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Overlapping rifles


wildfowler.250
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So here’s my current ‘problem’. Several similar rifles. Like them all, don’t use them individually that often.

 
.22 weihrauch hw77k. First air gun as a kid. Could probably do with a service. Nowhere near as quiet and not the same level of accuracy as the current pcp’s.
 
.22lr sako finnfire (original). Probably my least favorite caliber but I love the rifle itself. Really well made little thing.
 
.17hmr CZ 452. First rimfire and very accurate. Usual minor? HMR issues but a great vermin gun. I prefer it to the .22.
 
Sako 75 .222, newest addition and covers everything from crows to Scottish roe.
 
 
In my head somewhere I feel like I could cut one out but at the same time, you get so little for second hand guns these days,(I tend to buy second hand if I see a ‘classic’ but most people want to buy new).
 
I do wonder if I had a pcp would that cover everything the .22lr generally does. Further out the .222 does everything the HMR does. I feel like a rimfire is needed. It seems mad to be without a .22lr but I’ve never loved it’s lumpy trajectory.
 
 
Any suggestions? Keep them all and just get a pcp? 😅

 

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1. Keep them all.

2. Buy a PCP.

3. Buy a 22LR

4. Buy a bigger cabinet.

Millions of people over many decades can't all be wrong. Get the LR, learn to shoot it and see how much your performance improves with your other calibres. The ammunition is usually available locally and you can't run out of air.

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All rifles have a lumpy trajectory if you are trying to use them too far.

Trying to use a .22lr after it really starts to drop is no different than using your .222 at ranges where it too starts to drop.

I would get rid of the hmr. I have never owned one but read/heard enough about ammo problems to put me off ever wanting one.

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1 hour ago, wymberley said:

1. Keep them all.

2. Buy a PCP.

3. Buy a 22LR

4. Buy a bigger cabinet.

Millions of people over many decades can't all be wrong. Get the LR, learn to shoot it and see how much your performance improves with your other calibres. The ammunition is usually available locally and you can't run out of air.

To be honest I also wonder if I’ve never quite hacked the ammo. I’ve tried eley and winnie subs. Eley we’re better but beyond 60 yards the groups really start to open up. The HMR still does much tighter groups at 100 so I’ve never been sure if it’s been caliber or ammo as folk seem to get on a lot better with it. I can shoot the other calibers well enough so I don’t think the primary issue is pilot error

1 hour ago, London Best said:

All rifles have a lumpy trajectory if you are trying to use them too far.

Trying to use a .22lr after it really starts to drop is no different than using your .222 at ranges where it too starts to drop.

I would get rid of the hmr. I have never owned one but read/heard enough about ammo problems to put me off ever wanting one.

That’s a fair point! I’ve had 1 hangfire which wasn’t fun and some split cases but generally it’s been a fab caliber . Read all the dodgey reports though!

46 minutes ago, ditchman said:

get rid of the .22lr...replaced with .22 magnum...............get rid of 17hmr...get .22 hornet

 

Haha that can keep going forever. Replace the hornet with a .222.

 

I’ve gone .223 -> .22-250 -> .222 and I’m determined it’s the connoisseurs choice!

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Try a 22lr subsonic round thats at the faster end of the subsonic and not a slow round. That might flatten your trajectory a little. I was always of the order of zeroing at about 75 yards as the rise and fall should be about "minute of rabbits head" at most ranges up to 75-80yards.

I mostly shoot high velocity rounds though 

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1 hour ago, ditchman said:

saw a beast of a gun up for sale a combo

top barrell .22 hornet

2 middle barrels .458 winchester

bottom barrel 20 bore cartridge

"Beware the man with one gun"......:lol:

Haha, but variety is the spice of life!

1 hour ago, Gameking said:

Try RWS Subs in your P94s Finnfire - much more accurate than Eley Subs IME

I’ll give them a go! Certainly at the price of subs it can’t hurt to try. I got into the habit of buying a block of eley and never trying much else

1 hour ago, Dave-G said:

Get rid of both subsonics and replace with FAC air. More space in the cabinet, a bit of a treat and if you add a laser rangefinder to it, it will easily better your subsonic satisfaction.

I have thought about this a lot. I assume the FAC air would be more accurate than the lr at similar ranges?

