.17 hornet or .22 hornet

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I have a .223 and a .17 hornet which I use for night work with a n870. The .223 kills foxes without an exit at 200yds plus - rabbits at 100+ yds are unusable. The MV is 3600 fps and I could envisage going to 250-300 yds if I was that accurate. The .17 hornet, a cz with mod runs at 3,000fps at 20 grain vmax. Its a very good rabbit rifle, I have taken foxes very effectively at 175 yds and they are dead as with the .223, on impact. The sound from the .17 is less (but still significant) than the .223 but the ballistics (except striking energy) are similar. Recoil I never really notice but the .17 is soft by comparison to the .223. I like them both and dont have to the carry the .22 when going out for foxes - the .17 does both and without a lamp. Great rifle. I have never had a .22 hornet because I dont have a need with the guns I have.
My .17 is a CZ american with a 'varmint' barrel - it has lovely wood and whilst expensive £750 is fast becoming a favourite.
 
thanks for all your thoughts , but the winner is ................................the .22 hornet. think this will cover all of my small vermin shooting. thanks .. licence going to the post first thing Saturday.
 
You won't be disappointed. I love my .22 hornet. Now you've decided on the calibre the real fun begins. Which make of rifle ? CZ will get a big vote on here I've owned several in various calibres and they have always been accurate and reliable. But for the hornet I saved a little more and treated myself to a weihrauch hw60j. It is by far the best and most accurate rifle I have ever owned.
 
I think you should have a go on the .17 first. They are epic! My .22lr and .223 both get very little use now. The lack of recoil for an almost .243 light bullet trajectory (out to sensible ranges) is what makes it so addictive. I've had nearly 30 foxes now with 20g vmax and only had one runner compared to one in roughly every fifteen with the .223 and 60g Noslers.
Head shots to 250 are par for the course, just slap it on the wing mirror and fire- no finesse needed.

I find it odd that anyone would struggle to find a niche for it- it's incredibly versatile. I've shot rats at 20y in the barn with it and there is no ricochet- it doesn't even damage the pallet right behind the rat! 200y crows are boringly regular.
I bought a Boyds stock for my cz, whittled out the barrel channel with an Opinel knife and never even had to re-zero!! I would describe it as being even more inherently accurate than a .222 which is saying something.
 
Crosshair243 said:
I think you should have a go on the .17 first. They are epic! My .22lr and .223 both get very little use now. The lack of recoil for an almost .243 light bullet trajectory (out to sensible ranges) is what makes it so addictive. I've had nearly 30 foxes now with 20g vmax and only had one runner compared to one in roughly every fifteen with the .223 and 60g Noslers.
Head shots to 250 are par for the course, just slap it on the wing mirror and fire- no finesse needed.

I find it odd that anyone would struggle to find a niche for it- it's incredibly versatile. I've shot rats at 20y in the barn with it and there is no ricochet- it doesn't even damage the pallet right behind the rat! 200y crows are boringly regular.
I bought a Boyds stock for my cz, whittled out the barrel channel with an Opinel knife and never even had to re-zero!! I would describe it as being even more inherently accurate than a .222 which is saying something.
Click to expand...

I think you've chosen the wrong adjective. No .17 calibre is "epic" or even awesome on the superlative scale.

If it only slightly exits a rat at 20yds, then how can it devastate a fox at 200-250yds? Even a .222 is a challenge at such ranges due to the conditions, the limitations of the optics, and the size of the target.

Long-range head=shots in the dark beyond 100yds are something else. I don't often comment on claims, but this has to be the right time to refute such obvious nonsense. :roll:
 
Sinistral said:
I think you've chosen the wrong adjective. No .17 calibre is "epic" or even awesome on the superlative scale.

If it only slightly exits a rat at 20yds, then how can it devastate a fox at 200-250yds? Even a .222 is a challenge at such ranges due to the conditions, the limitations of the optics, and the size of the target.

Long-range head=shots in the dark beyond 100yds are something else. I don't often comment on claims, but this has to be the right time to refute such obvious nonsense. :roll:
Click to expand...


Lol!! So full of it aren't you.
I don't care what you think. If you suppose a 3.5" target on a still night is too much for the .17 then you've clearly never tried one. Besides, a quartering headshot in still conditions carries little risk, especially at known distances.

