.22lr velocity

alan123

Ok another question for the anoraks.... just how powerful (or not) is my 22? In real terms (not feet per second etc), for example, in theory, how far away would it kill a bunny? How far would it penetrate a tin can? Say I shot at a buny 500yards away aiming about ten feet over his head.. would it kill him or just annoy him? Could I shoot through a tin can 800 yards away? Could I break a pane of glass 1000 yards away. Amaze me with a story of a super long shot where you pierced a tin can 10kms away! I just want to get a jist of how much power is in a shot.

(Just some examples no need to point out how unsafe/inhumane this would be etc)

Our man in Havana

The 22lr bullet boxes say they can travel 1.5 miles. I seriously doubt it.

alan123

Yeah, I read an article that says they dont nearly go that far, but even if it travelled say a km, by the time it came to rest it would have no energy let alone pierce a can.

bullets

I had a 50 cent piece and 1 Euro coin set up at 50m.
my .17hmr went right through it and left a neat hole but when
a .22LR was fired at it, when it hit the coin.....well the coin went flying off someplace and I never found it again.


~B

Our man in Havana

Read this: http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-169849.html

For practical humane hunting and varmint control using a .22
rifle and iron sights, 50 to 75 yards should be considered max.

At four hundred yards, a .22 long rifle will not penetrate a
steel bucket (but it could still put your eye out kid.) And plunging
fire from one mile to a mile-and-a-half would be at least as
damaging as hail and could really peeve someone off at the
receiving end. Good way to create bad feelings toward shooters.

Before firing a .22 rifle be sure of your backstop. It is capable,
under some circumstances of causing damage further out than
you might realize.

223 Hornady

Hi all, new to this forum , first post .

I have a friend that is really good with a .22 and have witnessed him on a number of occassions shoot and kill rabbits at up to 200yds . I have also seen clay pidgeons shattered at 400yds in MRC , as called shots , the hold over was about 40 ft. Dont under estimate the power of a .22 bullet , there have been reports in the past of accidental discharges that have killed or caused serious injury at 1 mile. If the bullet is fired at a specific angle it can travel 1.5 miles naturally the wind will decide where it lands , but we have all heard of Murphys Law , so it is definitely not recommended to experiment at extreme distances even with sufficient backstops , .22s are too light and prone to ricochet .

alan123

So you can ping a bucket at 400 yards, and ping a one inch target at 270 yards, accoring to your mate 223: kill a bunny at 200yards? Thats a long way?

I have to disagree with you on the other stats, Kill at a mile!!! and I dont know much about rifles but I do know shotguns and no way was someone breaking clays at 400 yards!!! Thats four rugby pitches end to end! Would you even break a clay at 100 yards? I dont think so. George Digweed, world champ was here earlier in the year and amazed the crowd with 80 yard shots. Im sure that guy hit some long clays but the tale probably grew legs!

So what about the bunny headshot? Would a 200yard headshot kill every time?

(once again imagine they are Taliban bunnies, Im not advocating shooting at bunnies three fields away!)

pm.

i think a lot of people underestimate the power of the good old .22, remember the incident up north when a fella was out shooting bunnies and the bullet ricocheted and hit a school boy in the head at something like a mile away, the boy survived but had to go under emergency surgery. i have pulled off a couple of shots at around 180 yards on bunnies, the bullet tock about 2 seconds to reach its target and when i got down to the bunnie it was dead.

IRLConor

Play around with the form on this site.

Using values for the ammo I shoot (Lapua Master - 0.22LR, 40gr bullet, BC 0.132, MV 1065 fps) with a rifle zeroed for 1500 yards in still air at 15C and 50% relative humidity it calculates that the round would be doing ~170mph at 1500 yards.

It calculates the energy at the target at 7.4 Joules. This would put a .22LR at 1500 yards somewhere between being shot with an airsoft gun (<1 Joule) and a paintball marker (13-15 Joules) at zero range. The actual effect would probably differ due to the different terminal characteristics of the different rounds.

atals77

Alan123, I think 223 Hornady meant the clays were being broken at 400yds by a .22lr round and not a shotgun. This is totally possible. Mind you you would have to hold your aim way above the target at this range.

223 Hornady

atals77 wrote:

Alan123, I think 223 Hornady meant the clays were being broken at 400yds by a .22lr round and not a shotgun. This is totally possible. Mind you you would have to hold your aim way above the target at this range.

Thanks for that Alan123 , yes I did mean with a .22lr ( clays at 400yds that is ), after all that is what the thread is about ! also I didnt say that the 200yd rabbits were head shot , just killed by the .22 bullet . The school boy was one incident in the north and another was , when a hunter was shooting pidgeons in a tree , and a fisherman approx 1 mile away dropped dead from a .22 bullet shot to the head. These things do happen , OK not often and probobly with the same chance as winning the lotto , but if you are at the end of a bullets flight whether its 500 yds or 1 mile , you dont want to be the object that finally stops the bullet . Where did a 1 inch target at 270yds come into it ?