Wanted: 22LR (relatively) long range shooting

crowe

Well-Known Member
Not strictly deer stalking related, so apologies but I was wondering if there are any SD members who either do, or are interested in long range 22LR shooting?
Long story short, I always liked the idea of learning about wind reading and also the general accuracy inherent of rifles as a precision tool, but don’t like the formal gun club thing, plus the access to ranges and their distance makes it all a bit of a faff.
What I have done therefore is to buy some hardox gongs and do my own thing on suitable ground. As with most things though it’s nice to have similar minded others to go with/learn from and compete against etc (plus the inevitable Micky taking etc) - hence this post.
On the stubbles last September me and a few mates had a great day and were regularly hitting 50mm gongs at 178m after some initial sighting in (wanted to go further but the ground didn’t allow). Ultimately I’d like to build my way up to 300m and have bought/built a rig that should be capable (picture below), but did the September day with my cz455 thumb hole stock, albeit with the IOR scope fitted - admittedly too it was a very still day, so probably flattered our shooting abilities).
The issue I have that prevents me doubt more often is that the only suitable ground I can use other than occasionally, and just for myself locally, is in Leicestershire and I live in Essex.
So, what I am after/asking is whether anyone local ish has any suitable ground and fancies a go or even a meet up?
As an aside, due to the enhanced challenge and also to avoid noise issues i personally want to do it with sub sonic ammo. I have all the gongs etc, so other than local ground and others to go with I’m all set…..🤞
Happy for a general SD thread, but would appreciate a PM please for anyone serious about meeting up.
Thanks for reading 👍
 

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Would like to do more of it but need to spend a bit on new scope & rail. Also have a CZ455, what stock is the one in your picture?
 
It's often said that 400 yards with a .22lr is like shooting 1,000 with a centrefire - wind and drop calculations all harder. Use a ballistics app (Strelok Pro in my case) and you will be surprised how many long range hits result. My experience with Eley Club works out at about 20 moa per hundred yards - thus limiting range if you don't have the adjustment or suitable mounts.
Anyway, tremendous and inexpensive training for bigger things.
 
Hi @crowe

There is such a thing as the Long Range Rimfire Club.

(LRRFC - Long Range Rim Fire Club (UK))

They shoot at various places on ranges and also have a presentation on shooting .22lr to silly distances:


Which is quite informative and a helpful place to start.

There's a shoot at Bisley in early April which is usually good fun and I try and do. It's not too formal either which I like.

Scrummy
 
I want to get out and try some longer range (than 25yds) with my Sako Finnfire. I'm going to start a 100yd comp at my out door club soon and see how it goes but im really interested in stretching its legs.
 
I want to get out and try some longer range (than 25yds) with my Sako Finnfire. I'm going to start a 100yd comp at my out door club soon and see how it goes but im really interested in stretching its legs.

We had a day with Andrew Venables at WMS. It was a great day.
It certainly sparked the love again for the. 22LR. We were plinking out to 165m with them. We were using HV but all the same it was great fun.
 
Been watching Cap and Ball videos on shooting mid 1850’s muzzle loading target rifles out to 1500 odd metres. Bullet is a long lump of lead - pretty much a large 22lr bullet being launched at the same sorts of velocities and ballistic coefficients.

No reason why you couldn’t mimic that with a 22lr.

You might need additional sighting devices. The vintage ones use very tall ladder type open sights.

Probably the place to use one the externally adjustable vintage style target scopes. Something like


And the beauty of a 22lr is the cost, or rather the lack of cost - 50rds down range for price of 10 centrefire.
 
Hi @crowe

There is such a thing as the Long Range Rimfire Club.

(LRRFC - Long Range Rim Fire Club (UK))

They shoot at various places on ranges and also have a presentation on shooting .22lr to silly distances:


Which is quite informative and a helpful place to start.

There's a shoot at Bisley in early April which is usually good fun and I try and do. It's not too formal either which I like.

Scrummy
Thanks 👍
 
It's great fun if you've got a good location. Like you, I don't have easy access to suitable land but enjoyed this session last year (262m/286.5yds, subsonic ammo):



Don't scrimp on the ammo- cheap stuff that's ok at 50-100m can have big vertical dispersion at longer range (due to fps variation.)
 
I use eley match and even though it was a still day I was surprised to find that most of my variance was vertical. I have therefore built a bag rider for the rear and made a decent cheek riser which I hope will help. At 178m vertical was about 3” vs about 1.5” on windage. Some will be ammo, but most I reckon was me
 
I use eley match and even though it was a still day I was surprised to find that most of my variance was vertical. I have therefore built a bag rider for the rear and made a decent cheek riser which I hope will help. At 178m vertical was about 3” vs about 1.5” on windage. Some will be ammo, but most I reckon was me


If you can get your hands on some SK Rifle Match, give them a try. My CZ452 loves them, and they seem to be very consistent.
 
Had a bit of play with my old BRNO Mod II Bolt Action rifle with Eley Club ammo @100 yards. The cheaper ammo doesn't seem to group well at this distance. I am sure the Anschutz target rifle with the longer barrel would do better but was quite impressed with a 40+ year old rifle performing so well from the comfort of a benchrest. I sure would be interested in pushing further but unless its a gong, double if the hits could be see at greater distance. It sure is a rewarding experience and a lot cheaper compared to fullbore.

100Yrds.JPG
 
We had a day with Andrew Venables at WMS. It was a great day.
It certainly sparked the love again for the. 22LR. We were plinking out to 165m with them. We were using HV but all the same it was great fun.
We went there about ten years ago I think with the same guy. It was a blistering day and we all came home with sun stroke! We were playing with the centrefires but I can see how it would be exciting to take the rimmies there!
 
I had the Finnfire out for some testing on Friday evening at our indoor 25yd range.

My normal ammo is CCI standard as the club always has a healthy stock and it works well in the Finnfire as well as my Spikes Tactical ST-22 AR.

I shot 2x 5 round groups of each type of ammo. I'll try and add some pictures but here's what I found:

CCI Standard - 0.55"
SK Red - 0.365"
SK Yellow - 0.325"
RWS R50 - 0.325"
Elley Match - 0.32"
Elley Club - 0.27"

Out of all the groups I pulled 1 round during the Elley Club test so I discounted it. It may have skewed the results a bit so I am going to get over to Heavy Metals Shooting Club, Nile Mill near Manchester to test again at 50 meters and see how the results compare at a further distance.
 

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I used the rangebuddy app to work out groups etc but I'm not convinced I did it as accurately as I could have so I'll get the Vernier's out and double check my findings. I've added the last picture below as I can only add 5 images at a time.
 

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