Fairweather takes another.

[walshie 2,804]

1 hour ago, Alsone said:

For me .22LR has 2 functions - 1 if you want to sell rabbits, the other if you need almost total silence. Once you depart from either criteria, I see little use as per Sausage. Yes it's the world's most popular calibre, but that's largely because being the bottom of the stack of the mainstream calibres for performance, meaning it's the ideal 1st rifle for kids, so everyone starts off with and owns a .22lr. For adults, certainly it has the 2 roles I mentioned, but for me the downsides of limited range, limited species and a high risk of ricochet all outweigh it for any other use scenario. .17 hmr was always interesting but had issues with cracked cases and duds. Now those issues seem to becoming past issues ever more, it's becoming a better rf tool in my opinion than LR for all but the 2 scenarios mentioned. Of course there are others, wsm to name but one, but they've been inflicted with the same issues hmr once had. Who knows in 10yrs time, maybe we'll be extolling the virtues of wsm, then again, maybe no-one will have heard of it by then.

I personally would like to see someone load a usable high performance rf, and a high performance cf .17. For me, both are lacking atm. WSM came close in rf, but fell at the 1st hurdle for a cartridge to take off - reliability. .17 CF has failed so far because of light bullets and thus also limited energy down range. Hopefully the new super high pressure cases may allow the use of heavy boat tailed bullets bullets of 40gr or so, and thus more energy, destructive power and range from a .17. An easy to reload cartridge would also go a long way to increasing popularity of mainstream .17.

A 22lr is a kid's rifle now. FFS. 

[Alsone 789]

No . It's long been said it's the reason it's the world's most popular calibre because most buy one as their child's 1st rifle. Outside of the UK, many learn to shoot from a young age, and along with Cadet Corps, Scouts etc, use them. Although the UK's never been big on firearms, a lot of the posher shcools back in the 50's used to teach shooting and have rifle ranges on site. .22lr was always the go to starter calibe. Then there were fairs. Even though I'm not that old, I shot a .22 rf on the seafront at Blackpool as a kid in what could only be described as a burger van sized rifle stall. The guy used percussion caps. Try getting H&S to licence that these days - firing a .22 in a 6ft wide transit van with as guy handing you a firearm ouside of the van and walking between you and the target!

Edited August 9, 2020 by Alsone

[shovel leaner 7,648]

I have been struggling with the question, what is the perfect calibre for me to take around with me on my journeys around the shoot during the day . I may want to dispatch a fox in a snare , or shoot a squirrel or get a rabbit for the Larsen trap , or maybe a fox at 200 or 300 meters as it makes its way up a hedgerow. At last I’ve found the perfect solution to the age old question. 
          Simples , I take two rifles, a 22lr and a .243 .

[FOXHUNTER 5,020]

48 minutes ago, shovel leaner said:

I have been struggling with the question, what is the perfect calibre for me to take around with me on my journeys around the shoot during the day . I may want to dispatch a fox in a snare , or shoot a squirrel or get a rabbit for the Larsen trap , or maybe a fox at 200 or 300 meters as it makes its way up a hedgerow. At last I’ve found the perfect solution to the age old question. 
          Simples , I take two rifles, a 22lr and a .243 .

Perfect combo...

 

 

[Sausagedog 7,381]

For a few years I used a combination gun in hornet and 12g.

A friend had one in 20g and 22.

They were very good.

[David.evans 5,323]

There’s nothing getting past them too good choice 

atb

[Sausagedog 7,381]

Same farm track as last week tonight.

I got some intel off youngratter who visits on here sometimes that he heard a fox howling etc. Sure enough at the farm end was a cat and a fox. They seemed to be sparring. I managed to get to about 120yds when the clever fox got in the pasture field to my right so I made for a gap in the hedge and as the road is elevated had a good view only by the time I did view the thing was 30yds away watching me!

By the time I got the safe off it had trotted away to 40yd but a mouse squeak stopped it and a Hornady 20g flattened it with barely a twitch!

I like these Hornady 20g.

At first I thought it was a cub but no it was another good sized dog fox with a full belly

Chalk another one up for the mouse gun!

[Stavross 13,753]

It’s clearly working well for you, top job

[Sausagedog 7,381]

My guess was about 175yards but I am not 100%.

Either way I rested on the sticks and aimed at the rabbit just as it lifted itself out of the grass perfectly for me.

I aimed for its chest and loosed Fairweather. A little noise come back and I simply thought I had missed.

The rabbit lunged forward stood up and then keeled over!

A perfect heart shot. I like these Hornady 20g!

 

[Dervburner 2,548]

Nowt wrong with .22 for knockabout. Versatile and cheap to run, I just picked some of these up yesterday. Yerr, they’re high velocity and solid, but at £2:95 a box......can’t complain, they’ll do a job, and for peanuts

[Dervburner 2,548]

On 06/08/2020 at 08:01, shovel leaner said:

I have been struggling with the question, what is the perfect calibre for me to take around with me on my journeys around the shoot during the day . I may want to dispatch a fox in a snare , or shoot a squirrel or get a rabbit for the Larsen trap , or maybe a fox at 200 or 300 meters as it makes its way up a hedgerow. At last I’ve found the perfect solution to the age old question. 
          Simples , I take two rifles, a 22lr and a .243 .

Have you had that kwacker valeted again SL ?

[si brown 8,486]

55 minutes ago, Dervburner said:

Nowt wrong with .22 for knockabout. Versatile and cheap to run, I just picked some of these up yesterday. Yerr, they’re high velocity and solid, but at £2:95 a box......can’t complain, they’ll do a job, and for peanuts

I don’t own a .22lr but every now and again I think about getting one!

cant believe how cheap the ammo is, the saying cheap as chips don’t come into it as the ammos cheaper than a big bag of chips

[FOXHUNTER 5,020]

36 minutes ago, si brown said:

I don’t own a .22lr but every now and again I think about getting one!

cant believe how cheap the ammo is, the saying cheap as chips don’t come into it as the ammos cheaper than a big bag of chips

Wouldnt be without mine , always had one , very versatile.  Anything from rats to foxes Get one you wont regret it

[si brown 8,486]

1 minute ago, FOXHUNTER said:

Wouldnt be without mine , always had one , very versatile.  Anything from rats to foxes Get one you wont regret it

Haha.. been very tempted, got a slot for a mouse gun but not a 22.. don’t know why cos I don’t want one. 
If I didn’t have me impact I’d of got one and there about a 1/3 of the price, even the ammos cheaper than for the bloody air gun

[FOXHUNTER 5,020]

1 hour ago, si brown said:

Haha.. been very tempted, got a slot for a mouse gun but not a 22.. don’t know why cos I don’t want one. 
If I didn’t have me impact I’d of got one and there about a 1/3 of the price, even the ammos cheaper than for the bloody air gun

I've got .22 and HMR and if had to choose one it would be the .22 definitely.  My mate has an FX Crown sitting  in the gunshop at present waiting for his FAC back , it's running at 72 ft/lb so will be interesting to see how it performs as he will be pushing it to the limit. What is your impact running at and what ranges can you comfortably take rabbits. 

Edited September 5, 2020 by FOXHUNTER