Being a rifle looney I find some of my friends just don't understand the obsession with all things gunnery...

Do your friends or acquaintances laugh when they see your rimfire set ups? Do they think you've gone over the deep end? I know when I show up with some of my nicer .22s with huge scopes on them for a squirrel hunt they think a lot of things, voice of few of their thoughts, then stop laughing when they see the results- be it ground squirrel kills or target grouping. In fact, several of my friends and my son have started to migrate to my style of rimfire preparedness and seem to be enjoying it...

If you are of the opinion that anything over a 3-9 scope on a rimfire is too much, this thread probably isn't for you. My favorite glass for rimfires these days is a 6-24 x 50 or somewhere in that range but a 4-16 x44 will do in a pinch...

Bob

Most of my friends have transitioned from non-shooters to taking up rimfires with a passion after a few trips to the range or hills.

There are different budgets involved for sure but several of my buddies are now shooting anschutz and vudoos with the appropriate glass.

And most important they have learned proper technique and that you can’t buy tight groups

When I squirrel hunted more I had a leupold 6.5-20 on a 77/22

In fooling about with such things more often in recent years, I’ve come to the conclusion that, even in a very good 22 rimfire rifle meant for the shooting of small creatures from a rested position (whether with natural or artificial support) at 200 yards or less, scope magnification seems to reach the point of diminishing returns at about 15 or 16 power. More magnification can certainly be useful in precisely identifying and defining the quarry/target, but doesn’t seem to improve the chances of hitting it, when you can see better than your rifle can shoot. In a very good 22 rimfire rifle with an appropriately talented shooter, it’s the quality of rimfire ammunition which always seems to be the limiting factor.

But, gazing upon a 22 rifle bearing an optical sight as large as the Hubble Space Telescope can certainly set some to giggling, unless they should happen to be the squirrel who’s the center of attention at the time.

4-20x50


3-15x44


2-10x42

How often have you had to listen to the speech from someone - "nobody needs more than a 4x scope on a rimfire".... blah, blah, blah....

For target shooting I love the higher power for spotting my groups without the aid of a spotting scope. For squirrels and other game I like to be able to peek between the grass and leaves to find the hidden little suckers looking back at me- until a bullet hits that spot... you can always turn a variable scope down, but you can't turn a low fixed power up...

Absolutely!

Can’t turn a high fixed power down for the close stuff, either.

If your friends shoot rifles with poor triggers, clam pack scopes, and buy whatever brand is the lowest priced ammo, more magnification is unlikely to improve their shooting skills. From what I have seen, the great majority of firearms owners don't modify their firearms to better fit their needs. Few of my friends are serious shooters, so they would never consider spending good money on after-market stocks or triggers.

My primary squirrel rifles are chambered in 17 HM2 and have 4-12x through 6-24x scopes mounted. Aim small, hit small.

My .22 rifles have a variety of scopes mounted depending of the intended purpose. A Remington 37 with a 30x Lyman Targetspot isn't a very practical woods loafing rifle, while a Ruger 10/22 with a 2-7x28 Weaver RV7 isn't a very competitive match rifle.

Don’t go selling that combination short:

Leupold 2-7x28 RF Special





5 CCI SGBs at 50 yards from that 10/22 (not uncommon performance from it, either)

Aim small miss small

Yeah, those typewriter dots are hard to see with anything less than a twelve power.

I've got a couple buddies that don't understand my need to shoot as much as I do, rimfires and air rifles in particular.

Learning to read the wind is easiest for me with a decent scope and a 22LR or an air rifle. It's cheap fun to shoot.

The 6x mini is great for hunting but the 4.5-14 and the 6-24 are shot more often and 4-12 is usually what I have on the air rifles.

Still I hear, "you know you can hit em in the head, you can quit shooting now" ..... Nope!

The ability to communicate effectively with those who simply don’t get it, is an extraordinarily rare and extremely desirable skill. I sometimes begin to think that I may even approach having such skill. That is, until I find myself thinking of simply choking them out instead.

And then you run into guys like my friend that shoots small enough groups with aperture sights at 200 yards...

It's all in what you want, not what someone else wants.

