Rimfire practice accuracy

[bodhisafa]

Thinking about building a 22 RF for general plinking and practice. Looking for advice from shooters that have or are currently having success with the rimfire as practice/training guns and those who have maybe gone a different route because the rimfire ammo was not consistent enough.

 

[Wannashootit]

because the rimfire ammo was not consistent enough.

Don't know anything about training with .22lr, but...plenty consistent enough, if you buy the good stuff (Lapua, as in Olympic Biathlon) at something like $.50 /round. Probably missing something, but seems to me that if shooting volume and precision ammo at lowest cost is the objective I don't see how you could beat handloading .223.

 

[Char'ed Cuterie]

For me, the biggest advantage to having some kind of 22LR barreled action that you can drop in Remington 700 stocks/chassis is the ability to show up to an NRL22 or PRS22 match and get some cheaper, easier reps in on stages that are hard to practice on your own. Things like large props, or if your local ranges don't allow positional at all, then ANY props. It also cuts out the reloading aspect if that becomes a huge time suck.

It's been a year or more, but at least on the NRL22 side, the longest shots were around 150 and the targets out there were large enough that regular SK Rifle Match out of a Bergara B14R could hang, no problem. When you get into the ranges at NRL22X (and although I've never been, I see that PRS22 also goes out to 300ish yards) then yep, you'll have issues solely due to mechanical accuracy of even nice match 22LR, and that stopped being fun and started to look real expensive to me.

If you can set up props at your range, or your range just has them out for you to use, and are looking for a practice rig? .223 seems like the easy button.

I'm fourtunate to live in a part of the country where there's a centerfire match almost literally every weekend, and the NRL22 match that's close is only once a month and got real popular, so I haven't been in a while.

 

[Kadams1563]

So I too thought .22 would be a good trainer rifle. The problem is it doesn’t exactly match my CF and it doesn’t need to really. I have started shooting rimfire matches and they are to me more fun then CF lol.

I do have a .223 AI as well and if I was trying to mimic my match rifle I’d shoot that instead of .22.

But build you a PRS/NRL .22 gun for that game and have more fun and way less stress then CF.

 

[Cody S]

223 might be a better trainer rifle than 22 for many reasons.
but prs22 competitions near me go out to about 300 yards and they're extremely challenging and very fun. Tried one match and I've ordered a barrel blank and action if you know what I mean.

 

[KnowNothing256]

But build you a PRS/NRL .22 gun for that game and have more fun and way less stress then CF.

This is pretty much where I'm at on it. I shoot both, but I shoot far more .22 because the matches are closer, cheaper, and require far less time investment outside of the match itself.

Of course you'll have some retraining on recoil management to do if you move back to CF, and I find that wind learnings between the two disciplines don't always translate across very well (mirage doesn't tell the story beyond about 200 yards in my limited experience, but it's highly useful inside of that distance for .22). But you'll learn stage/prop strategy, data management, self-control (if you pursue winning), and many other skills no matter which you pursue.

 

[Chickentoast]

I've got 22lr's and 223's. The 22's are fun and do have some crossover, but they are only as precise as the ammo, and are the most forgiving. 223 you can at least work on all of the fundamentals as well as reloading, and learn how your rifle groups differently with different holds, bipods, tripods, etc. And then the question becomes, trainer for what? A big magnum case and expensive solids - otherwise, if less than say 50 grains of powpow, I'd just train with the main rifle.

 

[ToddM]

Some of it really comes down to you. For example I know guys that have gone away from 22's as trainers because of the limitations of ammo. It's pretty easy these days to build a 22 rig where ammo is the accuracy limitation esp. after 50yds. For some folks it's really annoying to run a rig that you know isn't shooting nearly to your ability. I can see the point, 22 rigs are simply prone to accuracy issues from ammo/flyers etc. much more than centerfire guns. I've seen statements from the 22 test facilities that even the top 22 ammo averages 1 bad round per 50. You also get zero recoil exposure, which can actually be a good thing, however, at that point are you better off dry firing your actual rig. I don't know IMO if it's really more valuable than dry firing from a trigger/practice standpoint and it's much more expensive.

I think where a 22 trainer really pays off, is if it allows you to go to more matches and get more competition reps in, building position, etc. So if you can double the matches you are shooting by doing the 22 matches with a gun that's similar to your centerfire rig. The other possible benefit would be in wind practice if you are in a location where say you can get to a 300yd range but not a 1000yd range.

That said the rabbit hole of getting an amazing shooting 22 between the gun itself and especially the ammo, testing lots, struggling to get enough ammo of a good lot, etc. can make getting an amazing shooting CF rig look like child's play.

 

[FimRire RongLifle]

Depends on goals. If rimfire opens up your backyard definitely do it. Same if you might do prs22 / nrl22 and it's close.
On the 223 side it opens up tac class and it's about 40% less powder and 20c a bullet cheaper then other stuff but rto is kinda long. I like having one since it can eat crap shelf 223 also if I want to (haven't yet) and wind at 600+ is more like elr at , well way more then that but it helps for wind work.
But I'm shooting that for practice for way bigger then 6mm.
Rimfire for me is about the quiet fun in backyard and some fun matches that are highly family inclusive which is great for shooting overall. Lately I don't get to them as much but will dust off again sometime.
Nothing saved me money though really as it takes tonnes of shots for RTO it's really just for different fun.

 

[smcfarland]

Built out a T1X in a KRG bravo for my daughter to learn on. Made a 25m range in backyard. I shoot that damn thing more than anything else now. Stupid fun shooting steel out to 300m. Really makes you get back to fundamentals when doing “tack” games, as well as training reps off tripod or other positional stuff. Eley match has been the sweet spot for value in it. Highly recommend doing a 22.