# Rimfire Shooters



## Wado (May 15, 2011)

Is there any long range rim fire shooters on here? I fixed a 400 yard range at my place this past week and I am out to two hundred yards with a little confidence. Dang 22 and 17 HMR are hard to keep on targets. Nothing like my .308 or .260. Best I could pull off at 200 was two out of five on a five inch disc and three clay pigeons out of five one time but I think a ricochet got one. While I am on the subject has any one tried a scope with turrets for a 17 HMR? All I can find are cheapies like BSA and Cabelas. There is a Nikon but it is a bullet drop compensator, I want a dial in. The shooting I did was all holdover and guessing at the wind and done on a pipe rest across the front of a Polaris sitting in the seat. Pretty lousy set up I know for target shooting. My 22 has a mildot scope that I can dial but I figured I needed a better set up so I left my zero alone. The 17 I took is a H&R Handi Rifle, no bells and whistles and a Bushnell 3x9 with an illuminated coarse reticle called a cross dot. Tough at two hundred believe me. The wind tore me up with the 17, I got the gong two or three times and a couple of clays and murdered the target stand. More misses than hits. Any way it was cheap and fun except for trying to shoot out of the seat of the Polaris, I think my picnic table is fixing to be a shooting bench. That afternoon I was on top of the tank dam in the background and got a jackrabbit at 175 yards with the 22, dang lucky shot. I am going to try weighing some 22 shells to get better groups and try waxing the bullets also. Any tips?


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## dwilliams35 (Oct 8, 2006)

Not really a whole lot wrong with "cheapies" for a .17: they've got a lot better optics now than they did when they got their "reputation", and to be honest, a lot of what you're buying in a high-dollar scope is resistance to recoil... and, of course, in a rimfire, there ain't any.. I've got a .17 with a Tasco Mag V, basically the "old name" for one of these:

http://www.opticsplanet.com/tasco-6...plusbox-beta&gclid=CKiXx8_x978CFQMMaQod2XsAUw

I've been very, very happy with it: it's held zero for years, is really good glass for the money, turret adjustments are smooth and repeatable, and the money is dang sure right..


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## Scout177 (Oct 23, 2006)

If you haven't yet you need to try several different brands of ammo to find out which shoots the best in your gun. You can further dial it in by taking the best shooting brand and weighing the different shells and then even further by measuring rim thickness and grouping them together. Lot of difference between bullets in a can and Eley Match.


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## Wado (May 15, 2011)

I have an old Tasco 6x24 on my CZ 22 mag and its great. Before I had it on a custom 22-250 for many years so Tasco's aren't out of the question. That's pretty much the subject of reviews is whether or not the cheapie's hold zero when mounted on an elephant gun. The BSA scopes do have a bad reputation, I think I had one on a .243 that I sold. I will do a little more research and see which scope has enough adjustment for what I want to accomplish at the price point. The Tasco at eighty five bucks ain't a bad deal and if it gets smashed so what. I paid about one twenty five for the Bushnell illuminated and it's good, just the cross hairs are weird. Not worth a hoot for long range. I have two other scopes but they are in mil spec QD rail mounts and my 17 has a Weaver rail on it. For a few bucks I can change it out, might be better than buying another scope. Thanks for the link. Wado


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## Wado (May 15, 2011)

Scout177 said:


> If you haven't yet you need to try several different brands of ammo to find out which shoots the best in your gun. You can further dial it in by taking the best shooting brand and weighing the different shells and then even further by measuring rim thickness and grouping them together. Lot of difference between bullets in a can and Eley Match.


I got better groups with Remington subsonic than the high velocity loads. I have some Aguila Match 40 grain stuff but didn't shoot it. The CCI standard velocity showed some promise also. This is my first go at rim fire so it will be a whole new experience. I reload centerfire and almost always my most accurate loads were a bit on the slow side. The big killer is the wind on these tiny slow bullets coasting in their curved path to the target, but it sure is cool to shoot them suppressed and hear them hit the target. I was hammering one of the clay pigeons with the 17 and swore I was hitting it. It never broke so I moved to another and then another. That's how my target stand got shot up trying hold overs and holding under. Finally I drove down to the targets and the 17 wasn't missing them the clays weren't shattering. I guess I better look for a small digital scale too? What do you measure the rims with, a micrometer or calipers? I have a Starret dial caliper and a Mitutoyo digital one. Also, I read on a rimfire forum just dipping the bullets in car wax and wiping them lightly will help, any input on that?


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## dwilliams35 (Oct 8, 2006)

Wado said:


> I got better groups with Remington subsonic than the high velocity loads. I have some Aguila Match 40 grain stuff but didn't shoot it. The CCI standard velocity showed some promise also. This is my first go at rim fire so it will be a whole new experience. I reload centerfire and almost always my most accurate loads were a bit on the slow side. The big killer is the wind on these tiny slow bullets coasting in their curved path to the target, but it sure is cool to shoot them suppressed and hear them hit the target. I was hammering one of the clay pigeons with the 17 and swore I was hitting it. It never broke so I moved to another and then another. That's how my target stand got shot up trying hold overs and holding under. Finally I drove down to the targets and the 17 wasn't missing them the clays weren't shattering. I guess I better look for a small digital scale too? What do you measure the rims with, a micrometer or calipers? I have a Starret dial caliper and a Mitutoyo digital one. Also, I read on a rimfire forum just dipping the bullets in car wax and wiping them lightly will help, any input on that?


There's a lot of tricks out there, but you can really bypass a lot of them by just getting some top-shelf ammo to begin with. Eley Match or Tenex is going to be pretty dead-nuts consistent, already has the wax you're talking about on it (don't leave it in the car: it'll melt and run off), etc.: the real test is just whether your gun likes it.