I find the best way to communicate with them is to give them a box of ammo and to get behind the rifle.

They’ll understand

Shooting tiny groups is more about consistency of hold (and good technique), than being able to see tiny target details:



Shooting small critters at distance is more about being able to see small details in order to locate them where they hide best, and then being able to direct the shot to the precise location where it is most likely to achieve the desired result:



While these two 50 yard 5 shot groups are about the same size, the 3 MOA red dot sight required the large aiming bullseye for consistent sighting, covering all but the 7-ring and half of the 8-ring. The 4x scope clearly defined the X-ring, making for an easy head shot on a squirrel at that distance. The red dot would completely cover a squirrel’s head, and a good portion of its body too, at that distance.

An aperture sight can work remarkably well on a distant small critter, in the open, unobstructed and in decent light. Anything else requires a scope of appropriately high magnification (even if it should resemble the Hubble Space Telescope).

Some of my friends just think it's a waste of money when I buy a new rifle or accessories. They're not anti-gun, they just don't understand the need/want for more than one or two of them. They definitely don't understand why I like to collect older/antique rifles instead of the latest greatest new age technology stuff.

Quote.

I find the best way to communicate with them is to give them a box of ammo and to get behind the rifle.

They’ll understand

I have two friends who are still taking about shooting my 201 Mauser. They could not believe the groups they were shooting with it. And that’s been about 5 years ago.
My smallest Rimfire scope is a VX 2 4x12. Hasbeen.

sheister ol buddy. You've been to my club in WA. You know most of those guys use big scopes on their rimfires. We shoot at small targets most times. Those same big scopes even work well in the head to head competitions we have there. From KYL and golf balls and paint balls to paper, the big scopes work just fine. For a while I was using a 6-18 on my single shot target rifle there. Now a Burris AR 556 4.5-14x44 on my 10-22 will suffice. An old Weaver T16 on my 17 HMR for chits and giggles and at one time, I even ran the Nightforce NXS 5.5-22x56 (that I sold to Cert here), on my 10-22. I did get some comments on that one for sure. Something to the affect of, "sure you are going to pull out the big dog $2,000.00 rifle scope to beat us now"!!! My response was, well I can get my $100 bushnell 6-18x40 that's on my single shot, if you prefer? That guy did not know what to think. Talk about being flustered. Him, not me...

Aperture sights are great. I love them for shooting at appropriate sized bulls on paper. Shooting at small vermin is not their strong suit.

Join the club..

As some here understand me, I'm old school. I love precision shooting but have committed myself to doing it while exploring the world of vintage rifles. (Don't sell the old timers short - of course the results that guys were getting 100 years ago don't come close to to what we've come to expect today. But, it wasn't because of inferior equipment or lack of skill, it was the ammo they were saddled with. Top shelf .22 match ammo accuracy back then could be exceeded by the mediocre stuff we shoot today. Therein lies the rub - put a box of Eley Tenex, RWS R-50, or Lapua Midas through a 90 year old top tier target rifle such as a Stevens Walnut Hill, Martini Model 12, or Winchester 52, and prepare to have your eyes opened. Back then they thought they were king sh*t if they could manage a half-inch at 50 yards, but take the same gun today and you can expect 1/4".)

That said, I wouldn't laugh at somebody if they showed up with a racy chassis rifle with a magnificent Hubble telescope mounted on it but I would laugh at myself if I fell prey to such stuff!

I revel in the astonishment exhibited by "The Great Unwashed Masses" at the range who dance around crowing about their Wonder Rifles when they stop to look at the targets I produce with "old timey guns" with "old timey target scopes", which more often than not put their rigs to utter shame. Of course some of that may be the Indian and not the arrow.....

Sounds like a lot of you guys have had the same experiences I've had. However, what I'm finding is the more guys who I actually shoot with (instead of just talk about shooting), the more guys in my circle are buying bigger scopes for their rimfires and other rifles and enjoying the heck out of them.

I will admit that for aesthetics the 4-12 x 40 is just about the perfect scope for hunting with a rimfire and I have a couple rimfires that are more outfitted for aesthetics than actual use for game. However, when I get serious I usually up the xfactor on my scopes so I am not limited to shooting at paper or easy to see targets of opportunity.

