Maximum Practical .22LR Range?

[Joshua M. Smith]

Hello,

I've been attempting to make money doing things I enjoy: Hunting, trapping, etc.

I was offered an opportunity to make a bit if money shooting prairie dogs for a farmer.

I know I can kill squirrel cleanly at 100 yards with this setup. Chest shots are the rule, but they get sluggish and drop within 10 seconds. The rifle is still accurate at that distance, and I only have to hold over one graduation to make the hits. I figure that if I shot for groups at that range, I'd still get under an inch.

Since the bolt modification, it will shoot bulk Remington and Velocitor very accurately. I've not tried Mini-Mags again yet.

I'm not purchasing a new rifle for this venture. I cannot afford it. Rimfire is cheap; centerfire, not so much.

What is the maximum effective range of a .22LR? I'm thinking I could wring 150 yards out of the setup (4x 'scope) but that would be about it.

Forgetting the other chamberings out there, and assuming that I'm going to use what I have - what do you believe to be the maximum effective range for prairie dogs using proper ammunition?

Thanks,

Josh <><

[ArkansasHunter]

Wearing camo you should be able to shoot withen 100 yards.
Maximun distance to make a clean kill 75 yards are less.
Maximum distance to mame 75 yards and beyond.
The box use to say range 1 mile.
I hope I helped...A.H

[samuel]

If you can hit them they have power to make the kill for a long ways The problem is the drop table gets terrible.I personally consider 60yds the efective range because of the drop table.If you are experienced enough to hit thin skinned animals at long range you should have no kill problems. sam.

[neophyte]

Joshua M. Smith: Sir; knocking squirrels out at 100yds; Yahoo; man after my own heart; cheap Yahoo.
You know your limitations. I shoot at the varmints with Single Six @100yds and they sit around and laugh yes.

Wind is going to play the dickens; your not developing enough speed with 36grn to do much 'bucking'.

If I were living close by [you could have all or any of the money] my sneak attack. Crawling to 10yds and go for it with my trusty single action
YES I would

[jaeger]

I shoot .22's at cats............i mean groundhogs at about 175 yds with an old stevens 84d bolt. The .22lr at 200yds still carrys enough umph to kill a squirrel. The problem is hitting them. With a nice long barreled rifle 150 is not out of question. A prairie dog at 150 yds getting hit with 275lbs of force in a .22=dead dog.

[7mmremmag1995]

i hit a fence post at 130 yards all the time with my .22(it makes me feel special) using bulk Federal. won't shoot a critter with mine past 150(175 if i have the good stuff in my mag)

[oldjarhead]

I pretty much limit the .22LR at 100 yds max. They willgo farther but as has been mentioned, the ballistics...well...go ballistic at longer ranges.

[nathangdad]

I would consider 50 yards to be a much more realistic effective
range for the .22 long rifle. Note it is mass produced
therefore, unless you buy special ammo, it is not
manufactured for consistent long range target shooting.

I would consider a varmit/target barrel .223 for what you
want and would also advise researching the .243 in a
varmit/target barrel with appropriate optics.

The greater the distance the more you have to factor
in crosswind effects on a bullet.

Also, for small game I would recommend getting a good
quality rangefinder as even seasoned hunters have difficulty
estimating true ranges at distances beyond 100 yards.

[wunhunglo]

I always have reservations when I hear about these wonderful shots taken at over 100 yards with a .22lr. I know I'm going to stir up a hornet's nest but I reckon maybe a lot of folk get mixed up between Feet & yards, or maybe between paces & yards. I have also seen a guy "pace out" 100 yards and when measured it was just under 84 yards?? (48ft. short!)

I Reckon that 50-60 yards is the maximum effective range to be shooting a .22 at game!
With a 50 yard zero you're talking of going up about another 7-8 moa for 100 yards.

Any more range than 50-60 yards then it's time for a .22 centrefire and the choice is limitless.

[billy]

70 yds.
anything more on a living thing and it's too iffy.

