.22lr expected accuracy at 150yard + ?

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So yesterday I took a bit of time to go sight in the scope I put on an old marlin model 81, 30-60km winds coming from all directions. I think that range is supposed to be 200yrd, but by eye it looks more like 150 to me(gonna be measuring it next time) target moving in the wind a bit. We didn't play for very long as it was colder than we expected it would be, so after getting it close enough with regular .22lr federal bulk ammo(surprisingly accurate if it wasn't for the odd one that seems underloaded...) I switched to .22 lapua match, resighted a bit for the difference in speed/drop as it was a good 5-6" lower.
I did only 1 5shot group with it, and she did one as well then packed up. I was very surprised to find that 4 of the bullets were within 1.05" and the 5th within 1.75". The actual height difference is only 7/16" so most of it seems to be wind pushing it sideways, and it was a pretty crude set up with just a few folded towels over a rock on the bench to rest it on.

Now I've never really followed competition and only researched a bit online(only getting back into shooting after about 10yrs of being way too busy and having other priorities) and it seems the pro's with high end rifles can hold around .200-300" at 100yrd, and I imagine most of it is really just the slight difference in ammo.
But it made me wonder about how far .22lr can accurately reach? and are there competitions further than 100yrd? I look forward to see under better conditions what this old rifle might be able to do, got it for free about 16yrs ago not working, fixed a few things, lightened the trigger to about 2lbs(it was around 4.5), tried to pretty it up a bit but could use a reblueing. Anyhow, I was highly surprised that under such crappy conditions it seemed able to hold within 1moa.

So for you guys that shoot a lot, how far have you taken the .22lr and how much can be expected out of it?

thanks
 
i have two 1940s Marlin 81 DLs and mounted scopes on them. I regularly shoot gophers out to 200 yards. That is accurate enough for me as i only use paper to sight in a new scoped rifle. Never doubt the capabilities of these older rifles, quality was built in, not added on. I praise the older rifles and have never bought new rifles. Mossbergs also have surprising accuracy.
 
in great conditions i can consistently hit a 8" steel gong at 250 yards with my cz513 with cci standard. never grouped on paper that far. at 100yrds i am 1" and a little under. so 1 inch in high wind at 200yrds is nutz
 
With my ruger 10/22 heavy barreled and a 2.5-10x tasco varmint scope me and a friend were hitting a 3"x3" reseting target at 150 yards without a problem. That was with federal bulk and I'm now switching to CCI Velocitor and am expecting to go out to 250 yards in the next few weeks as these are shooting much flatter and more accurate at 100 yards. I zeroed at 25 yards, shoot one mil dot high at 50 yards, half a mil dot high at 75 yards, back on zero at 100 yards and two mil dots low at 150 yards with the federal.
 
Thanks for the input, pretty neat to see it reach 500yrds in that video, and nice to know other marlin 81's are shooting really good as well. I normally only shot it with the original iron peep sight, a few weeks ago at 75yrds it held 1.6" for 10shot group with the federal bulk ammo, trouble is at that distance the front sight covers the whole 8" wide target at the end. The scope was meant for another rifle I have on the way but since its been almost 5months coming and still ain't here, I got impatient and put the scope on the old marlin and I'll get a better scope for the .260rem when it shows up. Even with the fed ammo it did a 10shot group on saturday in this wind, of 2.5" in height, 1.1" wide (5 of them within 1") 2 high, 3 low, but with that ammo we can hear the ones that don't make the same bang.
 
I have been practicing on golf balls at 200 yds with my 10-22 and am now consistently hitting 9 out of 10, with a little tweaking I expect to be 10 for 10 soon! Rimfire plinking is addictive isn't it!
 
Isn't there between about 42"-57" of drop @ 200 yards? A .22lr is running out of gas big time at that distance, I doubt my Anschutz could golf that well. :)
 
On a calm day, shooting quality ammo from a known accurate rifle,
I have shot many 5-shot groups that are less than 1" at 200 meters.
22 rimfires are often underestimated, but those of us who use them
a lot know what they can do.
Targets below were all shot at 200. Grid is ½" squares.
Eagleye
Photo_2008_8_15_0_14_51_edited.jpg

RIMFIRE200Metergroup.jpg

Photo_2008_8_15_0_11_14_edited-1.jpg
 
Again we run into doubters. I have nothing toprove but indeed these wee rifles are so underrated. Not only on paper but on live targets. Long distances can be achieved but i only judge myself on a inch and half sized head of a gopher. Close enough for me with Winchester 333/555 ammo only.
What can be done with match ammo i have not tried. Know your gun and scope and your own capabilities and the accuracy will show.
 
That's impressive if you shot them at those distances. I buy ammo by the brick usually, have 6 .22lrs (2 x semi, 4 x bolt action) and have been shooting .22lr for more than 20 years. I'm confident that I know what a .22lr can/can't do, and a .22lr (in my hands) can't shoot 1" groups @ 200 yards. Maybe the key words there are "in my hands", but sub-1" groups @ 218 yards (200 meters) would be brag-worthy with a .223.