I always wonder how a guy can complain about what I put on my rifle in order to squeeze the most performance I can out of my shooting rather than compromising and putting a short sighted scope on to please someone else... I guess there are Karens all around us...

I get you there- most of my guns are from the 40s, 50s, 60s and are Winchester or Remington "vintage" guns and I can't complain a bit about the performance. From 69As to Remington 40X rifles, they are all accurate or they go down the road quickly. When my buddies have issues with their rifles at the range I'm the one they always turn to to shoot their rifle to see what is wrong and either fix or suggest a fix for their shooting problems. Sometimes it's the shooter, sometimes it's the scope or rifle- but we almost always get it fixed somehow.

And at the end of the day, it's all good. My go-to squirrel and backyard-depredator rifle is a BRNO #2 - a delightful little rifle (the predecessor of the CZ) that'll put 5 of its favorite munitions (SK Pistol Match of all things) into 3/8" @ 50 yards. I worked out its ammo preferences with a much larger scope, but then installed the scope that lives on it - a Leupold FX-II Rimfire 4x with parallax set for 50 yards (and gave up little in precision, on paper). It makes for a good compromise in weight and scope magnification for when these cranky old bones gotta carry it around the squirrel woods all day. Better scopes out there for threading a bullet through a crack in the foliage? Undoubtedly. Would I dream of using the scope in a match? Undoubtedly not. But it's all about compromises at some point and I'm willing to sacrifice a bit of utility for comfort. It works for me, your mileage will probably vary.

Took some derision, but that often eventuated as converts. Most get over aesthetics when confronted with results.

Lets see, three of my rimfire rifles are scoped with straight 4x scopes, two wear 2-7x32's, one a 2.5-7x32, one 3-9x32 and one a fixed 2.5x20. My favorite squirrel rifle wears a 2-7x scope. I've killed my daily bag limit of 6 {we're talking tree squirrels here} in under an hour more times than I can count with that combo and set a new personal record of 6 squirrels in 30 minutes flat with it last season.. I just don't need more for my uses but yours may differ.

I see that there are lots of guys who prefer shorter scopes for their style of hunting and that is more than okay. I don't care what anybody hunts with but I do get tired of people thinking it's okay to criticize my style of hunting, choice of rifles and scopes, or even ammo- all of which have happened- until they see my results...

If I only hunted tree squirrels I would change a couple rifles over to shorter scopes just for this pursuit, but the relatively open grass fields, sagebrush, and alfalfa fields where we hunt ground squirrels require you to be ready to shoot at 20 yards or 150 yards (and perhaps a bit further) , and I get a lot more time shooting paper than hunting squirrels, which are about a 4-6 hour drive away from home. For 90% of my rimfire use a 4-12 or 4-16 scope would be just about perfect for dialing up and down the power range but a short focus distance is often mandatory as those sneaky suckers tend to pop up far too close at times...

No. My Belding's Ground Squirrel buddies have all invested in fine 22 LR's

CZ 457 Premium with Hawke 3x9 IR None of my friends laughed...

Sheister,

I don't care who laughs.....I just go my own way.

I have several old B&L 6X24 scopes on various rifles.

I had this last one laying around, not earning it's keep , so I put it on this Winchester repo.

I have some other larger scopes on rimfires also, but this pic was the handiest.

It is all fun.

I have one like that, but it wears a tiny old Burris Mini 6x AO. I think it’ll do just fine for our squirrels and is fun at the range too. Ended up with another 6x, a SWFA with the MOA dials and tiny dot in the center for targets on my 10/22 CSC, primarily for shooting targets. That rifle has had a bunch of scopes on it, but this one seems like a good fit and the fine reticle should make up for the lack of power, given a target that matches up well with it. I like the 100 yard benchrest with an open square. Whatever works, works.

Sheister: I have several quality 4x12, 4x16, 6x18, 6.5x20 & 6x24 scopes on some of my many and varied "rimfire" Rifles. And am a proponent of "lots of magnification" on my rimfire Hunting rigs.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy