Anyone shooting rabbits with a .22lr at 80 yds or an exact distance.

[Fursty Ferret]

You've raised a point there that i hadn't thought about ie scope magnification for .22 sub recital to be exact, the scope that i was considering Vantage 4-16x50 needs to be 16 mag for the recital to be correct, i suppose this is a little to high for a n/v add on to work at its best.

Its good to hear advise from everyone on how they go about using their .22lr on rabbits --------thanks to all for their advise.

Dave (warbucks)

Don't be concerned.....I have the 4-16 as its the only one with side focus.
With a pard and the on-board IR I have a very good sight picture on 16x
I can record some footage and send it to you if you like? Think you will surprised how good it is!

 

[Overlay]

is the rabbit population at a level where it needs management? everywhere I go there's none to be seen!

Hit and miss in some areas, one farm will have none, next will have a few and another will be showing good numbers, TBH keeping on eye on numbers and damage and adjust if required is probably how it is now, I have some pieces of ground that allow a harvest of twenty on another you wouldn’t see twenty in a whole night, if you’re getting no complaints or damage let em carry on, a farm wouldn’t be the same without a few rabbits about, some jobs I get I can take a hundred down the local zoo and keep some good ones for dog food supplement and my self and friends, nothing goes to waste any badly shot ones are frozen down for fox bait
one little house with an acre of garden I do you can shoot 10 rabbits in an hour with your pcp and still see 20 more its a little gold mine

reality says the humble old rabbit is on the back heel for numbers

 

[Warbucks]

is the rabbit population at a level where it needs management? everywhere I go there's none to be seen!

Some fields have up to 40 rabbits in them other fields around 10.
Iv'e been doing rats rabbits and foxes the last 15 years and have picked up a few permissions with personal recommendations, i do prefer rat and fox shooting, but ratting can dry up with farmers getting a few cats, and foxing can be hard to keep going if you don't keep picking up new permissions (you can only shoot the fox once lol ).
Its really about keeping shooting do some good for the farmer/land owners (although picking up say 30 rabbits scattered up hill down dale is harder than working lol )
I do have hmr and have perviously used this for this type of rabbit work, and when the amo is good it works well, although it is getting expensive now, hence the idea of using the .22lr again

Dave (warbucks)

 

[Pellet Pinger]

Hi Lads.
I've started up on rabbits again after a few years off, always used the hmr, but on the last two outings mate and i have been having big problems with accuracy using Hornady 17g amo as well as split necks before and after firing.
Tried my cz american using Ely .22 hp's at exactly 80 yds, 5 shots inside 3/8" the 6th one making it 1/2".
I've now bought a Pulsar xg35 lrf so can range find rabbits as i'm walking them down, because the remaining rabbits have been shot at a few times now and i do know poacher put lamps on some of them i don't think i will be able to get closer than 80 yds.
Has any one successfully walked rabbit down to an exact longish yardage and shot them successfully with a .22lr or fac air.

Thanks Dave (warbucks)

Yes, do it regularly on the golf course where noise is an issue, theres no way id have a thermal now that didnt have LRF, it changes the game completly, walk around with your rifle slung and you know what your holdover wil be before you even take it off your shoulder.
I use a CZ 452 with a Pard 008 and mapped out the range accirding to substensions ( they arent mildots)
Zero at 60yds and anything up to 75yds aim on, first substension 85yds, second 97yds, third 110yds, i shoot off quad sticks, put the time in knowing your hold overs and you can consistently take rabbits at longer ranges.

 

[Fursty Ferret]

Loads of rabbits in East Anglia.
Ferreted over 40 yesterday, and that's a weekly occurrence. Shooting 3 times a week for a couple of hours for 50+ a time

 

[Overlay]

Loads of rabbits in East Anglia.
Ferreted over 40 yesterday, and that's a weekly occurrence. Shooting 3 times a week for a couple of hours for 50+ a time

Hello mate
hope your keeping well
are you seeing any bolters yet, seen a couple down here, its a wee bit warmer down here though, numbers are up a bit more from last year for adult rabbits they seem to have done ok over winter

cheers
phil

 

[Foxyboy43]

Hmmm.
Recently returned to the 22lr after a lot of years with the .17 hmr. From your experiences it seems you have been very unlucky getting such a bad batch of ammo, this was very common when the .17 came along but things have definitely improved though there are still issues as can be seen on several other threads.
Compared to the .17 the 22lr with subsonic ammo can be a challenge though your idea of a set zero and walking into it is a good one as you have the kit to do it. My own method is a 50 yard zero and holdover - as has been said already the top of the ears - 3ins will drop most subsonics into the kill zone at or about 100 unlike the .17 where a neck shot pretty much regardless of range was my preferred option. When I was shooting a lot of rabbits many years ago the best way was lying off a busy warren at a preset yardage and picking them off as they emerged with the moderated .22 subs. Frequently you could shoot two or three at a time without spooking the others but the crack of headshots was always a bad idea.
Sooo if it is a clearance job the moderated .22 and Pulsar is the way to go but if an occasional daytime outing is the plan and you like the challenge of longer shots I would use the .17. Either way is great fun, enjoy them they deserve your respect.

