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First foxes with the 17 Hornet, my thoughts


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I've been missing out a bit on the shooting lately due to work, so today I decided enough was enough and headed out to see what I could shoot with the new .17. My mate has been bugging me to test a torch he's made so we took that along too - turns out it's pretty good!

 

Anyway, there wasn't a great deal about early on. Squeaked a fox in but being a bit rusty I spent so long messing with my sticks that it went again. About an hour passed and we finally got in on one. When it got to about 100 yards away I pulled the trigger on it - with a centre of mass head on shot it slumped on the spot and didn't move an inch! We picked it up and the wound wasn't obvious. No exit and a tiny entry, but it hit the heart so did the job very quickly - all was looking good. We moved position and got the second one in - she was close, about 30 yards, and I didn't allow for the flight of the bullet being lower. I hit this one right on the breast bone and I thought it had dropped in the long grass. The follow up showed otherwise though and the bullet hadn't penetrated as much as I would have liked. The fox was completely out of it but still alive, so I brained it with a follow up which as expected was an instant lights out. We moved again and called in the third. Another 100ish yard front end shot and it was straight down.

 

All in all the round comes highly recommended, but I've noted to keep the shots away from heavy bone. First impressions suggest that it doesn't carry the weight to get through if it encounters anything solid. Not a problem, but it wouldn't be my first choice for a fox dedicated setup. For a carry gun for small vermin and foxes I think it's a good one. Maybe it even has some advantages over the .22 Hornet? I haven't fired enough rounds to tell yet but the trajectory for head shooting rabbits is fantastic!

 

Hey ho, off to bed. It's been a good night and the farmer will be happy. I'm pretty pleased too, although I can't promise that I won't trade it in for yet another new calibre at some point! I like change, but as far as the round goes it's impressed me very much.

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