Frenchieboy Posted February 6, 2012 Report Share Posted February 6, 2012 Today started off looking quite dismal with very thick fog wherever I looked with visibility down to just 50 yards maximum. It lingered till about 11:30 and then decided to clear so I made the decision to go to Bolton and pick up some Hornady 30g ammunition to try in thr .22WMR. I got back at late lunchtime and it had turned into such a nice day with brilliant sunshine I decided to get out and try to christen the 22WMR using the CCI 40g ammunition that I had zeroed it with and leave trying the Hornady 30g for another day. I went to a farm where I was fairly sure that I would find a few bunnies out sunbathing with the possibility of a fox thrown in for good measures. There was still lots of patches of frozen snow on the ground which made walking quietly almost impossible but I did manage to get to within about 100 yards of the first rabbit without getting "spotted", which is quite an achievement as there is no cover in that area. Whilst I knew that the zeroing on the rifle was fine at that range I was not used to the rifle so I took the shot from the sitting position. I squeezed the trigger and watched the rabbit fly up in the air by about 2 feet, so I was confident it was a head shot exactly as planned. It turned out to be 96 reasonable sized paces from where I shot it from to where it landed. The lady who owns the land was about and while I was picking the rabbit up she called me over. She wanted to know if I would skin and gut the rabbit and let her have it as she fancied a bit of rabbit stew. Well, it did come off her land so I was only too pleased to oblige straight after taking a photo of the rabbit. In the photo you can just see where the bullet entered through the eye and on the other side of the head there are bits hanging down where the far side of the head was completely removed by the 40g hollow point. The next shot came soon after when I spotted a rabbit enjoying the sunshine about 60 yards away from me. He was fairly close to his borrow so it was a case of take aim free standing and hope for the best. Again the rabbit jumped and did a back flip, landing on the ground as dead as a dodo! On this one the bullet had entered straight through the eye on one side and exited through what was left of the eye and skull on the other side - Another perfect head shot! The third shot I took I missed! No excuses, it wasn't really a hard shot to take, I simply rushed the shot and got a clean miss for my troubles! The forth and last shot of the day was a rabbit that I came across feeding about 80-90 yards away. For this one I took the kneeling position and took my time. The bullet entered just behind the eye and exited just below the ear on what was left of the other side of the rabbit's head. Another very satisfying head shot on a rabbit that when paced out was a distance of 83 paces so maybe nearer to 75 yards! All in all I do not think I am going to bother trying any other 40g ammunition as I am extremely happy with the results that I am getting from the CCI ammunition that I have. I will however be very interested in finding how the Hornady 30g ammunition behaves with rabbits and would be interested to see how it deals with foxes. Am I happy with my new (Second hand) CZ 452 in 22WMR? You bet I am! I will always regard the 17HMR as the most accurate rimfire rifle but I can see the WMR coming quite a close second. The second photo shows the latter 2 rabbits that I shot immediately before I skinned and gutted them in the field ready to take home for a rabbit pie! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark@mbb Posted February 6, 2012 Report Share Posted February 6, 2012 Pete looks like you had a good day mate it was very foggy in cheshire you couldnt see 20' in front of you so spent a few hours making larson traps Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted February 6, 2012 Report Share Posted February 6, 2012 Seems a worthwhile purchase then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marktattoo Posted February 6, 2012 Report Share Posted February 6, 2012 nice shooting, always a good feeling christening a new rifle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swiss.tony Posted February 6, 2012 Report Share Posted February 6, 2012 any better than hmr pete or about same Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M.I.A Posted February 6, 2012 Report Share Posted February 6, 2012 Well Done Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Underdog Posted February 6, 2012 Report Share Posted February 6, 2012 Most excellent report Friend of mine used the CCI 40grn exclusively and he took plenty fox's with them too. U. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
