 and 200yds these days - I was getting sick of the ragged hole groups at 50yds.

Me too. When that happens, switch ammo, to something like Federal automatch or American Eagle. Or switch to iron sights, then switch to your weak side. I do that all the time when shooting irons. When you master ragged hole groups with those, it's time to get a new rifle to mess with. Just how I do it..

Cert, you aren't the only one that happens to. I am in total agreement with you though. I've seen that a bunch of times. Like I told you in the other thread, my girlfriend and I went over to the 100 yard range and rang steel with the 10/22 clone, while waiting for the 50 yard bench to open up. I was ringing the 2" diameter steel plate, and making it swing more and more with each shot, but I could see the bullet in flight. I could see the arc that it was making, and as the wind picked up, I had to adjust my hold for that, because it was highly affected by the wind. I was using federal automatch ammo, where I probably should have been using some higher velocity stuff, and didn't want to burn up my good ammo, so was just plinking with the real cheap stuff. Check out this video. This guy is shooting his CZ457 very well at 50 yards, but his groups get quite a bit bigger at 100 yards:


If you look at the comment section, you'll see where guys are trying to give him advice. Some of it is laughable because he's shooting very well, but limited by the ammo and the cartridge in general. I really wonder how many guys actually shoot their rimfires at 100+ yards, and do they know how they perform. A rifle shooting 1/2" 5 shot groups at 50 yards, will probably shoot 1" or bigger groups at 100 yards. Then throw in wind, and you could see double that group size. With the 22lr, it's possible. At 50 yards, you don't see that as much, but stretch that distance out to 100, and it matters a lot more. The guys saying they can shoot 1/2 moa at 100 yards with their 22lr's are some bad azzes for sure!!!!!

Course if someone was looking to be "less than honest" when they post without the ranges, what's to keep that same "less than honest" person from writing "100 yards" on the target shot at 50?

The first thing I look for is the distance. If the distance is not there neither am I .

I moved 15 mons ago..... my range distance was 101 Meters. Just happened to be where I shot.

Nice range BSA............

Exactly. I always hope guys are being honest. Even thought it's the "internet", I'm hopeful guys here are being honest. That is all we can go by really. Focus on being a man of your word, and being honest. Keeping things simple is how I roll...

Thanks buddy. i love that range. It is free to the public, and we strive to take care of it. The one I posted pics of, where the rifle is on the shooting mat, is our 400 yard range. But we have steel targets out to 1,000 yards. We are not allowed to drive past the 400 yard berm though. It's fine by me. I am just happy they finally put in the targets going out to 1,000.

Our 50 yard rimfire range, is weird though. They still have it set up so people can shoot their pistols there too, with one bench!!! Not that I'm complaining, but sometimes we get guys there shooting their pistols half way in between the bench and the target stands and steel plates. So it ties up that range for a while. We have 3 other pistol bays, that they can shoot at, but for some reason they tie up the one 50 yard range that is designated for 50 yard rimfire use.


It's a lot nicer now, with the cement walkway and barrier wall. They put that in about 6 months ago. That's where I've been doing all of my 22lr testing recently. Working on 2 different new to me 22lr's. A 10/22 clone, and a Winchester model 52 sporter reproduction, made in Japan. The 10/22 clone is done, and shooting almost as well as my other 10/22. The 52 sporter still needs to be tested with more ammo.


Our 100 yard range has target stands set at 25, 50 and 100 yards, with 4 steel benches. One is set up for wheelchair use (not shown in pic):


It's my playground for sure. I spend a lot of time there. It's as peaceful as the pictures depict too. A huge resource in my area, and we respect it.

If they were standard 1/5 scale silhouettes used for small bore silhouette the chicken was at 40 meters, pig at 60, Turkeys at 77 and rams at 100 meters. The game started in Mexico so it's metric. Loads of fun and just a few matches will seriously improve your offhand shooting.

It's also the most welcoming of all shooting spots I've ever shot. While a competition it's got various classifications (B-A-AA-AAA-Master) and everyone is there to help everyone else even at the national level.

I shot some of the small bore silhouette when I was a member at the nearest range here and it was a kick to compete in. I never got good enough to win anything but still enjoyed the shooting and watching those silhouette targets jump off the stands was rewarding ... the 100 meter rams were my downfall every time, but I got better after a while like most do and I could hold my own. Kind of miss those relaxing days, but the range was a nightmare to belong to and I dropped my membership. Wish we had a public range as nice and sparsely populated at BSA's set up....

The club you and I belong to, has a nice range, but it's pretty small.



