bullet dodger Posted January 1, 2009 Report Share Posted January 1, 2009 Just got my 17HMR, CZ American Varmint with SAK, and got my first bunny with it last night. Approx 110yds and hit it with a body shot. After reading threads on here was expecting rabbit to be well mangled but on skinning it , bullet appeared to have gone clean through. Using CCI 17 grains. Anyone else had this ? Thought the 17's were meant to fragment on impact. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldrick Posted January 1, 2009 Report Share Posted January 1, 2009 I rarely get the catastrophic damage that people often talk about, and I shoot many thousands of rabbits with an HMR each year. I have only mashed rabbits when shooting them at under 50 yards. Above that distance, the visible damage isn't severe. Of course when you gut them can see clearly that the tiny 17gr pill does expand significantly more violently than a lumbering 40gr .22 HP. If there was no visible meat damage, then you're CCI bullet may have failed to expand altogether. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dead-Eyed Duck Posted January 1, 2009 Report Share Posted January 1, 2009 Fragmentation of the bullet all depends on the terminal velocity and exactly where the bullet hits. Hit a rabbit in the head at 100 yards or so with a 17g bullet and you will see exactly what I mean. There is lots of bone about there for the 17g bullet to be hugely effective. I would even say that the 17 hmr was designed for head shots at rabbits to be simple at this type of range - most decent hmr's will group 0.75" at 100 yards and so a body shot should not be required unless it is a strict rabbit control exercise. Similarly, if you choose to shoot rabbits at 150 yards and above, then you have to remember that the velocity and accuracy is starting to fall off significantly and allowances have to be made for this. If the conditions are windy then accuracy suffers hugely with the hmr. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bullet dodger Posted January 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 1, 2009 Cheers guys, Happy New Year to you Gaz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
humperdingle Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 I find that - contrary to popular belief - the V-max tips expand and fragment much more efficiently on contact with muscle, rather than bone. Ever shot a 3" fence post with the Hmr? It goes pretty much straight through with a relatively small exit hole. This is because the closely grained timber manages to hold the bullet together, and doesn't allow it to expand. Shoot a piece of soft clay or meat, however, and the tip does just what it's supposed to. Try it... ballistic testing is fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldrick Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 Do you have 'shooting fence posts' conditioned on your FAC, humperdingle? Only joking. You should see what an express rifle does to a fence post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
humperdingle Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 Do you have 'shooting fence posts' conditioned on your FAC, humperdingle? Only joking. You should see what an express rifle does to a fence post. Course I do! Only 3" mind... 4" and i'd need a centrefire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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