la bala Posted February 6, 2012 Report Share Posted February 6, 2012 Today started off looking quite dismal with very thick fog wherever I looked with visibility down to just 50 yards maximum. It lingered till about 11:30 and then decided to clear so I made the decision to go to Bolton and pick up some Hornady 30g ammunition to try in thr .22WMR. I got back at late lunchtime and it had turned into such a nice day with brilliant sunshine I decided to get out and try to christen the 22WMR using the CCI 40g ammunition that I had zeroed it with and leave trying the Hornady 30g for another day. I went to a farm where I was fairly sure that I would find a few bunnies out sunbathing with the possibility of a fox thrown in for good measures. There was still lots of patches of frozen snow on the ground which made walking quietly almost impossible but I did manage to get to within about 100 yards of the first rabbit without getting "spotted", which is quite an achievement as there is no cover in that area. Whilst I knew that the zeroing on the rifle was fine at that range I was not used to the rifle so I took the shot from the sitting position. I squeezed the trigger and watched the rabbit fly up in the air by about 2 feet, so I was confident it was a head shot exactly as planned. It turned out to be 96 reasonable sized paces from where I shot it from to where it landed. The lady who owns the land was about and while I was picking the rabbit up she called me over. She wanted to know if I would skin and gut the rabbit and let her have it as she fancied a bit of rabbit stew. Well, it did come off her land so I was only too pleased to oblige straight after taking a photo of the rabbit. In the photo you can just see where the bullet entered through the eye and on the other side of the head there are bits hanging down where the far side of the head was completely removed by the 40g hollow point. The next shot came soon after when I spotted a rabbit enjoying the sunshine about 60 yards away from me. He was fairly close to his borrow so it was a case of take aim free standing and hope for the best. Again the rabbit jumped and did a back flip, landing on the ground as dead as a dodo! On this one the bullet had entered straight through the eye on one side and exited through what was left of the eye and skull on the other side - Another perfect head shot! The third shot I took I missed! No excuses, it wasn't really a hard shot to take, I simply rushed the shot and got a clean miss for my troubles! The forth and last shot of the day was a rabbit that I came across feeding about 80-90 yards away. For this one I took the kneeling position and took my time. The bullet entered just behind the eye and exited just below the ear on what was left of the other side of the rabbit's head. Another very satisfying head shot on a rabbit that when paced out was a distance of 83 paces so maybe nearer to 75 yards! All in all I do not think I am going to bother trying any other 40g ammunition as I am extremely happy with the results that I am getting from the CCI ammunition that I have. I will however be very interested in finding how the Hornady 30g ammunition behaves with rabbits and would be interested to see how it deals with foxes. Am I happy with my new (Second hand) CZ 452 in 22WMR? You bet I am! I will always regard the 17HMR as the most accurate rimfire rifle but I can see the WMR coming quite a close second. The second photo shows the latter 2 rabbits that I shot immediately before I skinned and gutted them in the field ready to take home for a rabbit pie! good write up , good pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frenchieboy Posted February 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2012 any better than hmr pete or about same No Tony, I have to say that in my opinion the HMR will always have the edge over the WMR but what I wanted was a "dual purpose rifle" for both rabbits and foxes and the HMR will not cover that. I will admit that i am a little more impressed with the WMR than I expected to be! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swiss.tony Posted February 6, 2012 Report Share Posted February 6, 2012 No Tony, I have to say that in my opinion the HMR will always have the edge over the WMR but what I wanted was a "dual purpose rifle" for both rabbits and foxes and the HMR will not cover that. I will admit that i am a little more impressed with the WMR than I expected to be! cool mate as long as your happy dont forget to add it to your gun list mate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welsh1 Posted February 6, 2012 Report Share Posted February 6, 2012 Nice write up,looks like you have got a nice calibre for that rabbit to fox changeover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texas Posted February 6, 2012 Report Share Posted February 6, 2012 Nice write up and pics mate :good: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coyotemaster Posted February 7, 2012 Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 I am impressed Pete, that is some fantastic shooting!! Good relations with the land holder never hurt either. Good pics as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
les gedge Posted February 7, 2012 Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 well done pete good shooting and a good write up.les Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bicykillgaz Posted February 7, 2012 Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 Good write up mate, is that a standard .22 mod Pete and how does it tame the wmr compared to an lr? Is the wmr close to the lr in terms of accuracy? Sorry for all the questions Im looking into giving up my shotgun for a foxing rifle and was thinking wmr, .222 or .22 hornet. so nice to read about the wmr. Atb Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ste12b Posted February 7, 2012 Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 Nice one Pete! