what magnification? 22LR 50m to 150m

[shoot2eat]

Looking for some advice on scope magnification for my .22LR

I currently have a Leupold 3-9 x 40 on my .22Lr. I use it for plinking 3" & 4" steel targets at 150m without a problem.

I would like to set up paper targets between 50m out to 150m, but I feel like I am lacking in magnification to make accurate shots at smaller targets. Also paralax is very noticeable at 150m with my fixed paralax rimfire scope ( I believe is set at 60m)

Just wondering what magnification range people would recommend for paper targets at these distances. I don't shoot competition, just mucking around in the back yard. However I would still like to be able to see and hit bullseye at 150m.

[bladeracer]

Looking for some advice on scope magnification for my .22LR

I currently have a Leupold 3-9 x 40 on my .22Lr. I use it for plinking 3" & 4" steel targets at 150m without a problem.

I would like to set up paper targets between 50m out to 150m, but I feel like I am lacking in magnification to make accurate shots at smaller targets. Also parallax is very noticeable at 150m with my fixed parallax rimfire scope ( I believe is set at 60m)

Just wondering what magnification range people would recommend for paper targets at these distances. I don't shoot competition, just mucking around in the back yard. However I would still like to be able to see and hit bullseye at 150m.

I use 4.5-18x40 scopes on all my rifles. I've used them on the .22's to hit large targets out to 460m on 4.5-power without too much trouble - wind is a _major_ issue past about 350m with the .22LR. I've found that I really only need enough magnification to allow me to clearly make out the target - as long as I can see it, I can generally hit it, eventually. I also have some 40-power scopes, and they're great too, but I don't find them necessary. That magnification is excellent to allow you to aim precisely at the intersection of two fine lines on a sheet of paper, but I can only see such lines out to perhaps 120m tops, on a very good day. For shooting very small groups at relatively close ranges (200m max say) then more magnification is very good. Further than that though and the air itself is too "dirty" to see such fine targets, regardless of how much magnification you have. For me, at longer distances I need a target that I can at least see, even if I can't see it well. I generally only need about 4-power to make such a target clear enough to be able to hold a sight picture on it. There is also the issue that the higher your magnification the smaller your field of view, and the less travel you have on the elevation turret, rarely are these an issue with any high-velocity rifle, but definitely are with the .22 at longer distances. If you have miss-estimated the range by ten or twenty meters at 400m, the bullet might land several meters above or below your aiming point, but even worse, if you have heavy wind your bullets might be landing three or four meters to one side as well - it helps to wind the zoom back while you get onto the target in such conditions. Likewise, if you have limited elevation adjustment you're going to be holding over rather than dialling onto the target. If you need to hold eight or ten meters above your point of aim you will need a very wide field of view, and decent holdover or gridded reticle.

To enjoy shooting paper out to 150m I doubt you will have any issues with your 3-9x40, though 9-power will struggle to make out .22-caliber holes in paper at 150m (at least for me), you might want a spotting scope. I would try larger aiming marks that you can see clearly in your scope, a cross or diamond of 16mm insulation tape on paper for example. I prefer a diamond aiming mark as I can aim precisely at one of the corners. If you're already shooting 3" gongs at 150m I don't think your scope is lacking too much. STS do a Know-Your-Limits (KYL) gong rack that can be fun. It has seven gongs from 70mm down to 10mm. I like it because it offers very varied challenges depending on the distance and how you shoot. I sort of think of the middle one (30mm) as the median, so whatever and however you are shooting, set it up at a distance at which you shouldn't have any difficulty hitting the middle 30mm gong. Then you can enjoy hitting the larger ones more rapidly, and hitting the smaller ones with greater challenge. We've been practicing on it lately offhand with open sights at 12m with the .22's.

Parallax can be mostly circumvented by a very consistent cheek weld on the comb. Parallax is an issue of your eye being in different positions behind the scope, a good consistent cheek weld will minimise any movement. But a scope in the range of 4-power at the bottom to about 20- or 24-power should be sufficient. With side-focus parallax adjustment - don't get anything with AO or adjustable objective, they're very hard to use from a firing position and you can't read the markings on them from behind the rifle either. I don't bother with the markings, I just adjust parallax until the target is as clearly focussed as possible and you'll be only a few meters out.

If you want to start shooting longer distances you'll want to decide whether you prefer to work in millirads or minutes and get a scope to suit.

[Oldbloke]

So, I'm not up with target shooting.
But I reckon a 4-12×40 would still be able to be used for hunting if your that way inclined.

[bigpete]

4x

[Larry]

Personally I think you would need a scope up near the 25* maybe even higher if you are going to shoot the 22 BR targets the bullseye is only the size of a ball point pen dot. Much smaller than a 22 hole if you cant see that at 50 which I cant without a scope there is very little chance of hitting it consistently. Others may say aim for another point and make adjustments however that really doesnt always work and this would be one of those cases as the sheet of paper has 25 score targets and 20 sighter targets.

[Wapiti]

A dedicated rimfire scope in the 2-7 range is perfect for a 22LR.
More magnification will not make this ballistically inferior projectile, travelling at speeds where a puff of wind makes it completely unpredictable, any more precise.
It might, in people's heads make it suddenly a potential long range round, but it doesn't.

