Is The Hmr Really A 200 Yard Rifle?

[Brickhill 28]

A V-Max 17g bullet will be doing roughly 1378 FPS and will be delivering 73 ft/lbs of energy at 200 yards. Surely this is plenty for dispatching small vermin. It's putting the bullet on the target that's the trickier bit.

[celticrusader 78]

Ofcourse and its needed in some areas, its not the velocity nor the power I think the main gripe is the effect to wind and days of pure still and no wind are few and far between, also if you have land which is secluded and sheltered then you must draw on your skills to do so..personally I really like the hmr but then I haven't used the hornet calibres which said are there next compared to.

Mainly rabbits are what I go for and headshots are not always going to present themselves..i also have no need for that range quite yet.

[shropshire dan 467]

Hornet rounds cost alot more than hmr rounds. So no comparison imo

[paulus 26]

Tarzan only had a knife and field-craft and he tackled lions

[celticrusader 78]

Depends if cost is not a factor..is it cheaper if you reload though?.. I've been told its too much for rabbits.

[shropshire dan 467]

Not sure on cost. But i doubt any CF ammo will cost less than a HMR

[celticrusader 78]

I can get hornady 17hmr for £10.99 in one store but since i live quite a distance between all stores in my area I have to get it when the situation is best suited as the travelling could make it not worth my while.

[shropshire dan 467]

Your looking £18+ for 25 .17 hornet rounds

 

 

http://www.dauntseyguns.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=HORN-83005

Edited June 5, 2014 by shropshire dan

[hutchey 147]

What ever happened to field craft ?over the years I have met many a man that could shoot targets that I could but dream of but ask them to stalk to within 25yards of a rabbit and it's laughable, Personally I believe this is why the 17 is so popular today's hunter wants instant results they get a fac and a 17 and there they are gunny Hathcock able to snipe rabbits in the next county it takes no time nor knowledge yet in their minds they are rabbit snipers par excellence

 

And with my 223 hopefully lol

[alan81 110]

there's no point in comparing the HMR to the Hornet one is a RF and the other a CF. its like comparing a .243 to a .300 WIN MAG. the only calibre the HMR can be compared to is the .22WMR and the HMR outperforms the WMR by a fair bit. what I have to laugh at is most of the HMR haters love the inferior WMR. If the Hornet has to be compared to a RF then wait a few years until the .17WSM gets up and running (if it ever does).

Yes the HMR is a 200 yard rifle.

[celticrusader 78]

How are the hornets effected by the wind in comparison to a hmr (is it similar to a .223) and what would be the difference between the 17 hornets and 22 hornets, since i use a hmr for rabbits and the opportunity fox should it arise would one of the above mentioned do a better job, there are mitigating factors for some as price is not an option for many and lets say i was interested in reloading.

Has someone else gone from hmr to one of the hornets and could they tell me theyre pros and cons.

[SportingShooter 0]

I've no experience of a .17 Hornet, it's pretty new round that I haven't seen or heard much on since it's release,

 

I've used a .22 Hornet on many occasions, put simply it's the lowest powered centrefire rifle, knocking out about 750 ft/lbs at the muzzle (HMR is 250).

 

The small case and wide availability of components (.224 heads/small rifle primers) makes the Hornet a very cheap calibre to reload, you're talking pence per round. If the HMR ammo becomes slightly more expensive than it is now then I wouldn't mind betting that you could reload a Hornet for the same price. The difference will be minimal and if you have to travel for your ammunition, if you include fuel into the price of the ammunition, I dare say it would be cheaper to run a Hornet.

 

My rough calculations put the HMR around 24p per round, a reloaded Hornet roughly 26p not including initial outlay on cases.

 

With your homeloads you have accuracy when you find the right combination. In my book that makes it a far better long range varmint round which bucks the wind a lot better than a HMR.

 

They are also a much better Fox tool with an effective range of around 200 yards for your average shooter.

[Deker 3,478]

What we have here is experimentation/limited choice. Even your .22lr is perfectly capable of stopping rabbits at 200 yards.

 

If I'm off out and know to expect my quarry at 200 yards then I do not reach for my lr, HMR or WMR, but it's business, I have tools for the job, so I use the most appropriate.

 

As well as field work I use my all my rimfires on the range out to 200 yards regularly, I have also used my HMR at 600 yards and eventually got it on the black. Target work is not field work!

 

ATB!

[celticrusader 78]

Thanks for the info guys, as I've been out recently with a mate who uses his .223 on rabbits ive been curious as to the hornets role on rabbits and knowing that its obviously more suited for fox and it seems with reloading taken into account that the price difference may not be that much if I was to consider getting a centerfire to go into the reloading.... Still I'm going to read into this on the hornet variants and to see the effects on rabbits and if either one would be a possibility.

Edited June 6, 2014 by celticrusader

[Deker 3,478]

Thanks for the info guys, as I've been out recently with a mate who uses his .223 on rabbits ive been curious as to the hornets role on rabbits and knowing that its obviously more suited for fox and it seems with reloading taken into account that the price difference may not be that much if I was to consider getting a centerfire to go into the reloading.... Still I'm going to read into this on the hornet variants and to see the effects on rabbits and if either one would be a possibility.

You can blow a rabbits head off with a .308 and leave it very edible, or put a .243 V Max or .223 V Max into it and end up like this! Effect is down to ammo, placement and distance!