Reducing ricochets

I have had quite a few ricochets off hard soil with my .22 LR subsonic loads while rabbiting this year, which has alarmed me for safety reasons. Is there anything I can do to minimise this?

This is an age-old problem that affects lead-bulleted rimfires due to the slow velocities of the subsonic rounds that don’t fragment like centrefire bullets would at higher velocities. That’s why you have to really pick your shots with a rimfire to make sure the background is safe.

A 40-gr lead .22 subsonic passes through a rabbit easily; it does expand but still has plenty of energy left to ricochet off for hundreds of yards.

Try to angle your shots downward from a ridge or farm building — a portable high seat near a rabbit warren is ideal. Alternatively, if stalking rabbits on foot, try using the CCI Segmenting .22 LR subsonic bullets. The secret behind the CCI is that whereas a standard subsonic bullet is designed to mushroom on impact, the new CCI Segmenting ammunition is designed to break into three parts. This greatly reduces the chances of ricochets as three smaller pieces of lead lose energy much quicker than one lump of 40-gr lead. I have tested these rounds in ballistic media and on rabbits and they do indeed segment into three parts, and I would certainly give them a try in your .22 rimfire rifle. BP