Long range .22lr target size

[Dai Bando]

I've been shooting 4" out to 450. Pretty challenging, but I learn a bit with every trigger pull.

I was reading the Vudoo thread and someone mentioned a 16" plate at 400 something.

Seemed a bit large to me.

What size steel are you guys hanging for distant .22 stuff?

 

[LRDD]

So your just smoking 4 Inch targets at 450 with a 22lr huh?

 

[Dai Bando]

Not claiming that at all.

On a day with consistent wind, I do pretty good though.

Switching or variable? Pretty humbling.

Just kinda curious as to what sizes guys who actually shoot are using.

 

[RAVAGE88]

Target size has varied. The Vudoo Rimfire Series has a 10" plate at 310, NRA World Championships had 16" at 485. Other distances/target sizes as well, mostly just whats available and was already set for anyone shooting centerfire. Nothing specific or any hard fast rules about target size for a 22LR at "distance."

MB

 

[45cal4life]

Either 5" or 7" depending on wind at 200 yards

 

[steve123]

I like shooting bigger than 2 moa steel past 300Y so I can see where on the plate I hit, also if I'm not hitting I'm not having fun, then I feel like I'm wasting ammo. There's the wind aspect that is a big deal at those ELR distances for a 22.

 

[quiksilverj]

i think it really depends on how stable the position. I would say laying prone even a 1 moa target would be pretty challenging for most shooters/rifle/ammo in a match setting on the clock. The 22nrl has targets that are fairly close to what we are using in our matches moa wise but we usually shoot our match out to 250 yds where they design their course of fire to be 100 yds max so almost any range can accommodate it.

http://nrl22.org/downloads/

 

[Nik H]

Gopher size metal silhouettes (3.5" wide by 6" tall) at 250 yards are a lot of fun. Haven't tried any further yet.

 

[NOMAD]

The the majors I have shot the smallest plate they will give you at 300 yards will be 10 inches.

 

[Dai Bando]

Thanks for the input fellas.

Nomad, I'm not up on the lingo. What's a "major"?

 

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

I had a thread about how 22lr seems about 1/4 scale .308 175gr. I also was working up some 1/4 scale IPSC targets (smaller than you'd think), which are pretty easy to hit out to 250, but with a smaller 1.75 inch center hole for precision hits.

https://www.snipershide.com/shootin...bout-25-of-7-62x51-175gr-out-of-a-18inch-r700

I shoot 22lr to learn. Misses are a binary (usually) teacher. I did something wrong. If you aren't at a backstop, you don't have a clue as to where the miss was. That's why I shoot a Shooting Targets 7 10 inch gong with a 3 inch center hole. I use that at 200 and further so that you can get feedback on where I missed. Plus with a 3/15 steel gong in the whole, you can get some good swing and feedback.

 

[my human host]

1, 2, and three inch rounds at 110yds.
3 and 6 inch squares at 160yds.
4 and 8 inch squares at 200yds.

I'm looking out a window off and on as I reply. Not far away is a miles long row of blinking red lights in the night sky. Those lights are wind driven generators.

 

[RAVAGE88]

I had a thread about how 22lr seems about 1/4 scale .308 175gr. I also was working up some 1/4 scale IPSC targets (smaller than you'd think), which are pretty easy to hit out to 250, but with a smaller 1.75 inch center hole for precision hits.

https://www.snipershide.com/shootin...bout-25-of-7-62x51-175gr-out-of-a-18inch-r700

I shoot 22lr to learn. Misses are a binary (usually) teacher. I did something wrong. If you aren't at a backstop, you don't have a clue as to where the miss was. That's why I shoot a Shooting Targets 7 10 inch gong with a 3 inch center hole. I use that at 200 and further so that you can get feedback on where I missed. Plus with a 3/15 steel gong in the whole, you can get some good swing and feedback.

That's a good thread and very informative, thanks for putting it up.

MB

 

[Tucker301]

12 inch at 250. Why wonder how much you missed?

 

[TheGerman]

The more I shoot out at ELR distances for the 22 the more I realize that the vertical dispersion on the rounds, which you have zero control over, make the best 'true' target sizes something like 1MOA wide (hard) or 2MOA wide, yet 4-6 inches tall, or even taller at 300+.

Reasoning behind this is that the vertical spread you will see from the rounds begins to be more of the bullet's doing as opposed to you not holding the same POA each time. If you still make the target skinny horizontally, you are still being tested against your wind call; however the skinny and longer target make it so that when you start getting those 50fps velocity spreads between rounds, you're not missing the target which had the round performed as the others, you would have hit.