The reason knowledgeable shooters use a dedicated "rimfire" scope is that the parallax is generally factory set at around 50m depending on the brand/model, so when taking precise shots within the cartridges ballistic effective range, that accuracy killer is eliminated. Scopes meant for centrefires usually have their parallax set at 100-150m. Unless, of course, you put a bulky objective parallax adjustment scope on your rifle, or a correspondingly large side adjustment model. But it's still a short range cartridge, and (to me) doesn't deserve a huge Coke bottle sitting on top of the little rifles in this cartridge.

Throwing erratic little lead bullets at targets way out is one thing, if you get enjoyment from the inconsistency. Good for you.
Just throwing this in there for people thinking of this. is to keep this tiny cartridges ballistics within 75m IMHO, 100 tops in perfect conditions, when shooting at living animals. Shooting at longer ranges at any animals is to me, inhumane and definitely not pinpoint enough. Blow your ammo on targets, like the OP is rightly sticking to.
My own personal ethics and opinions might annoy some, but too bad.

[on_one_wheel]

Love my fixed 6x on the .22

If your plinking out to 150m something with mildot or a graduated reticle would be helpful.

[bladeracer]

Personally I think you would need a scope up near the 25* maybe even higher if you are going to shoot the 22 BR targets the bullseye is only the size of a ball point pen dot. Much smaller than a 22 hole if you cant see that at 50 which I cant without a scope there is very little chance of hitting it consistently. Others may say aim for another point and make adjustments however that really doesnt always work and this would be one of those cases as the sheet of paper has 25 score targets and 20 sighter targets.

When I took my grandson to do some 20m Benchrest people were using 60-power and more, to see 20m. Rimfire Benchrest makes no sense to me. Benchrest in itself removes all shooter involvement anyway, so it's all about reloading the most consistent ammo, but you're not even doing that in Rimfire, you're relying on somebody else having loaded your ammo.

[bladeracer]

Just throwing this in there for people thinking of this. is to keep this tiny cartridges ballistics within 75m IMHO, 100 tops in perfect conditions, when shooting at living animals. Shooting at longer ranges at any animals is to me, inhumane and definitely not pinpoint enough.

Agreed, live targets out to maybe 60m max for me. I can probably keep the bullet in a rabbit or fox head out to 100m, but it's getting iffy out there, and the bullet is simply drilling a hole so shot placement needs to be within millimeters of your aiming point if you want the animal dead on the spot.

[Tinker]

You can use rimfire scopes with a fixed-parallax of 50m beyond 100-150m by utilising the scope shadow.
If you move your head back a little bit while sighting you'll start to see the scope shadow around the sight picture. If the scope shadow is an even width around the sight picture then your eye is in the centre, and you won't have a parallax error. It will slightly reduce your field of view however.

[FTL]

Currently Leupold m. 5 7-35 on Lithgow, whilst it waits to go on another weapon. I'm going to find it very hard to go back to the vx2 3-9. Scores at 100m improved dramatically for obvious reasons.

[Larry]

BR you may not be able to make sense of 22 BR but that is a sport that has been around nearly 100 years or more and it seems that is the trajectory of the OP. There are a lot of opinions given here from people with a completely different perspective. There was another poster here who posted a few pictures of his 22 target rifles get a opinion from him.

[bladeracer]

I'm not seeing any indication that the OP has any interest in Benchrest at all, it sounds like he wants to shoot much as I do, in the field under field conditions. That's very different to Benchrest. I'm well aware that some people enjoy BR, and good luck to them, but it's not for me.

BR you may not be able to make sense of 22 BR but that is a sport that has been around nearly 100 years or more and it seems that is the trajectory of the OP. There are a lot of opinions given here from people with a completely different perspective. There was another poster here who posted a few pictures of his 22 target rifles get a opinion from him.

[SCJ429]

Best to go and have a look at what scopes the guys shooting rimfire metallic silhouette are using.
A good start might be a fixed power 25x or 36x. I use a 36x Leupold to shoot the rimfire Fly Shoot.

[bladeracer]

Best to go and have a look at what scopes the guys shooting rimfire metallic silhouette are using.
A good start might be a fixed power 25x or 36x. I use a 36x Leupold to shoot the rimfire Fly Shoot.

Those will be absolutely useless on a field rifle.

[Oldbloke]

Best to go and have a look at what scopes the guys shooting rimfire metallic silhouette are using.
A good start might be a fixed power 25x or 36x. I use a 36x Leupold to shoot the rimfire Fly Shoot.

Those will be absolutely useless on a field rifle.

[Fester]

I used a $200 Bushy 4-12 for a decade as it did all field shooting and I could see the holes at 50m.
In ideal light conditions, I could see each hole being punched, great when all 5 go in using SK ammo but pissed seeing the CCI std send 1 flyer to wreck it.

I often plinked at 200yds on calm days with that scope, more just watching the splashes and walking it in aiming at a rock or bit of grass a meter or more over the target.
No idea until I walked out and seen a fist sized cluster of 7-8 shots with a couple of flyers.
Not always that good
Got a 4-16 now as it has a side focus and is a bit more compact in size for the light carry 22

A simple BDC reticle and the side focus lets me shoot the rimfire Sillohettes but a mill-dot would be ideal

[SCJ429]

Best to go and have a look at what scopes the guys shooting rimfire metallic silhouette are using.
A good start might be a fixed power 25x or 36x. I use a 36x Leupold to shoot the rimfire Fly Shoot.

Those will be absolutely useless on a field rifle.

The OP said he wanted to shoot paper targets out to 150 metres. How would a fixed 36x be useless for this application?