Long Range .

22 Rimfire

and its Ballistics

 What is This All About?
• Closure of local ranges
• Lack of opportunity to start rifle shooting
• Legal climate, risk reduction
• Environmental health and safety
• Impossible to replace lost ranges
• Different approach needed
• Ballistics of .22LR not as poor as
commonly supposed
What Is Long Range .22 Rimfire?
• Short Range: Up to 150 yards
• Long Range: 150 to 300 yards
• Ultra-Long Range: Over 300 yards
• Practical Limit: 500 or 600 yards
 Why Do It?
• Not many years ahead, there may be little
alternative, at least outside Bisley Camp
• Only 14 ranges left (other than Bisley) in
whole of England and Wales
• Farmers’ fields
• Golf courses
 Why Do It? (2)
• World has changed since 1960-1980
• Noise problem with fullbore shooting
• Contraction in the military
• General lack of money
• Increasing awareness of safety and the
environment
• Quietest, least violent and cheapest
means to puncture the bullseye
 Why Do It (3)
• Sufficient accuracy is possible
• A G Banks – writing since 1934
• “A G’s Book of the Rifle”
• “Random Writings on Rifle Shooting”
 Why Do It? (4)
• Could be readily available
• Quiet
• Cheap
• Same satisfactions and frustrations as
fullbore TR and MR
• Battle with the elements, above all the
wind
• Large wind allowances and risk of low
scores
 What Sort of Accuracy Can You
Achieve?
• Up to 200 yards – 1 minute groups
• 300 yards – 1.5 minutes in fair winds
• 400 yards – 3 minutes (600 yd TR Bull)
• 500 yards – 4 minutes
• 600 yards – within the black (6 minutes)
• 500 and 600 are like 2000 and 2400 yards
with MR
 .22LR Ballistics
General Characteristics
• Introduced in the USA in 1887
• Probably most widely used small game
cartridge in the world
• Without doubt, most popular match
cartridge of all time
• Worldwide annual production: Billions of
rounds
 General Characteristics (2)
• Loaded round .945 inch (24mm) long
• Round nosed, flat based bullet, weight 40
grains
• Driving shank .224 inch diameter
• Case contains 1.2 grains of very fast
burning propellent
• Peak chamber pressure of 15,000 psi or
just under 7 tons/sq in
 General Characteristics (3)
• Standard MV of match ammo 1075 ft/s
• Higher MV (RWS R100) 1125 ft/s
• Muzzle energy less than 150 Joules – less
than 4% of HME limit
• Standard bore and groove diameters .217
and .222 inch
• Rifling: 8 grooves, RH twist, 1 in 16 inches
• Spin of 825 revs/s = nearly 50,000 rpm
 Interior Ballistics
• Main reference: Geoffrey Kolbe, “A
Ballistics Handbook”, Pisces Press, 2000
• Fundamental problem – developed to burn
black powder
• Case capacity too large for smokeless
• Propellent occupies less than half
available powder space
 Interior Ballistics (2)
• Low pressure and very low loading density
• Inconsistent ignition, reduced accuracy
• Mitigated by crimping bullet into case
• Large primer/propellent ratio
• Short, sharp impulse along barrel
• Bullet sets up into bore just beyond
chamber
• Nose slumps slightly
 Interior Ballistics (3)
• Max chamber pressure 0.25 millisecond
after ignition, at 0.37 inch (9.4mm) travel
• Powder all burnt by 1 inch of travel
• Bullet then driven by expansion of hot gas
• Maximum velocity after 19 inches travel, at
1.5 milliseconds
• Pressure drops to below barrel friction and
velocity decreases from that point
 Interior Ballistics (4)
• Bullet slows down slightly from 19 to 28
inches travel and exits barrel at 2.3
milliseconds
• No advantage in a long barrel. Some rifles
have “bloop tubes” – barrel 19 inches long
with extension tube to carry foresight
• Tight barrels shoot no better than standard
ones, but slight choke of half a thou’ helps
to maintain gas seal down barrel
 External Ballistics
• Vacuum Ballistics
• Bullet falls under influence of gravity
• Needs some elevation to hit distant target
• α = 1/2 sin-1(gR/V2)
• Vacuum angles of elevation are a useful
starting point as they are the minimum
• Angle of elev is proportional to range and
inversely prop to MV squared
 External Ballistics (2)
• Max range in vacuum when angle of elev
= 45 degrees
• For MV of 1100 ft/s, max range in vacuum
is 12,541 yards (over 7 miles)
• Max range in air is about 1 mile (1500m)
at angle of elev of about 33 degrees
 External Ballistics (3)
• Real Trajectory in Air
• MV equal to or just under speed of sound
• Avoids turbulence of transonic zone and
air flow gets smoother down range
• Drag causes bullet to slow down
• Muzzle deceleration = 17 g
• Loses 25% of velocity in first 250 yards
 External Ballistics (4)
• Comparison of angles of elev in vacuum
with real elevation
