Glass for .22 Squirrels up to 50 Yards?

[bamaranger]

I never did catch on what rifle the 'scope in question will be mounted?

I've got a whomping big 6-24x50mm Millet scope on a Savage heavy barrel .22 and it is a tack driver. Literally. Cranked up and off bags or a bipod, with the right ammo and my wiggles and wobbles balancing out, you can sometimes hit a thumbtack......at 100 yds. Sometimes........

But the rifle is an ungainly thing, all out of balance and far to heavy, I set it up as an F-T/R trainer and it lives with a 100 yd zero. I could never imagine small game hunting with it. I have centerfire rifles that weigh less, and much of the weight is due to the honkin' big scope. I gave the thing to bamaboy and I hope he's taken care of it, it is a shooter, but single purpose rifle.

For shots at game and pests around 50 yds, I agree that 3-9x40mm will offer more than enough X power. Depending on the rifle, a 3-9x40mm may look and handle a bit awkwardly as on a 10/22 sporter for example. My "working" .22 rifles have diminutive scopes. A Rem Fieldmaster, wears a budget 4x32, the 77/22 has a Leupold 2-7x33mm, and the 10//22 has a Leupold 4x28mm. Both the Leupolds are parallax set at 50 yds and intended for .22's. They do not look oversize and have seen years of use. The stainless 77/22 road about for years cased in a patrol rig and solved a lot of problems when a discreet ethunization or pest removal was required.

I'll add that a .22 rifle should get shot and handled alot. There is still no cheaper practice, report is mild and no recoil of course. Perfect training and practice tool. Given such steady use, I have never had a budget .22 scope hold up very long. Interestingly, the 10/22 proved a scope basher. All my probs stopped when I went to the Leupolds, bought used before things began to cost a fortune.

[Swifty Morgan]

This is a Tikka T1x with a short barrel and silencer. Pretty handy.

[Pumpkin]

Originally Posted by bamaranger

I never did catch on what rifle the 'scope in question will be mounted?

I've got a whomping big 6-24x50mm Millet scope on a Savage heavy barrel .22 and it is a tack driver. Literally. Cranked up and off bags or a bipod, with the right ammo and my wiggles and wobbles balancing out, you can sometimes hit a thumbtack......at 100 yds. Sometimes........

But the rifle is an ungainly thing, all out of balance and far to heavy, I set it up as an F-T/R trainer and it lives with a 100 yd zero. I could never imagine small game hunting with it. I have centerfire rifles that weigh less, and much of the weight is due to the honkin' big scope. I gave the thing to bamaboy and I hope he's taken care of it, it is a shooter, but single purpose rifle.

For shots at game and pests around 50 yds, I agree that 3-9x40mm will offer more than enough X power. Depending on the rifle, a 3-9x40mm may look and handle a bit awkwardly as on a 10/22 sporter for example. My "working" .22 rifles have diminutive scopes. A Rem Fieldmaster, wears a budget 4x32, the 77/22 has a Leupold 2-7x33mm, and the 10//22 has a Leupold 4x28mm. Both the Leupolds are parallax set at 50 yds and intended for .22's. They do not look oversize and have seen years of use. The stainless 77/22 road about for years cased in a patrol rig and solved a lot of problems when a discreet ethunization or pest removal was required.

I'll add that a .22 rifle should get shot and handled alot. There is still no cheaper practice, report is mild and no recoil of course. Perfect training and practice tool. Given such steady use, I have never had a budget .22 scope hold up very long. Interestingly, the 10/22 proved a scope basher. All my probs stopped when I went to the Leupolds, bought used before things began to cost a fortune.

I bought a BSA 2.5X for my 10/22, upon first inspection it looked really good. Compact but with some good weight to it, clear too.

About 6 months later after occasional use on the weekends the eyepiece lens came loose and became stuck in the tube sideways. This all happened at once, it was actually laughable.

So I decided to see how well their warranty worked and after sending it in received a brand new replacement. Only problem was the crosshairs were not square with the adjustment turrets! Not off too much but noticeable. I gave it away and installed a Williams receiver peep sight on it. No regrets with this setup.

Never realized the 10/22 kicked so hard! That was my one and only BSA scope purchase.

[Swifty Morgan]

The new scope came in, and it's great. The glass is pretty clear, the illumination is bright, and the magnification range is perfect for 50-yard .22 practice.

I saw somebody on the web using this rifle with medium rings. I don't get it. I put low Vortex Pro rings on it with room to spare. I don't think I'll need a riser.

Managed to sight the scope in at 35 yards today with Mini-mags. I didn't have enough time to get out to the pasture and use a bench, so I propped the rifle on my plastic hunting tripod and sat on my porch.

Things worked well. Worst groups about 2.65 MOA (0.875"). Best about 1.35 (0.5"). I won't win any prizes, but I am getting closer to squirrel accuracy. My batches of test ammo are starting to arrive, so I'll see what happens with a real bench and Gucci cartridges.

Got the trigger down to 1.5 pounds. I haven't whacked the gun with a mallet yet to see if it will go off. I ordered an Anarchy Outdoors spring just for fun.

[Swifty Morgan]

Member @603Country bragged about CCI Blazers, so I bought 1000 and included them in an ammo test today. I'm pretty shocked at their performance.

I used my Helos scope on my heavy shooting bench at 35 yards. I had CCI Sub-Sonic 40 Grain LHP, Eley Benchrest Outlaw, and the Blazers. The scope needs to be moved back a notch or two, but it wasn't bad.

I did not think much of the Sub-Sonics. I got a huge flyer, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't me. I shot three 10-shot groups, and I got an average of about 0.642" (1.75 MOA). Without the flyer, it was 0.515" (1.41 MOA). I mean to shoot 40 rounds, but after 30, I somehow got the idea I had shot 40, and I moved on.

The Eleys averaged better, but for some reason, the groups just were not pretty. I got an average of 0.468" (1.28 MOA) for 4 10-shot groups. I had a flyer which didn't seem to be my fault. The Eleys shot best, and the flyer wasn't that bad.

The Blazers shot 0.555" (1.51 MOA), and the groups were very pretty. At 6.4 cents each, they were amazing. Best CCI ammo I've tried so far. And they're supersonic, so they should hit squirrels pretty hard.

Thanks for the recommendation.

[603Country]

I’d use Blazers for all my 22 shooting, but those lead round nose bullets just aren’t as effective on skunks and raccoons. I went to Remington Golden HP ammo for small game clearance. It doesn’t shoot as well as the CCI Blazers though. But I did have a moderate supply of REM Goldens from maybe 10 years ago, and they shot better than new Goldens.

I keep a stock of Blazers in case I have to impress city folk.

I’m glad you are enjoying that Tikka. And on that last target, I noticed that you just shot the outer lines, instead of the great big old bullseye, which would have been no challenge.

[Swifty Morgan]

I do that to save money on targets!

I meant to bring 4 of the 4-bull 4" targets, but when I got to the pasture, I had a single 8" target, so I used it.

The little targets have 1/2" between the lines. The big one has 1".