22 Hornet, 17Hmr, 22-250, 222, 223 Options

[hutchey 147]

Hi foolks

 

I'm looking at a dedicated NV rifle for Rabbit and Fox, what are your thoughts on these in terms of say:

 

Rifle cost

Ammo cost

Quietness

etc

 

Cheers, i'm off to google a bit more too

[charlie caller 3,654]

.22 hornet or .222 or .17rem would be my choice, the first two are reasonably quiet, the .17 will let you shoot foxes a little bit further and is one deadly flat shooting round, to be honest with a nv set up you are not going to be shooting foxes @300 yards probably more like -150 yards so a hornet will do all you want at that distance, personally I would go for the .222 super accurate, dead easy to reload for, cheap rifles, plenty of ammo available, quiet (in cf terms) and will drop foxes @ 250 yards all day (or night in your case) a nice light CZ 527 with a PES end can will do the job nicely Hutchey

[dadioles 68]

You say that you want the night vision for rabbit and fox but I wonder what is the balance between the two.

 

If you intend to eat the rabbit and rabbit is the main quarry, use a .22lr with the night vision. You will shoot fairly flat from 35 to 60 yards and you will not want to be shooting any further than that on rabbits as you will only have 5x magnification or thereabouts with dedicated night vision.

 

Noise is a major issue in some areas at night. Where I am even the .17 hmr would be unsociable. You may not want to attract attention.

 

If fox is an important quarry and you need to shoot fox at ranges greater than about 60 yards you really are in centrefire mode and I do not have any experience that would be useful to you.

 

What is the most significant quarry? How much does noise matter?

[slipper 116]

I am thinking of the same, a nightvision setup, think I am going to get the hornet as I enjoy reloading and the nifty little round just appeals to me, light, quiet and plenty of wack for ginger nuts

[hutchey 147]

This is the thing, i like to be quiet and unobtrusive and i do like my 22 but in a lot of instances i cant use the 243 at night for both noise and overkill for the distance that night vision restricts us to safely.

I seriously thought about the 17hmr but it is oddly quite loud even with a mod.

If i had to choose then it would be more on the fox side

[Alsone 789]

Nothings going to be that quiet even with a moderator if supersonic, there's the biggest issue.

 

Different calibres do have differing muzzle blasts so you can lose some noise there, but you'd be surprised how much of the noise actually comes from the supersonic crack.

 

Get a box of .22 HV and put them through your LR with the moderator on. I going to bet you will be surprised at the volume of the report. When I was out shooting with my friend, I did exactly that, (shoot a HV out of a moderated Sako Finfire that's almost totally silent with a sub (quieter than my precharged 12ftlb moderated air rifle!)), and the noise echoed around the valley we were in 3 or 4 times off hills at least 2 miles as the crow flies away.

 

I can't comment on the quietest of the suggested calibres as I have no experience with any of them, but just be aware, the only quiet calibre is a sub sonic one!

[SportingShooter 0]

If noise is an issue and you need a suitable Fox round then it can only be the .22 Hornet.

 

It makes a noise, any of the rifles you mention will make a noise, but the hornet is the quietest a centrefire is ever going to get.

 

I shoot a .222 alongside my friends .22 Hornet and I notice a major difference. I thought my .222 was quiet enough.

 

The Hornet is very cheap to reload so recreational rabbit shooting numbers aren't going to break the bank.

[Deker 3,478]

If noise is an issue and you need a suitable Fox round then it can only be the .22 Hornet.

 

It makes a noise, any of the rifles you mention will make a noise, but the hornet is the quietest a centrefire is ever going to get.

 

I shoot a .222 alongside my friends .22 Hornet and I notice a major difference. I thought my .222 was quiet enough.

 

The Hornet is very cheap to reload so recreational rabbit shooting numbers aren't going to break the bank.

 

:yes:

 

How far away are these foxes, how many rabbits? There can be few situations where one calibre is the answer!

