200 yard rimfire accuracy.

[RTH1800]

I have been shooting quite a bit of rimfire and getting sight settings in 25 yard increments to 200 yards. Prone with sling.
Rifles are various Win 52's, Rem 40X and Rem 37. All repeaters. Scopes are various Unertl, Lyman, Fecker etc. target type externally adj.
I can get Sub MOA 5 shot groups at 100 but not at 200. I was wanting to find something that would do this for a top notch squirrl rifle, but the best I do for 5 shots is about 1.5 moa and average is more like 2 moa. This will not insure a hit on a squirrl at that range. Am I asking too much? Would a custom barrel help? Suggestions? Is anyone getting Sub moa at 200 with a rimfire?

 

[SmallBoreSnipers]

Re: 200 yard rimfire accuracy.

.17 HMR

 

[RTH1800]

Re: 200 yard rimfire accuracy.

Only looking for a 22 rimfire, not 17 or 22 mag. Thank you.

 

[armorpl8chikn]

Re: 200 yard rimfire accuracy.

I spotted for a friend Saturday and watched 4 of the 922A Federals fly into a spot the size of my thumbnail on a steel plate at 210yds. The fifth shot went a bit outside and made the group 3/4MOA. The rifle was 64MPR Anschutz. between 1 and 1.5 MOA is very doable with the right equipment.

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Re: 200 yard rimfire accuracy.

I think that 1.5-2MOA at 200yd is a reasonable goal, particularly for a walkabout rifle. Bear in mind that connecting is one thing, achieving consistent clean kills may be something else.

Greg

 

[clmayfield]

Re: 200 yard rimfire accuracy.

1 MOA is not an achievable goal at 200 yards with a 22LR IMO. As mentioned above, in good conditions, you can get close... about 1.5 MOA or a bit less (using 5 shot groups) in the right conditions. With a shifty win, 2 MOA is probably a best case.

 

[SmallBoreSnipers]

Re: 200 yard rimfire accuracy.

I mentioned the .17 HMR because as far as I know it's the most accurate rimfire caliber ever made, and was built for 200 yard performance. If you're just target shooting, you can definitely have some fun with a .22 LR. But if you're looking to nail squirles at 200 yards, I don't believe that a .22 LR is the right tool for the job. Just my opinion.

 

[clmayfield]

Re: 200 yard rimfire accuracy.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: SmallBoreSniper</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I mentioned the .17 HMR because as far as I know it's the most accurate rimfire caliber ever made.</div></div>

I don't know if I would agree with that. Both the 17HMR and the 22LR are inherently accurate calibers. The limiting factor with the 17HMR is the ammo quality. If you dump enough money into a 22LR to get it smithed properly and use expensive ammo (Lapua or Eley), you can get it to whip a 17's a$$ at 50 yards. With the 17, ammo is what it is. It is not bad, but it is not made to the exacting standards that Eley and Lapua are.

The problem with the 22LR is that its accuracy quickly degrades with range. At 100 yards, a $300 17HMR and a $2000 22LR are pretty evenly matched.

At 200 yards, a 17 will whip a 22. No question. I agree with SBS that for this type of task, the 17HMR is best suited. The 22 is simply out of gas at this range. It is fun to shoot at 200 yards, but in field conditions, you are going to have to dope for not only wind, but an incredible amount of drop. You can't achieve that kind of field accuracy you need to be able to drop small varmints at 200 with a 22... not to say it can't be done... the 22LR simply is not an effective caliber for this particular task.

 

[SmallBoreSnipers]

Re: 200 yard rimfire accuracy.

^ Very true. It's tough finding the ammo your 17 loves. The little 17 gr. bullet also drops like a rock right around 200. I have to come up a full turn to fire at 300.

 

[al redneck]

Re: 200 yard rimfire accuracy.