 

[sir-lamp-alot]

The best .22lr shots only use a .22lr the trick with them is keep using them and learn what a rabbit looks like in the scope at certain ranges and learn the hold over the more you do it the better you will become flat shooting calibres will spoil you and be your enemy when trying to learn with a .22lr

 

[MagicLantern]

The best .22lr shots only use a .22lr the trick with them is keep using them and learn what a rabbit looks like in the scope at certain ranges and learn the hold over the more you do it the better you will become flat shooting calibres will spoil you and be your enemy when trying to learn with a .22lr

I couldn't agree more. I tend to switch between the 17hmr and 22lr. The 17 does the job without much thinking about range, but the 22 makes the job more challenging and dare I say, more fun.

I use a Digex N450, 8x zoom and range estimate by size and landmarks. Zeroed at 50m, no hold over at 20m, 60m is base of the ears. 40gr subs. If the burrow I'm working is over 60m, out comes the 17.

Here's hoping the ban-everything brigade don't succeed in banning 22lr lead.

 

[25 Sharps]

Hi Lads.
I've started up on rabbits again after a few years off, always used the hmr, but on the last two outings mate and i have been having big problems with accuracy using Hornady 17g amo as well as split necks before and after firing.
Tried my cz american using Ely .22 hp's at exactly 80 yds, 5 shots inside 3/8" the 6th one making it 1/2".
I've now bought a Pulsar xg35 lrf so can range find rabbits as i'm walking them down, because the remaining rabbits have been shot at a few times now and i do know poacher put lamps on some of them i don't think i will be able to get closer than 80 yds.
Has any one successfully walked rabbit down to an exact longish yardage and shot them successfully with a .22lr or fac air.

Thanks Dave (warbucks)

Yes

 

[Foxyboy43]

“The best .22lr shots only use a .22lr”.
Well they kinda would, would they not?
Just saying…

 

[Fursty Ferret]

Hello mate
hope your keeping well
are you seeing any bolters yet, seen a couple down here, its a wee bit warmer down here though, numbers are up a bit more from last year for adult rabbits they seem to have done ok over winter

cheers
phil

Yes mate, the whippets or .410 mossberg come into their own when the little'uns start slipping through the nets

 

[User00036]

Don't be concerned.....I have the 4-16 as its the only one with side focus.
With a pard and the on-board IR I have a very good sight picture on 16x
I can record some footage and send it to you if you like? Think you will surprised how good it is!

Interesting stuff Fursty, so the scope or Pard on 16x, having never used the pard, I was always under the impression that you set the scope for min, & zoom with the pard. Always used a pulsar & zooming past 5x is not so good, thanks.

 

[Stalker-of-the-deer]

I have an 8x56 schmidt on mine and you soon learn where to aim at a 50m zero.

Will happily shoot to 80m with mine. After that I leave it to my matebwith his 17hmr. Make a good team!

 

[Fursty Ferret]

Interesting stuff Fursty, so the scope or Pard on 16x, having never used the pard, I was always under the impression that you set the scope for min, & zoom with the pard. Always used a pulsar & zooming past 5x is not so good, thanks.

Zoom in and out with the rifle scope magnification ring. Agreed... when zooming in that high you would expect the image to suffer as light struggles but I have not experienced this with this pard/scope combo. I'll try and get some footage

 

[Fursty Ferret]

Digital zoom on the nv unit will get pixilated, zoom on the scope will not but you will have to adjust focus with the parralax adjustment

 

[Dodder]

Loads of rabbits in East Anglia.
Ferreted over 40 yesterday, and that's a weekly occurrence. Shooting 3 times a week for a couple of hours for 50+ a time

Any chance you could ship a few to East Kent? I actually saw one (just the one) the other day and I've been so excited I haven't slept since!

 

[Kevgun]

I just use a Tennis ball on a bit of String and tie it to a stick and push it in the ground at 45 degs, a Tennis ball is a tad smaller than a Rabbits head, I have no trouble shooting it out to 100 yards with my.22 LR or my .20 FAC air rifle, Just use a Mildot Ret and calibrate your rifle to it, Then your good to go.

 

[Kevgun]

Also look for a FFP scope then the MIl dots are true at whatever Mag, I'm sure Hawke do a few models now. On MY 30 Cal FAC Air Rifle I use a ATN X sight 4k ( it's only good enough for an Air Rifle ) with the ABL laser unit which utilises the Ballistic calculator, It's a bit tricky to set up but once you have, Its Just Range and Shoot dead easy out to 100 yards, On a recent pest control job with my Mate, I managed 27 Rabbits from 1 position from 20 out to 110 yards

 

[Bowland blades]

In a good rf and a good shooter .22 rf is good for head shot rabbits to 80 yards . some of the best ammo is good to 130 . A bit easier to break the 100 with full weight HV rounds like the cci Veloictors.
Its really the shooters skill and experience . I do not rate higher power FAC air personally feel they are too expensive over a RF and too often break down . £250 will get you a belting SH .22 rf , spend the change on ammo and practice imo
I once put 8 .22lr subs ( the old lapua ones with the rat on the box) through a single hole at 100, it should have been ten but i got someone to spot for my two in the sand as i really thought i had a gun issue and after the first i had gone wildly off the paper ! the tool ? £150 second hand cz , i still have it today a couple of decades on and it still shoots as good or better than me .