Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting 22 rimfire handgun fun to 400 yds.

Went out with my buddy couple days ago coyote hunting. After the 1st stand i wanted to check the long range dope i have with my Ruger Mk III/2x Nikon setup for long range plinkin'. The Nikon has a plex reticle that subtends 20 MOA from reticle's center axis. We shot at 100, 150, 175, 200, 300, 350 and finally 400 yds. and it's just amazing what can be accomplished with a decent 2x optic at longer ranges with a 22 pistol. The Nikon has 120 MOA rated in the turret [the most turret travel of any LER optic that i know of] and this rig nets me 140 with Burris Pos align rings and a total of 60 MOA forward tilt in the rings [shimmed]. From 50-yd. zero I used the reticle out to 175 calcd. at--

75=10%
100=30%
125=50
150=75
175- plex post tip

I knew that 50 gets me about 300 and ~90 to 400, and it was very close to that dope for all ranges out to 400. A couple of the shots were dead nuts very close to the aiming points [mostly cow pies]. I could actually see the pie plate sized gray cow pie 400 yd. target no problem against a light prairie grass background, and could also spot my hits from the small dust cloud impact signatures fairly well. Was quite surprised how easy it was to consistently interpolate between 20 MOA stadia points along the plex reticle out to 175 yds. as noted above. 5-7 mph winds from 6 o'clock. Don't have any field pics but here's the rig i use--

That's pretty cool.

I've gone out to 300-400 yards with my 10/22, with a Leup 1.5-5x20 in Burris Signature rings with the eccentric inserts. I could dial up to about 90 moa, than use the mildot reticle to eek out a little more.

Pretty good Shane--sounds like a nice setup. Someday i'm gonna kill me a 300-yd. ground squirrel with that little rig...just to say i did it. Just need to find some now...

It is a bunch of fun shooting the 22 to longer ranges though--cheap too, or at least cheapER.

I've noticed with the wallyworld Federal bulk ammo that it is surprisingly consistent and accurate out to about 400 yards, in the summertime.

In the winter it seems to get erratic past about 300 yards. I'm guessing that's probably due to the colder temps making ammo slower, and less consistent.

This is at elevation of about 4500 ft.

Interesting Shane your experiences with the Fed. Bulk Pack stuff--i've had similar results--usually shoots pretty good out of some of my 22 pistols, and it has pretty good terminal effect too on the prairie dogs i've shot with it--about as good as anything except the super high vel. stuff like Stingers.

I'm currently shooting Win. Dynapoints out of all my 22's--it's given me the best accuracy overall out of all my pistols for affordable plinking ammo (got lucky with it as it was at a discount price and i bought a BUNCH of it), though not the best killers. Oftentimes i can shoot right at an inch for ~5 shots or so at 50.

That's great accuracy/shooting with a handgun.

I've mulled the idea of getting a Charger after seeing yours. I have a spare 10/22 heavy barrel that I would probably cut to 12", and mount on the Charger. Seems like it might be a really fun little rig.

Oh it is so much fun. Have an interesting story about my Charger. Unfortunately i think about it every time i pull the rig out. Took my filipina wife out shooting at the range with it last year and she was shooting at the 1" bolt that holds a plate steel onto the frame at 50 yds., and she hit it 1st shot. She was just elated, and she hit the same spot an the 2nd shot, and she was really getting into it. Well i gotta' take a leak, so i just go over to the side and take care of business as discreetly as i could whilst talking to her about shooting. Couple seconds later here comes a guy rolling up to my truck checking out my license plate. So i figure uh oh, i screwed up and he saw me pissing on the range. So he starts hassling me about takin' a piss where i'm not supposed to, and he says he's gonna turn me in to the "range cops". So i think this guy might've been a member of the board so i was polite to the guy--didn't notice my wife's hiding behind my vehicle (filipinas from the provinces are often quite shy). Never heard anything about it after that, but had i known the guy wasn't a board member i'd have given him a piece of my mind about scaring my wife trying to flex his muscles around us...pseudomacho crap and all. I laugh about it now, but it sure wasn't funny at the time.

