SmallCaliberCentral

The site is a little boring, showing the time of year it is. I just wanted to share what I have seen a good friend do with a 10/22. He is about 55 years old and shoots rats only with the said model 22 LR. He will give up most anything to go rat hunting.

Here is mode of operation. His gear includes a tripod so he can shoot with some kind of rest and plenty of 25 round clips. When he sights his guns in, he uses the upper plex at 50 yards and then interpolates between the other aiming points in the scope. On one particular day, we were shooting rats in an alfalfa field near Klamath Falls. He and my partner spotted something walking along the road about 300 yards off. He got out of the pickup, and missed the first shot. The next shot he hit a chuck in the head. I ranged it and it was truly 300 yards.

Another time, he ranged an area while sitting on top of a little knoll. He killed 17 rats at a ranged 170 yards in a couple hours. He can do things with those 22's that is a just entertaining to watch.

Personally, I would rather go up to centerfires for those longer shots he makes with regularity.

Let's hear what your experiences are with the rimfires.

When we first started shooting sage rats, some 25 yrs ago, the only rifles we had were 10/22's. we had a lot of days going thru 1,000 to 2,000 rounds a day, each. lots of ammo was launched out past 200 yards with good kill ratios. we have ranged shots out past 200 yds regularly. This past year i watched with amazement, as my shooting buddy walked some shots in on a rat at 312 yards.
as hard as it is to find 22 ammo any more, i don't think we will be doing a lot of that anymore with the 10/22's,
but we both still pack them when we go shooting rats! I have opted for my 204 or my 223 now a days, and my shooting bud is shooting a 223, but I still love shooting my 22's!

Funny thing about .22 LR rounds. It turns out that you can spend a couple buck per box of 50 to more than $10.00 per box of match grade ammo. Federal alone makes five or six different grades. The difference is consistency. Most expensive Federal is Ultra match which is intended for international competition.(How much are you willing to spend for that last round in the gold medal competition?)

Other manufacturer's make round optimized for rifle match and pistol match. Fiochi and others come to mind here.

People do performance studies and the net is full of results.

22 LR is effective within 150 meters (495 ft), although practically this range will be much less. After 150 meters the ballistics of the round are such that the large "drop" will be difficult to compensate. The relatively short effective range, low report, and light recoil has made it a favorite for use as a target practice cartridge. The accuracy of the cartridge is good, but not exceptional; various cartridges are capable of the same or better accuracy. A contributing factor in rifles is the transition of even a high-velocity cartridge projectile from supersonic to subsonic within 100 yards (91 m). As the bullet slows, the shock wave caused by supersonic travel overtakes the bullet and can disrupt its flight path, causing minor but measurable inaccuracy.[citation needed]

When zeroed for 100 yards (91 meters), the trajectory of the standard high-velocity .22 LR with a 40-grain (2.6 g) bullet has a 2.7-inch (69 mm) rise at 50 yards (46 meters), and 10.8 inches (270 mm) drop at 150 yards (137 meters).[6] A .22 LR rifle needs to be zeroed for 75 yards (69 m) to avoid over-shooting small animals like squirrels at intermediate distances. -- Wikipedia

I just finnished testing a bunch of different brands and loads of .22 rimfire ammo. The difference in different guns is amazing. I think in the hands of someone who knows the gun and ammo, 300 yard hits are not unbelievable. The biggest problem is the wind. .22 benchrest is shot at 50 yards and there has never been a perfect score! This is with very fine benchrest rifles with the very best ammo and benches that exist.

A handicap? Don't think so, as most of us here learned the trade with a .22LR. Out of all the guns I own, no other single caliber is more represented in the safe than .22LR. Wouldn't have it any other way.

Nothing more relaxing than just plinking squirrels or tin cans with a favorite .22LR rifle or handgun......at least to me. On the flip side though, I also like to see Skippy launch off his mound at 350 yards from a hit from a 39gr SBK traveling at 3,800 fps. But that's an entirely different set of smiles. No matter where I am though, there's always a .22LR nearby.

The rat killin' my son and I went on back in May saw a lot of action with plain-Jane Marlin Model 60 22LR. There just a hoot to shoot.

Jim

I all boils down to what type of critter your trying to exterminate! I don't have any rats around me but do have my fare share of foxes, coons, oposums etc. Now for me the .22mag is the caliber of choice and it has been a good one for the last couple of decades. The ferrel cats and coyotes get a taste of the centerfire caliber's we own and that can be anything from the .223 to the 25-06.

I only have one CF rifle, my .204. Everything else is rimfire. I regularly shoot silhouette competition at 200 yards with a variety of .22LR ammo. Pricing will go up to $25 a box for 50 rounds, for top of the line Federal Ultra Match. I pay between $5 and $10 a box. I shoot primarily .22LR, but my .17HMR is also an accurate rifle out to 100 yards.