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frenchieboy Posted February 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 (edited) Good write up mate, is that a standard .22 mod Pete and how does it tame the wmr compared to an lr? Is the wmr close to the lr in terms of accuracy? Sorry for all the questions Im looking into giving up my shotgun for a foxing rifle and was thinking wmr, .222 or .22 hornet. so nice to read about the wmr. Atb Gary Hi Gary, Yes it is a standard Sak moderator which came brand new with the rifle. It looks a little odd in the photo because I have wrapped and taped some soft black material round it to minimise the possibility of glare in the scopes when I am out lamping. It does "tame" it down quite well but nowhere near as much as it does with a 22LR. You have to remember that the WMR round is the same size of bottle as the HMR and both will give out a bit of a "crack" whatever moderator you use! Even so it did not seem to effect the rabbits beyond 70 yards or so and I would imagine that it would be even more effective with a bit of a wind blowing - There was no wind at all yesterday while I was out! I am very impressed with the accuracy of my 22WMR and I would say that the 22WMR easily matches and betters the 22LR in terms of accuracy as it holds it's accuracy over much longer distances. I am led to believe that with CCI 40g the WMR is surposed to be doing something like 1900 ft per seconds and with Hornady 30g it is said to be something like 2250 ft per second. Admittidly this is not as quick as the HMR but both the 30g and the 40g WMR rounds carry a lot more energy and "stopping power" which is what is needed to despatch Charlie in a quick and humane manner! The only thing that I would think about changing on my WMR is the length of the barrel - It is currently around 23 inches and I would ideally like to see it cut down to about 18 inches if it does not effect the accuracy or power. I will have to get some advice from Dave Mercer on that one! Hope this helps you out. ATB FrenchieBoy Edited February 7, 2012 by Frenchieboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbit_stu Posted February 7, 2012 Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 Brilliant write up there Pete. Really good read thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
here iam Posted February 7, 2012 Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 Excellent write up Peter can you tell me i have two slots on my ticket and it just states two rimfires Do you have to ask for the wmr seperatley ?thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the enigma Posted February 7, 2012 Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 Nice shooting The hmr could be taking a back seat for a wee while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camokid Posted February 7, 2012 Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 well it sounds like a good round i have never had a bash myself il stick to the hmr. cracking pic looks a nice place to spend a few hours Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bullet boy Posted February 7, 2012 Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 Nice one Pete! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frenchieboy Posted February 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 Excellent write up Peter can you tell me i have two slots on my ticket and it just states two rimfires Do you have to ask for the wmr seperatley ?thanks To be honest I am not sure. The best possible thing that you could do to be on the safe side is to ask your FEO. Sorry I can't help you more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bicykillgaz Posted February 7, 2012 Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 Hi Gary, Yes it is a standard Sak moderator which came brand new with the rifle. It looks a little odd in the photo because I have wrapped and taped some soft black material round it to minimise the possibility of glare in the scopes when I am out lamping. It does "tame" it down quite well but nowhere near as much as it does with a 22LR. You have to remember that the WMR round is the same size of bottle as the HMR and both will give out a bit of a "crack" whatever moderator you use! Even so it did not seem to effect the rabbits beyond 70 yards or so and I would imagine that it would be even more effective with a bit of a wind blowing - There was no wind at all yesterday while I was out! I am very impressed with the accuracy of my 22WMR and I would say that the 22WMR easily matches and betters the 22LR in terms of accuracy as it holds it's accuracy over much longer distances. I am led to believe that with CCI 40g the WMR is surposed to be doing something like 1900 ft per seconds and with Hornady 30g it is said to be something like 2250 ft per second. Admittidly this is not as quick as the HMR but both the 30g and the 40g WMR rounds carry a lot more energy and "stopping power" which is what is needed to despatch Charlie in a quick and humane manner! The only thing that I would think about changing on my WMR is the length of the barrel - It is currently around 23 inches and I would ideally like to see it cut down to about 18 inches if it does not effect the accuracy or power. I will have to get some advice from Dave Mercer on that one! Hope this helps you out. ATB FrenchieBoy cheers for that mate would i be ok pm'ing you with a couple more questions please as i know you've also owned a .222 which i'm also considering. atb gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomhw100 Posted February 7, 2012 Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 Well done mate looking to maybe get one for Charlie myself as Essex doesn't allow 17hmrs for foxes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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