Effective range of a pistol in 22 LR cal.

[SHOOTALL]

So what would be the effective range of a 5.5 or 6 inch barrel 22 LR pistol with open sights ? Lets stay with field models not special target models. One you might keep in a truck or boat for getting food or having fun . I would say 25 yards would be dependable for many and out to 40 if you practice a lot. I would say it is important to keep all shots inside 2 inches and bullet still have enough power to put critters down.

[Bugflipper]

Not  open sights but with practice I had a buckmark with a dot scope that was fairly certain to get squirrels out to 50 when I shot it a lot. Had to work overtime for a hunting season and never got time to squirrel hunt that year. Didn't shoot it in the off season and couldn't hit much at all with it the first time I tried squirrel hunting the next year. I was missing close easy shots. If a fellow don't stay practiced with one he aint hitting much.

[SHOOTALL]

I see on some sites it's out to 80 yards , maybe with a rifle.

[Bugflipper]

A fellow would have to have good eyes and something sturdy to lean on for 80 yards off of irons and a pistol for small game type accuracy. I don't believe my eyes would be good enough for that. I wouldn't even think that 50 would be doable by me off of irons with practice and my vision is 20/20 20/30. The front sight just covers to much on small targets for me to be having much faith for shooting further out. Even with a 6 o'clock hold a fat sight under a target 1/4 of the size of the front sight seems iffy to my ability.

It's cheating quite a bit but a ruger charger with a compact rifle scope on it and a cradle hold against a tree will get you a lot further than 80 yards. But you're talking about a standard sized pistol with irons, not a charger.

[FPH]

I would say 50 yds for a rabbit sized target.  100 yds and I'll make a human real uncomfortable.

[Oldshooter]

A 22 lr  will drop 6 inches at 100 yards out of an 18 inch bbl. with a 50 yard zero. with a pistol 60 yards would be a long shot for me. I dunno what kind of energy a 22 has at that range but it aint much from a pistol bbl

[SHOOTALL]

I agree it would have less power but it would have more than many pellet rifles at 10 yards .

[Justin10mm]

With a red dot sight, 60 yards is about as far as I'm capable of with my Ruger 5.5" 22/45. With open sites, probably half that distance.

[teamnelson]

What it can do and what I can do with it are different things. I've used a 10" with open sights to flip steel rams at 150yds, standing not creedmore. With a 7.5" Bisley .22 I got fairly good at 100yds standing open sights.

[briarpatch]

I can tell you for a fact a 5.5 barrel and 22lr with open sights will bust a 2 liter glass coke bottle at over 100 yards consistently. Im talking about the old bottles from the early 70's.

[mechanic]

I can..at the range hit targets with regularity with a 22 with 4" barrel.  But you said effective range.  Targets stand there until you "find" the range.  Game doesn't.  So I would go with about 30 yards or so in my hands.
 
Ben

[BCB]

What it can do and what I can do with it are different things. I've used a 10" with open sights to flip steel rams at 150yds, standing not creedmore. With a 7.5" Bisley .22 I got fairly good at 100yds standing open sights.

How much do those steel rams weigh?...

BCB

[SHOOTALL]

so in reality can a limb rats head be hit 95% + of the time and put it down.

[Bugflipper]

I don't think it can at the ranges fellows are talking about. That bench we get used to has a whole lot to do with our perception. I could hit 12 oz bottles at 200 yards with a buckmark and dot scope without trying much. Could have a person who'd never shot a pistol hitting shotgun hulls at 25 yards within a few shots. Take that bench away and folks have to deal with the natural swaying and bouncing that happens when you hold both arms straight out away from your body. Like it or not most folks will yank a trigger to hurry up and hit the target as it passes through their arch of movement. A 1" target is pretty tough off of irons.

I'd say 10-15 for a person who had some experience with a pistol. And 20-30 with a decent practiced shooter for 95% on 1" targets no where near a bench.

[briarpatch]

I could not now or then, hit anything as small as a 2 liter coke bottle at 100 yds with out prop support.

[teamnelson]

What it can do and what I can do with it are different things. I've used a 10" with open sights to flip steel rams at 150yds, standing not creedmore. With a 7.5" Bisley .22 I got fairly good at 100yds standing open sights.

How much do those steel rams weigh?...

