Which Calibre

[Sausagedog 7,381]

Oh no guys he said the 204 thingy word 

 

 

 

If big H had got the old 6mm flobert case and necked it to 5mm (.20") and got a 20grn doing 2500+ they would of primed easier for starters and work better on anything better than mice!

[Born Hunter 17,622]

These 'best calibre' threads always get weird! 

[Elliott 436]

For me, 17HMR, 22 Hornet or 204 Ruger. All depends on the range you plan to shoot your quarry and the quantity. 

If it's mainly foxes, go 22 Hornet or 204. If it's high volume rabbits and ocassional 100 yard crow & fox, I'd go 17 HMR.

If it's low volume, a mixture and you need to stretch the range, I'd go 22 Hornet or 204 Ruger.

I'd recommend reloading if you go down the centrefire route, too. Both for accuracy / consistency and cost effectiveness. 

Edited August 30, 2019 by Elliott

[JR Yipp 111]

308 would suit, decent round out to about 75 yards on rabbits.

[Sausagedog 7,381]

5 hours ago, JR Yipp said:

308 would suit, decent round out to about 75 yards on rabbits.

Absolutely. Done that, been there and got the t shirt

[Alsone 789]

On 28/08/2019 at 09:01, Meece said:

I'm not a fan of the 1.7.

Maybe you're missing something.

.17 Hornet is considered to be on a par with, if not better than .22 Hornet. Flies flatter and you wouldn't want to mess with .25 gr. Hmr and WSM paste their only .22 rimfire equivalent for power and terminal damage.

Here's a little vid on the .17 mouse killer. Personally, I wouldn't want to be that piece of steel at 100yds hit with the 25gr Hornet or the WSM. Way to ruin a good 1/4 thick steel target and the accuracy of the 2nd Hornet shot!
 

 

[kenj 131]

Interesting to see the 17 WSM in action. Is anyone on here using a 17 WSM for rabbits, or foxes? Heard that they are no good on rabbits, if you want to eat them?

[Sausagedog 7,381]

1 hour ago, kenj said:

Interesting to see the 17 WSM in action. Is anyone on here using a 17 WSM for rabbits, or foxes? Heard that they are no good on rabbits, if you want to eat them?

Not me bro, give me a nudge when they come out with a .25" version.

[Alsone 789]

4 hours ago, kenj said:

Interesting to see the 17 WSM in action. Is anyone on here using a 17 WSM for rabbits, or foxes? Heard that they are no good on rabbits, if you want to eat them?

Head shoot them! Anything with hydrostatic shocking potential is no good for rabbits in the body if you want them for the table. A .17 HMR will make a real mess  of a rabbit.

As for .17wsm, the issue is low availability of rifles. One gun dealer's site I looked at had the ammo listed at £69 for 50. Dauntsey Guns though, has them in now at £17.95 for 50 which is only around £1 more than the price of .17 HMR. Only drawback is it's the 20gr ammo, and the tests above suggest the 25gr is much harder hitting.

Either way, I think the calibre still has potential, but I'd wait to see if it takes off a little more before committing given the very low availability in the UK. In the US, probably more worth a gamble.

[walshie 2,804]

5 hours ago, kenj said:

Interesting to see the 17 WSM in action. Is anyone on here using a 17 WSM for rabbits, or foxes? Heard that they are no good on rabbits, if you want to eat them?

If you want to shoot rabbits for the table, a 22lr is the tool for the job. 

[Deker 3,450]

8 hours ago, walshie said:

If you want to shoot rabbits for the table, a 22lr is the tool for the job. 

The Air Gun boys may say something about that! 

[kenj 131]

When I renewed my licence last year, I put a 17 WSM on as a variation hoping that CZ would come up with the calibre, but Savage seem to be the only one in my price range and don't like the feel of the plastic stock, or the bolt. I shoot rabbits with air rifles on one park permission. I prefer my Magtech 22lr for rabbits, but most of my permissions are wide open, where my CZ 452 HMR works well, but is subject to wind. Finally, last year I head shot a called in fox in long grass with the HMR and the bullet appeared to bounce off at 60 yards, The fox ran off, but was dead, when I found it half a mile away. The wound was above the right eye, where the bullet seemed to have disintegrated and not penetrated. A heavier, faster bullet from a WSM would have dropped it. For fox I prefer a shot to the bib.

