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dadioles

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Everything posted by dadioles

  1. To put things in perspective, I have heard that sales of HMR ammunition are in excess of 5 million rounds per annum in the UK alone. What it could be worldwide will be a very big number indeed. HMR ammunition is far more consistent than .22lr and in my view is quite a remarkable piece of ammunition. It certainly has its place alongside my .22lr rifles. Different tools for different jobs. Unfortunately it has become fashionable to bash the HMR and yet I rather expect that it is possibly one of the safest and accurate cartridges on the market, particularly when you take into account the
  2. Don't see how this fits in the discussion on the safety of using the HMR. The rifle should be lethal on its quarry, not on its user.... Simple.... Many of us, and I include myself, get a bit complacent after a few years incident free shooting. It takes an accident like the one described to wake us up a bit. If the shooter concerned was paying more attention, he would have noticed that a shot did not sound quite right and not fired a second round until investigating what happened to the first. It would only take a moment to remove the bolt and take a look up the barrel.
  3. I supply my local wildlife park with rabbits for their snakes and big cats. They are head shot with .22lr and they like to have the heads left on. The bullets expand but do not tend to fragment. I only give them the ones where I am confident that the bullet has exited but it would be interesting to have a few x-rayed to see if there are lead fragments left behind. There was talk of using a small hand held metal detector but I expect that would be deluding yourself as I cannot imagine it being sensitive enough to detect fine particles of lead. HMR bullets fragment like crazy and bits go
  4. Oh well.... someone has to defend the hmr...... might as well be me. A brilliant round with hundreds of millions sold every year and widely used all over the world by people of all ages and abilities. After thousands of rounds fired I have never had a problem and I cannot see how I would fail to notice a hangfire unless not paying attention, I could be wrong there. You were not injured. Maybe that is testimony to the strength of the rifle and an indication that they are designed to protect you from such an event even though the rifle is written off. We all need reminding from
  5. Hi let'sshoot Don't misunderstand me..... It is frustrating to see someone struggling, and being advised to spend money, to set up a rifle and scope when the basics have not been followed. You have been allowed ownership of a centrefire rifle but do not seem to understand how to use it. That may sound harsh but actually I am on your side. How is someone supposed to learn these things? Apart from these forums, or having a knowledgeable mate, or joining a club (not my thing either), you are really left to fathom it out yourself, and it tends to be the blind leading the blind. Your p
  6. This is a really frustrating thread and it seems the OP and quite a few of the contributors simply do not have a clue how to set up a rifle with scope and mounts. It is pretty basic stuff but you do have to be slow and methodical. Why oh why have you not adjusted the scope to bring the bullets closer to the centre of the target. If you cannot see where some of the bullets are striking, use a bigger target!!!! or at least set things up so that your groups are nearer the middle and not in the bottom right hand corner. I need to go and lie down......
  7. You will not see any meaningful difference in the trajectory of the bullet when shooting in the rain unless you are into long distance targets (over 300 yards). If the rain is heavy, you will not see very far so your distance is limited, maybe 100 yards at best. It is still the wind that makes the biggest difference. The biggest effect of rain is on the shooter.
  8. Looking at your targets I can see why you are not happy with the groups but I could not help wondering why you do not appear to have adjusted the scope to bring the shots nearer to the centre of the target, even after the first bullet. Have you got the elevation and windage adjustment on your scope set centrally? or is it near the end stops? Personally I think most mounts are adequate as there is not a huge amount of recoil so don't be in too much of a hurry to spend more money. Maybe your gun does not like that ammunition but start methodically with the basics of setting up a new
  9. Yes.... but which gun did you get? Eagerly waiting in anticipation......
  10. I am not sure why so many people shy away from asking for the permission to be confirmed in writing. One possibility is that a fair number of people lack the confidence to be able to draft a suitable letter and therefore avoid the issue. Others may take the view that it is pointless, their word is good enough. Personally, I NEVER regularly shoot on land for which I only have verbal permission and ALWAYS get the landowner, farmer or whoever to sign and date a note that I have pre- prepared for them. It has never been an issue and adds a more professional touch. We each have a copy
  11. I have not yet had a duff hmr round with the effect you describe. Presumably the main charge is not igniting? Just the primer? Did you not hear a significant difference in the 'bang'. That surprises me. If your rifle is moderated, the bit of the 'bang' that takes place in the barrel is not too loud. The loud 'crack' is when the bullet goes supersonic and is responsible for most of the noise. I do not understand how you failed to notice the missing supersonic bit of the sound and only realised there was a problem by a missing hole in the target. I would hazard a guess that y
  12. That is quite a lot to remember and you have got a huge kill zone. Your kill zone is 3 inches in diameter which is bigger than a rabbits head. Add in some room for error and a bit of wind and I think you risk too much wounding or at best, body shots which with the hmr is messy and taints the meat. For me, the drop at 200 yards is only of academic interest. 150 yards is a long shot on a rabbit and getting to the 'more luck than judgement' range. There is no substitute for shooting at paper targets, what works for Chuck Hawkes may not be the same for you and your gun. If you are shoo
  13. Fox is not 'good reason' for having hmr or any rimfire. When you already have hmr and aolq there is nothing wrong with using it to shoot fox in appropriate circumstances. Personally, I do not think those circumstances stretch beyond 100 yards and generally a lot closer. The same applies to the .22lr, although with even less distance. Sadly, a lot of people just could not care less...... If it moves... shoot it... if you wound it.... so what... it is only vermin.