So I'm leaning more towards targets that are like the vertical gopher target mentioned above. If you want to see where you're missing, obviously something larger, or put a cardboard box behind your target.

 

[300ATT]

"Minute-o-dog" targets at distance, I like that.

 

[JG26_Irish]

A 4.25" clay bird at 200y is what I would call an easy tgt at 200y from a prone or bench rest. 1 MOA is a challenging tgt at the same distance. An adult prairie dog sized tgt at 250-300y is another realistic shot while a smaller juvenile PD tgt at the same distance is tougher. The smaller dogs are slightly smaller than a pop can. Think of a can of Campbells Soup. I never measured one but it looks to be about 2.5" wide and 5.0" tall? It is an easy 300-400y shot with a centerfire varmint rifle at near point blank. With a 22 from a bench or solid rest, I can hit that most of the time from 250y in calm or steady wind conditions. At 300y it would be a very tough shot for me as my gun starts to disperse them too much. At 300y I need a tgt about 2MOA (~6") to even have a chance and 10" tgt is still not easy for me. Doable but not 100% of the time.

Irish

 

[TheGerman]

A 4.25" clay bird at 200y is what I would call an easy tgt at 200y from a prone or bench rest. 1 MOA is a challenging tgt at the same distance. An adult prairie dog sized tgt at 250-300y is another realistic shot while a smaller juvenile PD tgt at the same distance is tougher. The smaller dogs are slightly smaller than a pop can. Think of a can of Campbells Soup. I never measured one but it looks to be about 2.5" wide and 5.0" tall? It is an easy 300-400y shot with a centerfire varmint rifle at near point blank. With a 22 from a bench or solid rest, I can hit that most of the time from 250y in calm or steady wind conditions. At 300y it would be a very tough shot for me as my gun starts to disperse them too much. At 300y I need a tgt about 2MOA (~6") to even have a chance and 10" tgt is still not easy for me. Doable but not 100% of the time.

Irish

Yeah, something can sized or at least higher than it is wide. The width will be the real indicator of accuracy as 99% of the flyers, or at least 'off' rounds, are elevation variances that have easily been seen patterning vertically by 8 inches at times out to 300 yet having all of the shots be within an inch or two horizontally.

 

[bunsen27]

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[accurate obsession]

I'm most interested in this subject from the standpoint of creating two "know your limits" target racks for use at 100 and 200 yards for use in a rimfire match. Something that most shooters can make contact on first target and even even experienced shooters will have to think about the last.

 

[308pirate]

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Maybe if you tells us their sizes, the caliber they were shot with, and the distance they were shot from, then the picture might make sense.

 

[300ATT]

For 200 yd and beyond TheGerman is correct, targets should be taller than they are wider if your goal is to test wind reading skills. I have done a lot of testing recently at 200+ yds and found that the ("push-pull") component of the wind will introduce a lot of vertical that is not there in calm conditions.

If your goal is to test KYL wind reading skills at 200+ then yes - taller more than wider. IPSC's might be a good start.

 

[300ATT]

Should have added that targets should start at 10" wide down to 1" at 200 we'll maybe not 1" at least down to 2".

 

[bunsen27]

Maybe if you tells us their sizes, the caliber they were shot with, and the distance they were shot from, then the picture might make sense.

Well the thread title is "Long Range .22LR target size" and this is the rimfire section thus that should be obvious. Size wise the smallest is around 3" x 1.5" (h x w) increasing in ~1" increments for height and 0.5" for width up to 6" x 4", then it goes to 9" x 6" and 12" x 9". Distance is shooters choice. I've shot the smallest out to 150yds and the largest at 300+ yds when conditions are calm. Here you can buy your own set:

https://magnumtarget.com/products/kn...-10-piece-set/

 

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

There is size, and then there is being able to read your hits, especially on the larger targets. That is one of the things that I took away from discussions with Hoser was the ability to read right/left hits.

 

[Clearlight]

The more I shoot out at ELR distances for the 22 the more I realize that the vertical dispersion on the rounds, which you have zero control over, make the best 'true' target sizes something like 1MOA wide (hard) or 2MOA wide, yet 4-6 inches tall, or even taller at 300+.

