.17 Hmr

[Deker 3,478]

I don't see, and never have seen this, as which is better, they are different.

 

A club hammer is excellent and so is a pin hammer, which would you use for knocking in a 4" nail?

 

As has already been suggested by several above, You need to look at your land and decide which tool best suits the task.

 

I have 2x.22lr, HMR and WMR, none is better than the other, they are simply better suited to some tasks.

 

Ammo price is not a factor in determining which tool is best for the job, noise maybe but it will make squat diddly difference if all your bunnies are 150 yards away across a dead flat neatly mowed sports ground, it will likely be a HMR or nothing!

 

If anyone has both and uses one more than the other it will simply be that their land tends to favour one more than the other, that doesn't make one gun better than the other.

 

Your land and quarry should determine what works best for you, not what someone says is best out of the two!

[kenj 131]

First time out this year with the HMR, I bagged my first two rabbits of 2013 today. This land has no real cover on three sides and a warren covered with blackthorn at the end. As I approached from the shaded side, I could see through my scope, activity among the thorn bushes, but no targets and within 200 yards, white tails bobbing back to safety. Twenty yards out from my side and eighty yards from the blackthorn is a feed bin for the horses, with plenty of straw on the ground and got down prone and waited with the rifle on it's bi-pod. After half an hour, having ignored several magpies skipping about in front of me, two rabbits hopped out of the jungle about 120 yards away and put their heads down to feed. Popped the first one and the other turned back to the edge and stopped long enough for me to shift the bolt and fire. This is what the HMR does best. Both shots entered just behind the eye and even at 120 yards made a mess on the exit.

 

I never take my .22lr to this permission, the options are too limited. Another permission a mile away is woodland and small fields and I always take the .22, although I do get the occasional HMR shot and wish I had it with me. This land is still flooded, or I'd have been there today.

[SportingShooter 0]

First time out this year with the HMR, I bagged my first two rabbits of 2013 today. This land has no real cover on three sides and a warren covered with blackthorn at the end. As I approached from the shaded side, I could see through my scope, activity among the thorn bushes, but no targets and within 200 yards, white tails bobbing back to safety. Twenty yards out from my side and eighty yards from the blackthorn is a feed bin for the horses, with plenty of straw on the ground and got down prone and waited with the rifle on it's bi-pod. After half an hour, having ignored several magpies skipping about in front of me, two rabbits hopped out of the jungle about 120 yards away and put their heads down to feed. Popped the first one and the other turned back to the edge and stopped long enough for me to shift the bolt and fire. This is what the HMR does best. Both shots entered just behind the eye and even at 120 yards made a mess on the exit.

 

I never take my .22lr to this permission, the options are too limited. Another permission a mile away is woodland and small fields and I always take the .22, although I do get the occasional HMR shot and wish I had it with me. This land is still flooded, or I'd have been there today.

 

I've substituted my HMR for the .222 at present. Just happened to drop the HMR the other day and crack the front lens

 

I must say a 40gr ballistic tip does just as good a job

[The Duncan 802]

Just out of interest what cartridges do you use Duncan and what would be the effective range for an humane shot while hunting ?

Hi,

I use the hornady 17 grain stuff. I find on a still day (when I'm on form) I can clover leaf off the bipod past 150 yards, and the hilly back stop after a practise session looks like its been strafed with machine gun fire.

If you can hit the kill zone, the round will kill very effectively way beyond the skill of a shooter will allow. Agree that foxes are a controversial subject with the .17, but a head shot anchors them very nicely at 100 yards; lights out.

[Elliott 436]

 

 

Just out of interest what cartridges do you use Duncan and what would be the effective range for an humane shot while hunting ?

Hi,

I use the hornady 17 grain stuff. I find on a still day (when I'm on form) I can clover leaf off the bipod past 150 yards, and the hilly back stop after a practise session looks like its been strafed with machine gun fire.

If you can hit the kill zone, the round will kill very effectively way beyond the skill of a shooter will allow. Agree that foxes are a controversial subject with the .17, but a head shot anchors them very nicely at 100 yards; lights out.

Thats some nice shooting Duncan