Rimfire riflescopes
Best Riflescopes for a .22 LR
Quick answer
The best riflescope for most .22 LR shooters is the Vortex Diamondback 2-7x35 Rimfire Riflescope, V-Plex MOA at $239.00, because its parallax is set near 50 yards, where a rimfire is actually shot, instead of the 100 yard setting built into almost every centerfire hunting riflescope.
Almost everything written about riflescopes assumes a centerfire cartridge shot somewhere between 100 and 500 yards, and a .22 LR breaks that assumption twice over. It is shot mostly between 25 and 75 yards, and it drops fast enough past 100 yards that a scope built for a flat-shooting cartridge is aimed at the wrong problem from the first spec on the sheet.
Parallax is the whole story here. A riflescope with parallax fixed at 100 yards is, by definition, only free of parallax error at 100 yards. Used at the distances a .22 LR actually gets shot, it introduces a real aiming error that a rimfire-specific riflescope, set at 36 or 50 yards, does not have. These picks are researched from published specifications and owner-review consensus rather than from firing every option ourselves.
On this page
- Why does parallax matter more on a .22 LR than on a centerfire riflescope?
- Why does a .22 LR need a 20 MOA base when the cartridge looks so mild?
- Beginner: a first riflescope for a plinking or training rifle
- Intermediate: better glass, same correct parallax distance
- Expert: adjustable parallax and precision magnification
Why does parallax matter more on a .22 LR than on a centerfire riflescope?
Parallax is the apparent shift of the reticle against the target when your eye moves off the optical axis, and it happens because the target image is not falling exactly in the plane of the reticle. A riflescope's parallax is fixed at the factory for one distance, and away from that distance there is error available.
A centerfire hunting riflescope is set at 100 yards because that is where a centerfire rifle is sighted in and where most of its shooting happens. A .22 LR is neither. Standard velocity rimfire ammunition is shot at 25, 50 and 75 yards far more often than at 100, which is exactly the range band a 100 yard fixed riflescope is not built for.
A centerfire riflescope with parallax fixed at 100 yards, used on a .22 LR at 50 yards, produces roughly 0.05 to 0.15 inches of aiming error depending on head position, an error a true rimfire riflescope, set at 50 yards, does not have at all.
Sourced figure
| Riflescope type | Parallax fixed at | Error at 0.1 in eye offset | Error at 0.3 in eye offset |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rimfire-specific riflescope | 50 yd | 0 in | 0 in |
| Centerfire hunting riflescope | 100 yd | 0.05 in | 0.15 in |
| Long-range riflescope | 150 yd | 0.07 in | 0.20 in |
The working is error at the target equals eye offset multiplied by the ratio of target distance to parallax distance, minus one. It is the same geometric relationship used across every distance on this site's parallax reference.
Why does a .22 LR need a 20 MOA base when the cartridge looks so mild?
A .22 LR leaves the muzzle around 1,050 to 1,255 feet per second depending on the load, which is subsonic to barely supersonic. Compare that to a centerfire hunting cartridge leaving the muzzle two to three times faster, and the rimfire round spends far longer in flight to reach the same distance, which means gravity has far longer to work on it.
The practical result is a trajectory that looks nearly flat to 50 yards and then falls off a cliff. A rifle sighted dead on at 50 yards can be a foot low at 150, which asks for more elevation travel than a riflescope built around a flat-shooting cartridge normally carries in reserve. A canted base solves this the same way it does on a distance centerfire build: it tilts the whole mount down at the front so the unused down travel in the erector becomes usable up travel. On a Ruger 10/22 pattern rifle, the EGW Ruger 10/22 Picatinny Rail Scope Mount, 20 MOA at $35.99 is a real, purpose-built example rather than a generic tactical accessory repurposed for the job.
See the bullet drop chart by cartridge for exactly how steep this curve gets, and flat against 20 MOA bases for when the canted base is worth having on any rifle.
The mount side of a .22 LR build is otherwise the simplest riflescope purchase on this whole site. Almost every rimfire riflescope in this class uses a 1 inch tube, which has the widest ring selection of any tube diameter, and the objectives are small enough, generally 32 to 40 mm, that ring height is rarely a real decision the way it is on a large-objective hunting riflescope. Buy medium height 1 inch rings unless the specific rail or receiver you are mounting to says otherwise, and save the ring height arithmetic for a centerfire build with a 44 mm or larger objective.
Beginner: a first riflescope for a plinking or training rifle
A rimfire is where most people learn fundamentals, and the riflescope for that job needs to hold zero and set parallax close, not carry a big magnification number.
