Backstop query .17hmr

[brettguise]

Hi guys, purchasing my .17hmr tonight off a friend. The land I shoot has been passed up to .223 so its safe enough in the right hands. Some of the fields have hills and banks perfect backstops. Some of the fields are more flat and a bit of guidance would hep.

Say if a rabbit was sat in the middle of flat field how safe is the shot and is there a certain way of knowing before pulling the trigger? I planned to shoot them in that situation from a high point like a hatch in my car so the shot went down onto them but this wouldn't always be the case. Is a standing shot down to the rabbit good enough? Im rather safety concious, im sure I can judge the shot and im being cautious but just making sure.

 

[6.5rem700]

you must have a GOOD back stop every time you squeeze that trigger
[is a standing shot down to the rabbit good enough?] if it was a short distance 20/30yds could be ok depending on the ground and whats in front of it generaly
but the further away the angle changes, so at 80yds the bullet could easily skip/ricochet even after its gone thru the bunny
as you say its best to be on the cautious side of things till you are truly experienced with the gun/caliber/round and ground
​hope this helps

 

[bewsher500]

combination of ground material, temperature and angle is key to any ricochet judgement

only way to truly know is try it (ideally with some knowledge of further stops beyond!), even then you will find some situations might produce a ricochet and others don't
I have seen a .243 ricochet of a soft wet grass field from a standing shot of maybe 4-5" above the target and around 75 yds
.22 solids will bounce off most surfaces
.17HMR 20gr tend to bounce more often go further as they stay together more but 17gr Vmax will still do it

​lower the angle greater the chance but nothing can predict what they might do

 

[paul o']

if there is't a back stop then how will your bullet stay within your footprint, don't think its ok some time's thats just how a crap happends, as you say use a higher point to shoot from or a motor you should be ok but all depends on how far your target is away when standing if you think about it ! at the end of the day your the best on/ off switch on your rifle just do the "wot if" before you pull and you will be ok

 

[brettguise]

I always do the what if just really I think need to get out and have a go and see how the bullet travels with safe backstops. I presume frosty ground is bad, even with the .17hmr with balistic tips?

 

[howa243]

Was with a pal a year or so back having a pop with his HMR. He was shooting at rabbits at about 60/70 yards with no real backstop. He was assuming that the round would just break up on impact and not travel. I told him I thought it was a dangerous thing to do and went out to where the rabbit was and set up an oil drum with a ceramic tile in front. He put a round into the ground just in front of the tile and it skipped off of the ground and smashed the tile. This modified his behaviour somewhat.

 

[VSS]

I've always wondered how folk manage lamping rabbits at night in open fields with a .22lr?

 

[howa243]

I've always wondered how folk manage lamping rabbits at night in open fields with a .22lr?

With fingers crossed?

 

[patjack]

I've always wondered how folk manage lamping rabbits at night in open fields with a .22lr?

Alot just pull the trigger and hope for the best?

 

[brettguise]

Interesting, really I could do with just getting out and seeing how the bullet reacts at different safe backstops. Ill ask a friend with a ticket to come assist me.

 

[bewsher500]

I've always wondered how folk manage lamping rabbits at night in open fields with a .22lr?

same way they do with any other round that can bounce
I find the rabbits do a very good job of removing all but residual energy with their heads!

 

[finnbear270]

Seems to be some misunderstanding here of what a ricochet actually is, a ricochet round is a badly deformed bullet, & you will more often than not hear it, this because of the deformity & they don't travel very far and will always lose energy very fast, a miss, or as in the case of a skip from a .22LR in wet grass is a very different item, and very dangerous, as a rule if your angle of shot into ground is fairly acute, then you are good to go, making sure you have plenty of ground above & beyond and to the sides of your intended target that is clear of other objects, also the .17HMR round is pretty frangible, so should break up quickly on contact with anything other than bunnies etc.,

I should add, that a ricochet from a monometal round will be very dangerous, as it will retain a greater amount of energy / mass, as opposed to the more usual rounds. in use.

 

[bewsher500]

surely a ricochet is any (significant) deviation from the normal trajectory through impact with a surface (whether that be flesh or ground or trees/vegetation)
deformity comes from hardness vs bullet construction

​

 

[rabbitter]

Yep - sorry, Finnbear, but I don't understand the distinction that you are trying to draw. A ricochet, plain and simple, occurs when a projectile bounces off a surface. Whether the bullet is deformed before or afterwards is another matter. In practice, the soft bullet does deform and you hear the characteristic 'whine' as you pucker up and pray that nothing bad happens.

Back on topic...... In my experience, unless the ground is very hard or frozen, .17hmr bullets tend to bury themselves or fragment - certainly more readily than, say, .22 rounds. I think the idea of experimenting is a good one - it's what I did when I started playing with my hmr. Have fun!

regards


​Ian

 

[joe soapy]

Can never understand stalkers complaining that a bullet has not passed trough a deer on it way to wherever,
​At least with a 17 grain hmr it very quickly loses energy

 

[rabbitter]

An exit wound makes an animal which runs on easier to track down.

 

[big ears]

On my DSC they taught that you needed at least two fingers of back stop above the object. This has NEVER let me down. I am sure I have called off some shots I could take particularly foxing but I know that every shot taken has been safe.

 

[VSS]

On my DSC they taught that you needed at least two fingers of back stop above the object. This has NEVER let me down. I am sure I have called off some shots I could take particularly foxing but I know that every shot taken has been safe.

2 fingers? Cripes, is that really what's recommended? I like to have a whole mountainside behind my target, just to be on the safe side.

 

[howy308]

Was with a pal a year or so back having a pop with his HMR. He was shooting at rabbits at about 60/70 yards with no real backstop. He was assuming that the round would just break up on impact and not travel. I told him I thought it was a dangerous thing to do and went out to where the rabbit was and set up an oil drum with a ceramic tile in front. He put a round into the ground just in front of the tile and it skipped off of the ground and smashed the tile. This modified his behaviour somewhat.

​The 22 will go through the oil drum as well

 

[jubnut]

2 fingers? Cripes, is that really what's recommended? I like to have a whole mountainside behind my target, just to be on the safe side.

I struggle to find any mountainsides in Suffolk.

It's a very hard question to answer without seeing your ground, sufficed to say that it is wise to err on the side of caution, ALL rounds regardless of calibre and composition can ricochet (doesn't matter what you define as a ricochet - let's just say do unexpected things) having plenty of backstop, shooting from an elevated position etc etc will reduce the risk, knowing your background will reduce the effect. For instance avoid shooting towards houses roads etc etc.