.17hmr or .222

[Heym SR20]

223 or 222 are really nice little rounds and they are cheap (ish) to reload. If you want to stick with the .17 what about the .17 Hornet as it's reloadable and from what I can gather, a really nice little round for rabbits and foxes. But same can be said of the .22 Hornet. A real plus of the 223 / 222 is that they are dear legal for the smaller deer, depending on which side of the Scottish Border you shoot on.

222 is a really good little cartridge, but these days the 223 probably has much greater choice of rifles and ammo availability. And there is plenty of cheap plinking / target type ammo available.

 

[finnbear270]

Buddy of mine decided to "K" his Hornet, made a doozy of a fox and bunny basher.

 

[Edinburgh Rifles]

one is a proper gun that when you pass away will allow you entrance through the pearly gates purely on the strength of owning one...

the other is a shitty rimfire

 

[Bugsy]

Get shot of 17 , trying to shoot a rabbit on a windy hill one night and after a box o bullets , turfs of grass all around it and peppered stabs behind it and the dog covering his eyes I bought a 22 magnum and a lot better , buy a 222 and reload .

 

[Overlay]

22 hornet will fit the requirements precisely and cheap to feed, if you already have a 243, you've got all eventualities covered

I think you will be pleasantly surprised with capabilities of the hornet


My views may be a bit bias though as I've got 2 hornets LOL

Have you considered a 204 ???

 

[Kiwi Tim]

Hello All.

I currently have a Tikka T1x in .17Hmr that i use for rabbit control but i am considering trading in for a .222 for both rabbit and foxing. I have a .243 win that i use for Deer and foxes currently but im considering a .222

I have an Anschutz .22lr for NV and lots of rabbit work as i have a few permissions that are over run with rabbits and its cheaper to feed.

Has anyone regretted moving away from the .17hmr? I like the round and I'm well aware of the pro's and cons. I will be looking to trade in and im happy to get an older .222 and would be looking at home loading too. Foxing range is 250 yards max and most shots within 150 yards.

Rabbits with the .222 sounds like fun too.

Any and all advice welcome. ive been looking at a CZ in .222.

If it were me I would keep the 17hmr for the rabbits control the .243 for the foxes and the deer and that's you sorted mate.

 

[BenBhoy]

Have you considered a 204??

 

[BenBhoy]

Have you considered a 204 ???

Edit haha just saw this!

 

[DDMS]

22 hornet will fit the requirements precisely and cheap to feed, if you already have a 243, you've got all eventualities covered

I think you will be pleasantly surprised with capabilities of the hornet


My views may be a bit bias though as I've got 2 hornets LOL

Have you considered a 204 ???

I have considered the .204 and it's something in thinking about, however, I've seen some really nice .222 that I like the look of now I'm looking g

 

[Overlay]

I have considered the .204 and it's something in thinking about, however, I've seen some really nice .222 that I like the look of now I'm looking g

222 is my favourite for foxing, I'm running a thermal on mine and its phenomenal shoots like a laser, head shots only for rabbits other wise not a lot left
The hornet, 204 and the duce are all exceptional foxing rounds I shoot all mine a lot, for the longer range it's the 222 that gets used, my 204 I'm still getting used to but it's a incredible range rifle and had incredible knockdown at range, I would say out if all the foxes I grass 60% are with the hornet and under a 100 mtrs the other 2 are for over a 100, any of them are phenomenal calibres in their own right, whatever you choose you wont be disappointed

 

[njc110381]

If you only want a bit more poke than the HMR to make more reliable close up fox kills, why not look at a .22 Hornet? They're crazy cheap to reload, they take half the powder you'd need in a .222 and moderate easily. Trajectory is similar to the HMR but the energy over double.

I used to have a Hornet as an all round carry gun. It's the only rifle I ever shot out - that takes some doing too! I took pretty much everything from rats to injured roe deer with it.

 

[tacklerat]

I have a massive bias in favour of the 222. Mine takes out rabbits with head shots, and foxes as well. The rifle is a Zastava barrel and action (mini Mauser) with a 20inch barrel. I ditched the awful Zastava stock in favour of an American Black Walnut stock from the US. The rifle loves 50gn Vmax and 40gn Nosler Varmageddons. No 17hmr for me.

 

[IBD]

Have a .222 and I’d buy a .223 if was going to replace it.

Currently paying £11 box for Winchester soft points that where old stock in my local gunshop as no one else locally has a .222!
He also has blue box federal for £19.

I like mine and have shot muntjac and cwd with it and foxes and crows etc.
Very quiet with mod on.

No rabbits here so haven’t shot one for years and years .

 

[User00036]

I can only count up to 2, so I am limited to 2 rifles. One for bunnies, & the other for anything that stares at me for 2 long. I also have a stammer,
2. 2. 2.

 

[tomto]

I had this predicament and ended up getting myself a .204 and absolutely love it. Another rifle to consider is the .17 hornet.

 

[JohnSmith]

17 HMR is expensive. It may have better ballistics and energy than a 22lr, but my shots are never further than ~50 yds so I stopped using it.

I use 22lr for everything now. Grouse, porcupine, beaver, fox, lynx, snowshoe hare… shoot them in the head and there’s zero issues and no meat damage (minus the fox, don’t eat those).

 

[Ratel]

Buddy of mine decided to "K" his Hornet, made a doozy of a fox and bunny basher.

My old and late Colonel despite the law would use nothing else but a "K" Hornet for Roe.

 

[Jameshenry]

Got rid of my 17Hmr for a .222 , i don't regret it at all