Long Range 22 Accuracy - Shooting Bowling Pins at 300 Yards Offhand with Iron Sights

Fact - The 22 Long Rifle is accurate and quite consistent at 300 yards.

 As an example, the monthly 22 long range rifle match match in Wilton, NY uses NRA Silhouette targets at atypical and more challenging distances of 50, 100, 150, and 200 yards and with an additional small 'buffalo' target set at 300 yards.

GunVideoNews editor Elizabeth traveled to Wilton, shot competitively, and actually hit the buffalo on her first try at her first match!

Elizabeth posing with her pin and the buffalo she shot at 300 yards!

Targets as small as the buffalo are barely visible with the naked eye at 300 yards. In the photo below, you can see the 3 buffalo targets identified with a red arrow to the left of Elizabeth.

Elizabeth on the line for the 300 yard silhouette, shooting 22 long rifle 

Many of the Wilton marksman are accomplished BPCR (Black Powder Cartridge Rifle) shooters with phenomenal scores out to 500 yards. The 22 match with targets at 300 yards is a fun day out with a lot less of the hand-loading and clean up involved in black powder.

The bowling pins in the photo and video below were set at 300 yards for a long range 22 training session with a BSA Martini 12 on a windy day where the author acquired new site settings for a batch of Winchester M-22's which appear to be the only ammo available other than 'golden bullets' for at least the near future in New York State...

Shooting barely visible bowling pins at 300 yards with a 22!

VIDEO:

A few notes on the video -

The first pin goes down around 2:25 and clearly shows a dramatic ricochet.
The second 2 go down around 5:05
I was unable to knock down the 4th pin and thought the wind knocked it down.


It was exceptionally windy and both the mechanical and digital zoom were maxed out on the camera which was a Canon G12 on a tripod, on a concrete slab under a roofed shooting line...

The video is actually 3 clips stitched together to include every shot taken. I have learned from much better marksman not to practice with more shots than are fired in a match.

I am alone, and my chatter is with the dog, Beaumont (aka "Beau", "Bone", "Buddy" and "Good Girl"). I don't know why I talk to her so much but she loves the range and associates guns with Partridge and fresh 'birdy' treats (she also doesn't like when I curse but i still get excited with these shots even after all these years!)

I tried to include myself in the frame but there was no way to accommodate the zoom and the shooter at the same time. The entire frame in fact only includes about 2/3rds of the 300 yard berm.

Author's BSA Martini 12 set up for 300 yard 22 with Parker Hale Sights

Results -

The M-22s did not require major elevation adjustments and I started with what I have used in the past years with preferred Dynapoints although I did bring it up 6 fine clicks on the Parker Hale with one major and 6 fine clicks right on the windage but I believe this was due to the actual wind.

The 300 yard sight settings for Winchester M-22's on a BSA Maritini 12 with Parker Hale with a peep rear sight and fat aperature front site in a globe was a elevation of 52 clicks with a major click and 7 fine clicks right on the windage.  To get enough light I used bright white paint on the bowling pins (Target acquisition with this site set-up with black targets is near impossible)