BCB

IHMSA Field Pistol Rams (150yds) weigh about 10 1/4#, 3/8" thick, 13" high by 16" wide. I do not shoot off the bench, with a scope, or in a rested position. I shoot standing stock class, which is barrel limited to 10", iron sights only; usually shot in an isoceles position, and I was never the best shooter in that class. I used the same barrel and ammo for Small Bore (100yds) and Field Pistol at first because I was broke and that was all I could afford, and then because it worked. I've shot it all revolver as well with a Bisley 7.5" and an FA with about an 8" barrel if I remember correctly.


The .22lr is quite a nice round; it doesn't just lay down after 50 yards.

[BCB]

I’ve been following this thread with interest…

Now, I’m not a professional 22 rimfire man but I do have several 22 rimfire weapons…

Two wheelguns, 3 rifles—one ‘scoped, and a T/C Super 14" Match with a 3x-12x Burris on it…

I did a bit of ballistic calculations using a 50-grain bullet with a B.C. of .200 @ 1200 fps…

The numbers are interesting to say the least…

With open sights and a 50 yard zero, that bullet drops nearly 45 inches at 200 yards and in a 10 mph crosswind, it drifts nearly 14 inches—so hitting 12-ounce cans at 200 yards is some amazing shooting for sure—even with a dot ‘scope…

At 150 yards, the bullet has 97 ft-lbs. of energy remaining—that must be an extremely light steel ram being flipped.  I think a good catcher’s mitt might stop that slug…

I know a 22 rimfire will break a glass bottle at 100 yards as I have done that.  But plastic bottles filled with water are just hit and a very small split is where the bullet enters and the bullet exits.  The water drains out slowly…

I have hit nickels at 50 yards with the T/C using 10x power on the ‘scope.  I have shot 1.5" groups at 100 yards using the 12x on the ‘scope.  But, 12-ounce cans at 200 yards are "out of my league" with 22 rimfire and the weapons I have…

But, I can on occasion—probably 80% of the time—hit 12-ounce cans at 200 yards with my Super 16" Contender, again with the 3x-12x Burris, in 223 Remington cartridge—but we are talking 22 rimfire in this thread…

So, in my opinion with a handgun—I have a Ruger Single Six—and from a good rest, I can hit 12-ounce cans at 35+ yards the majority of the time.  I have shot a couple of squirrel with it by using a tree as a rest.  The greatest distance was probably 20 yards…

Just a few thoughts…

Good-luck…BCB
　
　
　

[gr8ful]

I’ve been following this thread with interest…

Now, I’m not a professional 22 rimfire man but I do have several 22 rimfire weapons…

Two wheelguns, 3 rifles—one ‘scoped, and a T/C Super 14" Match with a 3x-12x Burris on it…

I did a bit of ballistic calculations using a 50-grain bullet with a B.C. of .200 @ 1200 fps…

The numbers are interesting to say the least…

With open sights and a 50 yard zero, that bullet drops nearly 45 inches at 200 yards and in a 10 mph crosswind, it drifts nearly 14 inches—so hitting 12-ounce cans at 200 yards is some amazing shooting for sure—even with a dot ‘scope…

At 150 yards, the bullet has 97 ft-lbs. of energy remaining—that must be an extremely light steel ram being flipped.  I think a good catcher’s mitt might stop that slug…

I know a 22 rimfire will break a glass bottle at 100 yards as I have done that.  But plastic bottles filled with water are just hit and a very small split is where the bullet enters and the bullet exits.  The water drains out slowly…

I have hit nickels at 50 yards with the T/C using 10x power on the ‘scope.  I have shot 1.5" groups at 100 yards using the 12x on the ‘scope.  But, 12-ounce cans at 200 yards are "out of my league" with 22 rimfire and the weapons I have…

But, I can on occasion—probably 80% of the time—hit 12-ounce cans at 200 yards with my Super 16" Contender, again with the 3x-12x Burris, in 223 Remington cartridge—but we are talking 22 rimfire in this thread…

So, in my opinion with a handgun—I have a Ruger Single Six—and from a good rest, I can hit 12-ounce cans at 35+ yards the majority of the time.  I have shot a couple of squirrel with it by using a tree as a rest.  The greatest distance was probably 20 yards…

Just a few thoughts…

Good-luck…BCB
　
　
　

Though I wouldn't try the catchers mitt thing if I were you, you are pretty spot on.  I can hit soda cans out to 70+ yards with my buck mark with the irons, further with the contender with a 3-9x40, but not with enough consistency for hunting.  Now at 25-30 yards a grey squirrel had better be moving, or he's going in the pot.

