Thread: just Varminting - how far was your longest shot on your last walk

just Varminting - how far was your longest shot on your last walk

This is a thread for Varminters, those using dial/up or BDC style reticles who shoot out to longer ranges on Rabbit/Hare sized animals . . not for small game shooters who use a duplex reticle and guesstamate holdovers.



i have done some LongerRange shooting using .22 Subs but now i would like to see how far i push the Higher Velocity .22 Winchester PowerPoints


inside target squares are 3" they were shot before going for a walk - first is 100yds, second is 150yrds

On last walk? Well, last mission out of the back garden more like. I don't have a photo so I guess it doesn't count.

Magpie, 137m, .22LR CCI Standard Velocity (subs). On my rifle, that's 4.4 mils hold over, or 60cm. Wind was nasty, gusting from about 4 o'clock quite hard. I guesstimated a wind hold of 1.5 mils in between gusts and let it fly. Very satisfying thwack and dead bird tumbling out of the pines.

The reticle image looks like this, I like it. Image from Strelok.



Its a 4.5-18x50 scope, but the reticle is calibrated at 10x. Its a good compromise for the normal range of shooting, for a 50m zero most bunnies and magpies are taken between 40-80m and I've gotten pretty good at remembering my holds. I have the drops table printed and laminated on a little carry card, copies of which are also stapled to posts and trees in several regular shooting spots around the block.

Originally Posted by Flyblown

On last walk? Well, last mission out of the back garden more like. I don't have a photo so I guess it doesn't count.

Magpie, 137m, .22LR CCI Standard Velocity (subs). On my rifle, that's 4.4 mils hold over, or 60cm. Wind was nasty, gusting from about 4 o'clock quite hard. I guesstimated a wind hold of 1.5 mils in between gusts and let it fly. Very satisfying thwack and dead bird tumbling out of the pines.

The reticle image looks like this, I like it. Image from Strelok.

Its a 4.5-18x50 scope, but the reticle is calibrated at 10x. Its a good compromise for the normal range of shooting, for a 50m zero most bunnies and magpies are taken between 40-80m and I've gotten pretty good at remembering my holds. I have the drops table printed and laminated on a little carry card, copies of which are also stapled to posts and trees in several regular shooting spots around the block.

good to see your still playing with LR subs @Flyblown . . . screen shots work for me, good lookn reticle

In the last couple weeks I have shot a maggy, 2 hares and a deer with the K hornet.
Only dialed up the hares as the were at 240 and 260 yrds.
Tried longer shots but the 40 vmax moves around in little wind and I havent got to grips with it yet.
Really enjoying having the K hornet. No where near as loud as my suppressed 223 and just as effective out to 250ish so far.

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Originally Posted by rossi.45

inside target squares are 3" they were shot before going for a walk - first is 100yds, second is 150yrds

So really anything after about 120yds (when an LR will go trans-sonic) you're just taking pot-shots and hoping they connect.

Originally Posted by mimms

So really anything after about 120yds (when an LR will go trans-sonic) you're just taking pot-shots and hoping they connect.

go somewhere else this thread isnt for you

Originally Posted by rossi.45

go somewhere else this thread isnt for you

None of your 150 shots is a guaranteed humane kill on rabbit size game. Could be a clean miss, could be gut shot, could just break their back leg.

Hi @mimms. PM sent. I hope you can respect the desire not to spoil this thread with this kind of argument, for the reasons stated.

Originally Posted by mimms

None of your 150 shots is a guaranteed humane kill on rabbit size game. Could be a clean miss, could be gut shot, could just break their back leg.

The groups are a bit better than they look here, draw a 3" square on a piece of paper and look again. What seems odd is that there is such a dramatic change in groups from 100 to 150. I would like to know at what distance point the change takes place. Between you and me, Rossi needs to spend more time practicing and less time reading 'Stalingrad'

Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

The groups are a bit better than they look here, draw a 3" square on a piece of paper and look again. What seems odd is that there is such a dramatic change in groups from 100 to 150. I would like to know at what distance point the change takes place. Between you and me, Rossi needs to spend more time practicing and less time reading 'Stalingrad'

I know what 3" is. The KZ on a bunny is 2" at most, even a large hare, 1" for a headshot.

Anyone can fluke 3 shots, I'd like to see his 100 with 10 shots on, I'd pick he's holding 2 MOA or wider.
From my experience the opening up of groups occurs as the bullet goes transsonic. Which as said is about 120m for most brands/barrels. The heeled 22s aren't very aerodynamic in the first place. and once that shockwave overtakes them they can go to fuck pretty quick.

Originally Posted by mimms

None of your 150 shots is a guaranteed humane kill on rabbit size game. Could be a clean miss, could be gut shot, could just break their back leg.

Hard to argue with that.

Originally Posted by 257weatherby

Hard to argue with that.

I'd disagree. Rabbits are vermin like many other creatures, ones that we trap, poison and shoot, with varying degrees of success. I spent a good few weeks in '86 smacking myxomatosis rabbits with a cricket bat, that wasn't a very nice way for us to get rid of them either, eh? Every winter I trap rats that aren't cleanly killed, when they run over the traps the wrong way. Shit happens. I don't differentiate between a rabbit, a rat or a ferret polecat hybrid. They must die.

In the cattle yards where I was shooting rabbits a couple of nights ago, the buggers were popping up out of holes in the middle of the holding paddock and smack bang in the centre of the yards. Wanna argue with the cockie about a rabbit versus a $2000 Angus cattle beast's leg? Nope, neither do I. That's reserved for the snowflake greenie bunny huggers.

I totally get your desire to see a clean kill, we all strive for that, sometimes however the circumstances are what they are. On a warren that isn't shot often, if at all, I think you can achieve good numbers with a CCI Stinger or a small centrefire like a .17 Hornet, for a while, but once they're wise to the bang, you have no choice but to go into stealth mode. Just the way it is.

Not looking for a great big barney over this, but in my (40yrs-ish) experience of shooting bunnies with rimfire, the numbers that suffer much beyond a couple of minutes are very low. I'd rather shoot them with a small percentage of slower deaths than poison all of them and the horrors that entails. Or deliberately infect them with a guaranteed horrible death virus.

Originally Posted by mimms

So really anything after about 120yds (when an LR will go trans-sonic) you're just taking pot-shots and hoping they connect.

He's got a point. The subs might work better.... High velocity slowing down can get unstable. Ask a 308 shooter at 1000 yards.
My last walk was so long ago, iv forgotten the ranges. Typically 300, but always look for longer if I can find it.

Originally Posted by bully

He's got a point. The subs might work better.... High velocity slowing down can get unstable. Ask a 308 shooter at 1000 yards.
My last walk was so long ago, iv forgotten the ranges. Typically 300, but always look for longer if I can find it.

if anyone has tried how unstable the bullets are with PowerPoints at LR i am all ears . . . just a blanket it won't work passed 120 doesnt do it for me.
i have used subs out to +300 yards on paper/steel and Rabbits but there are problems, the Supers longer Point Blank Range is easier to use when your in a hurry in the field.
i have 2 X .22lr rifles, one for subs out to 400 yards the other for supers out to 200 yards . . . i was looking at some Rabbits passed 300 the other day with my Super setup and thinking the reticle ( mildot 3.5-10 ) is plenty fine enough with enough magnification and enough elevation to get out to 350 yards, thats enough to get me started on this path for awhile.

And FYI a duplex reticle has 3-5 vertical points of aim and 2 windage references.