[wirehunt]

Your in my area of work now I've got a couple of .22's that sit and don't do much now, the shotgun rides shotgun for anything 50 and under, .223 with a silencer is the main weapon of choice for rabbit's and hares (jack rabbits) out to 200. on at 50 puts it 1.5" high at 100 and 2" low at 200 job done. If I'm in an area with no hares then the .22 will come out but no shot's over 90 yards, I have to be able to guarantee that ever animal shot at is killed, I'm there to get numbers down not to make everything scarey which is what will happen if you start missing out at that range with the .22

[Cyrano]

The trouble with using a .22 at anything over about 50 yards is the muzzle drop. I don't have any tables handy, but I overheard a gal who is one of the top .22 prone junior shooters at 100 yards in the state say one time that a 40 grain solid drops about 8 inches at 100 yards. I suppose if you know your rifle and how it performs with a given cartridge (and therefore how much hold-over you need at a given range) you could make clean kills on small critters like prairie dogs and squirrels and rabbits at 100 yards, but realistically I think that's about as far as you should try for a shot with a .22LR.

[Brad Y]

if you want a rimfire to shoot things at bewteen 0 and 75yds then get a 22lr, if you want a rimfire to shoot between 0 and 100 yds get a 17Mach2, if you want a rimfire to shoot between 0 and 120 yds then buy a 22WMR, but if you want to shoot anything between 0 and 150 even out to 200 yards on a calm day, buy a 17HMR. Just remember these guns will not work effectively in wind as they dont have the bullet weight or sheer velocity to buck winds. And the light bullets that they shoot will run out of steam quickly at long ranges, only wounding the targets. From what I have heard in the US, you guys can get ahold of some rifles pretty cheap. Maybe look at a second hand or cheap single shot 22 hornet for that 150 yard work.

[billy]

Originally Posted by wunhunglo

I always have reservations when I hear about these wonderful shots taken at over 100 yards with a .22lr. I know I'm going to stir up a hornet's nest but I reckon maybe a lot of folk get mixed up between Feet & yards, or maybe between paces & yards. I have also seen a guy "pace out" 100 yards and when measured it was just under 84 yards?? (48ft. short!)
I Reckon that 50-60 yards is the maximum effective range to be shooting a .22 at game!
With a 50 yard zero you're talking of going up about another 7-8 moa for 100 yards.
Any more range than 50-60 yards then it's time for a .22 centrefire and the choice is limitless.

yeah me too.
any second now we are gonna be told about how somebodies granpappy used to shoot elk with one at 400 yards ALL DAY.

[aht_six]

I have been shooting prairie dogs for a long time, I have used everything from a 22lr to a .300 WBY Mag. There are a couple issues with using a 22lr. The first is of course the limited range that has been discussed. The second is the fact that a good number of the prairie dogs you do hit with a 22lr are going to run back down their holes before they die. If the farmer is paying you by the prairie dog it might be an issue.

The 17HMR in calm conditions does increase you range. However, at any distance the tiny bullets seldom stop a prairie dog from running back down its hole.

For prairie dogs out to 150 yards a 22 WMR would do a much better job and 22 Hornet would be ideal.

[wunhunglo]

""For prairie dogs out to 150 yards a 22 WMR would do a much better job and 22 Hornet would be ideal.""

For some reason the old .22 Hornet seems to have fallen out of favour. I have an old Voere 5-shot sitting in the back of my gun room and not been used for donkeys years.

Anybody out here still using their .22 Hornet on a regular basis?

[samuel]

Yes,I still hunt varmints with a .22 Hornet.Rimfires arent in the hornet class.The hornet will build over 700ft lbs and with 35gr bullets will do 3100fps.I have made aproximately 50 kills on coyote in two years 150yds and under,lots of groundhogs out to 250yds and a zillion gophers 150yds and under.Using 40gr Hornady vmax it will shoot dime size 5 shot groups at 100yds.The reason I started using it is it is quiet in populated areas and will get the job done at 200yds+. sam.

[aht_six]

Originally Posted by wunhunglo

...Anybody out here still using their .22 Hornet on a regular basis?

Whenever I go out for prairie dogs my Hornet comes with. My favorite bullet is the Hornady 35 gr V-max.

[wirehunt]

Samual brings up another point, I've got a can on the .223

[Ron AKA]

Originally Posted by Joshua M. Smith

What is the maximum effective range of a .22LR?

Of the cartridges I'm aware of the Velocitor is likely the best choice for longest range. It has a 40 grain bullet, with a muzzle velocity of 1435 fps, and a ballistic coeficient of 0.128. If you fire it at an angle of exactly 30 degrees, it will come back down at 1763.3 yds with a velocity of 246.6 fps and energy of 5.4 ft-lbs. If you can find a PD that uses the same computer programs and stands still for 18.091 seconds, then it should all work out for the good (for you anyway!).

Oh, you were talking practical? Sorry, now at least we've set the theoretical max in any case... See this link if you are curious.

JBM - Calculations - Maximum Distance

Ron