Need help with a rimfire choice.

Rimfire bolt action rifles, lever action, pump action and self loading rifles. Air rifles.

Re: Need help with a rimfire choice.

Post by bladeracer » 07 Sep 2018, 11:18 pm

duncan61 wrote:22 Cal .224 35 gr V-MAX® in .223 would be zipping along at around 3500fps.Thats cooking.Do you remember when 3000fps sounded fast


I recall the first time I saw the .17 Remington - that thing was a bloody laser beam compared to my .222Rem!
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Re: Need help with a rimfire choice.

Post by duncan61 » 08 Sep 2018, 1:14 am

Still is.Be hard to keep clean them little 17 rods are tiny
.22 winchester .22hornet .222 .243 7mm rem mag cbc 12g
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Re: Need help with a rimfire choice.

Post by bigrich » 08 Sep 2018, 7:00 am

bladeracer wrote:
duncan61 wrote:Sometimes in life we do things for the hell of it.I reload hornet and love the little fella.It will never catch the .222 no matter what some people claim and I soft load my .222 for about 2800 with 50g pills even a K hornet wont go that fast


Agreed, I would have no hesitation in adding a Hornet to my collection. But for most people that only like a handful of rifles, they're better served by getting something bigger they can load down for "Hornet" use, while also having the greater abilities of the full-power load. .243 can be loaded down to do everything the Hornet will do.


I had a really accurate Krico hornet, but after I got my 222 Winchester I came to the same conclusion BR . I liked my hornet, but excellent accuracy in 222 is so easy :thumbsup:
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Re: Need help with a rimfire choice.

Post by Diamond Jim » 18 Oct 2018, 7:28 pm

Given that you specify a rimfire and given the parameters you describe, the .17HMR seems to be the obvious choice. A .17 Hornet would do the job as well but unless you reload I'd be scared of the price of factory ammo. I know .17HMR isn't cheap like .22LR but the price of factory .22 Hornet is ridiculous. Ammo price is not an issue if you are shooting low volumes but shooting is fun so why limit yourself to low volumes?
So, my advice is buy a CZ455 in .17 HMR for about $700 and buy a .22LR conversion down the track to shoot lots and lots of cheap .22LR
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Re: Need help with a rimfire choice.

Post by Chappo » 18 Oct 2018, 8:06 pm

Too late jim, i bought a slazenger 24.
Thanks though.
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Re: Need help with a rimfire choice.

Post by Diamond Jim » 07 Nov 2018, 12:47 am

If that is the Slazenger 22 Hornet built on a SMLE action I think you are going to be very happy. We've had one in the family for over 50 years and it's an accurate rifle that has never let us down. Ours is fitted with iron sights only but it's never been an issue over the Hornet's range.
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Re: Need help with a rimfire choice.

Post by Bills Shed » 07 Nov 2018, 7:23 am

If not going to reload I would do the 17HMR. A box of ammo will last awhile if you do not do much shooting. It will do 150m with out to much drama. Same with 22mag. Simple and easy. Finding the ammo that works may take a bit of patience but that is for all rifles.
For a lot more speed the little 17 hornet is wonderful. Louder than a 22 mag but far less than a 223. I have down loaded it to 1900fps but you really need a very frangable projectile at that low velocity. Even the Vmax does little at this speed. The 22 hornet is another favourite of mine and I now have a little 30gn round nose soft point that just destroys itself at low velocity.
The 222 and 223 can be down loaded to the 22Hornet velocity but again the projectile needs to be very frangable. Not much of a win when using a short light projectile as the jump can destroy accuracy. I have a 55gn deep hollow pointed projectile which is a bomb at low velocity so I have that figured out. I still had some of my low velocity 223 rounds with a standard 55 gn Winchester soft point and shot a feral cat on the week end. Just went straight through and that was at less than 10 metres.

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Re: Need help with a rimfire choice.

Post by TassieTiger » 11 Nov 2018, 7:00 pm

There is a truly eye opening video on YouTube where ppl are testing the lethality of a .22 at distance. The line in the sand from memory was a 3/4inch of pine - if it could penetrate that then it is apparently regarded as lethal.

At 200m the holes - CCI high velocity ammo - was crisp cut.
At 300m - the holes were crisp cut.
Only at 400m was the bullet occasionally getting stuck.

This opened my eyes dramatically...I would have never believed a .22 LR would do that...

