GUEST ARTICLE
How important is a 22 Rimfire Rifle to a Survivalist?
By: Yukon Mike
I own a 22 rimfire rifle for several reasons, one it’s fun and cheap to shoot and the second reason is for small game food gathering during long term disaster aftermaths. It is the second reason that is the main reason I own a rimfire rife, food! Next to a ‘snare’ it is the cheapest way to feed yourself.
A rimfire is best used for food gathering of small game like squirrels, rabbits, chickens and larger birds like ducks and geese sitting in a pond or feeding on land. To hit targets this small your rimfire rifle must be accurate and your skill shooting free hand has to be very good as well. When hunting for real, it means you’re not shooting from a bench rest and you may only get that one free hand shot for the day.
Some things to think about concerning the 22 rimfire rifle:
Stocking ammunition:
A false sense of security may happen if you have a box of 500 rounds sitting in the closet and you think you have plenty for a SHTF protracted aftermath time frame. Well maybe not. Let’s say you must hunt everyday for food. If you shoot 5 rounds a day, that’s only 100 days or just three months! What if the aftermath lasts a year or two? 22 rimfire ammo is cheap so stocking up with a few thousand rounds may be smart. As long as you keep the ammo dry it will probably last longer than the rest of your life, plus it can be a barter item. Personally I’d rather stock 5,000 rounds of 22’s for small game than have to stock 5,000 rounds of 12 gauge shot shells or components for reloading them when the 22 will take care of the small stuff and the shotgun ammo is saved for flying or larger game.
What kind of sights, shot grouping and game range is good for rimfire hunting?
Shot group size:
A group size at 50 yards should be about 1½ inches or the size of a golf ball. Compare the golf ball to the chest size of a squirrel or rabbit and it’s just about right. You need to hit the golf ball regularly when practicing. Even buy some squirrel paper targets for real life size like practice. Remember you may only get one shot a day for food, make it count.
Range:
50 yards or 150 feet has been just about the maximum distance for my encounters with small game and maybe 75 yards for sitting rabbits, geese and ducks.
Sights:
Iron Sights, are perfectly acceptable. Most of us disregard just how good they are. With a little practice at the above ranges you can hit the target time after time. They’re also not likely to get bumped out of position like a scope is susceptible too. Understand how the sight picture should be using irons and practice.
Scopes, in my opinion give the shooter the edge on shot placement accuracy but they’re no substitute for rifle shooting skills. Again practice. Also, when buying a scope for your rimfire buy a scope that is designed for a rimfire, not a common centerfire scope unless it has an adjustable parallax feature. The designed for rimfire scopes have built in adjusted parallax for accurate shots as close as 10 yards to infinity, the standard centerfire rifle scope has its’ parallax set at 100 yards to infinity. My scope is a Nikon 4x 22 Rimfire scope with the built in corrected parallax distance. The 4x power works fine for me, but 3x-9x and beyond are perfectly alright if the scope has an Adjustable Objective Lens (AO) for setting the correct (short shots like 10 yards) parallax distance.
What is Parallax?
Parallax error happens when changing positions of your eye alignment even slightly to the scope eye piece which results in a change of the point of aim of your scope. The error is related to the distance the target is from you. Most sporting rifle scopes are set to be Parallax Error-Free at 100 yards. This means when aiming through your scope at a target 100 yards away, the point of aim stays the same (on target) regardless of the position or movement of your eye side to side or up/down in relation to the scope. If uncorrected parallax error can cause you to miss the target by as much as 4 inches at a short distance of even 50 yards.
Don’t believe it? Test you centerfire scope and see for yourself! Pick a target point at 30 feet with the rifle rested so it doesn’t move and move your head/eye slightly to the left, right, up or down and watch the cross hairs move off target. Now pick a target 100 plus yards out and do the same eye movement. The cross hairs stay on target. There’s what parallax is all about!
My Remington 597, 22 Rimfire Rifle and Nikon 4x Rimfire Scope:
( Jim's note- I didn't include his picture here. Hey, this ain't USA Today )
Overall it’s a very good rifle and I would recommend one to others. It is more than accurate enough to easily hit golf balls at 50 yards and has a well designed stock with a full size rifle fit for adults. If there is one thing that Remington needs to improve on it’s the magazines. They are 10 round magazines but when I load the full 10 rounds in them the first two shots sometimes tend to jam. I now only load 8 rounds in each magazine and have no more jamming issues. Remington has made three redesign attempts with the magazines and I have tried all three but the problem is still there although not nearly as bad as the first two versions. I personally don’t have an issue with 8 rounds loaded for hunting because the accuracy more than makes up for this one issue.
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9 comments:
People might want to consider going to an Appleseed shoot to learn to improve their marksmanship. Appleseed is a national non-profit organization that teaches our historical heritage at the beginning of the Revolutionary War in 1775 as well as marksmanship. Women, kids under 20, active duty LEO and military shoot free. Other pay $70 for a weekend of history and instruction. Most instruction is at 25 meters using .22 rifles. Check it out on the internet.
The overlords here won't allow me to have a 22 so I'm limited to .177 pellet. It should be good enough to take down big game such as squires and maybe even rabbits.
A pellet gun wont be much use for battling the gay bodybuilders in hockey masks who roam the highways on their biofuel harleys but it's good enough to put a rodent in every pot.
-Loyal Minion
Good article. I have a 597 and with my scope I can hit empty 12 gauge shells at 35 yards. I never thought of a golf ball but will try it at 50 yards. I sighted my rifle at 50 yards and can keep a 3 shot group inside a 50 cent piece. I'm good to go with it. I have the 10 rd factory mags and have put over 1000 rounds through the rifle and mags. At first it jammed up, but now it only stops for a reload.
Right on,Mike .22s and snares are in my plan!
China
III
I knew an old poacher who had a well worn .22 bolt action. The guy killed everything including deer with this rifle. He insisted that .22 shorts were all you needed for deer as they were quiet and deadly enough. He hunted large estates and preserves where no hunting was allowed and the deer were thick. When using .22 shorts, he took surgical heart shots and would pass up anything but the perfect shot. He knew another deer would be along in 10 minutes. If you use .22 shorts, be prepared to track the deer some distance before it drops. This guy was a crack woodsman and could move like smoke in the woods. He also used .22 long rifle solid points for jacklighting from a car. He said you needed extra punch to penetrate the skull. The shot was placed right between the eyes as the deer stared at the light. He used CB caps (downloaded .22 short) for geese resting on golf courses and public parks. If this guy were alive today he would really like the subsonic .22 long rifle. A good .22 can feed you and not draw unwelcome attention. HAIL DARWIN
Lethality of 22LR
http://www.hickokfamilygenealogy.com/Lethality_of_the_22_LR.html
Great post! One of the better explanations of parallax that I've read.
If I had to pick one (1) firearm that I would carry to feed myself walking across the continent or living long term outside, the rimfire would likely be my pick. Just too darn useful to ignore it, the very lightweight ammunition is a major asset if you are afoot.
Great article Yukon Mike.
Excellent post, excellent,excellent.
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