The plinker's zero: perfect for backyard distances, iron sights, and new shooters — with a clear map of where it runs out.
Most .22 shooting happens inside 25 yards — cans, steel spinners, first-rifle lessons, basement and backyard ranges. Zeroing where you actually shoot is not a compromise, it is the point. A 25 yard zero makes a rimfire dead-on at plinking distance with no thinking required.
It is especially right for iron sights and new shooters. Open sights on a rack-grade .22 resolve about an inch at 25 yards anyway; putting the zero there means point of aim equals point of impact exactly where a beginner can see their hits and build confidence.
The cost is modest and worth knowing: with this 40gr load the bullet recrosses the sight line and lands under an inch low at 50 — still minute-of-soda-can — but the drop compounds from there. The table below shows the full picture, and when your distances stretch, the 50 yard zero page covers the next step.
Bullet path relative to line of sight, .22 LR, 40gr high velocity at 1255 fps, 25 yard zero, standard atmosphere. Plus is above your aim point.
| DISTANCE | BULLET PATH | HOLD (MOA) |
|---|---|---|
| 10 yds | −0.7″ | 6.6 UP |
| 25 yds | 0″ | — zero |
| 50 yds | −0.8″ | 1.5 UP |
| 75 yds | −5.3″ | 6.7 UP |
| 100 yds | −16.1″ | 15.4 UP |
This zero is honest only to about 50 yards. Beyond that a .22's low BC takes over and drop grows brutally fast — do not carry a 25 yard zero to a 100 yard steel match without the table in your head.
Fine, but slightly wasteful — a scope can exploit the flatter 50 yard zero, which keeps you within an inch of point of aim across a wider band. The 25 makes the most sense for irons, red dots at plinking distance, or when 25 yards is simply all the room you have.
With this high-velocity 40gr load, just under an inch low — see the table for the exact number. That is close enough for cans and small steel, which is why the 25 yard zero survives beyond its distance on paper.
Velocity spread in rimfire ammo is enormous — quiet loads can run 700 fps, hyper-velocity over 1,400. Each has its own arc and its own zero. Print a target per load with the custom generator, or accept that one zero is only true for one box.