Edit~and as for the "live target" discussion, let's not plant the seed of temptation with "moose/.22lr" stories. I know they exist, and believe most to be true, but remember...let's consider the "can vs. should" where hunting is concerned.
 
I have only sparingly tried to shoot 100yds with .22. Most of my plinking is at 20-50yds while I wait for my barrels to cool on my larger target rifles.

What is the general drop at 100yds with average .22 rounds like the bulk federal?
 
Why would I say they were shot at the distance if they were not??
I started shooting rimfire at 8, and am now 65+
I love rimfires, and own 18 at present.

While I have shot enough targets like this to believe that it is repeatable, the
22LR is so sensitive to even a zephyr of a breeze, that it is quite
challenging to shoot these very small groups, time and again.
One very quiet morning, I shot 3 out of 5 groups that were 1 moa or less
at 200. Another time, I managed only one out of 5. Some times, there are none.

Keep in mind these were shot with a 40X Remington and a Suhl 150, using
Eley Match EPS Ammo of a specific lot that the rifles shoot best with.

When someone posts stellar results, using bulk ammo, I always regard it
with some scepticism, since I have shot many brands of bulk ammo, and
the flyers will get you, time and again.

Regards, Eagleye.
 
I managed to get 1.5-1.75 MOA 5 shot aggregate groups with 3-4 out of 9 match ammo that I tried at 100m with a Savage Mk II BTVS.
Accuracy is almost always proportional to a bullets time of flight so you should get slightly larger than 1.75 MOA 5 shot groups at 150 yards.
My guess would be something like 1.75 MOA 5 shot groups (around 2.5 inches groups).

Top of line 22lr target rifle should consistently produce groups 1/2 that size (something like 0.75 MOA groups).

Here are some very interesting numbers using a super 22lr target rifle and many different ammo.
http://www.accurateshooter.com/guns-of-week/22lr-rimfire-ammo-comparison-test/

Complete list of 100yards better than 1.0" groups with test rifle
0.455 Eley Match (yes better than 1/2 MOA at 100 yards!)
0.510 Lapua Midas Plus
0.549 Lapua Midas M
0.611 Lapua Polar Biathlon
0.611 Eley Tenex Ultimate EPS
0.619 Eley Match EPS
0.622 Eley Club
0.630 Lapua Center X
0.631 RWS R50
0.679 Eley Tenex Semi Auto
0.694 Lapua Midas L
0.729 Eley Tenex
0.739 Lapua Master L
0.753 Lapua Super Club
0.785 Lapua Master M
0.831 Eley Sport
0.851 Eley Match Xtra
0.859 Lapua Standard Plus
0.867 Akah X-Zone
0.877 Eley Pistol Match
0.907 Norinco Target
0.924 Eley Silhouex
0.939 CCI Standard
0.952 Eley Subsonic HP
0.963 Magtech
0.970 Olin Ball
0.978 Kassnar Concorde
0.995 Eley Club Xtra

Alex
 
Hey Eagleye~no offense intended. That's nicer gear than I've ever had my hands on, but even if I did...I'm reasonably sure I wouldn't be able to duplicate that. I hear/read all kinds of things that I scratch my head about, and only have my own (albeit, less time than you) experience to call upon. I've seen minimal-to-non-existent breezes blow a .22lr round off-course @ 110 yards...and THAT I've experienced 100s of times. If I shoot sub MOA with my .223 @ 200 yards (Savage Precision 10 Carbine) I pat myself on the back for the rest of the day. And that's the truth! :)

I guess some more practice is in order for me.
 
No offense taken !! Life has taught me to "thicken" the skin, lol.
Gear does make a difference, no question.
I just won the local IR 50/50 shoot here a couple of weeks ago.
Didn't have to break out the Suhl, just shot the 40X Remmy.

I really appreciate your comment on the wind.
If you do not have flags up all along your course of fire, you may
have no idea what happened to that "stray" shot that is 1½" or more out of the group.

I was at a BR 22 rimfire match a number of years ago.
The wind was playing crazy tricks, so I was shooting more sighters than usual.
Paid off though...I shot a .615" - 10 shot group at 100.
The shooter to the left of me had 9 in slightly less, but got caught by the wind on one,
making his group slightly over 1"

My equipment at the time? A 541T Remington with a 6.5-20 Leupold, shooting
Lapua Master L ammo.

Regards, Eagleye.
 
Wow, I spend a lot of time with my 22's, wind still baffles me. On calm morning when there is no wind a quality rim fire is extremely fun to shoot! My 10-22 doesn't have a single ruger part, either of them. Kidd equipped they are amazing little guns, up until this summer I would never have believed sub 1" groups at 200 were realistic either, but a 2,000 dollar 22 with Eley Tenex will change anyone's perception of these little plinkers.

I guess one day I will have to find a decent camera and take some videos.
 
Planning to go do some slightly more proper tuning of the scope tomorrow and seeing what it'll do under better conditions with 3-4 types of ammo, gonna use the Lapua match for my main zero at 100yard and chart the rest from there between 50-200 and get some idea of bullet drop.
Unfortunately left my camera in QC 2 weeks ago but will try to take a few pics with the gf's camera.
At least its not supposed to be too windy, 5-15km/h.
 
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