Trying to make the best choice .22lr or HMR (need advice)

[Haytime]

Hi all sign85

Right where do I start.

The farms I shoot on, or will be, have rabbits and crows (lots), no houses only a few side county side road’s near the property’s boundary's.

I can get near some of the rabbits 50 to 60 meters away. The rest are 100 to 150 meters.

My competency to shoot military ammunition / rifles is good at various ranges, however I have no experience of rim fire ammunition.

I have only ever used 9mm, 5.56 and 7.62 in the military.

Having read the emotive subject on which is best, I have discovered the topic of ricochet’s, more so with the .22lr.

The farms have dairy cattle on all of them, and lots of grassland and good backstops, however I need to be careful in my selection of weapon. I have applied for .22lr and .17HMR.

Fully understand the cost of the ammo types, only safety of calibre would would dictate my weapon choice, not financial.

So...the question is, how many times have you experienced a .22lr ricochet and are they very common and what do calibre you use and why ?

I would appreciate all answer’s.

Thanks for reading folks

Haytime sign92

[FarmerSim]

I'm fortunate that I am able to use a high quarry face as a backstop for shooting wabbits. This face is behind about 6M of soily stuff at the base, and I bait ( with green waste ), the little darlings in this "safe" area, and well, you get the idea. Not aware that I have had any ricochet. Maximum range is in the order of 50M, sometimes less, sometimes a little more.

As for corvids, mainly S1 SG, on "walkabout", but also 22lr from a high position, hidden in the ridge of a tall shed, shooting into soft ground - I ploughed it, so I KNOW. Obviously weather dependent, as I am sure a frozen field would be hard enough to cause "issues". Again, baiting the little sods. And again not aware of any ricochets. LR Ammo wise, the cheapest expanding I can get. SG ammo, 24, 28, 32 6,7,8's, and again as cheap as possible !!

As I have these "facilities", it would seem daft not to use them. If you can find and/or create the same sort of scenario on any, or all of your permissions, I would do it for safeties sake. I have minimal experience of HMR, but I would expect it to be a nuisance from the noise point of view in my situation, but I'm only guessing.

I only applied for 22, since this is all I really need for the job at hand. I'm not really that into shooting TBH, its a tool for a job, though through reading this and other fori, I would like to have a go at some of the shooting disciplines, particularly PSG. I do enjoy chucking a gun load of lead at the flamin corvids - usually a few less afterwards, which is a great result, OR they all off somewhere else, which is almost as good! :shakeshout:

ATB

Sim

[Watcher]

.22 LR should be all you need out to 75 yards. As far as ricochet is concerned I have never experienced it because if there is the slightest doubt I don't take the shot. With most bunnies you will have the chance to move position without spooking them.

[the running man]

Rick 'o chet,and his wife patty 'o doors!!!.............................17hmr I've had for 6 year and its lost not its zero....yes its noisy but its accurate,sniping at 70+meters they seem to run away less run more wen closer,same with .22 they hear their mates get shot up and run away........17 does not richochet.....it disintergrates on impact......22 does richochet a lot, and a .22 hitting a rabbit or the mud next to the rabbit can sound the same........this is a very argued about subject and if u want direct answers just pm me and ile be happy to answer them for you.............

[JonC]

Put in for both. My setup is a .22LR semi auto for shortish range stuff (mostly lamping from a vehicle), .17HMR for longer range stuff. Have you tried lamping or shooting from a vehicle? Sometimes bunnies ignore vehicles, but will head for cover if they see you on foot.

[Haytime]

Put in for both. My setup is a .22LR semi auto for shortish range stuff (mostly lamping from a vehicle), .17HMR for longer range stuff. Have you tried lamping or shooting from a vehicle? Sometimes bunnies ignore vehicles, but will head for cover if they see you on foot.

Too lazy for lamping at the moment Jon :G

I have put in for both, but after a few more hours doing a bit of research on 't tinterweb and you tube, I think I will opt for the HMR first, then at a later stage the .22lr. I'm also looking at joining a local target club in Bishop Auckland, so after my 6 months of being sure they know I know which end goes bang....and a few meal's out for the wife and casual hints....I might end up with both

.....just awaiting the interview with the FEO, funny really as the bloke who's coming out is a PCSO who only does FEO duty's. He is a retired police officer and ex-army. I shall pull up a sandbag and swap stories

[firestarter]

I have both and its horses for courses really.
.22lr for when i'm shooting bunnies where noise is an issue but HMR is my rimfire of choice.
You still get richochets with the 20g hmr ammo though!

[tikkathreebarrels]

If you've shot military, you've shot tracer and you'll have observed that pass-throughs on ally etr targetry ping off in all kinds of directions: ricochets of .22 subsonics do the same - they ping off anywhere you just hear them like in the John Wayne westerns. Don't ask me how far they travel though. A farm we used to lamp rabbits from a truck had lots of small flint in the topsoil but since leaving there I can't remember the last ricochet in oh ten years.
Otherwise horses for courses. 17hmr is noisy and destroys the rabbit, 22subs can be very quiet and you don't get the same meat damage.
If you're stationary at 100 yards with few rabbits on one patch I'd say 17 hmr, if you've got lots to get through and you can get within 75 yards and if you're mobile I'd say .22 subs.
Right I need to come back to two things: the farmer's prized cattle - you don't want them running about scared by the supersonic crack of 17hmr and secondly these dead bunnies: what do you intend doing with them: you're going to get quite messy bagging 17hmr'd carcases.

[Haytime]

Thanks folks for your thoughts.

I think I will try the .22 first and see how I get on. The rabbits will be used for food around family and friends so I would only be able to use the hmr for headshots. The land has no stones or flint that I'm aware of, just need to be careful as usual.

Thanks again.