I then decided to push my cz .22 to 120m site range for a bit of fun. Drop was about 2.5-3 inches from the previous 50m site in
I’ve nailed rabbits stone dead at 150 with that cz. Can’t speak for foxes.
Oh, I should have added - I was using lapua magazine .22 sub sonics. It is almost laughable waiting for the bullet to reach the target but, it works and the bunnies don’t scare at all from what amounts to a loud hammer strike type noise. I’m not sure I’d try it on anything bigger, I don’t know that it would be a quick dispatch on a larger hare or fox.
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Re: Need help with a rimfire choice.

Post by bladeracer » 12 Nov 2018, 6:18 am

TassieTiger wrote:There is a truly eye opening video on YouTube where ppl are testing the lethality of a .22 at distance. The line in the sand from memory was a 3/4inch of pine - if it could penetrate that then it is apparently regarded as lethal.

At 200m the holes - CCI high velocity ammo - was crisp cut.
At 300m - the holes were crisp cut.
Only at 400m was the bullet occasionally getting stuck.

This opened my eyes dramatically...I would have never believed a .22 LR would do that...

I then decided to push my cz .22 to 120m site range for a bit of fun. Drop was about 2.5-3 inches from the previous 50m site in
I’ve nailed rabbits stone dead at 150 with that cz. Can’t speak for foxes.
Oh, I should have added - I was using lapua magazine .22 sub sonics. It is almost laughable waiting for the bullet to reach the target but, it works and the bunnies don’t scare at all from what amounts to a loud hammer strike type noise. I’m not sure I’d try it on anything bigger, I don’t know that it would be a quick dispatch on a larger hare or fox.


You should have a lot more drop at 120m. With CCI Std Vel (40gn at 1080fps) I'm zeroed at 55m and dropping 205mm at 100m, 375mm at 120m, 725mm at 150m, 1580mm at 200m, 2785mm at 250m, 4415mm at 300m, 6500mm at 350m, and nine-meters drop at 400m. I haven't shot with accuracy to 400m as yet to confirm that, but it is in that ballpark.

Take it out even further, it's great fun waiting for the bullet to hit. You fire the shot, cycle the action, see the splash against steel, and then you hear the ring a second later. At around 300m it take a second for the bullet to hit the target, and another second for the sound to come back to you. Trying to judge the wind gets really difficult.

I haven't tried it on pine, but I did test against corrugated steel sheeting - the average farm shed. CCI Quiet at 710fps penetrates to about 180m. CCI Std Vel is getting down to the same velocity at around 450m, so I would expect penetration around that point. I'll drag a sheet up the paddock one day and confirm that.
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Re: Need help with a rimfire choice.

Post by TassieTiger » 12 Nov 2018, 10:21 am

From memory, I was already 1 inch high on the 50m - but it was a while ago now...
Regardless - it was an eye opener, as you've explained above. I dont think I'd be confident at your distances at this stage, but I can see what you mean re time for bullet to hit...it's hilarious fun. I think it also depends on where you shooting as well as the echo can mess up the effect if in a canyon environment.

180m and extra low velocity goes through steel corrugation ? that's surely a kill on a rabbit / hare!!!
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Re: Need help with a rimfire choice.

Post by bladeracer » 12 Nov 2018, 10:46 am

TassieTiger wrote:From memory, I was already 1 inch high on the 50m - but it was a while ago now...
Regardless - it was an eye opener, as you've explained above. I dont think I'd be confident at your distances at this stage, but I can see what you mean re time for bullet to hit...it's hilarious fun. I think it also depends on where you shooting as well as the echo can mess up the effect if in a canyon environment.

180m and extra low velocity goes through steel corrugation ? that's surely a kill on a rabbit / hare!!!



It certainly has enough power to kill at that sort of range, but it doesn't have the precision to ensure good placement. Even if you can hold 1MoA out to 180m, the trajectory (710fps is 2600mm drop from a 55m zero) requires absolute perfection in ranging the target (one meter short or long is 30mm elevation difference), and reading the wind.
I just finished putting 200rds on steel at 40m, 160m, 166m and 225m with the Ruger Rimfire Target. I also shot some 10rd groups but haven't been up yet to look at them.
I knocked the rifle off the bench this morning - again!
It landed right on the elevation turret on the floor so I had to go and check zero.
Not too bad, it seems to have compressed the rear adjustable ring a bit so it was shooting 9MoA low at 40m, and 2MoA to the left.
But cycling through various ranges I was shooting fifth-scale steel silhouettes at 160m without any problems, although those chickens are a bit small for consistent hits.
Last edited by bladeracer on 13 Nov 2018, 10:02 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Need help with a rimfire choice.

