Every so often I hear talk about 22LR being useless as a long range training tool. I’m curious, how many of you here own a 22LR that can hold 1/2" or better at 50yds?
I have a couple, the favorite of which is a 40x. One thing that I’ve learned after putting a few thousand rounds through this rifle is that 22lr is more sensitive to user input than anything I have ever shot. It is harder to accurately shoot a 22lr at 50yds than it is to shoot any centerfire at 300yds. The reason for this is that the bullet is in the barrel for 3x longer than most centerfires. This means that you have 3x the time to affect the rifle.
Trigger control, finger placement on the trigger shoe, grip on the stock, cheek weld, breathing, follow through, bipod manipulation, etc. The list goes on and on, but the point is that any one of them is enough to throw a shot at 50yds.
The bedding must be perfect, and your rifle driving skills must be perfect each time to throw them in one hole at 50yds. To even hold 1/2" at 50yds is a remarkable feat. I recently attended an ARA match, in which the goal is to hold approximately 1/4" from center of POA. I shot better off a bipod than I did a one piece machine rest, simply because I was more familiar prone with a bipod and rear bag than I was up on a bench. Scoring over 2000 in these matches is considered an impressive feat. This really drove home just how difficult it is to consistently shoot a 22LR accurately.
As a result, I’ve spent more and more time behind my 40x. It is cheap, live-fire exercise that illustrates absolutely EVERY weakness in your shooting form, and does so at a close range. Virtually everyone can find a 50yd range to shoot at. The close distance also makes it easy to get instant feedback on your shots. A bad wind call at 50yds can result in a 1/2" shift in POI very easily, and you can see it immediately. Often, you can actually watch the bullet go down range and impact the paper. Along its flight path, you can witness the wind’s effect as it happens in real time. You would not believe what this can teach you about how wind reacts to terrain.
If you don’t own a good accurate 22lr, I highly suggest you get one and spend some time with it. It will let you get away with absolutely nothing, and if you put in the time, will make you a better shooter.
I have a Winchester low wall that I have been trying to shoot with some precision and find it maddening at times. But 50 yards off hand or prone will show you were you need improvement. Plus the lower price aspect of .22 is nice.
while my barrel cools, i use my 10/22 at 100yrds. It lets me get more trigger time without burning up my match stuff. It can also help me slow down. plus its just fun.
This a .22 40X. I prefer it to an air rifle because it goes bang and fits like its 7.62 big brother.
A .22 at 200 yards can be equated to a 7.62mm at 1,000. That little 40-grain bullet is going to be affected by your position, technique, follow-through, and atmospherics like its big brothers – at a fraction of the cost.
Good competition air rifles can keep you in shooting practice in the winter when the weather may be too harsh for routine plinking practice. They can challenge all your skills.
The CMP still has a bunch of heavy barreled 40x receivers. Most will shoot quite well when setup with a PTG bolt and stock/trigger of your choice.
I’m addicted to the “big rifle” ergonomics of the 40x. Ruger 77/22 isn’t too far behind that… but its usually more difficult to get them to behave themselves than the 40x.
I have an anschutz & AMT that will dump them in the same hole with wind flags and Eley Tenex & other top shelf ammo.
I used to own a full blown bench gun built up on a 40x with a tuner on the end & 2oz jewell trigger that weighed 12lbs & a 36x scope. With the correct light, you could watch your bullets fly & impact the group.
The ONLY thing you can really control with the rimfire is trying different ammo and learning what ‘the wind’ really does to bullets. It is a GREAT way to learn short range benchrest which I consider 300yds or less.
I am no precision shooter by any stretch of the imagination. However, I would say that I am a better shooter because of my 10/22. I grew up shooting .22lr and dad would give us all manner of hard targets to hit at various distances and pit my brother and I against one another to see who could shoot better. I learned the fundamentals of shooting that way.
I’ve spent a little bit of time with some outstanding long-range riflemen who can do amazing things out at 1,000 yards and beyond (I am NOT one of these people), who say the best way to learn to shoot long distances with a high powered rifle is to shoot at 100 yards with a .22. They were speaking primarily about reading the wind, but I think for the reasons stated in the posts above, it applies across the board.
Great gun for the $$, mine does more like 5/8" 10-shot groups C2C at 50 yds with SK standard plus but I don’t account for wind. I’ll have to pick up some streamers and try to start accounting for it.