About a year ago I shot at 200 yds with my CZ Varmint in 22 lr. I shot 2 5 rd groups off bipod and sand sock. I remember the average was 2 3/4" . I don't have the target in front of me but I believe the groups were 2 5/8" and 2 7/8" but I am sure the average was 2 3/4" for both. I shoot Wolf MT after I run it through a Waltz die. Average at 100 is a little under 1" .

david

EDIT : I just found my target 3 7/16" and 3 3/4" for 5 rd groups at 200 yds. Up 21 3/4" from 50 yd zero with Wolf Match Target at 82 degrees. As soon as I posted I went looking for target because something didn't seem right . What wasn't right was groups were around 3 3/4" not 2 3/4" .

 

[TOP PREDATOR]

Re: 200 yard rimfire accuracy.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Greg Langelius *</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> Bear in mind that connecting is one thing, achieving consistent clean kills may be something else.
Greg</div></div>

i'm thinking the same thing, perhaps if you shot at 15 squirrels at 200 yards you may hit it 6 or 7 times, and probably all of those times will be in places you dont want to hit it.

as ethical hunters, i don't think this is something that should be done / attempted at that range with any rimfire. 125 / 150 yards with a .17 or .22 mag maybe, but 200 with a any rimfire is just asking for wounding loss.

i haven't witnessed too many that could shoot as well as carter, and if he wront do it with a rimfire, that's saying alot.

 

[2guard]

Re: 200 yard rimfire accuracy.

Love my 17hmr, but if the wind really picks up, I have seen it push 3-4 inches at 100 and beyond. I agree with carter also, match 17 ammo would help a lot, and I dont understand why hornady hasnt started making it (or even better, lapua).
Mine is loads of fun on a calm day at 150 and out though.

 

[Short-bus]

Re: 200 yard rimfire accuracy.

Here's my best 200 yard group, I know, I know, it's only 3 rounds. The average group is around 2moa, some larger, some a little smaller, but 2moa is about where it's at.

Here's about what it normally does;

That was shot with Wolf MT. I'm wanting to get some more eley black and try it out. I think that I could get consistent 1.5moa or better at 200 with that ammo. The rifle is a Savage Mark II BV. It's wearing a boyd tacticool now, but at the time that group was shot, it was in the factory laminate stock.

When I chrono Wolf MT from my rifle, the ES of the load is in the high 70fps range. I've done some eley and it's in the low to mid teens. I think the big drop is ES will really help the groups vertical spread.

My hole purpose behind shooting the .22lr this far is just for fun. I have no intention of shooting game animals that far out. It's just fun to shoot, and be able to watch the bullet come down and hit the target.

Branden

 

[JoeMartin]

Re: 200 yard rimfire accuracy.

Personally I feel that 200 yard Rimfire shooting is strictly a competition unto itself. I would never advocate hunting shots from that distance with a .22 Rimfire.

Granted, out here where I live you can set up 50 yards away from a P-Dog town and knock the buggers over from 50 to 100 yards, and yes you could go out further to 200 yards if you chose to. Me, I choose not to. That's not what it's about.

I'm a hunter - I expect nothing but the best clean kill shot that I know I can make. I don't need to prove a thing to anyone when I make a humane kill on table vittles, or pests (P-Dogs).

200 yard .22LR to me is pure target sport - nothing more. It's a challange I choose to challange myself against paper or metal. That's where it ends for me.

I do feel that 2 to 6 MOA from 200 yards is very acceptable in a shooting contest. 2 to 3 MOA is fantastic, 4 to 5 MOA is practiced average I would say, and 6 MOA - nothing wrong with that and you just keep practicing to improve.

Just my thoughts. Great shooting by the way, Branden! Very nice indeed!

 

[ms6852]

Re: 200 yard rimfire accuracy.

