Hi all. For a number of reasons I am still going to wait until the new year and my renewal before doing anything about a stalking rifle but am considering a shake up of what I currently have ahead of that - do it in stages, if you will.
I currently have two .22 LRs on my ticket - a CZ 452 and a Marlin 989M2 (a semi-auto). I had thought I would set up the latter for night shooting but in reality it just sits in the cabinet looking pretty. So, I am considering doing a one-for-one swap for one of the magnum rimfires, and was initially thinking a .17 HMR. However, looking at the niche it would fill and how it would get used on the ground I shoot (short range foxes), and factoring in the possibility that I will have a centrefire for different circumstances (probably a .243) in the near future, I started leaning towards the WMR - there are a good few fans on here if recent threads are to be believed.
On checking GT, however, I couldn’t find many. In fact, whereas I can have my pick of more than 540 HMRs from about £150, there are only 55ish WMRs (unless I’m missing something…). So what’s going on - are there just fewer WMRs out there or is this more about people falling out of love with their HMRs?
GT ‘for sale’ stats are quite interesting, although it’s hard to say if something is more popular or, perhaps with something like 243, is treated as a kind of starter calibre which is often quickly chopped in for something larger...
I currently have two .22 LRs on my ticket - a CZ 452 and a Marlin 989M2 (a semi-auto). I had thought I would set up the latter for night shooting but in reality it just sits in the cabinet looking pretty. So, I am considering doing a one-for-one swap for one of the magnum rimfires, and was initially thinking a .17 HMR. However, looking at the niche it would fill and how it would get used on the ground I shoot (short range foxes), and factoring in the possibility that I will have a centrefire for different circumstances (probably a .243) in the near future, I started leaning towards the WMR - there are a good few fans on here if recent threads are to be believed.
On checking GT, however, I couldn’t find many. In fact, whereas I can have my pick of more than 540 HMRs from about £150, there are only 55ish WMRs (unless I’m missing something…). So what’s going on - are there just fewer WMRs out there or is this more about people falling out of love with their HMRs?
GT ‘for sale’ stats are quite interesting, although it’s hard to say if something is more popular or, perhaps with something like 243, is treated as a kind of starter calibre which is often quickly chopped in for something larger...
~Muir
