What distance should you zero a .22?
Quick answer: 50 yards. A .22 LR bleeds speed quickly, so a 50-yard zero holds the bullet within a fraction of an inch of your line of sight from the muzzle all the way out to 50 yards, which is where almost every rimfire shot is taken. Zero at 100 yards, the way you would a centerfire rifle, and the same bullet passes roughly 3 inches above your aim at 50 yards. Zero at 25 and you have very nearly set the same sight line as a 50-yard zero anyway. Past 50 the drop arrives fast and you simply learn it: on the figures below, about 1.8 inches low at 75 yards and 5.6 inches low at 100.
Why a 100-yard zero is the wrong habit to bring to a .22
If you already shoot a centerfire rifle, 100 yards is the number in your head, and it is the one piece of centerfire practice that does not transfer. CCI publishes a trajectory table on each of its rimfire product pages, and states the basis on the table itself: heights are inches above or below the line of sight with the rifle zeroed at 100 yards and the sights sitting 1.5 inches above the bore line. Read across those published rows and the problem is obvious.
| Range | Mini-Mag 36 gr (1260 fps) | Standard Velocity 40 gr (1070 fps) |
|---|---|---|
| 25 yd | +1.4 in | +2.2 in |
| 50 yd | +2.8 in | +3.8 in |
| 75 yd | +2.4 in | +3.1 in |
| 100 yd | 0 (the zero) | 0 (the zero) |
A rifle set up that way is shooting 2.8 inches high at 50 yards with high-velocity ammunition and 3.8 inches high with standard-velocity, and it is still an inch or more high at 75. On a squirrel-sized target at the distance you actually shoot, that is a clean miss over the top from a rifle that is, technically, perfectly zeroed. Source for both rows: CCI, on its own Mini-Mag and Standard Velocity product pages.
What a 50-yard zero actually gives you
Changing your zero distance does not change where the bullet flies; it only tilts the straight line your scope is looking down. So the same published data can be re-expressed for a 50-yard zero by subtracting a straight line through its own 50-yard figure. The column below is our arithmetic on CCI's numbers, not a second set of measurements, and it holds for the 1.5-inch sight height CCI states.
| Range | Mini-Mag 36 gr (1260 fps) | Standard Velocity 40 gr (1070 fps) |
|---|---|---|
| 25 yd | 0.0 in | +0.3 in |
| 50 yd | 0 (the zero) | 0 (the zero) |
| 75 yd | -1.8 in | -2.6 in |
| 100 yd | -5.6 in | -7.6 in |
That is the whole argument in one column. From the muzzle to 50 yards there is effectively nothing to think about: hold on the target and hit it. The high-velocity load is dead on the line of sight at both 25 and 50 yards, and the slower load is never more than about a third of an inch off across that whole stretch. What you buy that with is honest, predictable drop further out, which you can learn in an afternoon and which does not change.
25 or 50 yards? Mostly the same answer
The 25-yard zero is popular because it is convenient, and for a .22 it is nearly the same setting rather than a rival to it. Look at the derived column again: with the Mini-Mag load, a sight line zeroed at 50 yards crosses the bullet path at 25 yards too, to within the tenth of an inch CCI publishes. A single straight sight line crosses a curved trajectory twice, and on a .22 with a normal scope height those two crossings land right about 25 and 50 yards.
On the slower Standard Velocity load they do drift apart a little: a 50-yard zero prints about 0.3 inch high at 25, and a 25-yard zero would sit about 0.6 inch low at 50. Small either way. Zero at 50 if you can, for a practical reason rather than a ballistic one: it is the longer distance, so any sloppiness in reading your group has less leverage on the final setting. Zero at 25 only if that is the range you have, then confirm at 50 before you trust it.
Do not confuse zero distance with your scope's 50-yard parallax
Rimfire scopes are almost all built parallax-free at 50 yards, and that is a different fact that happens to share a number. Parallax is an optical focus setting fixed at the factory, and it decides whether your reticle appears to drift across the target when your eye is not perfectly centred. Zero is a mechanical adjustment you make, and it decides where the bullet lands. A rimfire scope arrives with its 50-yard parallax already set and no zero whatsoever. The number is 50 in both cases only because 50 yards is where .22 shooting mostly happens. If that distinction is new, our guide on rimfire vs centerfire scopes covers the parallax half properly.
