17hmr Richochets ?

[niffkin 1]

Hello All

 

Has any one ever experienced richochets with a 17HMR ?

 

I ask because i do a lot of lamping standing on the back of a landrover pickup, there fore i am shooting downwards in to the ground.

 

I am using Hornady 17gr vmax ammo.

 

I shoot on a farmers land and his neighbours are complaining that the rounds are going through there hedge and across there property.

 

I have never had richochets before but the neighbour says is has happened a lot.

 

Could this be because of the ground being so hard due to lack of rain ?

 

I would love to hear your thoughts.

 

Nick

[slyfox 0]

Only with the 20 grn hollow points maybe the neighbour is trying to get you stopped

[ratattack 111]

You would hear a bullet or fragment pinging away, classic noise. A .22 rimmer would be a more likely candidate, anyone else shoot the land? The neighbour must be up watching you to hear the bullets /see you shooting.

[hw100sniper 2]

Hello All

 

Has any one ever experienced richochets with a 17HMR ?

 

I ask because i do a lot of lamping standing on the back of a landrover pickup, there fore i am shooting downwards in to the ground.

 

I am using Hornady 17gr vmax ammo.

 

I shoot on a farmers land and his neighbours are complaining that the rounds are going through there hedge and across there property.

 

I have never had richochets before but the neighbour says is has happened a lot.

 

Could this be because of the ground being so hard due to lack of rain ?

 

I would love to hear your thoughts.

 

Nick

I have never noticed a ricochet using the 17gr ammo even shooting on a tar/concrete surface at 1 of the farms I shoot .I have been using 20gr for about 2 months constantly and again never noticed any ricochets although I will go over to my range on Friday all going well and test this out as the 20gr rounds are a bit harder.

[Tobias 0]

Yes they can and do rebound but not that often if you hit your targets right, Im not saying you are not but if you go for a head shot the bullet should break up quicker reducing a richochet are you using ballistic tips? also is it a bush hedge as i cant see how the shots would go through a hedge or do they mean over the top of there house and hedge. They could also be getting the noise mixed up say from the supersonic crack echoing off the tree's or buildings.Ive fired about 200 shots at various targets e.g. wood-stone-metal and found most of my richochets which was only 3 were from the metal or stone and from what i could see on the targets its only if you clip the target or the targets are at a slight angle. Also just for piece of mind why dont you try not shooting towards there house or try the approach from a different angle. Yes you are also right that the soil is very hard stone like which will increase the chances of a richochet. Hope this helps.

[niffkin 1]

Yes they can and do rebound but not that often if you hit your targets right, Im not saying you are not but if you go for a head shot the bullet should break up quicker reducing a richochet are you using ballistic tips? also is it a bush hedge as i cant see how the shots would go through a hedge or do they mean over the top of there house and hedge. They could also be getting the noise mixed up say from the supersonic crack echoing off the tree's or buildings.Ive fired about 200 shots at various targets e.g. wood-stone-metal and found most of my richochets which was only 3 were from the metal or stone and from what i could see on the targets its only if you clip the target or the targets are at a slight angle. Also just for piece of mind why dont you try not shooting towards there house or try the approach from a different angle. Yes you are also right that the soil is very hard stone like which will increase the chances of a richochet. Hope this helps.

 

 

Its a very dence hedge , the house actually sits with in a partly walled garden as well as being surrounded by a lot of land away from where i am shooting .

I am using ballistic tips.

I normally shoot the rabbit from a different direction but due to the wind direction changing i had to approach the rabbits from a different direction.

I am always very careful where i shoot , hence why i like shooting from a landrover because the increased elevation of shooting allows me to shoot into the ground.

 

In future i will go back to shooting the rabbits from the original direction.

 

Thankyou to you and everyone else for your input.

 

Tough times at the moment what with the shootings in Cumbria and now more recently Northumberland.

Edited July 7, 2010 by niffkin

[niffkin 1]

You would hear a bullet or fragment pinging away, classic noise. A .22 rimmer would be a more likely candidate, anyone else shoot the land? The neighbour must be up watching you to hear the bullets /see you shooting.

 

 

Just me shooting and the neighbor can not see us due to her property being situated in a very large garden and being surrounded by a partly walled garden and a very dence hedge

[Tobias 0]

No problem glad i could help as im fairly new to the 17Hmr and its ability as ive always used a 22Rf and other rifles.Also i wasnt having a dig about if you was safe shooting or not im sure you are a safe shot else you would'nt of put a post on here.

[niffkin 1]

No problem glad i could help as im fairly new to the 17Hmr and its ability as ive always used a 22Rf and other rifles.Also i wasnt having a dig about if you was safe shooting or not im sure you are a safe shot else you would'nt of put a post on here.

 

 

Hey Tobias

 

I didnt think you were having a dig but thankyou for your concern and help .

[stevethefish 80]

Yes they do, pick your shots carefully I have had quite a few because its so flat around lincolnshire.

[Tobias 0]

Ok just thought id say incase anyone took it the wrong way.

[paulus 26]

even centre fire rifles do it i had quite a few with the hmr depends on the combination of distance,angle of shot and range. people seem to think they dont do it but they do. be carefull is the easy answer.

[Deker 3,478]

Any calibre can ricochet, and my 17g HMR ammo certainly has!

[john robbo 30]

Not had many "true" bouncers think most hear fragments of the broken bullets. BUT the 20gr Gamepoints are definatly harder and sound off more.

If you shoot into an empty plastic spray barrel and look on the exit side you can see even on that the bullets have broken up are are in bits so a strike on the ground or bunny will promote expansion with the VMax anyway.

[smokey/gem 0]

the only time mine has richoched is when i use 20gr and 17 hollow points