Vortex Crossfire II 2-7x32 Rimfire Riflescope, V-Plex Reticle
$118.99 Full specificationsA rimfire-specific parallax setting and a V-Plex reticle at a genuinely low price, backed by a transferable lifetime warranty.
Best for: A first .22 LR riflescope for backyard plinking and basic training out to 75 yards
Check price on AmazonIntermediate: better glass, same correct parallax distance
The step up here is optical, not conceptual. The parallax setting stays where a rimfire needs it and the improvement is in clarity and the reticle.
Vortex Diamondback 2-7x35 Rimfire Riflescope, V-Plex MOA
$239.00 Full specificationsA larger 35 mm objective and a V-Plex MOA reticle for holdover, on the same 50 yard parallax setting a rimfire actually needs.
Best for: A dedicated rimfire hunting or small-bore competition riflescope shot mostly inside 100 yards
Check price on AmazonExpert: adjustable parallax and precision magnification
At this level the reader is shooting small targets at varying and sometimes short distances, and a fixed 50 yard parallax setting stops being close enough on its own.
TRACT 22 FIRE 4-12x40 Rimfire Riflescope with BDC Reticle
$324.00 Full specificationsAdjustable objective parallax that reaches down to close rimfire distances instead of being fixed at a single yardage, with enough magnification to resolve a small aiming point at 100 yards.
Best for: Precision rimfire competition or pest control at varying, sometimes very short distances
Check price on AmazonWho should not buy this tier: Anyone shooting factory ammunition at a single known distance under 50 yards. The extra magnification and adjustable parallax down to very close range solve a problem a plinking rifle never has, and the money is better spent on ammunition.
How we chose
We did not test these optics in person and we never claim to. Picks are researched from manufacturer specification sheets, published optical and ballistic formulas, and the recurring themes in verified owner reviews. Every pick is matched to a real objective diameter, a real tube size, a real ring height or a real exit pupil rather than to a price bracket, and it is placed in the tier where its capability actually belongs. Where a figure is shooter convention rather than a sourced number we label it, and where a manufacturer does not publish a figure we leave it out instead of estimating it.
Sources
- Manufacturer published fixed parallax settings for rimfire riflescopes
- Geometric derivation of parallax error from the separation of the image and reticle planes
Frequently asked questions
What parallax setting should a .22 LR riflescope have?
Look for a riflescope with parallax fixed at 50 yards, or occasionally 36 yards on scopes built for indoor and short-range rimfire competition. A riflescope with parallax fixed at 100 yards, the default on centerfire hunting glass, introduces real aiming error at the distances a .22 LR is normally shot.
Does a .22 LR need a 20 MOA base?
Only if you plan to dial come-ups past roughly 100 yards. A .22 LR drops steeply enough past that distance that a canted base, converting unused down travel into usable up travel, is a genuine recommendation rather than an exaggeration. Inside 75 yards it is unnecessary.
Can I use a centerfire riflescope on a .22 LR?
It will mount and hold zero fine, since a .22 LR has very little recoil, but its parallax is set for 100 yards while the rimfire is shot mostly at 25 to 75 yards. That mismatch produces a small but real aiming error that a rimfire-specific riflescope, set closer, does not have.
What magnification is right for a .22 LR?
Two to seven power or three to nine power covers almost all rimfire shooting, from close plinking to small game at 75 yards. Precision rimfire competition, where the target is small and the distance is known, is the main case for more magnification and the adjustable parallax that goes with it.
Why does my .22 LR shoot differently at 25 yards than at 50?
Two separate effects stack here: the bullet has not finished climbing to the line of sight at very close range, which is sight height rather than parallax, and if the riflescope parallax is fixed away from 25 yards there is aiming error layered on top of that. Confirm your zero at the distance you actually shoot most.
Is adjustable parallax worth it on a rimfire riflescope?
For precision rimfire at varying distances or for pest control where range changes shot to shot, yes. For a rifle shot at one known distance most of the time, a fixed 50 yard setting already removes almost all of the error and adjustable parallax adds cost without adding accuracy.
Researched, not professional advice. This page is compiled from published manufacturer specifications, published optical and ballistic formulas, and owner-review consensus, not hands-on testing. Figures described as a rule of thumb are shooter convention rather than sourced numbers, and they are labelled that way wherever they appear. Ballistic figures come from a point mass model using the ballistic coefficient the maker publishes, so treat them as a starting point and confirm them on paper at a measured distance. Confirm your firearm is unloaded with the action open before you mount, level, torque or bore sight anything. Verify a zero only on a supervised range or a safe, legal backstop, know what lies beyond your target, and follow the law where you hunt and shoot, including rules on land access and permitted cartridges.