Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Rimfire Report. This ongoing series of rimfire-focused articles is about the rimfire firearm world and its many firearms, trends, ammunition types, and of course history. Last week fellow TFB writer and gunsmith savant Sam S. took a deep dive into the antiquated 30 Rimfire cartridge. Like many of its other rimfire cousins, 30 Rimfire just didn’t survive the wide acceptance of centerfire cartridges which proved to be superior in virtually every way. This week we’re going to be covering something that caught my attention quite recently. Around the start of the new year the YouTube channel Garand Thumb started a discussion with a guy in the comments of one of his recent videos saying he could consistently hit a soda can at 700 yards with a 22LR. Obviously, a lot of online drama has been drummed up about this and I’m not particularly interested in that portion of it, but rather the actual practicality of the claim. So today we’ll discuss whether or not I think this is possible based on what I know and have experienced with 22LR.

More Rimfire Report @ TFB:

• The Rimfire Report: A Neat Glimpse At The 30 Rimfire Cartridge
• The Rimfire Report: J.P. Sauer & Sohn Western Marshal 22LR Review
• The Rimfire Report: Is Federal Automatch Secretly the Best Bulk Ammo?

Photo: Garand Thumb

The Rimfire Report: Is 700 Yards a Bridge Too Far for 22LR?

To set the stage, in the Garand Thumb video posted on How far is a .22 lethal, Mike (Garand Thumb) was attempting to take shots out to around 500 yards at their target dummy but couldn’t land any hits. A man in the comments dropped this comment which quickly caught the attention of the audience and Mike.

I don’t normally talk shit but, my cousins and I, used to shoot pop cans off a broken articulating tractor across the highway from our granmothers. When we finally got ahold of a range finder the tractor was 710 yards from the porch where we shot from. Just a plain old 10/22, using Winchester super X, and iron sights. Hand to god. Man we wipe out sections full of prairie dogs with little shitty .22s. Maybe it’s just how different people perceive this world, but we can go there now, and even though the tractor is gone we can re create anytime. Respectfully, don’t get pissed. I’m just always a little surprised by stated ranges on videos (cause video doesn’t re create how humans see distance or measure depth) and the shooting we grew up doing seems totally unbelievable when guys like you who have mad credentials act like you can’t see a human size target at 400 meters. With an 7 power scope? Come on Dawg, anyway, love your shit.

22 Man with a 10/22 | Photo: Garand Thumb

The situation developed pretty rapidly and a few weeks later Mike offered to fly “22 Man” out to his range to demonstrate his long-range 22LR skills. Garand Thumb flew the guy out to his range and set him up with the type of rifle described above (Ruger 10/22 with Iron sights). I’m sure most of you can predict already that the guy didn’t make the shot. He did, however, land a shot using a precision 22LR rifle with an optic at 300 yards which only took him a handful of tries. Considering the winds he was dealing with that day, I would say he did pretty well. But why exactly is this type of shot out of the realm of “consistency” for the 22LR cartridge?

The Rimfire Report: Is 700 Yards a Bridge Too Far for 22LR? | Photo: Garand Thumb

Transonic Wake and Bullet Accuracy

To understand why 22LR is so unpredictable at greater ranges you have to understand how bullets start to behave erratically during the transition from supersonic to subsonic speeds. During this time period, a lot of buffeting starts occurring as the supersonic shockwaves that trail the bullet catches up with the bullet causing it to travel through an area of high pressure, turbulent air causing destabilization.

The Rimfire Report: Is 700 Yards a Bridge Too Far for 22LR? |  Photo: NASA

Most centerfire rifle ammunition used for long-range precision shooting is supersonic and stays supersonic till it hits its target to get around this. This gives shooters access to both longer ranges and better precision. With 22LR this is virtually impossible to accomplish due to the limitations in the case size and available bullet weights.

The Rimfire Report: Is 700 Yards a Bridge Too Far for 22LR? | Photo: Garand Thumb

Precision 22LR shooters take the exact opposite approach to avoiding the transonic barrier and keep most of their precision match ammunition at subsonic speeds. Obviously reducing your initial velocity will net you less range. Combined with the lightweight 40-grain bullet, you’ll still see reduced velocity at greater ranges as the projectile will react much more easily to any winds aloft.

Photo: Garand Thumb

Extreme Long Range Shots

Extreme Long Range or ELR for the 22LR cartridge is generally considered to start between 300 to 500 yards and up to as far as you’d be willing to lob a 40-grain bullet. There is an entire discipline of competition designed around this practice but in stark opposition to the 10/22 that 22LR guy claimed he could make the 710-yard shot with, all the rifles used in ELR competitions are kitted out with high magnification optics, chassis systems, precision match barrels, use match ammunition, and generally have 100-yard accuracy of 1MOA or less.

Photo: Garand Thumb

One notable example that I looked to when this situation with Garand Thumb and 22 Man was developing was this video from Mark and Sam’s Long Range shooting, an Australian husband and wife duo that covers a variety of long-range firearms content. In their video, they demonstrate that it is possible to nail a target at distances in excess of 1,000 yards with 22LR  but the consistency is still lackluster, even with a precision 22LR rifle and a roughly 2×2 foot target. However, the same duo has also made a 900-yard shot using a “cheap” CZ 452 rifle, a cheap scope, and “a lot of holdover.”

Closing Thoughts

From the get-go, it was pretty clear to me that this video was meant to drum up a lot of attention. To start with, I doubt any human being on this planet can actually see a soda can at 700 yards. Secondly, based on everything I know about shooting 22LR at longer ranges, the shot is still mathematically on the side of luck rather than any variables that can be controlled by the shooter outside of using a proper cartridge for the job.

All that being said, despite this being a publicity stunt for views, I have to hand it off to the guy for actually ponying up and making the trip out to Idaho to see if he could make the shot. Despite the failure, I think it was really honorable of him to come out and attempt it anyway. However, I’d like to hear what you guys think. If you heard about this situation did you think he was going to be able to make the shot at all, let alone with any consistency? What do you think is the maximum range you’d be able to hit a coke can at using a 10/22 with just iron sights? If you haven’t watched the video yet and this whole deal sounds interesting to you, check it out below! As always, thank you for stopping by to read The Rimfire Report! See you next week!