Rimfire Blog International & UK
everything from .22LR through to the .22WMR and .17HMR! Beginners, Professionals, Enthusiasts ... it's all here growing steadily
We just can't get enough of sexy Rifles with Thumbhole Laminated stocks & the whole kit (Scope, Bipod etc) - This month we choose the CZ455 Varmint range which comes in .22LR, .22WMR and also .17HMR
Retail prices in the UK currently are around minimum £410 (USD 645) and up through £500 (USD787) and I have seen a package of £700+ (USD1,102) !
What makes these rifles so beautiful is purely the stock but then you always have the fact at hand that it is a CZ ... you know you can't go wrong there!
Heavy Hammer forged barrel as standard, Adjustable Trigger Mechanism and a Plastic 5 shot Mag is factory supplied, 10 shot mag's are available
Anyway - enough with the blabbering on about them, here's the pic's:
CZ455 Varmint Thumbhole .22LR
CZ455 Varmint .22WMR Thumbhole
CZ455 Thumbhole Detail
CZ455 Varmint Thumbhole .17HMR with Bipod, Scope and Sling
In this 9 Min Youtube video, these blokes test the lethality of the .22LR round on 1/2'' ( 127mm ) Pine Wood Board at various distances starting with a Beretta Minx (.22 short) at 9' ( 2.74 Meters ) eventually going out to 440 Yards ( 402 Meters ) with a Ruger 10/22 (.22LR) with clean penetration at all intervals
I must say that I am severly impressed with the accuracy and range of the Ruger 10/22(And the shooters) in this video! I would have never imagined a .22 LR Rifle being able to hit targets at such distances accurately - below is another video from the same channel, 300 - 400 yards Ruger 10/22:
Here is a great example of how uneducated journalists, editors and the general public can be when it comes to ... well, anything really! The Link below is of a Sun newspaper article (I honestly don't know how anybody can read this newspaper and come off not being stupider) The article is an excellent show of how the British Media system plays on the general public's ignorance and blows almost Everything out of proportion with mass exaggeration - in this example someone either from the newspaper itself or a person ''concerned citizen'' informed them that a UK based company sells the ''Sandy Hook Massacre Guns''
Yes, they are trying to say that a UK company is Legally selling AR-15's but guess what? What is it that they are selling? .22 LR semi automatic rifles that are similar to AR-15's but are NOT AR-15's !
AR 15 .223 Rifle
What is an AR-15 ?? A semi automatic rifle that fires Similar ammunition to military rifles (.223 cal or 5.56mm), this ammunition is used in the UK to Hunt Foxes etc. the ammunition is Too Powerful for Squirrels, Rabbits & so on, in fact, it is not recommended for Deer stalking as it may not have enough power to kill the animal. Further AR-15's are Not even Assault Rifles!
Ruger SR22 - 22LR Rifle
Now on to the SR22 made by Ruger and perfectly Legal in the United Kingdom, The SR22 may look similar yo the AR15 but just look closer, you don't have to be an expert to see the difference in the shape and also magazine size (which gives an idea of the size of the ammunition) This rifle shoots .22LR Rimfire ammunition which is not in any way in the same category and firepower as the .223 of the AR15!
AR-15 on Left & .22LR on Right
The .22LR is a much smaller bullet(the entire bullet being about the height of a 2pence coin), much much smaller and is in fact the smallest cartridge in firearms today, it Does Not have the same ability to kill or ''Massacre'' as this moronically written article seems to moan about - these rifles only look mean but they are NOT on the same level of firepower as the rifle used in the Sandy Hook Shootings.
Here is a small snippet of the article:
''LETHAL assault rifles like the one used in America’s Sandy Hook school massacre are being LEGALLY sold in Britain.
A Welsh-based firm is advertising a Ruger SR-22 semi-automatic as a “clone” of an AR-15, the gun loner Adam Lanza used to kill 26 people. Shocked campaigners are demanding new gun controls after The Sun discovered British dealers selling the weapons. ''
This is a quick one, I was really unhappy today when surfing online and found out that someone had set up a Government ePetition to reclassify .22 Pistols as Section 1 Firearms. (In the UK all Handguns are pretty much Illegal to own even if for reasons of sports! The British National Olympics team have to practice OVERSEAS! Anyway, the reason why I am severely unhappy is because the petition is already expired (Aug 2012), the government need 100,000 signatures in order to consider the change of law - and only 13,012 People signed it!
