There appears to be a growing interest in rimfire – should I be surprised? Maybe not, with the ever increasing cost of components – not to mention their scarcity at the moment.
I know the PRS competitors like to train with a rimfire rifle configured closely to their fullbore comp. gun but what the future is for rimfire F Class is difficult to predict. But, if organisers are willing to lay on competitions and shooters turn up to take part, then that’s a good enough reason. Have a read of John Campbell-Smiths introduction to this new discipline – Ed.
The story started in October 2021 when I visited Edinburgh Rifles and Sporting Goods http://new.ersg.com and had a conversation with Roger Horsnell. He asked if I would go and shoot long-range 22 rimfire (300 yds, 400yds and possibly 500yds) at Bisley next October. I said that I would. My initial approach was to take my 25 yard indoor rifle and mount a scope on it and attach a bipod.
In November 2021 I put a Sightron SIII SS 8-32×56 LRIR MOA scope onto the rifle using the Wulf mounts. The upside of this arrangement is that it is cheap and doesn’t restrict the ejection port. The downside of this arrangement is that it inflexible and can only be set for shooting at one distance.
I set the Sightron scope on the rifle and attached the Seb Joy Pod front rest, then zeroed the scope at 25 yards as shown below.
I then contacted Chris Hazlehurst (Secretary of LRRFC – Long Range Rim Fire Club (UK) and booked to shoot the 22 Rimfire F Class LRRFC Open Day at Bisley on Saturday 19 March.
He supplied a sighting target that allows shots to be taken at 25 yards and 100, 200, 300 or 400 yard zeros to be established.
On 19 Mar 2022 I shot at the LRRFC Open Day at Bisley on the Century Range in lanes 99 and 100 at 300 yards. I was made very welcome by Chris Hazlehurst and the other shoot organisers. Mike Harris coached and plotted for me.
On detail 1 I used SK Long Range Match ammunition – this required 47.5 MOA elevation.
On detail 2 I used RWS R100 ammunition provided by RUAG – this required 42 MOA elevation.
After shooting at Bisley, I decided that I needed a different scope mounting system so that I could easily shoot at different ranges – namely 100, 200, 300 and 400 yards. So, I decided to purchase a Cold Shot MOAB Minute of Angle Base with 300 MOA of adjustment from Optics Warehouse.
I Installed the MOAB onto the Hawke rail with some difficulty and fettling – had to file the rear of the rail so that the MOAB winder screw did not clash with the rail.
Then I installed my Sightron scope.
This all looked good, however it takes time to set it all up and clearly has to be rezeroed after each installation. Also it means that indoor target shooting is not possible while the scope is mounted. So while recovering from Covid-19 in July, I decided to purchase another rifle for F Class Smallbore only and bought a second hand CZ 457 MTR in 22 LR. I put a 0 MOA Picatinny rail onto the CZ, then installed the MOAB and finally mounted the scope.
On 23 October 2022 I shot with LRRFC on Century Range at Bisley with my 22 CZ 457 MTR using RWS R100 ammunition. I shot on the first detail on Lane 98 in the morning and dropped one point at 300 yards for a 99 15v. This was much to my surprise – in very benign but damp conditions. It was too wet to plot. Fortunately, I avoided the second detail when the heavens opened.
After lunch it was much trickier at 400 yards on Lane 76 and I scored 83 5v. It was dry, with the sun out and the breeze coming over my left shoulder most of the time, but there were wind changes of over 9 MOA during the detail. The results are shown below.
To summarise, in the course of a year, I have learnt a lot and I now have a dedicated set of kit for F Class Smallbore but, there’s much more to learn and I am heading back to Bisley on 11/12th March 2023 for a weekend of training and competition.
Hopefully this shows you don’t need top class or the most equipment to perform at the top. Many second hand 22RF rifles are suitable to get you into a class depending on your interest. It only comes down to the Ultra Long Range (over 400 yards) where their limitations may be found.
Quality mounts and scope certainly help and getting the best ammunition you can afford.
The LRRFC shoot in four classes,
RIFLES: Any rifle chambered for 22 Long Rifle, Long or Short Rimfire ammunition may be used. Magazine rifles – magazines may be charged before the shoot. Clearing the rifle – the magazine MUST be removed to prove clear. A sling may be used.
FCSB CLASS: Any type of sights may be fitted. The fore-end of the rifle may be placed on a rest or bipod and the butt may be rested on a sandbag.
MRSB CLASS: Any type of sights may be fitted. The forward hand may be rested, but the rifle may not touch the rest and the butt may not touch the ground.
TRSB CLASS: Iron sights only, and the forward hand may not be rested.
SRSB CLASS: Military training rifles such as the Enfield No. 2, 7, 8 or 9, foreign equivalents or Morris tube conversions, fitted with iron sights of any type. The forward hand may not be rested.
Finally, Roger Horsnell is looking to host a 22 long-range rimfire match (200m, 300m & 400m) at Castlelaw at some point during the summer of 2023.
We thank John for giving us an insight into this new discipline and look forward to hearing about further developments. A full calendar of events planned for 2023 at Bisley, Thorpe Cloud, Castlelaw and Staveley and those who wish to have a dabble may like to contact Long Range Rim Fire Secretary Chris Hazelhurst on secretary@lrrfc.org.uk for further details.