As to the comment that no perfect score has ever been shot, I guess it depends on what you're shooting. As to groups, I have seen sub 0.025" groups of five shots, but it's been shot from a bench rest, 50 yards, windless day with top quality RWS R-50 ammo with an Anschutz 54 action. It most certainly is not the norm. Unfortunately, it wasn't my rifle or me doing the shooting, either. :p

I would say, in answer to the topic question is that a .22LR will humble an average shooter, if they're are shooting for score or accuracy, but a good shooter with good equipment, knowledge, and reliable ammo will always bring out the best of what a .22LR can do.

Gary

Ditto to Rick in Oregon.
Just got back on the 22LR kick after looking into the Appleseed Project. Here I am extolling the merits of another gun to my wife and the 22 rears up as a go-to gun again...not sure how many 22's I have but now I NEED several more.. different ones..gotta have a back up. Different application for each don't ya know. Have dealt heavy blows to an abundance of critters with a 22 after cutting my teeth with an old Stevens Favorite I found in the corner of the barn when I was 8. Yesir yer trudging on sacred ground and while other cartridges are bigger &/or faster I can't find fault with anyone that is that good with a 22. The foundation for the bulk of American shooters.

While I am on my soap box http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php

http://web.gbtv.com/media/video.jsp?con ... d=24584158

http://www.monumentalmovie.com/

I'm 66 now, I have been shooting 22LR for 50+ years. I started out shooting a Sheridan 5MM pellet rifle I received for Christmas when I was 12. It was wickedly accurate as the birds, I was required to keep out of the garden, found out. My targets were thumbtacks on a section of plywood. I seldom missed after I got used to the rifle. I later graduated to a Stevens 22LR my father owned. I eventually purchased a Winchester Model 75 target rifle & located a Lyman Super Target Spot in 20X. I found I could see ground squirrels (North of Fresno, California) before any of my shooting buddies could & frequently they could not see them at all with their lower power scopes. I have made some amazing shots with it & sometimes I irritated my shooting friends when I told them where a squirrel was laying in the shade of a rock or near his hole & they could not see it, So I shot it to prove I was seeing what I said I saw. The most amazing shot I made I walked in a 22LR at a squirrel that stayed standing to the last shot, his mistake. The cross hairs were way above him & I could just see him in the bottom of the scope split by the vertical line. I shot & he flipped his tail around as he laid to rest. Luck but I will take Lucky shots as well. I got on the Accuracy binge when I joined a Match Rifle Team in Fresno, Calif. back arund 1975. I purchased a 40x with a Hart S.S. barrel in .308Win. The class I shot in was called "Hunter Class". The rifle had to be 243 Cal. or larger & have a 6X or smaller scope with a maximum weight of 10.5 lbs. The rifle shot .335" groups consistently with close attention paid to reloads. That started me chasing all my firearms to be as accurately as possible. I have had many 22LR's, The most accurate was a 10-22 I customized with a Green Mountain Heavy Barrel in Stainless Steel & Fluted. I sent the trigger group to a gunsmith & he worked his magic & it came back with a 2.25# pull with a overtravel stop screw. He also custom polished, camfered & jeweled the bolt, put in titanium firing pin & extractor. He also sent me a extended magazine release. I purchased a Laminated thumbhole drop in stock. I installed a pillar bed & free floated the barrel. I purchased a Leupold VX-3 6x20x40mm with target turrets. I found Eley Match ammo shot one ragged hole at 75 yards. I shot with a group of shooters outside Molalla, Oregon at 75 yards. I seldom lost, but I did not always win. I did not shoot this rifle at rats or squirrels as $15+ a box of 50 I could not justify it. The strange thing is I shoot Sagerats & Chucks with my 17MachII, 17HMR, 17Remington & 204Ruger. The latter 3 all run $15 for 50 to $25 a box of 20. I love all 4. I now only shoot 22LR in my Ruger MKII 10" bull barrel pistol. I have a Remington 514 single shot I shortened down to 16.1" barrel & turned it down in the lathe to cut weight & miniaturized the stock as well as hollowing out the butt of the stock & routing out under the barrel to reduce weight as well. It weighs 2 1/4# My 2 dayghters & my youngest grandson all learned to shoot with it. My Grandson can bounce a golf ball all day long with it at 75 yards after I installed a Refield 2 3/4 power 3/4" tube scope. I took a picture of the rifle next to a 24" trout & everyone thought the trout was a Humungous Salmon. I had to show them the rifle to convince them it was a trout. I customized 2 10-22's to 17MKII. Both with the gunsmiths trigger & slide customized & thumbhole stocks. 1 with a heavy .95 carbon fiberwrapped to cut weight, a deadly shooter. The other with a Ruger 77 short sporter weight fluted and an a/mkt barrel - also a deadly accurate rifle. I've rambled on long enough. The last thing I have is to say God Bless & enjoy sending Sagerats & Chucks to their maker.

I remember something that was quoted to me many years ago......Goes something like this...."Fear the man that has only one gun...for he probably knows how to use it." I might be off a bit...but it makes the same point.....like golf....it isn't the arrow but rather the Indian........LOL