1 hour ago, ninjaferret said:

Buy a 22-250  and as you like a second hand classic, it just so happens, i'm selling one :D

Haha I’m not going back any time soon. Big boom but no different end result to the .222 . Unless you’re into the longer range stuff and then it’s a different story!

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34 minutes ago, oowee said:

Ultimately you need a min .243 for deer, a .223 / 222 for fox and vermin, a hmr for rabbit clearance and a fac air for everything else. It's just a matter of time before you get there. :good:

Cheers, yeah covered with the deer side of things. So by that it’s sensible to drop the .22lr out of the equation. 

I know a lot of folk have a 2 rimfires but I keep thinking one or the other and a good airgun makes more sense. Problem is I can’t work out which one to part with!

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2 hours ago, ditchman said:

understand the argument 22 fac air versus 22lr............like them both but reliability has got to go to the 22lr......???

I think the LR edges it at outer ranges but that's HMR territory. My FAC air is more predictable than the LR with winnie subs but not eley subs that don't hit as hard - but he's not loving his LR and we all like a new toy sometimes. The FAC air would be heavier.

A laser rangefinder turns it into a very effective tool but if fox happens along you'd be letting it be.

Edited by Dave-G
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Personally I’d keep the .22lr, regardless of what else I got rid of. If I was allowed only one rifle it would be the .22lr. 
I also have .22 PCP, which is great for gardens and inside buildings. I would like a FAC PCP, but mate kept putting holes in buildings with his, so got rid. 
It all depends what your quarry is I suppose;  I no longer have a CF as I no longer enjoy shooting foxes or Roe, so traded it in for another shotgun. 

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2 hours ago, Dave-G said:

I think the LR edges it at outer ranges but that's HMR territory. My FAC air is more predictable than the LR with winnie subs but not eley subs that don't hit as hard - but he's not loving his LR and we all like a new toy sometimes. The FAC air would be heavier.

A laser rangefinder turns it into a very effective tool but if fox happens along you'd be letting it be.

Does that matter? I've always found it best to leave the 'what ifs' in the cabinet and just take the gun that suits the intended quarry.

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Anybody who thinks that FAC air is a replacement for .22lr for handiness, convenience, reliability, versatility over a range of quarry species and general everyday country use which can include virtually anything, such as culling the odd sick sheep , is living in a dream.

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55 minutes ago, London Best said:

Anybody who thinks that FAC air is a replacement for .22lr for handiness, convenience, reliability, versatility over a range of quarry species and general everyday country use which can include virtually anything, such as culling the odd sick sheep , is living in a dream.

That's your opinion and I'd agree if that were an only gun which it isn't - but he's also not enjoying his LR loopiness and not getting the most out of the springer... If you read the OP.

Edited by Dave-G
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You have sort of answered your own conundrum when you stated that you do not use each calibre much. It probably means you still have a ways to go on finding the limit of their usefulness.

I have an even greater range of calibres and uses for them all so I would suggest you keep all you currently have and add more cabinets and calibres.

Fed up with the bs I keep reading about the .17hmr ammo by folk wishing to appear knowledgeable, I have not had a problem in 10000 rounds + and know several pest controllers who do a lot of rabbits and use more ammo in a year than I do in 10 who have also not had a problem. There was a small qc problem with the ammo several years ago which did not last long although some of this ammo is still being used up by folk who do not shoot many rounds, it is not an ongoing problem.

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Keep all of them. I have all those (well .233 instead of .222) plus a few more, and the .17HMR is the most useful. 

When I eventually have an ammunition problem with it I’ll let you all know. Took my friend shooting clays last month, he’s had a few lessons but never really shot before. Shooting 12 bore. He had a failure to discharge the wad on one shot when the primer didn’t ignite the powder. He noticed the soft pop and knew to wait, then break the gun safely, then check the barrels for obstruction. I was fortunate as if he hadn’t of been so clued on he would have blew his left hand off with the forend on the next shot. Do we take it that 12 bores are a bad calibre because of this accident with a bad cartridge? 

Edited by WalkedUp
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Cheers gents. Sounds like the .22 is the sensible one to remove but at the same time a lot of folk are saying just keep it. 
 

I’ll work up to a PCP at some point and if one  starts to really gather dust over the rest I can move it on. The price for any second hand gun seems so poor to be worth selling anyway! 

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