Reasoning behind this is that the vertical spread you will see from the rounds begins to be more of the bullet's doing as opposed to you not holding the same POA each time. If you still make the target skinny horizontally, you are still being tested against your wind call; however the skinny and longer target make it so that when you start getting those 50fps velocity spreads between rounds, you're not missing the target which had the round performed as the others, you would have hit.

So I'm leaning more towards targets that are like the vertical gopher target mentioned above. If you want to see where you're missing, obviously something larger, or put a cardboard box behind your target.

Spot on about vertical . Using RWS Target Match out of a Sako Quad Range ,
with an LHRS scope , I was getting over 4 feet of vertical at 550 yards the
other day . Fairly pointless exercise , but surprisingly the wind holds were a
consiistent 2.5 -3 Mil . It was the massive vertical that really stood out .
Target was a 1.5 Moa gong : 3 hits from a box of 50 .....

Projectiles recovered were completely flat discs , enough energy to give
you a headache ....

 

[Topstrap]

All good posts, after a while anyone that spends time trying to hit distant targets with a 22 rimfire knows what is realistic and what is stretching the truth. They are really accurate on reasonably sized small targets out thru 400 yards. I've told people you wouldn't want to poke your head up at 400 yards and they given me a look of rolled eyes and sure you can. Out past that it starts to get more difficult due to ammo and Mother Nature. Yes, we've all hit targets well past 500 yards and sometimes with surprisingly small groups and it's fun to do but I tend to lean towards the 400 barrier for good accuracy on a target that is reasonable size as a limit.

For my matches most targets tend to be in the 2 moa or smaller but the shape plays with the shooters more than the size. Quite a few are at the farther distances are 1moa for a hit zone but are shaped weird like Candy Canes, Horseshoes, quartered circles, some you have to shoot thru decreasing size holes, descending sized targets and nearly all are welded to the hangers in various positions which makes the shooter have to decide where the best place is to hit it on a given condition. Windy, you want to go for widest horizontal, calm but worried about dropped rounds you go for tallest verticle.

I'll include some pictures of some of my racks below, can't figure out how to insert them into the text or if even possibly on this site. I like to keep my target sizes so they are challenging but not impossible for the matches. The better shooters can just about clean it but usually miss 2 to 5 targets, most shooters can hit 85% or more. If you make it too hard you'll discourage them, if they still hit a lot and aren't that far below the upper pack then they feel they have a chance but if they are blown away you won't keep them too long. Mine hasn't been cleaned yet so I think I have sizes about right for each distance.

It's amazing how well this little round can do at extended distances but there is a limit due to ammo quality. I still think it's one of the most under rated rounds ever produced. The Bench Rest rimfire guys really struggle to extract extremely small groups from them but post some amazing groups/targets and us long range types are showing that it can be a very accurate round at distances most think is impossible. The shooters at my matches have improved greatly in the past few years, what was nearly impossible targets for them to hit is now being routinely cleaned. I occasionally tweak some racks placing them in a bit harder spots but don't base your matches on those few that have figured this game out, you want to keep the interest going.

 

[mrbig]

I like to shoot steel plates with my 22`s with sights,,it takes a 3-4 MOA target just to see,,the black on the 100 yard NRA target is 8 inches but I can see a steel plate painted white less than half that size good enough to shoot with my Palma sight ,,

standing offhand with no sling on a 10 inch gong at 300 yards with a 22LR and peep sights is pretty dang fun shooting,,

 

[Topstrap]

I'm most interested in this subject from the standpoint of creating two "know your limits" target racks for use at 100 and 200 yards for use in a rimfire match. Something that most shooters can make contact on first target and even even experienced shooters will have to think about the last.

My 10" down to 1" at 197 yards challenges our best shooters. When used as a KYL rack it really makes them think.
Topstrap

 

[Sig Marine]

When setting up steel for shooters, I want them to be successful yet challenged. Targets that are too small can be hit but they can be a struggle, especially on windy days. For this reason, I usually do plate racks when shooting smaller targets so shooters have the opportunity to see their hits when shooting large to small, make an elevation adjustment if necessary and then gauge their wind call so by the time they are on the smaller plates, they should have their act together.. At 170 yards, I put out a rack with 7" 6" 5" 4" and 3" plates and at 225 I use 8" 7" 6" 5" and 4". At the 100, I use a 5" 4" 3" 2" and 1". If I use a single plate at those yardages, I use something in the mid-range of each set of targets.

 

[Stugots]

My range goes out to 300 yards. I make fairly consistent hits on an 8" plate shooting my Kidd. (Depending on how hard the wind is blowing).