i was wondering since i have a .22 lr with a high powered scope and harris bipod and i have shot a 4 inch clay at 200 yards with pretty good precision. my quastion is should i be shooting this far with that caliber rifle and if not what caliber should be recommended for that range

thanks.

-- josh (trunks_1010@hotmail.com), August 07, 2003

Answers

For shooting 200 yards I would recomend a .223 and using heavier, not necesarrily expensive match grade ammo, 69 or 75 grain bullets. A pellet gun and a .22 will teach you the basics of marksmanship but if you would like to extend the range of your shooting you'll have to adopt a new caliber. I shoot .5" groups at 200 yards with my AR open sights with cheapy 55 grain UMC ammo. I have a Bushmaster DCM mode rifle with a Hbar, however ( bit more pricy). I just recently bought this rifle and my friend who shoots competively groups 1.5" or so at 600 yards with his custom AR rifle. The .223 is a fast, flat shooting, and highly accurate round out to 600 yards. I would highly reconmend it for target shooting. If you plan on using a caliber to hunt or kill people, however, you would want a heavier bullet. In which case I would skip buying a .308 (which has its limitations) and go right for the .300 win mag, or personally the .338 Lapua. Because of wind the heavier bullets are not as easily effected at ranges past 600 yards as would the .223. The .308 is more accuate then the 30-06 in my opinion, and is ok for shooting out to 1,000yards. I'd personally get a .300 win mag or .338 if shooting 1,000yards. The .338 has an effective range of 1 mile and still retains enough power to blow down a good sized deer.

-- Greg Gauvin (GregoryGauvin@snet.net), February 17, 2004.

In my early fifties I noticed a significant drop off in my shooting, largely because I wasn't spending enough time shooting. I purchased a couple of high-end airguns ($600 & $1400) and re-learned to shoot. The results were un-believable. Air-gunning requires attention to the smallest detail in technique and this pays off in spades. And I'm hardly a rookie, having harvested over 200 whitetail bucks. Ive taught a number of youths over the years, now, and the ones who can shoot an air gun can shoot anything. Those that can't are average at best on any rimfire or centerfire.

-- Dennis Harnden (forests@cheqnet.net), December 02, 2003.

I am looking to buy a .22lr rifle as it is the biggest gun you can fire in ireland and was woundering if you know any guns that have being down sized to fire the .22 i want the military look for the gun something along the lines of the m-16

-- gary quigley (garyquigley@eircom.net), October 31, 2003.

Josh

Just to set the record straight, anyone who considers Marksmanship excellence a large bore domain is a neophyte. It has been know for years in competitive circles that airgun and smallbore shooters are usually much better large bore shooters than the reverse. Why? The rimfire competitor and especially the airgun competitor have a higher degree of discipline and restraints. The longer "barrel time" of the projectile in the bore provides only a fraction of the error factor allowed in centerfire. EVERY other component in shooting- breathing,sight picture,wind,trigger control weather conditions are tied into this. It is DAMN tough to be really good at it.

As for the "Gay" comment? I bet he has a "TT" as his transportation. TT is short for Testosterone Truck. Whatever floats your boat I guess. Freud had something to say about "symbolism' of your choices.

Get in there and just PRACTICE-------A LOT

-- George Fritz (g.fritz@juno.com), October 25, 2003.

As an ex-military "shooter", I'd say you're doing fine. I started out with a cheap Marksman biathalon air rifle, and pushed the limits by setting very small targets out of normal range, and conditioning myself to hit them. I graduated to various .22's, and again, learned to work with small targets at ranges pushing the limits for the venerable .22, while working with wind, mirage, and ballistics of varying brands of quality target ammo. And, regardless of what the average guy might say, all these skills and confidence readily transfer to the big bores. The late, great Marine sniper Carlos Hathcock, as well as his Army rival, John Plaster, both with kills well over the 300 mark, started out with simple .22's, and learned to push it's limits, and thus, also theirs. A good caliber progression would be .177, .22, .223, to .308 or .300 magnum(current caliber of choice for navy seal snipers) if you're setting your sights on growth.Personally, when I'm not bangin' .30's at 600-1000 meters, I really enjoy the hell out of my little custom .22, perhaps more than any of them. I use a Ruger 77/22 with a green mountain fluted/free- floated barrel, trigger dressed down to 2 1/2 #,harris bipod, BSA 6- 24 x 40 mil-dot adjustable objective scope, bore level, and volquartsen stabilizer on the muzzle. To top that off, I moly-treat the barrel as well as the match ammo, after I've "sized" each round in a swaging device to insure uniform bullet diameters. This may seem like overkill to some, but squeakin' out 1/2-3/4" groups at 100 yards IS POSSIBLE, and a hell of a lot of fun! 200 yards is about the max for consistant results of any kind, but I've often pushed the envalope to 250 and even 300 yards. It's tough, especially in a breeze, but, it CAN BE DONE. And, when I curl back into my .308, those skills are transferable, and add to my confidence. Josh, by all means, continue to work with a good solid pellet gun, as well as the .22. And you don't have to have an Anschutz to be good. My spotter out-shot some big-mouth with a $2500 Anschutz, using nothing more than a Marlin model 25n with Federal Match rounds, and that is less than a $200 gun! Study the ballistics, take notes, research and practice=practice=practice-practice=practice-practice!! That's where the simple pellet gun comes in....it's cheap, and you can practice day-in, day-out in the basement, year-round, when others are confined to the range. And....don't let people dissuade you in your pursuit of .22 sniping. It's a noble hobby, and a lot better and cheaper than the best psychiatrist, for whatever ails you. Abe Lincoln used to plink with a .22 in the back yard of the White House, to get his mind off the immense problems of his presidency, and judging by his record, it helped. So have at it, have fun, and feel free to push the limits!! Life is to short not to do so. Just DO IT, and do it Well!! Good shooting Josh! Taelen

-- taelen wolf (twoheartedwolf@aol.com), October 18, 2003.