I have spent many hours there, shooting both pistols and rimfires and centerfires. Being limited to 100 yards is kind of crappy when you shoot centerfire rifles, but it is what it is. That range is pretty peaceful as well. For me, it was worth the 45 mile drive to get there. Probably about the same distance for you too. You've probably tried Clark rifles, and maybe even Douglas ridge, or tri counties ranges as well. The funny thing about our little range in Washington is it's very popular with many different police departments, FBI, forestry, and other 3 letter agencies. I remember being up there one time, and the LEO's let me shoot with them. It was fun. I still go there for some shoots, I don't know if you do anymore. Just something to consider, since you live a lot closer than I do now.

Pistols. 13 yards for the OP:
[img]https://i.imgur.com/ogJ4d0h.mp4[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/QtllA9P.mp4[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/A77wJPJ.mp4[/img]

Now you’re taking…
Musical rifles. When the music stops, it’s time to change rifles.

Ha ha.. We did that one time at my club in Washington (I just posted some pics of that range). Boy our scores went to schidt. We had to shoot other's rifles. I think I won that match, but it was kind of fu cked.. One guy deliberately had his rifle sighted in way off, to throw people off.. I was wise to his games though... I ended up taking my first 22lr to that match. It was an old Savage semi auto that my grandpa gave me. I had shortened the stock for my kids to learn on. I think the LOP is only about 10 inches. That threw some people for a loop... All in fun, of course...

This is why I don't shoot at 25 yards. It would be absolutely pointless. Even with iron sights..



Same reason I never shoot less than 100 yards with a centerfire rifle, at targets.

How bout the ELR 22lr stuff? I had a 39A fitted with both reciever and tang peeps that i shot out to 400 yds with montly. My target was a 20lb empty propane bottle with the bottom cut off. It rand loud enough to hear @400. Sadly i had to sell the rifle to fund some dental work for my son. I was making hits on steel about 80% of the time with peeps and cross sticks kneeling or sitting.. i have a savage bolt gun w a 6x24 that i have dialed and shot to 600 yds on a 3'x3' steel..prone on bipod.. last time i did it i went 7/10. Its a long wait to watch the impacts in the spotter

That would be fun, if it's something you are interested in. I however would rather punch out a 3/4" group at 400 yards with one of my centerfires than dink around with a 22lr at that range. All personal choice of course, and it also depends on what competitions you shoot as well.

No more comments from the OP? ha ha.. You know what one of my pet peeves is? Guys misrepresenting how their rifles shoot!!! I tire of seeing all the schidty shooting on youtube, from rifles that i know can shoot better.

Like cheap savages:

It always rains when I take this one out:

Sorry, 10 shots at 50 yards, shooting right handed with irons..

Then scoped:


50 yards of course^^ Shooting left handed.

I am the OP and I have no idea why you feel the need to make reference about my not having made comments since most of what I was asking about has been covered.

To put it in simple terms - I don't see the point in posting group pictures like you did without any relevant information on the target. And in particular there are folks who keep posting the same target pictures over and over without any info. What's the point? It could be 50 feet or 50 yards - who knows?
When I see the name of the poster in a lot of instances I can almost foresee the pictures they are going to post. It's like a "hey look at me" - never mind that there is no information provided.


I suppose that I could post some of mine like this these - they have the relevant data on it.




Or I could post ones like these - which is more like some posters do and leave it to the imagination of the viewer.

Curious, is this the photo you are referencing?



If so, I thought I explained that I shot this at 50yds. in an online contest.

No, I was not referencing your photo.

As stated in my OP I don't understand why people don't mention the distance or provide it on the target. If there is a comment in the post about the distance the target was shot at then the information is available and removes the guessing.

Personally I like to put the info on the target otherwise when I look back at it at a later date I don't have to try to remember what the ammo, conditions, etc were like.
Besides that if it is a bragging target I sure as heck want folks to know the distance it was shot at.


drover

I agree with you. Once in awhile I forget to.

Ha ha. You need to learn to hit what you are aiming at. Another one of my pet peeves. But since it's not me shooting, go for it. ha ha.. It's like the longrange guys hitting 6 feet high and 3' to the left or right, then not knowing how to correct for the shot, after the first splash.

Post some pics of the x-ring shot out, with some 10 shot groups, and maybe you'll change my mind.

Looks to me like he was targeting the grid line intersections and extremely well at that! Carry on though "Marksman" BSA.

Yes, I do target the intersection of the grid lines for group shooting, doing so gives a fine aim point and makes it easier to assure that the rifle is not being canted.

drover