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

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.