Shooting distance

[ricky776 2]

Just a quick question

 

What the ideal shooting range for a

 

Fac air rifle 32lb

.22 centre fire rifle

 

Will be shooting rabbits

[Deker 3,478]

Just a quick question

 

What the ideal shooting range for a

 

Fac air rifle 32lb

.22 centre fire rifle

 

Will be shooting rabbits

 

 

As close as you can get!

[ricky776 2]

Lol I know but just a rough idea

[RicW 67]

Lol I know but just a rough idea

 

Err . . . .22 cf? Hornet, .222, .223, .22-250, .220 Swift? Or do you mean .22 rf? 100 yds max.

Edited April 16, 2011 by RicW

[ricky776 2]

Lol mate I dont no what them numbers are lol as you can tell I'm new to fac rifles lol

[sako 23]

Ricky when you say .22 centrefire you probably mean rimfire as that's the next big step up from fac air rifle for rabbits. The rimfire has it's limits at 100yrds but even to achieve this you need lots of target practise to learn the tragectory and the drop. The .222 centre fire etc will exceed 100yrds with ease but start getting expensive if you are going to be going through lots of rounds so are more suited to fox etc.

[NewBarnFerrets 3]

Good idea asking about the usable distance for both types of firearms but I suggest that initially you stick to distances that are well within your ability & then work out as you get more comfortable & accurate with the rifles.

 

I use both types of rifles mentioned but rarely shoot to the maximum of the guns ability....my ability is the weak link!!

 

FAC air rifle running at 32....for ME a max of 50 yards..the gun maybe a further 15 yards or so.....but pellet trajectory is a problem.

I take most of my rabbits with this weapon at 30 yards or so..I just like to hit them hard

 

.22 Rimfire....as already stated 100 yards max...yes the bullet can kill at greater distance but without loads of target practice at 100 yards plus to work out the bullet trajectory then you will never hit anything, let alone achieve a clean kill, so start off with 60 yard shots & see how you get on.

Edited April 16, 2011 by NewBarnFerrets

[ricky776 2]

Hi

 

That's really shocked me I have an air arms a400 we have put the power up to about 16lb now we shoot rabies yards plus on a weekly basis

 

I remember shooting a bunny and counting out the yards and it was just over 100 yards lucky shoot but I killed it

 

Now if you say a 32lb air rifle is only good upto 50 yards that can't be the case I would of thought it would be good for around 150 yards

 

With the .22 again you say 100 yards but surly the fps is faster the an fax air rifle so again I thought this would be good enough to shoot 200 yards otherwise why do people use this type of rifle when they can use a fac air rifle

 

Even when you read the air gun mags they say a normal air rifle can shoot up to 30 to 50 yards

[Deker 3,478]

Hi

 

That's really shocked me I have an air arms a400 we have put the power up to about 16lb now we shoot rabies yards plus on a weekly basis

 

I remember shooting a bunny and counting out the yards and it was just over 100 yards lucky shoot but I killed it

 

Now if you say a 32lb air rifle is only good upto 50 yards that can't be the case I would of thought it would be good for around 150 yards

 

With the .22 again you say 100 yards but surly the fps is faster the an fax air rifle so again I thought this would be good enough to shoot 200 yards otherwise why do people use this type of rifle when they can use a fac air rifle

 

Even when you read the air gun mags they say a normal air rifle can shoot up to 30 to 50 yards

 

 

Just step into my office a minute, we need to have a chat.......

 

Most people have their .22lr zeroed at 50-60 yards, it isn't a matter of what is POSSIBLE, it is a matter of consistent clean kills.

 

If you suggest you are taking rabbits at yards plus regularly with 16ft lb, then you are either lying or you need to consider the Olympics. My .22 FAC Air runs at 26ft lb, in the early days I zeroed it to 50 yards, it would consistently put 10p size groups in a target at that distance but the arc was not sensible, it soon became evident that 40 yards was a much better field distance.

 

A .22lr is perfectly capable of killing a rabbit at 200 yards, even with subs, but the arc is like falling off a cliff. Most people could never do it for the simple reason they know fully well the .22lr is not a 200 yard field tool, so they don't even bother practicing!

 

A 16ft lb Air Rifle is NOT an 80yard plus field tool.

 

[HUnter_zero 58]

Got to agree with Deker on this one.

 

There is an old saying " If you can get closer, get closer. If you can get more steady, get more steady"

 

The ideal distance is as close as you can get. This differs from effective range, which can be defined by two parameters.

1) The actual effective range of the rifle which can again be split in to two parameters.

a.) The realistic and achievable accuracy of the rifle.

