“Your Time Starts Now!” Get Into NRL22 – Rifle, Gear, & More

The availability and just pure fun of rimfire has contributed to the rise of rimfire competition, particularly NRL22. This discipline offers a great community with a low barrier to entry. Avid NRL22 competitor and owner of D-M Targets Seth Gardner joins me to explain how to get started!

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About the National Rimfire League

NRL22 competition is designed to be affordable, family-friendly, and easy to get into.

From NRL22:

The NRL22 was founded by Tyler Frehner in 2017 so kids, women, and people just starting out could have a cheaper avenue to compete in while still embodying the precision rifle sport. NRL22 is the premier precision rimfire rifle advocacy & support organization in the country. We are a company that empowers NRL22 clubs and competitors in precision rimfire community by providing education and opportunities for growth. These activities are designed to develop marksmanship skills for those participating in this discipline, and to educate the public about firearm safety.

MISSION STATEMENT

Our mission is to enable growth in the competitive shooting sports, for those who have aspiration for their communities, their businesses, families, and themselves.

The NRL22 exists to support them on their journey from ambition to achievement.

This is why we are so proud to support Match Directors and competitive shooting athletes as they represent all of us over the United States.

Precision Rimfire Shooting:

NRL22 is the premier .22LR precision rifle advocacy & support organization.

We are a company that empowers NRL22 clubs and competitors in precision rimfire by providing education and opportunities for growth.

Precision rimfire shooting has exponentially grown over the past several years and we look to lead the way into the future for everyone wanting to participate in this sport.

Matches:

It is the goal of the NRL22 to help produce the best .22LR precision matches in the Nation. Through our alliances with Match Directors, we have developed a method to produce better matches with less confusion for a superior experience.

The NRL22 has over 150 clubs and have over 100 matches occurring each month throughout the Nation.

Competitors:

The competitors in our sport come from all walks of life, from doctors to farmers, students to retired military. It is this diversity that makes our sport so unique. It is a goal for the NRL22 to help develop and foster these relationships through specialized mentor programs and opportunities.

About the Bergara B-14R

Bergara’s B-14R rimfire rifles have a reputation for accuracy and are extremely versatile.

Featuring a Remington 700 footprint, they are compatible with a wide variety of accessories and easily customizable. The B-14R is available in carbon or steel with an adjustable stock and a unique AICS magazine designed to take .22LR.

From Bergara:

Our team of experts has designed and built an incredibly accurate full size precision trainer. The Bergara B-14R Bolt Action Rifle was years in the making. Our goal was simple: make the best production precision .22 possible for both beginners and seasoned competitors. The Bergara B-14R was a product that our customers and enthusiasts had been requesting for quite some time, and with our expertise, and the growing participation in NRL22 and PRS .22 competitive matches, we delivered a product that’s on target and exceeded expectations.

Available in Steel or Carbon Barrel

About the Optics

Seth and I recently explored the topic of rimfire optics in-depth, looking at a variety of optics from Athlon Optics.

Watch the full video and read the article for more details on the three Athlon scopes, a low, medium, and high option, that we tested.

It is common for centerfire precision rifle competitors to run the same optic they use on their centerfire rifle on their rimfire rifle, but it is not a requirement. (Athlon Optics also has an online scopefinder to help you determine what best fits your needs.)

Other Gear

As with any sport, there are a variety of items that are nice to have, but not all are match-critical. Two must-haves are a bipod and shooting bag. The Armageddon Gear Game Changer is one of the most popular and widely-used.

You also need a way to record and access your DOPE. There are a variety of ballistics apps available, like Hornady 4DOF, but you also want to have it easily in view while you are shooting. DOPE cards are incredibly handy and can ease match stress.

These are available in a number of styles including some that mount to the rifle and others that stay on your arm (wrist coach) like the Armageddon Gear Competition Data Armband.