 

 

[charlie caller 3,654]

Hornet or .222 then Hutchey, they are your choices, if you are going to shoot any amount of rabbits, it has to be the hornet, if foxes are the main target, the hornet will flatten them out to 200yards with a good reload, .the .222 another 50-100 yards, but here is the rub, factory ammo for the hornet is generally crap (with the exception of Hornady 35gn vmax) and rather pedestrian, factory ammo for the .222 is generally good, and I have yet to see a round my mates .222 wont shoot, including the cheap and cheerful Prvi Partisan stuff, to get the best out of a hornet you MUST reload for it, if you decide on the hornet, drop me a pm and I will go into length about reloading for it, something I got pretty damn good at when I had mine.

[Cedric 132]

What is it that makes one round/calibre louder than another ? I've no experience of the .22 Hornet but from what I read the noise level is managable. The moderator on my .17hmr takes away most of the muzzle blast, leaving only the sonic crack. Is this louder on faster/ larger rounds? Or is it the amount of powder that increases blast? I do notice that HV .22 lr rounds seem louder than my .17.

[charlie caller 3,654]

Yes basically it is the amount of gases produced by the powder, hence a .22-250 will be a lot louder than a .22 hornet for instance, both using the same moderator, and both firing a .224 bullet, the hornet burns around 12 grains of powder, the .22-250 around 40 grains, even though they fire the same bullet.

[Born Hunter 17,763]

The rapidly expanding gases should be contained by a decent moderator. The magnitude of the shock wave generated with a supersonic projectile should be dependant on projectile geometry and velocity I'd of thought. All things being equal, a higher velocity projectile will create a larger shock wave and appear louder.

[hutchey 147]

Nothings going to be that quiet even with a moderator if supersonic, there's the biggest issue.

 

Different calibres do have differing muzzle blasts so you can lose some noise there, but you'd be surprised how much of the noise actually comes from the supersonic crack.

 

Get a box of .22 HV and put them through your LR with the moderator on. I going to bet you will be surprised at the volume of the report. When I was out shooting with my friend, I did exactly that, (shoot a HV out of a moderated Sako Finfire that's almost totally silent with a sub (quieter than my precharged 12ftlb moderated air rifle!)), and the noise echoed around the valley we were in 3 or 4 times off hills at least 2 miles as the crow flies away.

 

I can't comment on the quietest of the suggested calibres as I have no experience with any of them, but just be aware, the only quiet calibre is a sub sonic one!

Tried that but my rifle was spitting them out and didn't give me a lot of confidence even on targets in the daytime.

[charlie caller 3,654]

The rapidly expanding gases should be contained by a decent moderator. The magnitude of the shock wave generated with a supersonic projectile should be dependant on projectile geometry and velocity I'd of thought. All things being equal, a higher velocity projectile will create a larger shock wave and appear louder.

Strange then that my .22 hornet was quieter than my pals .17hmr 35grain bullet@ 3100fps @ the muzzle, compared with a 17 grain bullet @ 2550 fps @ the muzzle, and that was with the same moderator on each rifle, curious eh ?

[hutchey 147]

Hornet or .222 then Hutchey, they are your choices, if you are going to shoot any amount of rabbits, it has to be the hornet, if foxes are the main target, the hornet will flatten them out to 200yards with a good reload, .the .222 another 50-100 yards, but here is the rub, factory ammo for the hornet is generally crap (with the exception of Hornady 35gn vmax) and rather pedestrian, factory ammo for the .222 is generally good, and I have yet to see a round my mates .222 wont shoot, including the cheap and cheerful Prvi Partisan stuff, to get the best out of a hornet you MUST reload for it, if you decide on the hornet, drop me a pm and I will go into length about reloading for it, something I got pretty damn good at when I had mine.

Hmmm. I'm not into reloading as i don't really have the time or patience

That probablt rules out the Hornet for me then.

 

I've just gone through a basic ballistic calculator for Winchester Ammo on calibres 17hmr, 204 Ruger, 22 hornet, 22-250, 220 Swift, 222, 223 and there are some interesting findings.

204, 22-250 came out quite good but i know its only paper theory etc.

 

I've also got to think about safety of course and ensure that what i hit doesn't have the bullet coming through the other side and heading off into the galaxy.

Hence why i dont use the 243 when its dark, especially when there's sheep in fields behind.