Salop Matt Posted January 10, 2011 Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 When I was granted my FAC I had 17HMR and .22lr. I loved my .22lr but I always feared the ricochets with it. So I sold my .22lr as I felt it was a liability. I have fox as a condition against my HMR and use it. I dont do much foxing maybe 10 a year so I cant justifie having a centrefire for 10 rounds a year. But I would like to exchange my .22lr slot for .22WMR for fox and rabbit. This way I would keep the HMR for rabbits and opertunity fox`s. The WMR would be what I would take out if I was deliberately looking for fox, BUT.... Could I use the WMR on rabbit also? And does the WMR ricochet as much as the 22lr ? I would use the Balistic tip rounds to reduce ricochets also. Is there any WMR owners out there that can help ? Also how well does WMR preform on fox ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted January 10, 2011 Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 you can use them on rabbits but really why bother, if you're keeping the HMR then it will do the job to a pretty similar ability and you know when you have 2 guns you always take the wrong one out If anything I'd get a centrefire as its then a decent step up rather than a gun of similar ability Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njc110381 Posted January 10, 2011 Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 (edited) You want to buy a .22wmr to shoot the odd fox but you don't want to waste money on a centrefire. You already have a .17hmr? Why would you want to buy something so close to what you already have? To me that's a bigger waste of money?! You could pick up a .223 or Hornet for not a lot of money. It doesn't sound like it will see many rounds through it so the ammo cost isn't an issue? I really don't see why you wouldn't want to just step up a bit rather than buy another rimfire? If you were to get a .223 then it would give you a bit more scope for quarry. I don't think a WMR would. You could even go on the odd Muntjac stalk with a .223? You may not want to but for near enough the same outlay the option would be there. :look: EDIT... Al4x beat me to it. Edited January 10, 2011 by njc110381 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sitsinhedges Posted January 10, 2011 Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 I thought the .22 rf and .22 WMR were the same with regards to your FAC, both .22 rimmies and you don't need to get a variation to have the WMR instead of the standard .22. I'd be more concerned about having a good enough choice of ammo in WMR cos the one I used to borrow seemed to struggle to get anywhere near the accuracy of my BRNO, IIRC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted January 10, 2011 Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 I have both .22lr and .22WMR,they are both rf and on my ticket as such.There is no authorisation on my ticket for .22lr ammo and .22WMR ammo,only .22rf, as it should be. The WMR is just as capable of taking foxes as the HMR,and with semi-jacketed soft-nosed hollow points there is little chance of ricochets..I've never had one anyhow.The 40 grn head of the WMR wis devastating on small vermin such as rabbits and foxes,but the WMr will have gone sub-sonic while your HMR is still super-sonic over the extremes of there respective ranges.The HMR is much flatter shooting,but in my opinion if you want a dedicated foxing rifle I would go for a centre-fire as others have said....22 Hornet or .223. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Logic Posted January 10, 2011 Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 Don't see WMR as being what you're after. Hornet to replace HMR might be better, you can shoot rabbits and foxes and it works well on both. You will need to homeload but it's easy to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salop Matt Posted January 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 Alex its exactly that, I could still use the WMR on bunnys (I only ever head shoot anyway). If I went .223 or 22 hornet or 222 I wouldnt want to spend more than £200 on a rifle. And what would the cost of a MOD be ? It would also mean when rabbiting changing rifle and carrying 2 and changing when charles appeared ! . But could you realistically buy just the rifle .223 for £200ish ? Also what does a MOD cost for a .223 ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted January 10, 2011 Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 (edited) Hornet you have to be a special kind of person who likes to frigg about with loading etc with a pretty obsolete calibre. For me if you're going to bother going centrefire then do it properly and get a .222 or .223 easy availability of ammunition and plenty of gun for the smaller deer species and foxes as well as flat shooting for winged vermin at long ranges edit to say:- the issue with the WMR is it won't be much different to your HMR and you can argue which kills foxes better all day long. If you are happy shooting foxes within 100 yards stick with what you've got. If you want to go further then the WMR isn't up to it as the HMR isn't and you need to go centrefire, Costs are higher and as you say two guns but you can still take them at sensible ranges with your HMR and if you have a known fox about just take the bigger gun Edited January 10, 2011 by al4x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Logic Posted January 10, 2011 Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 You'll struggle with 223 at 200 quid. Moderator will be another 200 quid, give or take, as will the scope. Not sure why people are