I was out shooting yesterday using Winchester X22LRPP .22 caliber Long Rifle Power Point – Lead Hollow Point 40 grain ammunition. At 25 yards, I was dead on – aiming and hitting in the black. At 50 yards, I was dead on – once again aiming and hitting in the black. At 70 yards, aiming at the bulls eye, my group dropped roughly 1.5 inches. This got me to thinking about distance, energy, and trajectory for the .22 caliber bullet in relation to small game hunting. Any thoughts out there about if I am using the aforementioned ammunition to hunt small game, what the optimal distance to do so might be? Thanks.

Mike

I was out shooting yesterday using Winchester X22LRPP .22 caliber Long Rifle Power Point – Lead Hollow Point 40 grain ammunition. At 25 yards, I was dead on – aiming and hitting in the black. At 50 yards, I was dead on – once again aiming and hitting in the black. At 70 yards, aiming at the bulls eye, my group dropped roughly 1.5 inches. This got me to thinking about distance, energy, and trajectory for the .22 caliber bullet in relation to small game hunting. Any thoughts out there about if I am using the aforementioned ammunition to hunt small game, what the optimal distance to do so might be? Thanks.

Mike

that trajectory sounds just about normal,

Personal opinion comes into play, and lots of people like to try and make the .22LR into a long range caliber...I'm not one of them. Certainly can hit things way way out there (on a clam day) with a .22, but am totally unimpressed with the results on game past 75yards and generally try real hard to stay inside 60yards.

Watched people shooting .22's at ground squirrels at 100-150yards...they seemed proud of the five or six real clean kills at that range, but seemed to forget about the same number of ones hit that ran dragging their guts....a selective memory seems to be needed to use a .22LR at long range on game (or a sadistic one).

Guess the best range to sight in depends on teh game you intend to shoot and the area in which you hunt. Deep forest hunting squirrels isn't usally a long range affair, so I sight in to hit dead on at 25yards...and seldom get shots over 40yards. For brush rabbits, i'll generally use either iron sights of a red-dot, range isn't the problem, getting on target fast is.

My experience pretty much matches ribbonstons. Game much past 75 yards becomes iffy. It's a lot of fun shooting at targets, tin cans, dirt clods in a field and such at long ranges with a 22, but it's kind of unfair to try killing game at ranges beyond the ability of the cartridge. It's really not very sportsmanlike either.

I find the following to be very close with .22 high velocity ammo in a scoped rifle.
zero at 20 yards
0.5 inch high at 40 yards
zero at 59 yards
0.5 inch low at 66 yards( maximum point blank range to hold inside 1 inch.
Cheezywan

I find the following to be very close with .22 high velocity ammo in a scoped rifle.
zero at 20 yards
0.5 inch high at 40 yards
zero at 59 yards
0.5 inch low at 66 yards( maximum point blank range to hold inside 1 inch.
Cheezywan

Can make it simpler...at least for me. I just have a had time holding UNDER game...must be alergic to it or something...so i sight in at something very close to Cheezyan's figures. I don't mind holding over...but setting my sights for too far makes me (1) tend to try things farther out that I know I should and (2) forces me to hold under the close ones and I just don't seem to be able to do taht when I'm in a hurry.

I was out shooting yesterday using Winchester X22LRPP .22 caliber Long Rifle Power Point – Lead Hollow Point 40 grain ammunition. At 25 yards, I was dead on – aiming and hitting in the black. At 50 yards, I was dead on – once again aiming and hitting in the black. At 70 yards, aiming at the bulls eye, my group dropped roughly 1.5 inches. This got me to thinking about distance, energy, and trajectory for the .22 caliber bullet in relation to small game hunting. Any thoughts out there about if I am using the aforementioned ammunition to hunt small game, what the optimal distance to do so might be? Thanks.

Mike
Zero at 75 yds this will give good range for dead on zero with only slight movement for 25 - 100 yds if you are using high velocity. also you didn't mention how high your scope sits off the bbl. i t sounds like you have it just barely clearing over the bbl, which is good. standard velocity i would zero at 50 yds. this should be dead on from25-75 yds. hyyper velocity wont do , i think , because this stuff is just too hot to zero out of about andything with a good group, unless you've got a fast twist 22!