What do the letters mean?

[kanny 20,488]

LR WMR HMR HM2 And what would you guys say is best for rabbit? lets say 80yrd think i will be going for a .22 some of my land is rough grass and ive heard that the .17 break up on the slightist brush with veggation is this true?... im going to be asking a few questions over the next weeks so please bare with me lads.

 

kanny

[tegater 789]

LR WMR HMR HM2 And what would you guys say is best for rabbit? lets say 80yrd think i will be going for a .22 some of my land is rough grass and ive heard that the .17 break up on the slightist brush with veggation is this true?... im going to be asking a few questions over the next weeks so please bare with me lads.

 

kanny

.22rf good for rabbit if that's your main quarry. Hmr good if your going to add crows and other corvids to the bag. The .17 does break up quick but I have shit maggies 1 in front of other and about a metre apart, and both were blown apart, so I,m guessing you don't need to worry about blades of grass immediately in front of the bunny, and any rounds including heavy cf bullets will deflect on thicker stuff.

 

You will get some other advice I'm sure. Hope this helps.

[pipcock 21]

LR =long rifle

WMR = Winchester Magnum Rimfire

HMR=Hornady Magnum Rimfire

HM2 ......aka the Mach 2

look these up on the net ,it should explain pretty clearly what they all are calibre wise.

[kanny 20,488]

Thanks lads ive found some good information on wickipedia about these rounds i will look into more over the next couple of weeks and do the pros and cons im not in a rush but hope to be up and running for the stubble late this summer if all goes to plan. im still intrested in what other shooters think so feel free.

 

kanny

[remi700 99]

.22 rimfire would be my preferance for bunny shootin mainly because the ammos cheap but you will get ricochets which can be dangerous. .17hmr is a good round for rabbits aswell but if you intend on eating them or selling them you'll have to head shoot because you'll get alot of meat damage on the plus side you wont have ricochets like the .22. The .17hmr is also a very versatile round and is easily capable of fox shooting out to 100yards.

[kanny 20,488]

.22 rimfire would be my preferance for bunny shootin mainly because the ammos cheap but you will get ricochets which can be dangerous. .17hmr is a good round for rabbits aswell but if you intend on eating them or selling them you'll have to head shoot because you'll get alot of meat damage on the plus side you wont have ricochets like the .22. The .17hmr is also a very versatile round and is easily capable of fox shooting out to 100yards.

 

i have to agree the more im reading the more the.17hmr is standing out as the leader it seems to be a much safer and versitile round with safe being my main criteria. whats the .17hmr like on noise?

 

kanny

[remi700 99]

Fitted with a silencer there still quite a bit louder then a .22 with sub-sonics but there not to bad. Anythin that breaks the sound barrier will give off a crack but thats all you get with the .17hmr. No big boom like a full bore.ATB Mark

[Chriseden 5]

I had a 17 a couple of years ago, I liked it and it did seem to shoot well and flat,no ricocheys like you guys said but before I supressed it it was real loud, the only 2 down sides are the cost of ammo and the noise if its not supressed.

I also found when your getting out a bit it doesnt take much of a breeze to nock that tiny bullet around so some thing to think about too.

I found the 17grn ammo to be better than the 20grn, but that was just me in my rifle. So who knows what ever choice you make it wont be a bad one any of the calibers is a good choice.

If your wondering why I sold it It was because I brought it when I lived in a busyer area so I didnt want bullets bouncing all over but once I moved I just went back to a good old 223

Edited February 22, 2012 by Chriseden

[stubby 175]

.22 rimfire would be my preferance for bunny shootin mainly because the ammos cheap but you will get ricochets which can be dangerous. .17hmr is a good round for rabbits aswell but if you intend on eating them or selling them you'll have to head shoot because you'll get alot of meat damage on the plus side you wont have ricochets like the .22. The .17hmr is also a very versatile round and is easily capable of fox shooting out to 100yards.

 

i have to agree the more im reading the more the.17hmr is standing out as the leader it seems to be a much safer and versitile round with safe being my main criteria. whats the .17hmr like on noise?

 

kanny

 

yes, you get the occasional ricocet on a .22 rimmy, but as long as your shooting correctly, and thinking about the area your shooting across (ie fields full of broken flint) you should not worry too much, nor let it sway you as to a different calibre

for bunny bashing/lamping, Id say the .22 wins every time, even body shot rabbits are still edible, and as alreadt stated, ammo at £4 per 50 is cheap as chips, dont know the price on 17's,

[Simonrees 45]

The only thing I can add to the above really is that I pay about £6.50 for 100 .22 and about £15.00 for 50 .17hmr Both Winchester Vmax.

[vitalspark 4]

it doesnt take much of a breeze to nock that tiny bullet around so some thing to think about too.

 

I think this is a bit of a myth. Check out the Federal spec for windage to compare a 17grn, 17hmr with your standard solid 40grn .22LR. The data seems to show the windage, at 10mph, of the .22 to be twice as bad as the 17hmr out to 100yards and beyond, unless I'm missing something.

As with any calibre you've got to know it's ballistics to get the best out of it.

http://www.federalpremium.com/products/rimfire.aspx

[kanny 20,488]

alot of the land i shoot is very flat so any missed shots would be striking the ground at a very low angle the negitive point i made before about the .17 hmr breaking up easy has now turned into a positive in my mind am i correct ? is it harder to get a ticket for one of these calibers over the other? im not fussed about the round price within reason.

 

kanny

[coldweld 65]

If the land is that flat the HMR will NOT be safe either. It is total rubbish that the bullets break up ! Some do But would you be confident enough to place one of Your loved ones down range ?

I have had ricocet's with a .17 CF with a bullet going 2000 fps faster than a hmr.

 

If the land is not safe for a .22rf then a faster bullet don't make it any safer. The only thing that makes a diference is a safe shooter.

[danw 1,748]

had a hmr for a while and the myth that they don.t ricochet is total bollocks they bounce as happily as anything else.

[matt_hooks 188]

The whole ".17HMR is safer than .22LR" is a total crock.

 

The .22LR with subsonic rounds has a muzzle energy of 100 ft.lb. The .17HMR has a ME of almost three times that.

 

Of course, a .22LR might ricochet, but then so might the .17HMR, a .17centrefire or a .50 BMG. Any bullet can ricochet, so to say that a .17HMR gives more shot choice than a .22LR is nonsense. If it ain't safe for a .22, then it's certainly not safe for a .17! A safe shot is a safe shot, an unsafe shot is an unsafe shot. Forget the calibre and think backstop, backstop backstop (as well as the ground conditions, anything likely to impede bullet path (fences/concrete posts etc.) in front of and behind the target....)

 

The .17 flies much faster than the .22LR, so the amount of time it is subject to wind effects is shorter at the same range. The .17 has a much lower BC then the 40gr .22LR, so the acceleration for a given wind speed is greater. The amount of horizontal deflection due to windage is a balance of the two. There will be a windspeed where the LR and the HMR have the same deflection. For windspeeds below this the HMR will be deflected less, for windspeeds above it the LR will be deflected less. Neither round is automatically better in wind.

 

The HMR will make an unholy mess of any rabbit shot with it. Unless you can reliably head shoot, they will be unsuitable for consumption. That's why most people use the .22LR, that and the ammunition costing far less, and being far more available.