[Alsone 789]

Never heard of splash with an HMR before. That said, it can potentially happen with any calibre. Personally, I'd prefer to be using a bit more weight and punch for fox even though 60yds is within the max range of .22LR. The Hornets (.17, .22) would make sense here if that's your typical range or WMR.

Ever thought of FAC Air for long range rabbits? That's another possibility and as you already have an FAC and air rifle, depending on the type, it might just be a valve or spring swop. You can always keep the old one and have it switched back before a sale.

Can't see .17 WSM on Savage's website anymore so beware, it maybe discontinued.

[Sausagedog 7,381]

32 minutes ago, Alsone said:

Never heard of splash with an HMR before. That said, it can potentially happen with any calibre. Personally, I'd prefer to be using a bit more weight and punch for fox even though 60yds is within the max range of .22LR. The Hornets (.17, .22) would make sense here if that's your typical range or WMR.

Ever thought of FAC Air for long range rabbits? That's another possibility and as you already have an FAC and air rifle, depending on the type, it might just be a valve or spring swop. You can always keep the old one and have it switched back before a sale.

Can't see .17 WSM on Savage's website anymore so beware, it maybe discontinued.

An air rifle, once registered as requiring an FAC can not be returned to non FAC.

[Alsone 789]

18 hours ago, Sausagedog said:

An air rifle, once registered as requiring an FAC can not be returned to non FAC.

Didn't know that. Another very restrictive and pointless law provided it's non fac power was certified following re-conversion.

I must also correct myself earlier on .17wsm. It isn't discontinued. I thought it maybe as this morning I couldn't find it on Savage's website (maybe being updated?). However, a search tonight shows 5 versions of the .17 wsm B-Mag now, so an expansion!

BTW, 3 out of the 5 are laminated wood stocks so it should be possible for a registered firearm and Savage Arms dealer to order a wood one if there aren't any in this country. The models are here and the wood stocks are quite tasty:

https://www.savagearms.com/content?p=firearms&a=all&fcfire=off&frfire=off&fmsr=off&fshotgun=off&frfireshot=off&f17hor=off&f17hm2=off&f22hor=off&f17wsm=on&f204rug=off&f22lr=off&f222rem=off&f22wmr=off&f224val=off&f22250rem=off&f243win=off&f6nor=off&f2506rem=off&f6mmcre=off&f260rem=off&f65nor=off&f270win=off&f270wsm=off&f708rem=off&f65cre=off&f308pal=off&f308win=off&f3006spr=off&f300mag=off&f300wsm=off&f338fed=off&f338lap=off&f338mag=off&f350=off&f375rug=off&f450bus=off&f17hmr=off&f223rem=off&f7mag=off&f280ack=off&f223556=off&f65prc=off&f12ga=off&f16ga=off&f20ga=off&f28ga=off&f410ga=off&fhunting=off&fcomp=off&flongrange=off&&fpred=off&fsmallgame=off&ftact=off&ftarget=off&fvarmint=off&ffox=off&fsteve=off&f12var=off&fa=off&faxis=off&fb=off&fhunter=off&flr=off&fmagnum=off&fmark=off&f110=off&f64=off&fmsrs=off&fsingleshot=off&fspecial=off&ftarg=off&ftrophy=off&fvarm=off&fyouth=off&faccustock=off&faccutrigger=off&falum=off&fambidex=off&fbwalnut=off&fbolt=off&fbreak=off&fcompact=off&fdisemi=off&fhardwood=off&fleft=off&fover=off&fpump=off&fsemi=off&fside=off&fsynthetic=off&ftake=off&fthreaded=off&ftwalnut=off&fbeech=off&flam=off&fwalnut=off&fbox=off&fhinged=off&frotary=off&fsingle=off&ftop=off&ftube=off&fsamt=

 

Edited September 16, 2019 by Alsone