British people always like to bash the Yanks for their claims to freedom, yet we need to look in the mirror, if we aren't even allowed to own a pistol in .22LR caliber - How Free Are We?!???
Plinking ... or Informal Target Shooting is a form of outdoor recreational shooting whereby the enthusiasts are merely looking for a little more freedom when using firearms in rural / deserted areas, as per the Wikipedia article on Plinking:''Plinking in general allows a shooter much freedom of choice in creating his or her shooting experience. In particular, the plinker is set at liberty from the very restrictive rules found at many gun ranges.'' - the most common target being a tin can, ie: Soft Drink, Soda or Beer and even tinned food cans!
In most countries this is an okay thing to do as long as you are not trespassing on private property and exercising some safety to ascertain that you are not sending ricochet bullets in the direction of people, property or animals and also your own safety.
A typical Plinking target - these are actual products called 'Spinners'
Shot to hell ... an old disused piece of junk now used as a Plinking target
To prevent Plinking becoming the next thing your government wants to regulate, follow some basic safety;
If in an area where you are not sure if others are around (woods, forrests, hills etc) yell out a warning before shooting,
Wear some safety gear - mainly shooting glasses,
Do not trespass on someones property! This will be annoying to them and may get the Police involved,
Don't place a target in front of rocks or other solid objects - make sure there is an adequate backdrop,
Don't dress in full military camo or black tactical gear - it's just too suspicious and draws attention,
Clean up your area after the session - Don't litter or leave a mess, again this will draw criticism to Plinking but mostly to shooting sports culture as a whole,
Check out the area, just use common sense and make some good judgements before starting
Large bore rifle shooters use thick steel plates and 'Plink' from very long distances, the steel will return a loud Plink sound confirming a hit - check out the video at the bottom of the post. Steel plate plinking can also involve penetration tests whereby the shooter has the right documents to allow the purchase of Armour Piercing ammunition or sometimes 'Copper Washed' ammunition that holds some convincing when it hits the armoured target compared with standard 'Ball' ammuniton, again, this is only for interest sake - these people are Not criminals they just want to see the effects on steel etc.
An old drum can - probably an old paint tin used as a target - the entry holes look like Rimfire ammunition but could also be .223 In some cases it would have had a printed target or hand drawn target attached to the front
A home made plate on chains - note the shooter used a powerful firearm on the far right middle which penetrated the plate.The fact that the plate is hanging loose on chains and not fixed will prevent ricochets and dramatically reduces risks (now how do I convince the UK police with this FACT)
I hope that one day Plinking can be seen as a innocent form of recreational shooting and not so alienated as it is (well it is pretty much non existent and if done in the UK I bet its very underground)
If anybody knows how to get the government and local authorities involved in supplying a designated area outside every major city in the UK where Plinkers can go for a shoot, please comment, it is something I would seriously like to see happen in the future - I know it would be a major H&S pain the the crack but why not try?
For those overseas who'se governments still have not taken away all of their rights, well have fun next time you go out plinking! and also have a minute of silence for us poor UK shooters! ;)
Long Range Steel Plinking video:
(hey I know these are Centerfire rifles and not Rimfire - just watch and shut up!);)
Welcome all to The 'Rimfire Blog' , we aim to be your premier online News and Information Source for the International rimfire community.
We will aim to cover all aspects of rimfire information from Pistol to Rifle, mainly .22LR but we will most certainly have something for other Rimfire calibres as well! (.17HMR, .22WMR and so on)
- -
For our first post, we will be featuring a UK based magazine .22 SHOOTER, starting out in the beginning of 2012 and almost about to drop Volume 2, the magazine has progressed into a highly informative and interesting read! Various articles including Camo advice for country shooters / hunters, monthly interviews of clubs, gun stores and pro shooters of all disciplines and more!
We would highly recommend you get yourself a copy to see what we are on about, the Rimfire and .22 International community has needed something like this for a long time.
If you are lucky, you may be able to take advantage of their recent promotions, you should check their facebook page and see what is going at the moment, last news we caught was a deal of three back issues of your choice for only £12 including delivery and you got a freebie thrown in!
Annual subscriptions are offered so check out their site for updates and details: http://www.22-shooter.com/