Anyways i did put a Horus Vision Predator on my MR Picuda (Charger-like rig), and i swear it's become the most 22 rimfire fun i can ever remember.

Funny that you posted this. I just recently put a Bushnell 10X on my 10/22 and I tried it out to 250 yds. yesterday. I was zeroed at 50, and had to come up 8 MOA to be dead nuts @ 110yds. It topped out really fast and I had to use the mil-dots to make hits @ 250. I was thinking Burris signature's as I drove back yesterday just like Shane had written.


Travis

sscoyote, yeah never a shortage of dickheads around a shooting range.

I had the Bushnell 10X (mil/mil)on my 10/22 for a while. With the Signature rings and +/- .20 inserts in the bottom halves, it really maximized the scope. A 60 yard zero had the elevation turret only .3 mils, or three clicks, from the bottom.

That gave about 21 mils/75 moa up avaialble, enough to get to 400+ yds depending on conditions.



The only reason I pulled that scope from the 10/22 was because without parallax control it was really fuzzy inside 50 yards or so. Excellent for LR play though, 10X makes it a bit easier to see those little splashes way out there.

Here's something really over the top. I put the Leupold MK4 16X on the 10/22 for [bleep]-n-gigglz one day. It was great for long range, but I generally keep that scope on the heavy 30-06, where it is fantastic on a 45 moa base.

Those Ruger Mk II .22's with a bull barrel are SO well balanced and feel so good in my hand. They really did a super job when they came out with those way back when, but I have yet to try one of the new Ruger Mk III's with the fluted bbls...are they even better balanced, I bet?

Don't really know sir, i have the Browning Buckmark Varmint and this MK III, but i do like the feel of both actually.

Hey Travis, IMO the Burris Sig. Zee rings are the only way to go. They allow for a huge amount of versatility to maximize the system to get the most out of the optic like Shane's doing. One of the great aspects of those rings is the fact that they are very easy to shim to get even more than the ~40 MOA out of them [1" rings]. Shane talks about an "over the top system" using the 16x Mk.4. That optic is rated at 140 MOA of available travel according to my catalog. Supposed to be one of the best optics for long range apps. ever made. Here's what i did. I put a Horus Vision 8-26x that has ~75 MOA of up adjustment and something like 60 more in the turret. I net about 120 or so by manipulating the BSZR's with credit card shim in the back of the lower insert. There is really 2 thicknesses of credit card--.025 and .013". Depending on ring separation determines the amount of tilt you can get out of it-- http://www.twincityrodandgun.com/Sc...cope%20Mounting%20Tilt%20Calculator.htm. I had the .025 in the Mk III's ring but it was also bottoming out right at the end of the adjustment. I didn't want to keep it there since i don't think that it's a good idea to have the springs compressed so much, so i replaced it with the thinner .013" and now i have maybe 15 MOA short of bottoming out--good enuf. I could actually get out to 600 yds. with this system plinking--



.025" credit card shim in the BSZR's--



The Mk III really is a good system since i can interpolate windage easily with the 20 MOA plex reticle subtension whilst running clicks with the turret. It truly amazes me what can be accomplished with these kinds of systems.

The MK4 16X does actually have 140 moa el travel.

Zero'd at 100 yards on my 30-06 with a 45 moa base, I have 118 moa up, and 23 moa down.

Not to drift too far from topic, but that setup is enough to dial 2000+ yards with my 208 AMax load at 2740 fps, 4500 ft el.

I've only played some to 200, but plan on going long, as I geared up for it:



I haven't updated with new pics yet since I switched out the scope and bases....40-X in a McM Marksman, now with a 5.5-22x50 NF on their 40 MOA base.

Gonna be my LR squirrel gun if I ever go....

Geez Shane that's some amazing yardage there sir!

Man Aalf, that's a heckuva setup you gots there sir...sweeet!
Supposedly 100 MOA travel in that optic, once again according to the catalog.

Be nice to see some more pics and what other guys are using.

What'd be interesting to see a big Unertl on a rig that's been maximized. I have a 20x 2", just laying around. Got a Unertl loaned out to a buddy, but he hasn't even got it on some Kimber he's got.

