22 mag rifle range

[nailer]

What is the distance a 22 mag rifle can shoot and be accurate? Is it possible to be accurate to 250 yards with a good scope or will it lose too much energy? I want to use it for small rifle(woodchuck) target competition, but I may have to buy a 223. I don't have either yet, but I have shot a 22 mag before and liked it.

[Truckman]

I'm a bit surprised no one has answered this yet. I'd say go with the .223 at that range. I'd say about 150 yds maximum for repetative accuracy with the .22 WMR.

[Steve in PA]

I own a .22mag, a Marlin 882 and would limit my shots to 100-125 yards. Beyond that, get a different rifle.

Hope you have deep pockets if you plan on using a .22mag for competition. I've never heard of one being used.

[knight0334]

A 22mag at 250yrds isn't sufficient enough for woodchuck. If you're gonna shoot critters at given ranges, use a cartridge that will provide enough energy at the maximum of the ranges you shoot at to dispatch animals humanely.

A 22hornet and on up in energy levels is what you should be looking for. As mentioned above, a .223 is a good cartridge to use. It is available everywhere and will provide the energy needed to kill a chuck at ranges upto 500yards or more.

[NoMoreOp4]

If I remember correctly you shouldn't have much success further than 125ish with the WMR. 250 would be way too much of a stretch. You're going to see a lot of drop and decrease in both speed an energy @ 200 compared to @ muzzle

here are some rough figures I found:
22 WMR accutip 33 grain
velocity at 200 yards: 1138 (from 2000 at muzzle)
energy at 200 yards: 95 ft lb.(from 293 at muzzle)
trajectory at 200 yards: -14.5"

but I'd go with a 40 grain depending on what you're shooting at. not gonna see a lot of difference in accuracy. (for distances under 125. If its larger critters and/or larger distances go .223)

[nailer]

I guess my next purchase will be a 223 rifle. I'll probably get a Remington or a Savage. Thanks all.

[MaxPower]

You will never know the true potential of a rifle or your actual skill level until you get off the computer and out on the range and in the field. Yup, you should know what the ballistic limits of the cartridge are for game but beyond that, you're just gonna get opinions on the internet. 22 mag has enough 'umph' to kill chucks at 200+ yards if you can hit them where you need to. BTDT.

I have posted about my 77/22mag and whacking steel consistantly at 177 yards w/ 40gr CCI ammo. It will consistantly group around 2-2.5" shooting off a backpack rest. You need a range finder tho as the inconsistant size of chucks and the rainbow trajectory of the round will make range estimation and first shot hits dang near impossible otherwise. There was a recent article in American Rifleman IDB that compared the 22wmr with ballistic gelatin for penetration using a variety of factory fodder. Do a little google dance and you should find it. great write up about the diff types of ammo available and what each one does on diff size game. Just remeber, same deal as wanting to go fast in a car, "there's no replacement for displacement." The bigger the bullet, the better downrange energy you will have(to a point).40-45 seems golden for 22 mag at the max ranges(225-250) I'm sure someone will chime in here shortly about how unethical it is to shoot at such and such range w/ such and such cal./bullet/etc. I don't care. I've seen chucks shot thru the head w/ NO brain matter or skull left lurch themselves 10-15 yrds back into their holes. And I've shot a monster at 125 yrds w/ a 22lr right between the eye and the ear that was DRT and didn't do anything more than the tail wave goodbye. They are STRANGE critters indeed.

that's a 6" plate. You can see the indents of 5 rounds dead center I have shot over a couple days about a month or so ago. the ones on the left hand side are from the fiance getting zeroed in(for her very first time behind the rifle at this range in a "field position". her first round was off the target left and she made two consecutive hits following.) Doping the wind is no small feat either. It can be done. But you better start buying bulk rounds if you wanna be consistant. And you REALLY need to test your rifle and ammo combination to find the best match. A decent piece of high mag glass on top is also a huge help.

[Noah_Zark]

I have a few 22 Magnum rifles, all of which I've picked up in the last couple years having come late to the cartridge. The rifles are: Ruger 96 lever, Marlin 1894M lever, Winchester 9422M "WinTuff" lever, and Marlin 57M lever. Hmmm. I'm seeing a pattern here . . .

All four are remarkably accurate at 100 to 200 yds. I can easily pick off claybirds standing on edge on the 100 and even 200 yd berms. The front sights all but cover the discs at 200 yds, but if I do my part there are orange bits all over the berm when I'm done.

The 22 Magnum bullet hits the berm at 100 yds with a solid-sounding "thwack!" Last year I took two coyotes betw. 75 and 100 yds at the range at the one club to which I belong using the 9422M the one time, and the Marlin 57M the other time. Ammo was CCI 40 gr solids. I was the only person at the range, and both times it was almost getting on to dusk. Those are the guns I had loaded on the bench at the two respective times the coyotes decided to cross the range, to their great mistake. The shots were shoulder in one case, and heart/lung in the other, and the 'yote with the shoulder shot sort of went down and rolled around a lot for several seconds, then lie still. The heart/lung shot 'yote ran about 30-40 yards and sort of piled up, still. By the time I got downrange in both cases, the varmints had expired.

Would I shoot at a coyote at 200 yds with a 22 Magnum? No. Varmints or not, I detest the idea of a wounded animal, ANY wounded animal, dying slowly or spending the rest of its life in pain. You must "use enough gun" as Robert Ruark wrote back in the 60s. While the 22 magnum is a great <100 yd cartridge, IMO and experience the 223 would better serve as a varmint cartridge >100 yds and out to 300 yds.

Noah

[JoshuaL450]

I guess my next purchase will be a 223 rifle. I'll probably get a Remington or a Savage. Thanks all.

I highly recommend the Savage Edge (Now Axis Series) I bought one back in December in .223 and I love the gun, accurate and only 300 with a decent scope on it.

[sleeper78]

Hell, I've killed groundhogs at 125 with a 22lr, so I'm not even to to argue about the 22 mag. Like posted above it's all about field experience. Anyway, I think the OP is talking about using the 22mag for groundhog matches, which are bench rest matches shot by hunting rifles at varying distances at paper groundhogs for a score. If that is the case and the 22mag is the only rifle the OP has then by all means use it. If all the OP is doing is killing paper out to 200yds and his 22mag can hit those targets out to that distance there is no need (notice I said nothing about want) buy a new rifle.