It will be difficult to get a tight group at 200 yds since the wind will come into play more than ever. Try the subsonic rounds only since you won't have the transonic barrier to deal with. Even than I still have a hard time getting a decent group. Interestingly enough though, using FIOCCHI high velocity rounds in my 10/22 ruger produced the most consistent hits at clay targets on a berm set at 230 yds. I was able to hit 4 out 4 in a row than I was able to hit the fragments until the wind picked up. Maybe the bullets stayed supersonic, don't know for sure.

 

[RTH1800]

Re: 200 yard rimfire accuracy.

DFOOSKING,
Bingo, that is exactly where I am at. I am getting 1.5-2 moa at 200 with my setup, using hunting postions, not a bench.
Win 52 C standard weight target
Unertl 6x with target mounts.
Eley 10X
If I take a pop at a crow and miss, so what, kill good, injure, I can go finish him off. Coyotes are vermin and after seeing what they do to deer fawns, I would like each one of them to have a 22 bullet in the ribs.
With squirrls, I will likely need to reduce my range, I am fine to 125 and may stick with that. In the woods wind is very slight. Thank everyone for the replies.
RTH

 

[MLC]

Re: 200 yard rimfire accuracy.

Here's an honest 10 shot group at 200 from several years ago.
This was shot at night with the target illuminated.
I shot at night because there was a lot less wind(and I ran out of light).
There is lots of operator error evident.

Lilja barreled Rem 504 with Wolf MT.

Here is the target, fancy setup huh?

I posted this years ago, not sure if the thread is still alive.

 

[ROGER4314]

Re: 200 yard rimfire accuracy.

I'm a great fan of the .17HMR and have fired one perfect score in a 200 yard NRA match with it. I also shot a 499/500 at 200.

My favorite pastime is shooting .22LR at 200 yards. My friend and I place clay pigeons on the 200 yard berm and pick them off with our .22LR's. I shoot a heavy barrel, restocked 10-22. The best rifle at 200 has been my H&R M12 but with iron sights, I can't see the "splat" of the hit. That's the fun part!

It gets even more challenging as the clays get broken, we then pick off the pieces.

I shoot matches and targets but I prefer slaying clay pigeons at 200 yards. I recommend it as a stress relief!

Flash

 

[ms6852]

Re: 200 yard rimfire accuracy.

Sounds like you are making some great shots at 100 yds using shotgun shells. Have to try it whenever I get a better scope. For right now all I have is a 3x9 bushnell banner that is about 30 years old. I use it because it has a ton of elevation adjustment and am confident that it could get me to 300 yds. To bad I am limited to 200 yds at the range.

 

[JoeMartin]

Re: 200 yard rimfire accuracy.

I shot this first set of 200 yard swingers on Wednesday July 15, 2009;

L - R ...6x7, 5x6, & 4x5 inch - 200 yard gongs - Shot with .22LR (Savage MKII FVT w/Tasco Mil-Dot 6-24x42 Scope) - Aguila .22LR Golden Eagle Match (1100 fps) - Shot from bench off Bi-Pod and Sling - Rifle tucked into shoulder with "NO" rear sandbag or locking in divices. Shot Wednesday July 15, 2009...


Then on Sunday (July 19th, 2009) I shot this group of swingers from 200 yards. I dropped the 6x7 swinger, and added the 3 1/2" x 3 3/4" swinger - which I worked over the top left bolt of that swinger pretty good.

L - R ... 5x6, 4x5, & 3.5x3.75 inch - 200 yard gongs - Shot with .22LR (Savage MKII FVT w/Tasco Mil-Dot 6-24x42 Scope) - Aguila .22LR Golden Eagle Match (1100 fps) - Shot from bench off Bi-Pod and Sling - Rifle tucked into shoulder with "NO" rear sandbag or locking in divices. Shot Sunday July 19, 2009...

I feel there is a level of consistancy that is obtainable at 200 yards, no doubt about it. My understanding is that big A21 target is the official small bore (rimfire) 200 yard paper target. Personally I feel the TQ4 - 100 yard small bore (rimfire) target would be right at home placed at 200 yards with the right scope setup.