How to actually set it
- Mount the scope and bore sight it so your first shots land on paper. Our bore sighting guide covers both the optical and laser methods.
- Start at 25 yards to get on paper cheaply, but treat it as a starting point rather than the finished job.
- Move the target to 50 yards and fire a 3-shot group from a rest, so you are testing the rifle rather than your hold.
- Adjust to the centre of the group, not to your best shot. The full turret procedure is in how to sight in a rifle scope, and our MOA and MRAD calculator turns a measured miss into the exact number of clicks.
- Fire one more group at 50 to confirm it held, then shoot a group at 75 or 100 so you have seen your own drop rather than only read about it.
What about .17 HMR, .22 WMR and subsonic?
The method carries over; the numbers do not. A .17 HMR shoots far flatter than a .22 LR and is usually zeroed nearer 100 yards, which is also why the .17 HMR scopes in our best rimfire scope picks tend to have an adjustable objective rather than a fixed 50-yard parallax. Subsonic .22 drops faster still. The two CCI tables above show how much the load alone moves things: a 190 fps difference in muzzle velocity is worth a full inch of height at 50 yards. So look up the published table for the exact ammunition you shoot and set your zero from that, rather than from a number written for a different cartridge.
FAQ
What distance should you zero a .22?
Fifty yards, for almost everyone. A .22 LR loses speed fast, so a 50-yard zero keeps the bullet within a fraction of an inch of your line of sight all the way from the muzzle out to 50 yards, which covers the overwhelming majority of shots anyone takes with a rimfire. On CCI's published figures for its Mini-Mag load, a 50-yard zero puts the bullet on the line of sight at 25 yards as well, about 1.8 inches low at 75 yards and about 5.6 inches low at 100. That is one hold for everything close, and a known, learnable drop past it.
Is it a mistake to zero a .22 at 100 yards?
For most rimfire shooting, yes, and the numbers are larger than people expect. CCI publishes its rimfire trajectories on a 100-yard zero with sights 1.5 inches above the bore, and on that basis its Mini-Mag load is 2.8 inches HIGH at 50 yards and its Standard Velocity load is 3.8 inches high at 50. Fifty yards is where most .22 shooting actually happens, so a 100-yard zero means aiming low on nearly every shot you take. It only makes sense if you genuinely shoot your .22 at 100 yards most of the time.
Should I zero my .22 at 25 or 50 yards?
They are much closer to the same setting than they sound, so either is defensible and 50 is the better habit. Derived from CCI's published Mini-Mag table, a sight line zeroed at 50 yards also crosses the bullet path right about 25 yards, so those two zeros are the same setting to within the tenth of an inch CCI publishes. On the slower Standard Velocity load they separate slightly: a 50-yard zero is about 0.3 inch high at 25, and a 25-yard zero is about 0.6 inch low at 50. Zero at 50 because it is the longer of the two distances, so any error in your group placement matters less.
Is the 50-yard zero the same thing as a rimfire scope's 50-yard parallax?
No, and this is the most common mix-up in rimfire. They are two unrelated things that happen to share a number. Parallax is an optical focus setting built into the scope at the factory, and it decides whether the reticle appears to drift when your eye moves off centre. Zero is a mechanical adjustment YOU make, and it decides where the bullet lands. A rimfire scope with a 50-yard parallax arrives with no zero at all; you still have to sight it in. The number is 50 in both cases only because 50 yards is where .22 shooting mostly happens.
Does the same 50-yard answer apply to .17 HMR or subsonic .22?
The method applies, the exact numbers do not. A .17 HMR shoots much flatter and is usually zeroed farther out, around 100 yards, while subsonic and standard-velocity .22 drops faster than high-velocity ammunition, as CCI's own two tables show: at 50 yards on a 100-yard zero, the 1070 fps load sits a full inch higher above the line of sight than the 1260 fps load. Look up the trajectory table your ammunition maker publishes for the exact load you shoot, and pick the zero from that rather than from a number you read for a different cartridge.
Related: best rimfire scopes 2026 · rimfire vs centerfire scope · how to sight in a rifle scope · best scope for a Ruger 10/22.