One thing about .22 shooting: it's simply a different world: you aren't getting the crossover from centerfire hunting rifles, benchrest, Highpower, or whatever other discipline you can come up with that may influence how a round and a gun is built; you're stuck buying factory ammo, and it's just a matter of finding the one that suits you best. Eley's a good start: they've been rather dominant in the high-end rimfire competitions for a long, long time... There's some fairly worthy competition here and there, but they're definitely the class of the league..


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## Wado (May 15, 2011)

I am pretty sure it's a get what you pay for world in the ammo section. Like you said you can't hand load so reach in and grab deep for good pills. I think I will try some high end ammo on my next session and see what my Savage does before I replace it with something else. I have a CZ 455 17HMR thumbhole stocked rifle sitting in the safe with a Vortex scope on top ready to go down to the ranch next time. The Savage is doing what it should do but the trigger still squeeks when you pull it. I adjusted it to the lightest setting already. I may talk to my gunsmith down in Refugio and see if he can limber it up. Any preferences on rim fire rifles, CZ, Savage, Cooper's? I looked into Remington Custom Shop when I bought my 22 mag but gave up.


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## Bigj (Jul 22, 2007)

Check out these people on 22 stuff there lots of help

http://www.shootersdiscount.com


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## dwilliams35 (Oct 8, 2006)

Always wanted a Kimber 82G and something with "Anschutz" written on it..


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## Scout177 (Oct 23, 2006)

CZ, Anshutz, Remington 40-X all make very accurate rim-fire rifles. Savage can be accurate, and even a Ruger 10/22 can be accurate with some aftermarket parts.
Neil Jones makes a rim thickness gauge, also Sinclair. 
Also check out rimfirecentral.com for all things rimfire.


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## tboltmike (Jun 21, 2006)

Ironically, I was in Cabelas a few weeks ago and they had their brand, Pine Ridge, Tactical Rimfire scope for 1/2 price. 3x12, 40. It has four turret for hmr, hornet, lr and mag.
Set it up on my Savage 93, hmr this morning. Shot sum MOA at 100 with 17 and 20 gr bullets. Ideal wind and light conditions. Cranked ele up to 200 still at 100 yds and the change in impact were within 3/8 inch of the ballistic table.
Didn't do an exhaustive test, but the optics were clear, and adjustments are crisp and tracked well. I like the side parallax and was steady dialed to 100. Seems to shoot as well as the $300 Leupold that is normally mounted on it. 
Only problem, the turrets only go down to 100 yds


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## Wado (May 15, 2011)

Thanks for the scope review T Bolt, I looked at the Cabela rimfire scopes last week in a flyer they sent me. I went on the site to order either theirs or a BSA Sweet 17. I may have tossed my money in the air but I had some points coming and the BSA was super cheap so for about what a bottle of cheap whiskey costs I got one. Like cheap booze it may just be a headache. When I get it I will post the results, hopefully no headache.


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## rundm (Dec 1, 2012)

Wolf target and match extra are good places to start for higher end ammo that does not cost an arm and a leg to purchase. Somewhere around 5.50 to 7.50 or so per 50 rounds. Usually a bit cheaper if you can buy in quantity. Much cheaper then the eley stuff. Always hate to start out with eley because if your gun shoots with it, you will want to keep using it without trying other ammo. Good eley doesn't come on the cheap.


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## Wado (May 15, 2011)

*Update: Sweet 17*

Brown showed up about one today with my scope. I dug around and found some old Weaver tip off rings and got it mounted. First, a Handi Rifle is what it is but can be a good shooter with the right operator. Mine has a warped stock, I don't know if carrying it on a Polaris did it or if it just came that way but no big deal. The trigger really isn't all that bad, I've seen worse. I mounted the scope and eye balled the reticle but it just didn't look right so I leveled the table then the rifle and then the scope. Every thing is crooked. The stock ain't no big deal but if you level the rifle and level the scope off of the turret the cross hairs are crooked. If you level the cross hairs by eye using a horizontal reference the scope looks canted. This is where everybody says it's a $39.00 scope, get over it. If things go right I will shoot it this weekend.


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## Wado (May 15, 2011)

*Sweet 17*

I made it to Pearsall this weekend and got a little shooting in. Saturday was brutal, it hit 104 degrees that afternoon and a stiff wind with it. I got out that morning while it was still in the nineties and zeroed at 100 yards. It took a few shots and a second try at bore sighting but before the wind picked up I was satisfied with my groups and quit monkeying with the windage knob. The tracking on the scope was about what I expected, about when I had center another click would send it an inch or better. I came back at five that afternoon when it was the hottest and had a right to left wind but after a couple of shots I figured out the wind and was back where I left it that morning. I busted four out of four clay pigeons at 100 yards and moved out to 200. That's where the fun ended. I tied a piece of survey tape on the target stand and sometimes it was blowing to the left and then straight up or straight down. I dialed the turret to 200 yards and tried to hit a five inch steel plate. Five shots nothing but air. It just wasn't good conditions for a scope test so back in the rack for the 17. As for the scope I can't condemn it, there will be better days. If you could buy one without shipping I would say go for it, otherwise there are better deals than this. I tried some Remington-Eley match and Aguila match in my Savage 22 Saturday morning also. I zeroed with the Remington-Eley and if I did my part I got some really good groups. The Aguila wasn't bad and of course impacted slightly different. I shot some Remington sub sonic hollow points and every time out of five shots you get either a dud that drops off the target or a wild flyer that blows your group. The Savage really likes CCI 36 grain mini mags but you get a little noise even suppressed. Anyway, I have a couple of other types of 22 ammo to try but I think I am going to let it cool off just a bit.


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