Post by in2anity » 12 Nov 2018, 4:37 pm

bladeracer wrote:
TassieTiger wrote:From memory, I was already 1 inch high on the 50m - but it was a while ago now...
Regardless - it was an eye opener, as you've explained above. I dont think I'd be confident at your distances at this stage, but I can see what you mean re time for bullet to hit...it's hilarious fun. I think it also depends on where you shooting as well as m echo can mess up the effect if in a canyon environment.

180m and extra low velocity goes through steel corrugation ? that's surely a kill on a rabbit / hare!!!



It certainly has enough power to kill at that sort of range, but it doesn't have the precision to ensure good placement. Even if you can hold 1MoA out to 180m, the trajectory (710fps is 2600mm drop from a 55m zero) requires absolute perfection in ranging the target (one meter short or long is 30mm elevation difference), and reading the wind.
I just finished putting 200rds on steel at 40m, 160m, 166m and 225m with the Ruger Rimfire Target. I also shot some 10rd groups but haven't been up yet to look at them.
I knocked the rifle off the bench this morning - again!
It landed right on the elevation turret on the floor so I had to go and check zero.
Not too bad, it seems to have compressed the rear adjustable ring a bit so it was shooting 9MoA low at 40m, and 2MoA to the left.
But cycling through various ranges I was shooting tenth-scale steel silhouettes at 160m without any problems, although those chickens are a bit small for consistent hits.


Tenth scale chickens would be only slightly more than 1” wide - you’d be doing well to hit them even at 100m
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Re: Need help with a rimfire choice.

Post by in2anity » 12 Nov 2018, 5:07 pm

TassieTiger wrote:From memory, I was already 1 inch high on the 50m - but it was a while ago now...
Regardless - it was an eye opener, as you've explained above. I dont think I'd be confident at your distances at this stage, but I can see what you mean re time for bullet to hit...it's hilarious fun. I think it also depends on where you shooting as well as the echo can mess up the effect if in a canyon environment.

180m and extra low velocity goes through steel corrugation ? that's surely a kill on a rabbit / hare!!!


It’s cruel shooting rabbits past 100m with a 22lr - expansion is virtual non existent which means a non-vital zone passes right through and only wounds. Ive done it, and I regret it.
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Re: Need help with a rimfire choice.

Post by bladeracer » 13 Nov 2018, 8:27 am

in2anity wrote:Tenth scale chickens would be only slightly more than 1” wide - you’d be doing well to hit them even at 100m


You're quite right!
I meant fifth-scale for rimfire silhouette.
Tenth is for air-rifles I think.
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Re: Need help with a rimfire choice.

Post by bladeracer » 13 Nov 2018, 8:30 am

in2anity wrote:It’s cruel shooting rabbits past 100m with a 22lr - expansion is virtual non existent which means a non-vital zone passes right through and only wounds. Ive done it, and I regret it.


Agreed, stick with paper and steel for long-range .22LR.
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Re: Need help with a rimfire choice.

Post by in2anity » 13 Nov 2018, 9:54 am

bladeracer wrote:You're quite right!
I meant fifth-scale for rimfire silhouette.
Tenth is for air-rifles I think.


Spot on Blade :thumbsup:
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Re: Need help with a rimfire choice.

Post by bladeracer » 13 Nov 2018, 1:17 pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Kyzih_Jt2U

240m with my Ruger Target MDT.
Target is a steel plate 400mm tall by 200mm wide.

I've ordered ten 5" gongs from Sterk as well - $152 delivered from Brisbane. Hopefully have them this week.
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Re: Need help with a rimfire choice.

Post by Chappo » 14 Nov 2018, 6:21 pm

Diamond Jim wrote:If that is the Slazenger 22 Hornet built on a SMLE action I think you are going to be very happy. We've had one in the family for over 50 years and it's an accurate rifle that has never let us down. Ours is fitted with iron sights only but it's never been an issue over the Hornet's range.


Yes mate it’s a slazenger branded Lithgow conversion built on a 1942 action, field side mount and 2.5-7 31 period scope.
Glad to hear you enjoy yours.
Haven’t put many rounds through it but it seems to shoot well.
Only issue I’ve got is it doesn’t like to pick up the last round from the mag.
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