Especially for plinking/fun. Additionally, most (all?) 'rimfire scopes' have parallax set for that distance.

You can still shoot longer distances with that setting and it's fun to boot!

I would test it at 100 and further. I had a distant relative who shot smallbore and his criteria for his .22 rifles was 1" groups at 100 yards. He would not keep a rifle that would not do that.

While mine might .. I doubt I can! So my basic distance is 50 yards.

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Ele era velho.
Ele era corajoso.
Ele era feio.

A 4.5 mm (.177) pellet rifle should group 1/4" center to center at 50 yards if you're going to use it for benchrest shooting with quality pellets. In other words, 50 yards for a 22 LR is a great place to start. Don't be afraid to stretch it out once you find ammo it likes. They can surprise you as to how accurate they are to 100 yards and beyond.

Shucks, years ago I had my grandpa's old 22 singleshot farm rifle that my aunt gave me and was shooting it at the 90 meter rams at the Whittington center. Someone told me "you can't knock 'em down with a 22 LR! Well, not at first. But once I got the Kentucky windage figured out, it was a head shot each time and down they went. And that was a worn out old farm rifle that all the grandkids had used and abused.

Just be aware that the 22 LR can be affected quite a bit by the breeze, so when you stretch it out take that into account.

I mainly do initial testing at 50 yards. I shoot rimfire out to about 300 yards at the house regularly but the conditions have to be right.

Assuming you are testing for which ammo it likes best. Almost any .22 ammo will shoot good groups at 25 yards from a good quality gun. Hoot is right 50 yards is minimum start point. At 75 & 100 yards it will be much more evident which ammo is most consistent. My FA252 likes SK plus, Eley Ten-X, and M-22 bulk pack of all things. It has shot 40 in short course practical hunter with all three.