.17 hornet or .223

RUNNERS you will likely get these with any calibre
Ive seen deer shot with large calibres and run off due to adrenaline even though perfect shot placement
Dont think because you have a 204 you wont have any runners becsuse at some point you may very well get them
My mate shoots a 17 wsm and hes dropped foxes out at 150 yds no problem
Ive got the 17 hornet and its deadly
I shot a hare at 90 yds and it ran off about 15 yds when we got to strike zone where the shot hit the hare there was a large pile off guts and when we walked a further 15yrds and found it it was completely gutted
So how did it run off
The gun did its job fine
Look on you tube how many animals are shot and run off especially in America
Calibres not always to blame
I once had a fox with a fist size exit from a behind the shoulder through the chest shot. Travel over three hundred yards. Leaving large puddles of blood in the snow. It took another shot when I caught up with it. That was 243 and 75 Vmax iirc.
 
Another vote for a .222. Love mine.

Regards

Mark
I may very well be wrong but “I think” the folks that like the 222 for lack of a better term are “older folks” . In my opinion the “younger/tacticool crowd” have a distinct preference for the 223/5.56 and again it’s nothing wrong with that .
 
If your wanting long range with the ability to go up to 1200yrds then the .223 . When I was in the states I was shooting the .223 to 1200yrds on steel plates
 
I have both of the calibres the op has enquired about and as has already been said they are totally different rifles. I really can't see the point in using any as big as 223 to shoot rabbits, conversely, the 17Hornet will inevitably be more affected by wind than the 223. Trajectories are quite similar, despite some saying the 223 is a quiet round it is certainly much noisier than the Hornet.
I use my17Hornet for close range foxes 150 yards and less and the 223 for longer range work. The little Hornet is a very enjoyable round to use, I really like it But it isn't the perfect all round fox calibre the 223 is.
 
RUNNERS you will likely get these with any calibre
Ive seen deer shot with large calibres and run off due to adrenaline even though perfect shot placement
Dont think because you have a 204 you wont have any runners becsuse at some point you may very well get them
My mate shoots a 17 wsm and hes dropped foxes out at 150 yds no problem
Ive got the 17 hornet and its deadly
I shot a hare at 90 yds and it ran off about 15 yds when we got to strike zone where the shot hit the hare there was a large pile off guts and when we walked a further 15yrds and found it it was completely gutted
So how did it run off
The gun did its job fine
Look on you tube how many animals are shot and run off especially in America
Calibres not always to blame
It ran because you shot it in the guts instead of in the vitals!
 
It ran because you shot it in the guts instead of in the vitals!
What ever
It was completely empty guts ,lungs etc it was like an empty shell
Are lungs not vitals where you come from
It was shot just behind the shoulder and because of the 17 explosive round it cleared it out
So dont tell me it was a bad shot as it was perfectly placed
Ive seen people shoot deer in the vitals and they have run for ages before dropping
Tell them its bad shot placement
Ive also seen people shot when i was in the military and you would be surprised how many shot people carried on shooting at us
 
What ever
It was completely empty guts ,lungs etc it was like an empty shell
Are lungs not vitals where you come from
It was shot just behind the shoulder and because of the 17 explosive round it cleared it out
So dont tell me it was a bad shot as it was perfectly placed
Ive seen people shoot deer in the vitals and they have run for ages before dropping
Tell them its bad shot placement
Ive also seen people shot when i was in the military and you would be surprised how many shot people carried on shooting at us

Lungs aren’t guts where I come from, you only mentioned guts in your post!
 
Thinking of swapping my .17hmr ...... It would be used for long range bunts and crows etc...what are your thoughts on my chosen replacement calibres....feel free to offer your ideas.....cheers.
I use a 17 Remington and love it. Take a look at the photo, (it's a 4 1/2" dis disc cut from 1/4 plate) Iwas checking energy retention, starting at 100 and walking back to 300 yards.
It a joy to shoot. The group was shot a MD low at 100, zero 200, 1 1/2 high at 300.
The only down side is wind!
M.
 

Attachments

  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    94.7 KB · Views: 20
The OP I think has gone with a .223. Good choice and plenty of cheap brass, great bullet choice and availability. It's not the one trick pony that some small calibre CF's are and as others have mentioned, its versatility and availability make it an obvious choice for many. I also like the mini-mauser actions of the CZ527 which is still amongst my favourite little 223 rifles to shoot.

The next consideration now that the variation in is barrel twist and barrel length. There's a few ways to approach this. If you need 400 yds for crow/rabbit and sensibly want to limit wind drift then there's two ways around this. Use of higher BC bullets or driving lighter and lower BC bullets at very high speeds. Sensibly, and as far as accuracy goes I reckon that 400 yds is about the limit for most lighter 223 bullets shot from a 1/12 barrel of average 22 to 24 inch length. Longer barrels here offer a distinct advantage in MV.

I started out with a slower twist 22 inch barrel and have changed that now for a 26 inch 1/8 twist which has opened up far more possibilities. That twist will shoot from 50grn to 80 grn bullets (with a few exceptions) very well indeed and given the choice of bullets, for crow I tend to use the higher BC ballistic tipped bullets which give significant advantages to wind drift. The 69gr tmk is devastating and is a great choice for 400yd shots where you can drive at close to 3000fps MV and they then retain more velocity at 400 yds than some lower BC 40gr bullets driven much harder. They're great on fox too. For rabbit, I tend to stick with soft points and to 300 yds found none better than the SGK 55gr spbt #1365. It provides almost target bullet accuracy and has accounted for deer (to 200 yds), and smaller game to ranges over 300 yds. I have had limited success with the flat base 60gr V-max and just can't get the things to shoot that well from my rifle which is a shame as they're cheap! Sub moa yes (I average about 0.75moa at 100 yds with them) but for 400 yds on small quarry I aim for 1/3moa or better, obviously prone using a bipod.
 
Back
Top