Ya, I brought my .22 target rifle from a private dealer, it’s the best way to go. It depends on your cash and requirements for the rifle. The best brand is Anschutz, they have the best .22 target rifle on the market. If you don’t want to buy from them then remember you need a 4kg + rifle to enter comps with because of the weight rule. Well get yourself a nice build up rifle much like a .22 version of a M24 or if money permits go with some space age target rifle. In any case remember the rules and get the rifle that suits you best for this precise sport. Heres a good site to give you some ideas on what rifles are best. http://www.championshooters.com/Anschutz-r.htm

Jakub

-- Jakub (jakub@diri.com), October 10, 2003.

COULD some one help me I want to buy a .22 Target rifle but i dont know want kind to buy any tips on witch one to buy.Thanks Jeff

-- Jeffrey Behan (frost147@juno.com), October 10, 2003.

Handout:

The Chechnyans have had significant success with the .22 as an urban sws. Mated with a suppressor they took a Russian general giving an outdoor presentation.

Small, but in the appropriate environment, lethal.

-- Steve (amoknow@yahoo.com), September 14, 2003.

I think a lot of people are missing the point on this thread>

The .22 is not a sniper weapon in the military/police sense *terminating humans.

Nor the air rifle.

I think josh should revaluate the term sniper in the context of this web site.

The .22 is an excellent training meduim for honing marksmanship skills

And for the hunting of small game period.

So josh hone those skills you are aquiring with your .22 and remember the meaning of the word sniping in the military sense.

BONE

-- bone (artha@popit.se), August 19, 2003.

i have a savage Model MARK II-GXLP Left-Handed bolt with a bsa platinum target rifle scope and a harris bipod and i was wondering what else i could get for it that would help accuracy.

Thanks,Josh

-- josh (trunks_1010@hotmail.com), August 18, 2003.

You guys going on about airguns are silly. I too started my shooting with an airgun from Wal Mart. It's killed more squirrel and rabbit than most airguns have I'm sure. I even used it to teach my little brother the marksmanship fundementals that the army didn't before his annual rifle qual. He got range high his next drill. Having said that, If this dude has a .22, why in the hellwould he want a fricking air-gun????? Move up in caliber man. Geez, is there a shortage of common sense these days? And as far as a "hardend SWS" goes, an out of the box savage with a decent scope, rings, and mounts will work just fine. A .22 is good for some things, but it's not a sniper grade weapon, and never will be, I don't care how good you are with it.

-- Handout (fredjarvin@yahoo.com), August 18, 2003.

I only say:

Sako TRG, what a rifle!

You ho have the 22lr rifle. Whats name of your rifle?

-- Daniel (erce@home.se), August 18, 2003.

alright this spelling and grammar shit that people are talking about is a misunderstanding. Its not that i dont know how to spell its thats i was typing it fast becuase i was late to work. so will you people stop typing this shit that a cant spell or anything.

-- josh (trunks_1010@hotmail.com), August 16, 2003.

Reading thru this thread gets my back up !!!!!! any information Good or bad is legit, it shows that someone has taken time to write it.

Regarding the air rifle i would put this type of weapon above all other weapons period.

This is the weapon you learn alot about shooting at a young age, which in turn kinders your interest in rifle shooting.

The Humble air rifle with open sights is one of the best types of rifle to hone your marksmanship skills with during the journey up too the real full bores.

The .22 is an excellent rifle to finly tune your skills, so much in fact that in my sniper section, we shoot with the .22 at least once a month in an indoor range at the barracks.

100% of all the military snipers i have worked with or met started there rifle shooting with an Air Rifle.

So Please do not under-estimate the great importance of the Air Rifle or the .22.

Any Precision accuracy with a .22 at longer distances are hard to maintain and when acheived feel good.

Also remember the difference between a finly honed custom built SWS to the off the shelf .22.

If you shoot tight with a .22 then using the so called real mc coy is much much easier.

To understand is to have power, any fool can rock the boat.

Bone

-- bone (Bone2@uk.com), August 16, 2003.

Don’t bag air rifles they are a very good learning rifle, they have there down sides but surly you will learn lots from them as I did. I got a .22 target rifle myself and its one hell of a rifle. If you know that the rifle is accurate at that range and you can make it preform then go for it. I do suggest you try a .223 or 308, you get a kick from it anyway but try and experiment and be confident with what you shoot with. Yes spelling and grammar but come on this place isn’t to pay out people who cant spell or use grammar right I mean I know I cant to a perfect level but who cares.

-- Jakub Black (jakub@diri.com), August 16, 2003.

Air guns are gay. So are guys that think poor grammar and spelling habits are acceptable. Shoot your .22, learn to spell, and someday move UP to a real rifle, not DOWN to a toy.

-- Handout (fredjarvin@hotmail.com), August 14, 2003.

You're doing fine with the .22, but if you'll try air rifle, you will learn more and more quickly than you ever imagined - and spend lots less doing it.

Also, you may ignore those who criticize your spelling with poor grammar.

-- boisdarc (longrange51@hotmail.com), August 14, 2003.

First, you should spend less time playing with your pea shooter and more time looking up the correct spelling of words in the dictionary. After you've learned to spell basic words, continue shooting your .22 at whatever range you can hit at.

-- Handout (fredjarvin@yahoomail.com), August 10, 2003.