The rimfire standard: where club matches score, where trainers zero, and where the .22's rainbow trajectory starts to matter.
Fifty yards is where the rimfire world lives. Club benchrest, most NRL22-style stages, smallbore silhouette's close animals, squirrel-woods reality — the 50 yard zero is the de facto standard because it splits the difference between where a .22 is easy and where it gets interesting.
A 40gr .22 LR leaves the muzzle around 1,255 fps with a ballistic coefficient a fraction of any centerfire's — and it sheds that speed immediately. The result is a trajectory that behaves politely to 50 and then falls away hard: this load drops over a foot below the sight line by 100 yards. The table below is why serious rimfire shooters treat DOPE with centerfire seriousness.
That steep curve is also why the .22 trainer rifle exists: every wind call and holdover skill long-range shooters practice at 600 yards, a rimfire makes you practice at 150. Zero at 50, learn the table, and a cheap afternoon of ammo becomes genuine precision training.
Bullet path relative to line of sight, .22 LR, 40gr high velocity at 1255 fps, 50 yard zero, standard atmosphere. Plus is above your aim point.
| DISTANCE | BULLET PATH | HOLD (MOA) |
|---|---|---|
| 10 yds | −0.5″ | 5.1 UP |
| 25 yds | +0.4″ | 1.5 DOWN |
| 50 yds | 0″ | — zero |
| 75 yds | −4.1″ | 5.3 UP |
| 100 yds | −14.5″ | 13.9 UP |
| 150 yds | −77.1″ | 49.1 UP |
Do not "hold a little high" at 100 and hope — with this load you need roughly a foot. Rimfire drop is not intuition-friendly; it must be known. Also note ammo sensitivity: subsonic match loads (~1,070 fps) and high-velocity loads zero differently enough to need separate targets.
Zero with the ammo you will score with. This target assumes a 40gr high-velocity load at 1,255 fps; standard-velocity match ammo runs about 1,070 fps and prints a visibly different arc past 50. The Customize This Target button above accepts any velocity — print one target per load.
For this 40gr load, over a foot below your line of sight — see the exact figure in the table above. It surprises everyone the first time. That steep drop is precisely what makes the .22 such an effective long-range trainer at short-range prices.
It is the most common choice: inside 50 the bullet stays within about an inch of your sight line, which is head-shot territory on small game across typical woods distances. Past 60 yards, consult the table and hold accordingly.