Thread: What scope are you running on your .22?

Was that with subs and suppressors? I find I shoot a lot more if I'm not towing someone with a loud rifle. I only shoot subs.

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If your on at 75 your four inches high at 50, who knows at 100, for me anyway that is to chancey. For me doing it every day it puts to much chance into it, better to grab the .223 and deal to it.
Interesting that you guys shoot offhand, I can count the times I do that in a year on one hand.

Some of the boys use subs and some HVs.

For me I shoot all the 22s in with HV at 75 meters. This means they are shooting about 1" high at 25m, 2" high at 50m, smack on at 75m, and about 4-5" low at 100m. With subs the margins are higher. It is no trouble remembering the margins as you shoot, and the boys had very high strike rates. 110m is the max I shoot with the 22s - some people shoot further with rangefinders etc.

We have usually walked blocks in the late afternoon- often the broken ground - so both offhand and bipod shooting comes into it. If you ever have the opportunity you sit or bipod. Once its fully dark we have often continued to walk areas with strong headlamps and the Maxtoch spotties, but we end up in the set up 4x4s driving big areas with 22, 223 and 12 guage.

These days after hard shooting, the recurring virus and pindone poisoning, our block numbers are well down so a good night shooting may be 65 bunnies/hares. And a piggy or a red... Mostly now with lower numbers we shoot from the trucks or occasionally bikes.

22 rifles that won't cost too much and generally shoot sub half inch 5 shot groups at 50m (a good benchmark) include: CZ 452, Brno, Marlin 925/980 bolts, Marlin 60 and 795 semiautos, Norincos JW15 (most of them) and EM332, Toz 78. From owning/developing 6 in various stages and benching more for friends, the least accurate 22 of all makes and models tested is the standard Ruger 10/22. Very poor - though occasional ones ok depending where Ruger sourced barrels at the time. Some of the little euro 22s can also be very accurate - Krico, Voere etc but issues when it comes to parts. And the Sakos, Weihrauch etc are real gems, but if you shoot often there is always the reality about damage from bike/truck etc. Recently sold an absolutely beautiful brace of Winchester 9422 levers - one in 22 and one in 22WMR - and that was simply because I knew they would eventually be marked up with lots of shooting.

Heaps of scopes have gone through the cupboard. I found the chinese ones can in fact shoot very well on a 22, but are more likely to crap out over time. From this for our own setups we decided the bottomline level would be Nikko Stirling (never had a dud), Bushnell (one dud), and if you can still get them - Mueller. Again these don't cost much but with a sharp 22 will allow very reliable distance shooting. If you've got a Weaver of Vortex etc available by all means use that.

Originally Posted by mudgripz

I think gadget - the tinny bugger - got the record at 100 in 37 minutes.

He, he. Ended up on 109 over about 45 minutes. All off hand. No misses.

With shooting good numbers regularly soon got to gauge distance pretty well and it was a 95%+ strike rate out to 110m. Out to 75m was generally a head shot and beyond that was chest shot.

Luck. Nothin' but luck.....

Next time I won't shoot your bloody rifle in for you...

Originally Posted by mudgripz

Luck. Nothin' but luck.....

Next time I won't shoot your bloody rifle in for you...

That's very good shooting. I'm way too wobbly to shoot off hand at those sort of distances. Bipod or shooting sticks when the grass is long. The rabbits where I shoot generally let you get close. Also I use a range finder for the longer shots to make sure and print a drop chart off the nikon spot-on website for the BDC reticle. Bit of mucking around but works for me and reduces variables.

That is some impressive shooting. As off hand as I get is with a camera tripod.

As someone already said, my 22 ends up wearing my centrefire hand me Downs. Which are now better than I went out and brought on my first new and shiny 22

Originally Posted by Bagheera

.....

Thoughts on what we need in a .22 scope.

The role of the .22LR has been eroded from both ends.
Around town, small block hunting is now better done with a PCP airgun.
Open country, rabbits and hares beyond about 40m would be better with a .17HMR.
The subsonic .22LR with silencer is still best for short range shooting like spotlighting, specially for possums. And for target shooting, although again if you've got the money the PCP can do that too.

Requirements for a .22 scope
Parallax and close focus from 10-20m *****
Magnification 4-12x *****
Accuracy ****
Low to bore line ****
Optical quality ***
Hold zero ***
Low light ***
Ruggedness ***
Waterproofness ***
Dialability **

Why ?
The distinctive feature of hunting with a .22LR is the variety of close distances, so parallax and the capability to get image and crosshair in the same focus are specially important. This is one reason that fixed 4x work reasonably well. Leupold's special rimfire scopes have parallax set at a close distance like 70m ((as does the VX1 2-7).
The close ranges also mean that one is often holding over while the bullet rises to the sight line, so a low mounted scope will miminise this. A semi with inbuilt dovetail would have an advantage over the bolt action and specially the high throw CZ and Norinco copies. 32 mm is therefore better than 40 or 50mm and 25mm tube better than 30mm.
Targets are usually 2-3cm dia and at 50m that's quite small so good but not extreme accuracy is needed. A moderate mag like 12x is quite helpful for longer shots. There's not much need for very low powers like 3x because, with the small target sizes, there isn't much snap shooting with a .22LR.
A .22LR isn't used much in thick forest under canopy so high light gathering isn't as essential as for bush hunting deer. When spotlighting or indoor target shooting, there is usually enough light for a 32mm objective.
Because the .22 is mostly used on short expeditions near the car and ammo is cheap for resighting in, the highly prized abillities to hold zero and continue functioning through knocks, recoil, wetness and so on, although worthwhile, aren't so essential as they are for deer hunting in the mountains.
Out to the practical limits for hunting accuracy (50m), the trajectory is good enough that the shooter can hold over or under, but of course holdover hashes and mildots are a waste of space unless it's first focal plane.
Long range .22 target shooting would need dialing but for hunting it isn't often required.

Well thought out and articulated post. Thank you.

I would like to add my 2 cents worth.

Most 22LR hunting will be on rabbits, possum, magpie, myna and rosella. Against possums, while the target is larger you need better shot placement for a clean kill. So in my view you actually need more magnification than large animal hunting (except 300m + tahr shooting sort). You need a scope that can let you comfortable place something the size of half a coke can on the crosshair. For me personally 9 power is the minimum. Ideally 12-18. When I go rabbit shooting, I take 10x. When I go possum shooting, because I sneak up possums up close often, I use 3-9. 6-18 can be difficult.

For indoor club shooting, 12 power is the minimum. Most clubs have something on the target that is smaller than your finger nail. you will see most seasoned shooters use Leopuld VXIII 6.5-20 EFR.

I have tried several times with a 4x on 22LR, it never worked for me, regardless of the application.

I'd probably agree with Bagheera more although I don't think I'll ever put a fixed power on my 22. For me it's striking a balance between field of view, and magnification. A 2-10 would be ideal for me as the lower power is better for scanning hillsides for rabbits and trees for possums, it is also ideal for the quick and moving shots that make up a large percentage of my rabbit shooting. The higher power accommodates any longer range shooting I'm likely to do, which for me tops out at 80m. Anything past that gets the 22-250 that is usually resting on my back.
Due to the crepuscular habits of rabbits light transmission is key for me. So I'd rather put a 50mm objective on my rifle if that is what it takes, I'd even consider putting a swaro on it. I'd also rather a first focal plane mil-dot reticle for windage and elevation adjustments rather than a dial.
I'm unsure on how important parallax is. I understand it, but have never had any problems with it.

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