Another option is the Gantry mount that allows for something like 250 MOA adjustment i guess. I know a couple guys who are using it quite successfully on their pistols.

Long range ground squirrel shooting oughtta' be just the ticket for these rigs. That's one envy i have for the California boys--i know there are a bunch of them out there as i saw them when we got close to the coast several years ago. There's also some on Colorado's Western slope--just need to get out there some.

Here's a PM i got from some guy over at rimfirecentral.com about some long-range ground squirreller using a Unertl on top of some big old rig. Interesting writeup i thought--

"Yes, some years back i did a bit of it in the alfalfa fields north of Enterprise up around Crow crick and down around North Powder. I was using a very accurate Anschutz target rifle with a 20X Unertle scope I had back then. I used several different types of match ammo and we had paced off and place range stakes across the field. Early on some mornings you could get an hour or so of windless conditions. Target that ammo (pre my swaging) showed the smaller ground squirrels were smaller than cone of fire at 150 yards and beyond. Thus a "hit" on them would simply amount to bad luck on their part. Head or heart/lung kill shots are out of the question as you are just trying to hit the squirrel at those ranges. As I recall I batted about 30 - 40% hits at 150 - 200 yards. After a couple such "shoots" I gave up using the .22LR, not so much of the lack of accuracy but for the lack of terminal affects. I really don't like seeing animals, even varmints like squirrels, crawl off to die a lingering death. That's just me and I've no problem that others use the .22LR at those extended ranges. Just not my cup of tea is all. I prefer the terminal affects of a .22 Hornet, .222 Rem or .223 as a hit with them at ranges out to 300 yards is pretty destructive and deadly.

I pretty much limit my squirrel shooting on the smaller Beldings with the .22LR to 100 yards or less. I've found with a quality sporter and good or swaged and weighed HP'd .22LRs head or heart lung shots are not that difficult if the little buggers would just sit still! You still have to guestimate the range correctly and work the wind for hits. Many I time just as I pulled the trigger the little bugger would move and the bullet would hit where it was......

The increase in accuracy and terminal affect by weight sorting the bulk .22LR, especially Blazer, swaging it to .225 and HPing it is worth the effort to me. I also like sometimes use quality match .22LR that I've HP'd when hunting the red or grey diggers because many times they only give you half a head peaking aroun a limb or over a rock. The Bulk HP high speed .22LRs also respnd well to just swaging and uniforming the HP to a much larger hole. Terminal affects have to be seen to be believed. I recently used some bulk Winchester HPs that i did that to and the terminal affects were very much like the hyper speed >22LR but with much better accuracy."

One optic i really like is the 3-9x 22 LR Rapid Reticle i have on my Charger/Kidd barrel. I have one PD kill out to 295 yds. [too far actually] using the reticle in combo with the turret. Man i love this system, and consider it one of the more practical 22 LR pistol shooting systems --






It really provides for all i need--compact optic, ballistic reticle, and low profile target turret.

Usually my goal is to find the cheapest stuff that shoots the best, and generally looking at the HP's for the terminal effects on starling in the quarry. Test subjects for the potential squirrel wars...

Ive got a 10/22 with a Volquortsen barrel on it, with the Hogue over molded stock, topped with a VX-II LRD that sems to shoot great with the bulk stuff.

I'm cruising to Wally World first thing in the AM, supposed to have a fresh shipment of bulk Federals.

BTW, the scope in the pic was the one I sent to Ernie to forward to Seb...I'm sure he's putting it to good use.

Aalf, i'm Steve, Ernie [XPhunter] is my old hunting partner, with the emphasis on old--but thanks for that--Ernie is "Da Man", that's for sure.

Oh yeah, that's the NF BR scope right?

Ha ha....I left for a minute and realized my boo boo, but couldn't edit in time...

Almost made it the whole day w/o a mistake...my streak's alive....

Actually the old Varminter scope....

Some mighty fine lookin lead slingers you guys are showing here, and the glass is even nicer!

I have been out of gun collecting for some 10+ yrs and I sure like what they are producing and what you guys are doing with it!