[Savage_99]

To steady your aim with a .22 auto pistol with a 6" barrel or longer reach out with your other hand and rest the barrel just back from it's front sight on your thumb and open hand.

It really steadies the aim!

[Richard P]

People and their proficiencies vary.  I think your target size determines a lot in this matter. If you wanted to shoot bunnies with an open sighted .22 that is workable to 50yds or so, given a good rest, assuming you want a first-round hit.  If you want to engage small targets at greater distances a good pistol or rifle scope would be helpful.
In IHMSA there is a game called ''fifth scale'' that uses the NRA rimfire rifle targets. NRA sets these in meters from 40 to 100. IHMSA uses them at 25,50,75 and 100m. The little chicken target is just over the size of a quarter in the body.  Practiced shooters with match ammo in capable guns can do well using open sights from steady positions.   Better scores are seen using optics.  Perfect 40 scores are not common but scores above 35 are.  Tie breakers can include the 25m chicken placed at 100m. Again, with correct equipment they can be hit. And they can be missed -- a lot.
Shooting in matches at stationary targets at defined distances with good lighting and sometimes a spotter is not comparable to field and woods conditions.   But, it is fun and you know you are going to get some shots.
In my IHMSA experience I have never seen Field Pistol Rams at 150yds/meters; only at the prescribed 100yds/meters, unless they were taken out to plink at.  The FP ram is about 6.5'' back-to-belly. The 22rf usually will not topple them.  The full size ram is 13'' back-to-belly at 200m for centerfire guns. 
   Finally, on YouTube there are some videos showing 22rf shot at very long distances using scoped rifles and I believe they fully penetrated a nice pork roast in one of them.  I seem to recall shooting at 400m, but you'd have to go search the videos.
 
 
 
Finally, there are interesting

[Brett]

My personal observations are pretty well in line with the following. 

I’ve been following this thread with interest…

Now, I’m not a professional 22 rimfire man but I do have several 22 rimfire weapons…

Two wheelguns, 3 rifles—one ‘scoped, and a T/C Super 14" Match with a 3x-12x Burris on it…

I did a bit of ballistic calculations using a 50-grain bullet with a B.C. of .200 @ 1200 fps…

The numbers are interesting to say the least…

With open sights and a 50 yard zero, that bullet drops nearly 45 inches at 200 yards and in a 10 mph crosswind, it drifts nearly 14 inches—so hitting 12-ounce cans at 200 yards is some amazing shooting for sure—even with a dot ‘scope…

At 150 yards, the bullet has 97 ft-lbs. of energy remaining—that must be an extremely light steel ram being flipped.  I think a good catcher’s mitt might stop that slug…

I know a 22 rimfire will break a glass bottle at 100 yards as I have done that.  But plastic bottles filled with water are just hit and a very small split is where the bullet enters and the bullet exits.  The water drains out slowly…

I have hit nickels at 50 yards with the T/C using 10x power on the ‘scope.  I have shot 1.5" groups at 100 yards using the 12x on the ‘scope.  But, 12-ounce cans at 200 yards are "out of my league" with 22 rimfire and the weapons I have…

But, I can on occasion—probably 80% of the time—hit 12-ounce cans at 200 yards with my Super 16" Contender, again with the 3x-12x Burris, in 223 Remington cartridge—but we are talking 22 rimfire in this thread…

So, in my opinion with a handgun—I have a Ruger Single Six—and from a good rest, I can hit 12-ounce cans at 35+ yards the majority of the time.  I have shot a couple of squirrel with it by using a tree as a rest.  The greatest distance was probably 20 yards…

Just a few thoughts…

Good-luck…BCB　

If I could shoot in my prime as good as some of you guys claim to be able to shoot my trophy case would be full of trophies from bullseye matches I've shot. 

[SHOOTALL]

Maybe some missed the 5.5-6 inch bbl part  Besides maybe I should have been more specific. We are talking first shot out of a cold barrel not walking fire into a target.