# sight in 22 mag



## tom turkey 2x2

I have  bought a ruger all American .22  mag.  I have it sighted in at 35 yd.'s It is shooting   maybe a 1/2 high at that distance dead on right and left. I want to  use it   to squirrell hunt with, will not try no long  shots.  Is this about the right distance  to sight   a 22 mag?


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## thomasr

A .22 mag is a little rough on a squirrel sized critters.  Won't be much left to fry. 

As far as sighting in I'm kinda thinking a 35 yard zero is kinda limiting the rounds capabilities.  I know you said it's .5 high at 35 but what's that translate to at 50, 75 and 100 yards?  Mine has taken a bunch of ground hogs at 100 yards or better.  I zeroed mine at 50 yards and at 100 it's maybe .5 low.  Of course your mileage may vary.

Good luck, that Ruger Amercian is a nice rifle.


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## GunnSmokeer

*Pretty good*

If you're squirrel hunting, and most of your shots will be around 25 yards, I'd sight-in DEAD ON at that distance.

That means the bullet will go from 1.5" below the bore up to meet the bullet's path at 25 yards.  The bullet will still be moving nearly 2000 f.p.s. and almost no time will have elapsed for it to really fall due to gravity, so expect it to continue on an upward arc a little longer. 

It should crest or peak along its arc less than an inch above the aiming point somewhere around 40 or 50 yards.

So for those "long shots" (long for shooting squirrels, that is) you'd aim low. You could have a little sticky note or label on your rifle's stock reminding you where to aim at 50 yards.

Then the bullet will come down.  It should cross the aiming point again before 100 yards.  Maybe around 70?  That's a guess. Somebody with a ballistics calculator might be able to tell you better. So that's your SECOND "dead-on hold" point.   Beyond that, the bullet will drop very quickly, so don't shoot much over 100 yards unless you are great at estimating range and knowing your hold-over inches.


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## Desert Rat

We kill ping-pong balls at 100 yards with ferrous optics on our .22 rifles, generally using .22LR or just .22L if that's all we have (in which case the Marlin and Higgins stay home).
If I were sighting a scope on .22mag, I'd do it at 100 yards.


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## lonewolf247

The .22 mag is capable of shooting or sighting in out further, but if you main use is gonna be squirrel hunting, I'd sight it in to be zeroed at about 30-35 yards.  Then I would shoot it @ 100 yards after and check your point of impact at that range just to see.  Without looking at the ballistics, not sure how 35 yards will match up to 100 yards with that round.  To me squirrel hunting with a rifle requires accurate precision at the distance you plan to be shooting.

If you really want to be accurate at longer distances as well as short distance, you could look into a caliber specific scope with bullet drop compensator.


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## JustUs4All

With a .22 mag. a 25 yard zero is very near a 100 yard zero.  The chart I am looking at for Federal 30 grain hollow points shows:
A 25 yard zero impacts 4/10 of an inch low at 100 yards.
A 100 yard zero impacts 1/10 of an inch low at 25 yards.

I would probably opt for the 100 yard zero and know that at 25 I would be a touch low and probably dead on somewhere between 30 and 35.


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## pnome

Another vote for the 100yrd zero.


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## lonewolf247

^You guys may be correct on the ballistics of the 22 mag.  I figured it would be in the ballpark around 30-35 yards being close to 100 yards.  I've always used 22 LR with a sight-in at about that range, works good.

Bottom line, whatever range you sight in at, I'd check it at the other.


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## ksargent

This is the philosophy I use for sighting in a 22 Mag.  First, I typically shoot CCI 40 grain. According to a ballistic Calculator Zero in at 50 yards, this is the trajectory you will see:
25yards = -0.4
30yards = -0.3
35yards = -0.1
40yards = -0.1
45 - 55yards =  0.0
60yards = -0.1
65yards = -0.2
70yards = -0.3
75yards = -0.5
80yards = -0.7
85yards = -0.9
90yards = -1.2
100yards = -2

Now, draw a 1 inch bulls eye. At 23 yard -0.5 set your POI at the very top of the 1 inch bulls eye.  Now, from 23-75yards you will shot a 1 inch group 50 yards being dead center zero. Most of my shooting is between 20 - 75 yards.  But if I know I am beyond 75 yards and place my POI at the top of a 1 inch bulls eye, I will hit in the red up to 85 yards. If I am taking 100yard shots, I click my 1/4 MOA adjustment up twice giving me 1" per click or really 1.047.  This adjustment provides a 2 " dead center POI at 100 yards.  when I return the two clicks, I am back to shoot a 1 inch group from 23-75/80 yards, dead center POI at 50yards.  This set up works for me. I hope this helps someone else.


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## 308-MIKE

i have mine sighted in at 100 yards. when it's good on paper, i take a cap off of a gatorade bottle at use it as a target. when that's good to go, i'm ready to take headshots on the squirrels. don't miss too often. i think if you only zero in at 35, you don't get the maximum out of your 22 mag.


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## bigborefreak

Quite a bit depends on the ammo you choose or can find. Settle on ammo before sight in as some is vastly different in POI.


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## cowhornedspike

JustUs4All said:


> With a .22 mag. a 25 yard zero is very near a 100 yard zero.  The chart I am looking at for Federal 30 grain hollow points shows:
> A 25 yard zero impacts 4/10 of an inch low at 100 yards.
> A 100 yard zero impacts 1/10 of an inch low at 25 yards.



Can't be correct.  100 yd zero would have to hit 1/10 high at 25 in this case and not low.


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