talking about muntjac deer when you shoot rabbits + the odd fox, but there we go. Hornet is available secondhand for relatively low cost. It kills foxes to 200 yards cleanly, and when you homeload costs the same as HMR to run. You would not need to have two rifles with Hornet - you simply take the Hornet, and be done. There is nothing in that bracket it cannot do, but the range isn't as big as the bigger CFs. It is better than HMR though, so sounds like it would suit you nicely. In terms of reloading, to learn enough to reload Hornet takes an evening, it is really, honestly, dead simple. Also with Hornet, most people loading it use either a 40 grain Nosler or a 35gr V-max. There are relatively few recipes to worry about. In fact, every Hornet I've come across shoots the 35gr Hornady with 12.3gr of H110 behind it, so there's your load. Dead easy! Alex - Hornet is not a case of not doing it properly, it's not trying to be a 223. It's an HMR in terms of noise (tested by me!) and trajectory, but has the energy to be humane on Charlie at a sensible range. 223 is a different beast, I have both and there is a time and a place for both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njc110381 Posted January 10, 2011 Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 You'll not get a decent Hornet or .223 for £200 unless you're very lucky. I still hold by the opinion though that you will be wasting your money buying a WMR. It's pretty much the same as what you've got now! If I was in your shoes I would sell the HMR and then add what you get for that to the £200 you have for the other rifle. You'll then have enough money to buy a decent Hornet, one scope and one mod. You will then have a gun that will work for bunnies and Fox out to 200 yards and shouldn't trash bunnies any more than the HMR does. You'll need to reload but it's really not that hard. I never regretted selling my HMR to buy a Hornet. In fact it was one of the best decisions I ever made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salop Matt Posted January 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 UK gun room showed 1 CZ45 .22 hornet for £295 ! But all .223`s were £550 plus ! How is the 22 hornet for ricochets ? I would enjoy reloading am sure ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin lad Posted January 10, 2011 Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 You'll not get a decent Hornet or .223 for £200 unless you're very lucky. I still hold by the opinion though that you will be wasting your money buying a WMR. It's pretty much the same as what you've got now! If I was in your shoes I would sell the HMR and then add what you get for that to the £200 you have for the other rifle. You'll then have enough money to buy a decent Hornet, one scope and one mod. You will then have a gun that will work for bunnies and Fox out to 200 yards and shouldn't trash bunnies any more than the HMR does. You'll need to reload but it's really not that hard. I never regretted selling my HMR to buy a Hornet. In fact it was one of the best decisions I ever made. can i ask why you have to re-load? can you not buy ammo ready done? colin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr smith Posted January 10, 2011 Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 can i ask why you have to re-load? can you not buy ammo ready done? colin Yes you can get factory stuff if you can find a shop that stocks it.Reloading means you can shoot the hornet for roughly the same cost per round as the HMR,though if your not likely to use many through the year it may not be worthwhile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njc110381 Posted January 10, 2011 Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 (edited) How is the 22 hornet for ricochets ? Like any gun it can. Nothing like a .22lr though. It will fire a jacketed version of the 40gr bullet that a .22lr fires but at a similar speed to that of a 17gr HMR. They don't come up often, rather just fragment normally. It's very much like the HMR to shoot. It can be bullied by wind at long range (150 yards+) but has a reasonable trajectory that is similar to the HMR. The only difference is you're sending a bullet that's twice the weight out of the barrel with more than twice the energy. A well developed home load for the Hornet can hit 700+ ft-lbs. Compare that to the 250ft-lbs of the HMR and the 320ft-lbs of the WMR and you'll see why it's worth the bother of home loading on top of the 25p you pay for the components! Edited January 10, 2011 by njc110381 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Logic Posted January 10, 2011 Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wymberley Posted January 10, 2011 Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 Like any gun it can. Nothing like a .22lr though. It will fire a jacketed version of the 40gr bullet that a .22lr fires but at a similar speed to that of a 17gr HMR. They don't come up often, rather just fragment normally. It's very much like the HMR to shoot. It can be bullied by wind at long range (150 yards+) but has a reasonable trajectory that is similar to the HMR. The only difference is you're sending a bullet that's twice the weight out of the barrel with more than twice the energy. A well developed home load for the Hornet can hit 700+ ft-lbs. Compare that to the 250ft-lbs of the HMR and the 320ft-lbs of the WMR and you'll see why it's worth the bother of home loading on top of the 25p you pay for the components! Andjust to add that the 700+ can quite easily be 800. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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