• Up to 100 yards, real angle only 8 to 16%
greater than vacuum
• At 500 and 600 yds, real angle of elev
nearly twice that in vacuum
• 500 yards max trajectory height is 16 feet
(would be 7.5 feet in vacuum)
 External Ballistics (5)
• Ballistic Tables for .22LR at 1075 and 1125
ft/s, and Sierra 190 at 2725 ft/s
• Surprisingly high remaining velocity of
54% of MV after 2.09 secs in flight
• Sierra 190 only retains 41% of MV after
same 2.09 secs in flight.
• Why is this?
 External Ballistics (6)
• Aerodynamic Drag Coefficient Cd = Ratio
of actual frontal force to dynamic pressure
calculated by Bernouilli’s equation
• MR bullet experiences rising Cd as far as
900 yards, then falling out to 1200 yards
• .22LR bullet encounters falling Cd for first
150 yards, then constant subsonic Cd
• Falling Cd means it loses velocity slower
than more streamlined MR bullet
 External Ballistics (7)
• Approximate elevation table
• Useful to memorise how to construct table,
so as to carry out on-range adjustments
• Rise for each 100 yards increases by 4
minutes
• Rise from 100 to 200 yards is 20 minutes
• Problem of large range of adjustment of
sights. Ingenuity and expense
 External Ballistics (8)
Wind Deflection
• D = W (T – R/V)
• Deflection = wind speed X delay time
• Have to use consistent units – feet and
seconds
• Delay time = (T – R/V) = difference
between real T O F and T O F at MV
• 1 minute = 1.0472 inch per 100 yards
 External Ballistics (9)
Wind Deflection (cont)
• Paradox: Bullet which does not slow down
is not deflected by the wind (?)
• Appreciable time of flight (NOT zero),
equal to that in vacuum
• Zero drag coefficient or infinite mass
• Very slender bullets buck the wind better
• Heavy artillery shells hardly affected by
wind at long range for rifles
 External Ballistics (10)
Wind Deflection (cont)
• .22LR wind deflection at 100 yds = 6 mins,
about same as 7.62 TR at 450 yds
• .22LR wind deflection at 300 yds = 19
mins, about same as 7.62 MR at 1100 yds
• Range for .22LR equivalent to about one
quarter of range for 7.62 MR or TR
 External Ballistics (11)
Wind Deflection (cont)
• Falling Cd produces counter-intuitive result that
minimum wind deflection occurs at MV of 950-
1050 ft/s. Ballistic tables confirm this
• Suggests 1075 ft/s ammo better than 1125 ft/s
• However, most important factor in consistent
scoring is a tight group.
• Higher pressure gives better velocity control, so
RWS R100 probably better at longer distances.
• Wind deflection in mins proportional to distance
 External Ballistics (12)
Control of Vertical Point of Impact
• Angle of elev inv prop to MV squared
• Variations in MV produce vertical
dispersion on target
• Vertical P of I increasingly sensitive to MV
with increase of range
• Cannot handload .22LR but can weigh
individual rounds
• Expensive brands more consistent than
cheap ones
 External Ballistics (13)
Atmospheric Effects
• Variations in barometric pressure,
temperature and humidity
• Humidity not easily measured, but has
less effect than P and T
• Pressures between 28.5 and 31.5 inch Hg
• Temperature between 5 and 35 degrees C
• Air density can vary by 15%
• Head and tail winds – 300 yds similar to
1200 yds MR
 Former and Existing Competitions
• 100 years ago, .22RF competitions at up
to 200 yards included in July NRA Meeting
• Up to 1967, Donegall (200 yds) open to
.22RF as well as SR(b)
• Turbutt Trophies 1947-1960 still shot for at
Thorpe Cloud every September
• Surrey SRA – Leslie Williams 200 and 300
yds each spring
 Former and Existing Competitions
(cont)
• April 2013 NRA Trial, 15 shots at 200, 300
and 400 yds. Attracted 20 entries.
• November 2013, 20 shots at 200 and 300
yds, attracted 24 entries.
• 27 April 2014, NRA Long Range Smallbore
Match. 10 shots at 100, 200 and 300 yds
a.m. 15 shots at 400 and 500 yds p.m.
Entry forms on NRA website
 General Advantages
• Low muzzle energy < 150 Joules
• Long range shooting in 25% of distance
• Very quiet
• Low environmental impact
• Cheap ammunition
• Slow barrel wear
• Virtually no recoil
 SUMMARY
• Closure of ranges – different approach
needed
• Good velocity retention of .22LR
• What is Long and Ultra Long range
.22LR?
• Why do it?
• Obtainable Accuracy
 SUMMARY (2)
• General characteristics of .22LR cartridge
• Internal Ballistics
• External ballistics – Vacuum
• Maximum range
• Real Trajectory
• Falling drag coefficient
• Approx elevation table
 SUMMARY (3)
• Wind deflection
• Minimum at 1000 ft/s
• Windage in mins proportional to distance
• Variation of Vert P of I with velocity
• Atmospheric Effects
• Former and current competitions
• General advantages