The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

Hares and foxes are a bit big for the HMR in my opinion, part of the reason I use a .22 WMR in these circumstances.

The HMR may serve as a 200 yard bunny rifle in the right conditions ( no wind, good visibility, better than average field shooting rest) but is limited for larger stuff. Out to 150 however it is excellent for shooting for population control and up to 100 is great for head shots for the pot.

Many talk of distances, but I often wonder how many shooters can measure distance reasonably accurately in the field. How many practice? A lot of people will pace things out, but then think their pace is a yard, when for the vast majority it is considerably less.

Ive seen many videos and claims of 200 yards.

I have a S&B 8x56 on my HMR. I dont shoot over 80 yards with it. Both Fox and Rabbit.

practice at 50-80 yards as those are generally the main distances i am comfortable to shoot quarry with it at. I have shot it further but only on paper and apples.

So would people say that generally all HMR ammo is pretty much the same wether it be ballistic tip or hollow point from an accuracy and stopping power point of view?
I guess I'll end up trying the lot anyway

As for the HMR round not being suitable for Fox etc..... a fair few videos on Youtube would say it is Although the ranges probably weren't 200 yards.
I can see this being a challenging calibre especially if theres a breeze but hopefully I can do the sums pretty quickly and get a few bunnies.

I got very little use out of my .17HMR when I had it (Sako Quad) but I don't think I ever shot a rabbit more than 100-120m away. I don't think i'd try a 200m shot with it because of the degree the round is affected by wind, but i'm well aware there are many, many better riflemen than me!

I'd say getting the round that gives you the best accuracy is more important than fretting between hollow point and ballistic tip

Ive probably shot over 600 rabbits with a 17 hmr, the remmington green tips seemed to work best, you would either find the round in tact or never find anything, never did u find a mushroomed 17 round.....

I used the fmj bullets in my cz at short siberia and was putting them through the same 5p piece group at 200 yards (sunny no wind!) so it is hyper accurate.

17 for fox is an old argument and one i side on not shooting fox with it 22wmr yes 17 no, 222 and bigger yes....

Ive shot rabbits at about 140 yards was the furthest (had a huge scope and bipod at the time) but usually about 40/70 is about right and if its windy then 30/40 is about it...

Whenever people have asked to come out shooting we take the three twos test, this limits their range to that which that can reliably hit three two pence coins in a row.

And most of what I’ve shot with rimfire has had a second round to the head as a matter of courtesy. I don’t eat rabbit heads so it’s no damage and makes sure the job is done.

Let’s not get into a “what’s humane” thread lock here. By all means offer your methods and guidance but the message gets delivered better if we don’t directly criticise others, just offer an alternative if you think they need one.

Gazza wrote:So would people say that generally all HMR ammo is pretty much the same wether it be ballistic tip or hollow point from an accuracy and stopping power point of view?
I guess I'll end up trying the lot anyway

As for the HMR round not being suitable for Fox etc..... a fair few videos on Youtube would say it is Although the ranges probably weren't 200 yards.
I can see this being a challenging calibre especially if theres a breeze but hopefully I can do the sums pretty quickly and get a few bunnies.

If you are shooting bunnies I would say that there is little meaningful difference between the 17 grain plastic tipped stuff and the 20 grain hollow points except for velocity and therefore effective range without needing hold over; therefore I would go 17 grain plastic tip.

For larger quarry I would say that the more bullet weight the better and so go for the 20 grain HP.

However above all of that is shoot the one that your rifle groups the best with as accuracy is more important than 3 grains of weight in this calibre to ensure humane kills.