The firearm thread

[scumdog]

Cheers. That's an excellent article.

If nothing else it should serve as an object lesson that it's not "just a .22".

True Wolf - the big danger with using a silenced .22 is the lack of noise makes one tend to be a bit blase' (sp) about the rifle - easy to start thinking of it as a big slug-gun.

A rifle that makes a big bang ya tend to treat with more caution.

[deanohit]

If nothing else it should serve as an object lesson that it's not "just a .22".

Yep, thats for sure, I was talking with him last night and he now wants to test it at 500yds and beyond. Gotta make some mods to his scope mounts though to get enough elevation.
It doe's say on the pack that they're lethal out to 1.5M.

[Wolf]

It doe's say on the pack that they're lethal out to 1.5M.

1.5 miles or 1.5km? Haven't seen a standard velocity or high velocity box in ages but my Winchester sub-sonics have a warning that they are dangerous out to 2km.

We were warned in one of the firearms safety courses not to take that as the definitive figure as a guy was fatally shot at around twice the stated distance - seems a bloke was firing at something on the water of a lake with "just a .22" but the projectile skipped, like a stone in ducks 'n' drakes, and made it across the lake to where the guy was picnicking with his family.

Just because it says 2km or whatever, don't assume that that's as far as it's ever going to go.

[Drunken Monkey]

yes, great article. I recall one night we were out possum shooting with a .22 and hadn't hit anything. To make sure the rifle was sighted in properly, we fired at an 8" - 9" thick tree stump. Couldn't even be sure we were hitting in from the front, but there was definately a big hole in the back from the rounds we were putting through it. That was about 30 meters though, so a lot closer, but still didn't expect it to pass through a tree stump that thick. Turned out we were shooting fractionally high (must've been skimming fur!) - had no trouble hitting stuff after that.

[ManDownUnder]

True Wolf - the big danger with using a silenced .22 is the lack of noise makes one tend to be a bit blase' (sp) about the rifle - easy to start thinking of it as a big slug-gun.

A rifle that makes a big bang ya tend to treat with more caution.

LOL all too true - last Easter Bunny Shoot a certain young man (Sniper) taught me that lesson in spades. Hi f'n .22 simply "cycled" - that was the dominant sound (I don't recall hearing a bang, muted or otherwise).

I do recall seeing bunny after bunny rolling down the hills to meet him though.

Did I mention the Easter Bunny shoot at all.. and ... oo look - it's nearly Easter! YEEEEE HAAAAA!

[deanohit]

1.5 miles or 1.5km? Haven't seen a standard velocity or high velocity box in ages but my Winchester sub-sonics have a warning that they are dangerous out to 2km.

Box of Winchester Subs I have here says 2.5kms (1.5M).


I seem to recall reading some where about a group of army testers (I think) using big bore rifles over distances of 5km along a beach, and hitting targets!
Anyone know any more on this? I'm pretty sure it was around the turn of the century and with the Sharps Big .50.

[sAsLEX]

Box of Winchester Subs I have here says 2.5kms (1.5M).


I seem to recall reading some where about a group of army testers (I think) using big bore rifles over distances of 5km along a beach, and hitting targets!
Anyone know any more on this? I'm pretty sure it was around the turn of the century and with the Sharps Big .50.

Quite easy to work out.

Give me some muzzle velocities, we will ignore that annoying friction, and work out a theoretical max distance! Which would be pretty irrelevant I note.....

[doc]

Cheers. That's an excellent article.

If nothing else it should serve as an object lesson that it's not "just a .22".

"""I mean, I know that the 22LR has been a good hunting round for small critters/varmints such as rabbits and squirrels but occasionally you hear it is used as well for killing deers, coyotes and bigger animals – heck, on the internet, you can even find a story about the elephant being killed with a 22LR on the internet, LOL! """"

Quoted from the article not my words
And as for the pellet being dangerous to 2km

You don't believe this do you ?

Not trolling just my opinion.

[Wolf]

And as for the pellet being dangerous to 2km

You don't believe this do you ?

Not trolling just my opinion.

Dunno about killing elephants with a .22 but I have no reason to doubt our firearms safety instructor when he told the tale of a bloke being killed by a ricochet well in excess of the stated "dangerous distance".

I would not expect to hit anything deliberately at 2km with a .22 or be guaranteed of hitting a vital spot but flukish things can happen if you don't consider your firing zone.

Fired flat, I'd expect the projectile to be well and truly on the ground long before 2km but firing up into a tree and missing, that bullet's got to come down somewhere.

"Sod's Law" says it'll be on top of some poor fucking farmer and you'll both be in a power of shit.

Or it could ricochet off a lake surface and kill some poor sod picnicking with his wife and kids.

Personally, I'm of the "treat it with respect" persuasion. You could try to bag a goat with one at 50 metres and do little more than wound the poor animal and then you could be careless and kill a person instantly 500 metres away with an unlucky shot.

Dangerous out to 2km? I'd believe that and more just to be on the safe side as you cannot predict what flukish conditions you might encounter.

Anyone know enough physics to calculate the theoretical maximum dangerous distance of a .22lr round fired at optimal trajectory?

[The Pastor]

need to know the mussle velosity.

[deanohit]

need to know the mussle velosity.

Of what? A standard .22LR round is 1000fps.

[scumdog]

need to know the mussle velosity.

Never knew mussels move fast enough to have a veloSity but we know what ya mean

[doc]

need to know the mussle velosity.

OK work this out CCI CB Long conical ball 22 long lead round nose 710 fps 29 grain bullet. Mussel velocity is something you feel after a bad feed isn't it

But seriously they dont penetrate the plastic road side markers from the other side of the road. Well I was told that anyway, I may have actually seen it with my own eye's but I forget a lot of things.

[Wolf]

Mussel velocity is something you feel after a bad feed isn't it

Any seafood will do...

[Wolf]

But seriously they dont penetrate the plastic road side markers from the other side of the road. Well I was told that anyway, I may have actually seen it with my own eye's but I forget a lot of things.

That's a strange claim, considering I've holed metal cans - through both sides - at considerably more than the width of a road. Lots of fun if there's water in the can, too - the shockwave of the projectile passing through makes a nice little geyser. (.303 makes a more spectacular geyser, obviously).

They weren't using a .22cal air rifle, were they? Or perhaps the fact that the road markers are designed to flex in conjunction with the properties of the plastic may have caused the result. I don't have any data on the composition of the markers, but some plastic compositions temporarily deform rather than suffer damage when struck - pretty much how polycarbonate (aka bulletproof "glass") works.

I know a .22 would penetrate the old-style wooden road marker and pass through it at that range. My mate shot right through seasoned-wood fence strainer posts with a number of .22lr hollowpoints and a hardball when experimenting with different "enhancements" (largely plasticine and mercury).