By Frank Brophy
Long Range .22 Rifle Shooting The Anschutz .22 rifle and equipment used.
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t’s long been accepted that an accurate 100 metre shot with a .22 calibre rifle is about as good as it gets using either high velocity or subsonic ammunition. Back in the old target-shooting days, Olympic 50 metres was the standard shooting distance and we groaned if an occasional competition required firing out to 100 yards. Notwithstanding, the Anschutz 1413 rifle that I used was fitted with Freeland tubular aperture sights fore and aft that involved simply swapping the foresight tube for a custom-made replacement with a lower base, designed to raise the bullet’s point of impact from 50 to 100 yards. No rear-sight elevation adjustments were necessary apart from compensation for wind drift. Comfortably elevating the muzzle brought the foresight aperture to bear on the black bull target. Despite using the most sophisticated match rifles of the time, 100 yards was usually considered a .22’s accuracy limit– probably because it never occurred to anyone to look beyond that. Even in the hunting field when using a .22 sporting rifle and high velocity ammunition, a shot at a live target 54
further than 100 yards (or metres) was considered unethical and probably still is. Oftentimes when someone claimed hunting success with a shot at considerably longer range we simply didn’t believe them. Many variables come into play – wind drift, mirage, shimmering and refraction of light from mist or rain, even shadows created by clouds moving across the sky on a bright day – all affect pinpoint accuracy. Recently a colleague in South Africa mentioned that he was having great success with a bog standard ‘scoped .22 sporting rifle using high velocity ammunition, competing at 200 and 300 metres against shooters using centre-fire rifles in .223 or 6.5X55 calibre. The immediate reaction was “can’t be done”. Apart from accuracy problems at long range, small-bore calibres are not normally permitted in centre-fire competitions anywhere, no more than a family saloon can be raced in Formula One. However, knowing the man concerned, the claim warranted another look just to see if it was possible. Africa’s hotter climate affects a rifle’s muzzle velocity – as temperatures increase, so too does muzzle velocity.
Winter 2020 Irish Country Sports and Country Life
So, using a .22 rifle in those conditions should raise the bullet’s trajectory for both distances mentioned; although susceptibility to wind-drift etc would most likely create difficulties. A field test under Irish conditions could be an interesting exercise so I decided to try it out. The .22 sporting rifle, an Anschutz, was cleaned and oiled. Although stamped “made in West Germany” (pre 1997) it’s in mint condition and very accurate – age has no bearing on the reliability of a quality .22 if it’s properly looked after. One slight issue existed – when new the foresight had been removed, the screw-holes plugged and a ‘scope fitted, which in turn had recently been replaced by a red dot sight for 25 metre indoor shooting. The foresight had long since gone AWOL and no amount of rummaging turned it up, so factory iron sight tests were out. That left the red dot or the ‘scope. I opted for the latter as it’s more suitable for long ranges. Precision shooting at far distances requires decent rifle-rests fore and aft along with a spotting ‘scope and tripod. While the Schmidt and Bender 6 X 42 rifle-scope is more than adequate for