  14. Just ask for fox as your 'reason' and aolq. These days aolq is being applied more as standard. You only need one 'reason'. It is a bit hit and miss whether or not they will open your ticket. No harm in asking.
  15. Do you have a clue what you are talking about?
  16. This is such a misunderstood topic. Daft as it might sound, I even know people who think the bullet climbs when it leaves the barrel before slowing and descending. Let us start by assuming that you got the hmr because you want to shoot things like rabbits at reasonable distances (If you want to shoot quietly at yards or less a .22lr is more appropriate). Let us also assume that you want to maximise the 'flat' shooting potential of the hmr rather than shoot everything at a fixed distance. Here is the trajectory of my own rifle using Hornady 17gr V-Max. In your case you need to sh
  17. Personally I like a higher magnification. My shooting tends to be more of the 'sniper' variety and I have time to set up the shot so do not have to worry too much about a wide field of vision. A rabbit head at 100 yards with just a 9x scope is still quite small. Comments about centrefire are not really relevant because of the size of the target. A head shot on a rabbit at 100 yards with an hmr is a smaller target than a shoulder / chest shot on a fox at 200 yards with a .223 Try a 24x scope, you don't have to use it at 24x but it is handy to have the possibility.
  18. Not many of the answers given offer any explanation of why the first group of 5 shots were placed differently to the second group of shots.
  19. Hi Elliott Assuming that all the bullets were out of the same box the most logical explanation is that your scope shifted. Ignoring the flier..... Your first group shot low and your second group shot high. It was not as though some bullets shot low and some high as you would expect if they were loaded differently or weighed differently. This was the first group, low - second group, high. As though 'something' changed between the shooting of the two groups. Each of the two groups is a similar size, so your shooting is consistent (and very good if I may say so). The que
  20. I am new to centrefire and have a slot for .223 (quite fancy Tikka T3 Lite Hunter). Until recently I had not come across the practicalities of 'floor plate' or 'magazine' and although, obviously, I am used to magazines - what are the pro's and con's of a floor plate? My instinct is to stick to a magazine, am I wrong?
  21. The only thing about using a 'near zero' is that it does not show much of an error. It is, however, good for a quick check. You can only zero accurately at true shooting distances. Zero could be chosen by the distance that you most frequently shoot or perhaps (with reference to a trajectory graph) to whatever gives you the flattest shooting. There are no rules. It is whatever distance suits you, your rifle and ammunition, your target or quarry.
  22. I suppose the first consideration has to be whether or not you have an open licence otherwise shooting in your shed would be illegal. The next point is why you need a fowling shot. I don't. As far as a bullet trap is concerned. I have found a simple sack of sand in front of some bricks pretty adequate for the odd test shot. Even a cardboard box with telephone directories and magazine stacked face on about 6 inches deep holds the bullets quite well. Just make sure the bullet cannot bounce out at you. Others will have better suggestions....
  23. Just ask for 'any other lawful quarry' on your licence and then it is up to you if you use your .22lr or .17hmr against fox. It is then perfectly legal. Without AOLQ or specific mention of Fox you are in a grey untested area of law and that is not a comfortable place to be. Most forces will not allow either round as 'good reason' based on fox. 'Good reason' for either round is for vermin control. In appropriate circumstances both calibres are excellent for fox. Ask for a fox condition against either calibre and you may be turned down. AOLQ is being used widely on the new style cer
  24. Good luck with your new rifle and enjoy the time spent finding the best ammunition. No two rifles shot the same so any advice about ammunition is fairly meaningless. Just buy a box each of whatever your local dealers routinely hold in stock and try it out. You will possibly see a significant difference. Stick to subsonic expanding ammunition. When you have discovered which make gives you the tightest group, purchase as much as you are allowed and stick with it. Price should not really be a consideration as non of it is particularly expensive in the grand scheme of things, you
  25. I reckon you may see a significant difference between some of those bullets. It is whatever your gun likes. No rhyme or reason. Shoot 5 shots of each at different targets always aiming exactly at the bullseye at about 60 yards in still air off a bipod. That is far enough to start showing a difference. Don't try and alter your zero or adjust the scope. It does not matter where the bullets actually hit because you are looking for whatever chambers smoothly in your rifle and gives the tightest group. Fire a couple of 'wasters' when you change from one brand to another before the a
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