B.) The MV and terminal ballistics of the projectile fired from the rifle.

 

2) The real ability of the rifle shooter to achieve results using the chosen rifle.

 

It is feasible to shoot rabbits out to and well over 500 yards with a .22-250 with the right person shooting, in the right conditions, shooting the right rifle.

 

For me personally, using my .22rf I can shoot rabbits out to 100 yards off a bench rest or using a pod. At 100 yards I hit and kill 90% of all the rabbits I shoot at, 8% I miss with 2% needing a second shot (figures as an example as I really haven't counted all my hits/misses and injuries over the years). At 110 yards using my .22rf I will miss 90%.

It's not all about the rifleman either!! I often read of people claiming to shoot foxes at 600 yards at night (the Internet is a wonderful thing ). You can believe them if you wish, or you could ask them which lamp they were using, which rangefinder, what scope, what rest, how they read the wind, how they identified it was a fox and what rifle!

 

When you buy a rifle, a factory rifle; the rifle will group at best 1/2MOA or .5" @ 100 yards (give or take). Most factory rifles will never produce 1/2MOA but that's the best scenario. If you start to multiply that out, 1/2MOA at 600 yards is around 3", which means the very best grouping you can achieve in perfect conditions is 3". Now add to that wind, lets say buffeting between 5mhp & 8mhp, at 600 yards that going to shift the bullet another 2", so now the best you can achieve is a 5" grouping which has nothing at all to do with you, the rifleman. Not sure about everyone else, but I don't always shoot at my best all of the time. I had a range trip yesterday morning ( I was stressed due to thinking I might lose £300 due to a chap off this site (all worked out in the end), so I had drunk a couple of cups of coffee and was in a rush type mood ). Normally I will achieve .5MOA but yesterday, I was shooting 1.5" groups.

So if we add .5" to the overall grouping, we would get a BEST grouping at 600 yards of 5.5" which is way to much of an error to shoot rabbits.

 

Another consideration is the projectile, or bullet or pellet. It makes a massive difference. A light weight projectile will be highly effected by wind. A heavy projectile will be less effected by wind but will lose velocity much quicker. Strange things happen to bullets in a transient state (when the bullet crosses from supersonic to subsonic) and of course certain bullets are designed to have optimum terminal ballistics at supersonic velocity, whilst others at subsonic velocity (airgun pellets for example are more accurate at subsonic velocity).

 

Not sure if the above answers your question but it might help you understand that your question isn't easy to answer.

 

John

Edited April 17, 2011 by HUnter_zero

[ricky776 2]

Lol made me laugh that why the fck would I be lieing over my shooting distance

 

What i said in my earlier post is correct I have big scopes on my rifle 10x40x50 zos and maybe that helps But I shoot for my job out at least 3 times a week and no my distance and i normally shoot rabbits around 50-70 yards with no problem but come on calling me a lier mate need to get a life bit childish

[Deker 3,478]

Lol made me laugh that why the fck would I be lieing over my shooting distance

 

What i said in my earlier post is correct I have big scopes on my rifle 10x40x50 zos and maybe that helps But I shoot for my job out at least 3 times a week and no my distance and i normally shoot rabbits around 50-70 yards with no problem but come on calling me a lier mate need to get a life bit childish

 

Try reading my post again, it was an either or, so you need to put yourself up for the Olympics.

 

Your previous post shows considerable innexperience.

 

And what did the nice policeman say when you told him you wanted a 16ft lb Air rifle so you could shoot bunnies every week at Plus yards?

[ricky776 2]

My inexperience is with .22 rifles always had fac air rifles

 

One question for you tho dak I asked you with your 4000 plus post I see you have time on your hands

 

Now what do you need to kill a rabbit not talking about pellet or bulit size I'm talking about the force some thing needs to hit to kill it does not mater if it's close or fair away

 

Will ask my next question after you

Answer this

[ricky776 2]

O and thanks hunter for the reply

 

Cheers rick

[ricky776 2]

O forgot to add hunter

 

Been shooting at this national trust site fire the past year and it's all flat ground and a tree link were the rabbits are when we first used to shoot we could get really close but they know what were up too now and as soon as they see us and we can spend hours waiting around with little joy

 

There is an old barn were we shoot from which is about 75 yards away we shoot then from there with no worries

 

But the other site of the estate no cover at all I've made a cover and left it up for a few weeks but had little joy

 

It seems to me that we will need to stay way back about 120yards and shoot them from the van while driving around there a road all the way round will within the estate

 

On my other sites we do night shoots with night scopes etc but this site won't pay us extra to do a night shoot