Well i have gone and done it!

[ianm 2,594]

After much deliberation on what to fill my vacant slot with i opted for a calibre and got a variation done last week.

The original slot was for a .22 semi auto which was as much use to me as a dose of cholera, due to there not being many rabbits about.

I thought about another small c/f like a 22 hornet but eventually decided against it because i didn't want to be reloading another calibre. I had previously had a 17 hornet and dismissed that because reloading for it is a faff and factory ammo is far too expensive. 

I also had to think about which rifle i wanted and to be honest my choice won't be everyones cup of tea. I want a couple of my grandkids to shoot this rifle as well, so realistically it would have to be rimfire because of the amount of ammo it is likely to shoot.

So the choice would have to be 17 wsm, 17 hmr or 22 wmr. 17 wsm was discounted because they are only available in a savage rifle which i couldn't live with. 17 hmr i had owned before and hadn't been happy with at all but as i have previously stated, the rifle was second hand and was more than likely on the edge of being shot out.

I didn't want another cz, i have one in .22lr and the hmr i had was a cz. After a fair bit of trawling i decided on a particular rifle due to two reasons. The first being everyone that has used one says they are very accurate and the second is replacement barrels are available at very reasonable cost and can be fit in fifteen minutes by anyone with a set of the correct spanners and head space gauges. 

So today i had a ride to Derbyshire and bought my new rifle and moderator. A Ruger precision in 17 HMR  and a Wildcat Panther.

I decided to give this calibre another fair crack of the whip due in no small part to SD who like me had nothing good to say about it but now quite likes it.

Anyway as the saying goes "you pays your money and takes your chance". I will be happy if it fits the bill, if not i will get rid and replace it with something else. 

 

[BenBhoy 4,706]

[Sausagedog 7,381]

Nice one.

I know someone that shoots a ruger precision.  Loves it.

 

I shot 18 crows and 11 squirrels Sunday in that fog. 

You'll be OK. Humble pie don't taste to bad

[Dervburner 2,549]

Bleddy turncoat.....

 

 

 

[BenBhoy 4,706]

What you putting on top of it Ian?

[ianm 2,594]

4 hours ago, BenBhoy said:

What you putting on top of it Ian?

For the moment i have put my Minox 3-15x56 on it. It's a bit much scope for it to be honest but it will enable me to zero and test which rounds (if any) it likes. It will also give me time to decide which scope i want to put on it and then i will buy one at a later date. 

[Dervburner 2,549]

I can see the logic in your choice of rifle Ian, with the adjustable stock for your grandchildren to use. Hopefully you will get on ok with it...

 

edit to say, the wildcat panther is very good on hmr, good choice.

Edited December 22, 2021 by Dervburner

[Deker 3,478]

Not particularly familiar with those so it will be interesting to see how you get on. 

The HMR has come in for a lot of flack, but that revolves almost exclusively around the ammo, yes, it's susceptible to the wind as well, but nowhere near as much as .22lr so that's a bit unfair! 

I rate it highly for field use, even managed to get it on the target once at 600 yards at Bisley, hope you are happy with yours!

I get the impression HMR ammo has improved a lot over the last few years (splits/squibs/misfires etc) but I'm not sure, have they found another way of annealing the cases or whatever, anyone throw any light on that?

Cheers

[Sausagedog 7,381]

All I have noticed Deker is that, to me, the brass looks more yellow than the stuff that fails.

Maybe they just added or got the copper content right.

Any how. I don't have issues with the current ammo.

[Deker 3,478]

2 hours ago, Sausagedog said:

All I have noticed Deker is that, to me, the brass looks more yellow than the stuff that fails.

Maybe they just added or got the copper content right.

Any how. I don't have issues with the current ammo.

That's good to hear, I've still got a lot of old stock.

Bought in bulk to save money and kept stock high, working through it so I'll be getting some new stuff soon.

[FLATTOP 4,345]

34 minutes ago, Deker said:

That's good to hear, I've still got a lot of old stock.

Bought in bulk to save money and kept stock high, working through it so I'll be getting some new stuff soon.

I’m just coming to the end of my old stock and Sausage is right the old stuff was a lot duller in colour I just emptied a box of 50 into my bullet pouch and the shiny colour really stood out, I’ve only ever used one type Remington 17gn in about 12 ish years ownership and I’ve not had a squib split neck in ages hopefully there on top of it

[ianm 2,594]

On 22/12/2021 at 10:05, Dervburner said:

I can see the logic in your choice of rifle Ian, with the adjustable stock for your grandchildren to use. Hopefully you will get on ok with it...

 

edit to say, the wildcat panther is very good on hmr, good choice.

That and i can adjust it for a n/v add on if required.

Well i didn't get off to the best of starts with this rifle. On Wednesday i went with my mate to zero and test ammunition. After half a dozen shots it became obvious that the scope was at the end of its travel and i still needed to go down another 12". So we packed up and went home to investigate and change the scope.

The scope was changed for something my mate had knocking about spare. Then we spotted the problem. When i asked the kid in the shop for a Wildcat Panther he said that they just touch the handrail so they fit a washer under the mod to give it clearance. I thought okay he seems to know what he is doing. Anyway there was a lot of coming and going but to be honest i didn't pay much attention because i was looking at scopes and other stuff. Eventually the mod was screwed on the rifle and he declared it good to go. I asked if he had fit a washer and he said no i have used an o ring. I should of picked up on the problem with that but i was thinking of other things. 

So the upshot of all this is the mod wasn't sat squarely on the rifles shoulder and being calibre specific and a small hole the bullets had been clipping the mod, hence why the scope wouldn't adjust to compensate. Anyhow after a phone call and an email sent with pictures they have agreed to replace the mod. I will continue to use this until after the new year now and then get it replaced. The annoying thing is it didn't need any spacing at all, it clears the handguard without. Hopefully i will get out Boxing day to have another go!   

[Wolfdog91 6,875]

Well holy shit I'm legit surprised ,thought y'all where all fancy tikka's and the like

[BenBhoy 4,706]

1 hour ago, ianm said:

hence why the scope wouldn't adjust to compensate

So you're original scope would have been alright!? 

[ianm 2,594]

1 hour ago, Wolfdog91 said:

Well holy shit I'm legit surprised ,thought y'all where all fancy tikka's and the like

Could you possibly do that in English old bean, colonial linguistics isn't a strong suit here. 

47 minutes ago, BenBhoy said:

So you're original scope would have been alright!? 

Yes i reckon so, i have had it on several rifles and it has been flawless.