Ammunition and Data

For me, shooting rimfire at long range has always been more challenging than shooting centerfire at long range. In my quest to shoot 511 yards with a B-14R, Francis Colon of Applied Ballistics taught me about Drop Scale Factor (DSF) and how each rifle’s barrel can deform rimfire bullets differently. This creates a different BC for each rifle and ammunition combination.

Unlike centerfire, developing a load that works best in your rifle and making the ammunition yourself is not realistic nor popular. This means that you have to find what factory ammunition works best in your rifle. Rimfire rifles will generally settle in and “like” one type of ammunition over another. To minimize lot to lot variation, more serious shooters may “lot test” their rifle.

Lapua has two test centers in the U.S. where different SKUs and lots of ammunition are fired through a rifle in a controlled environment. The groups and accompanying statistics are recorded and compared to determine the best performer. I’ve had great success with a variety of ammunition including SK High Velocity Match, Lapua Center-X, and Lapua Long Range and Super Long Range.

In short, rimfire rifles are individuals. You can still use a calculator, but you have to true it up to your gear. If starting with a new rifle and new ammunition, the first step is to establish a 50-yard zero. Some choose to start at other distances, but Seth prefers 50 yards. Determining accurate velocities is essential so a quality chronograph is imperative.

Input this data into your ballistics solver or keep track of it some other way and verify it. Collect data out to 200 yards. Most NRL22 matches are built within 100 yards, but will occasionally have a target out to 200 yards. Some matches will have side stages out to 350 or even 400 yards.

NRL22 has a standardized course of fire that changes on a monthly basis. This is available online for competitors or potential competitors to study. This allows you to calculate and prepare your DOPE ahead of time.

Shooting

We sighted in both rifles at 100 yards with groups in the 0.3” range at 50 yards.

We observed some fliers, but Seth reminded me that rimfires take approximately 100 rounds to settle in. Seth also pointed out that he may have accidentally canted the rifle as we didn’t have any reference levels installed on the scopes.

We set up several stages that had been previously used by NRL22, starting with “It’s All Gravy.” We had to engage two different targets off a ladder, following the instructions listed in the stage brief. This brief specifies the start position, target distances, and target sizes.

We utilized a Longshot Hawk spotting scope camera with an Athlon Ares G2 UHD 15-45 x 65 Straight Angle Spotting Scope and 22x Ranging Reticle Eyepiece to spot and record hits.

Seth and I were both impressed with Athlon’s Midas G2 UHD 12×50 Binoculars. We set these up on a tripod and were able to easily adjust the binoculars and rotate the reticle inside to range! Seth was quickly able to give me directions to get me on target.

Seth ran through the stage first and offered me some insights. He recommended I stay between 10x and 15x magnification with parallax set in between the two distances I was shooting. Too much magnification can make it difficult to locate the targets. I very quickly ran out of time.

This state had a par time of 120 seconds for 12 shots. Competitors earned 10 points per impact. Even though I was out of time, I finished out the stage to gain the experience.

Like anything, as you spend more time with your rifle and optic and more time shooting from awkward positions, you’ll become more proficient. After the ladder stage, we fired an October NRL22 course of fire titled “Come Halloween, It’s Crunch Time.”

While this was a prone stage not requiring much movement, adjusting elevation after the clock started was prohibited. Shooters had to hold elevation on this stage but could adjust windage and parallax. This stage also required both strong hand and weak hand shooting, meaning I had to transition to shooting with my left eye and hand.

While this was just practice for us, Seth informed me that this stage would traditionally be timed, meaning that any time remaining from the par time when the shooter finishes the course of fire would convert into points. Stages like this are designed to break ties in matches.

Conclusion

I really enjoyed my brief introduction to NRL22. The first stage was extremely challenging and I ran out of time, but I was proud to have a clean run with time remaining on the second. All the targets we used came from the D-M Targets NRL22 Competition Compliant Kit, which is a great package for practicing at home.

Part of the beauty of NRL22 is that it doesn’t require more than a 100 yard range and the stages are published in advance, making it even more accessible! The Bergara rifles and Athlon Optics performed well.