It does exit a rat- it blows it to smitherenes in fact. But there is not a mark on the object behind it. Again, your disbelief proves your ignorance. Dont forget that the little Vmax is travelling far quicker than it is at 200-300y so it's bound to penetrate and act differently- again a nod to its versatility.

I wish this forum had an ignore function- then I could have saved myself this reply :suss:
 
Crosshair243 said:
I wish this forum had an ignore function- then I could have saved myself this reply :suss:
Click to expand...

It does have an ignore button.
As for your claim that it exits the rat, but does no damage to the pallet behind ?
Can't see how that can happen, please explain.

Neil. :)
 
Hornet 6 said:
It does have an ignore button.
As for your claim that it exits the rat, but does no damage to the pallet behind ?
Can't see how that can happen, please explain.

Neil. :)
Click to expand...

Watch any 'exploding varmint' type video for a graphic explaination! At 20y, the tiny Vmax is doing 3430fps. It exits the rat in pretty much mist form lol. The rat itself did hit the pallet which only added to its explosive demise! I will film it with a drinks bottle if I remember.

Meanwhile, out at 250y, the bullet is travelling nicely at 2200fps and exhibits a great balance of penetration and stopping power.
As I say, I'm 'only' 30 foxes in to my .17 hornet foxing but it's certainly impressed me- mostly because it's so easy to shoot. 3 clicks for 50y/200y, 6 for 250y - put crosshairs on vitals and watch them fall over- simples!!

edit- found the ignore button, thanks! Every day's a school day :D
 
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Good choice on the .22 hornet, had mine a while now and no complaints whatsoever, shot foxes out to 200yds no problem wouldn't go much further with it, most of them taken on the hills and farms I shoot in North Wales.

Scoby
 
Hornet 6 said:
It does have an ignore button.
As for your claim that it exits the rat, but does no damage to the pallet behind ?
Can't see how that can happen, please explain.

Neil. :)
Click to expand...

neil i'm not bieng argumentative and can't comment on a rat,what i can say is i have hit rabbits center mass just to test the round .never had one exit.they dump there energy very well.having shot one i can believe it does not exit a rat but of course it makes you wonder if such a frangible round is ideal for fox.
 
Hornet 6 said:
My thoughts exactly.

Neil. :)
Click to expand...

As said, at 2000 odd fps at 200y, the Vmax acts a lot differently than it does at 3500 @ 20. That's not unique behaviour to the Hornet.

As I also said, I'm getting roughly half the rate of 'run and die' shots on regular use on foxes between 40 and 260y than with 60g .223 Noslers at 3100fps mv.

I have enough bullet/rifle combos at my disposal that I was willing to stop foxing with the .17 hornet if the results weren't up to scratch but it's just so simple to shoot from any old rest that the consistency of shot-placement trumps any shortcomings in bullet design/weight/terminal energy.

As long as the foxes keep falling over, I keep reaching into the cabinet for it :D
 
Crosshair243 said:
As I also said, I'm getting roughly half the rate of 'run and die' shots on regular use on foxes between 40 and 260y than with 60g .223 Noslers at 3100fps mv.
Click to expand...

Admittedly I hold the range to 200 or less (usually much less), but I don't get run and die results with the 22H, they just fall over.
Bigger bullets make bigger holes, and bigger is better.

Neil. :)
 
Hornet 6 said:
Admittedly I hold the range to 200 or less (usually much less), but I don't get run and die results with the 22H, they just fall over.
Bigger bullets make bigger holes, and bigger is better.

Neil. :)
Click to expand...

22H is not bigger than .223 though and I get more with that. There's always going to be an occasional boiler room shot that passes through when they're dead square to you.

The only fox I've not been able to put my hand on this year was shot square on with a 150g PPU soft point from my .308 although the amount of blood I found suggested it did little more than make it underground to bleed out.

Haterz gonna hate :)
 
22 hornet,Ruger, gave me a lot of problems at the start, but love it now, also got a 22hornet/12g great combo
204 is my next step
243
30-06

I have often thought if I had my time again would I go 17hornet, 223, 270. one less rifle but I'm happy (I think) with what I have
 
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