Thread: Show us your Varmint rifles

Cooper Varmint Extreme in 221 Fireball, it now wears a 6.5-20 x 40 Leupold



Cooper Model 22 Montana Varminter was a 243 now wears a 22BR barrel and has a Leupold 6.5-20 x 40 on top.



Cooper Model 38 Jackson Varminter in 17 HeeBe.

A couple of others I haven't got photos of a L/H Jongmans in 223, R/H Kimber 84 Varminter in 223, that'll do for now........Kiwi

Weatherby Vanguard 22-250
Gunworks Suppressor
Howa Rail
Falcon Menace 4-14 x 44

Looks like most of you guys have me outgunned as far as caliber is concerned, but here's my main varminter.

Savage .17HMR 93R17 BRJ.
Heavy fluted barrel, chopped down to 16".
22 Magnum MAE supressor.
Topped with a Leupold VX1 4-12x.

Approx 1" groups at 100m. Good for hares, possums, rabbits out to 200m.



Longest kill to date is 230m but it took a couple of hits. Really runs outta steam past the 200m mark. Looking into a .204, but this is great for most of the smaller farms I shoot on up this way. Nice and quiet.

Nice

Originally Posted by RimfireNZ

Looks like most of you guys have me outgunned as far as caliber is concerned, but here's my main varminter.

Savage .17HMR 93R17 BRJ.
Heavy fluted barrel, chopped down to 16".
22 Magnum MAE supressor.
Topped with a Leupold VX1 4-12x.

Approx 1" groups at 100m. Good for hares, possums, rabbits out to 200m.



Longest kill to date is 230m but it took a couple of hits. Really runs outta steam past the 200m mark. Looking into a .204, but this is great for most of the smaller farms I shoot on up this way. Nice and quiet.

Very nice, you lose much/any velocity shortening the hmr? I read somewhere once optimum for the 22lr was 512mm or something

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

Very nice, you lose much/any velocity shortening the hmr? I read somewhere once optimum for the 22lr was 512mm or something

Apparently I'm down 100fps. 2,450fps now. Still fair moving. It's much easier to handle now.

One of the guys at MAE suggested 14" is optimal for 22.

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

Very nice, you lose much/any velocity shortening the hmr? I read somewhere once optimum for the 22lr was 512mm or something

Apparently 19" is optimum for 17hmr...

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

Really? Optimum in this case referring to the length that will achieve the highest possible velocity.
14" =355mm near enough. If true my jw 15 will be min legal length in 5 min

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

Really? Optimum in this case referring to the length that will achieve the highest possible velocity.
14" =355mm near enough. If true my jw 15 will be min legal length in 5 min

I've been doing a bit of reading as well as chatting to a few different people who ought to know about this stuff and apparently in the case of rimfires a longer barrel isn't always better. With a 22 apparently once you start getting over that ideal length all the extra barrel does is slow the bullet slightly due to friction. I'd do a bit more reading on that around the 22 but it could be interesting. Those little Savage shorty's are interesting (they're really short) but after reading an article in NZ Guns they were getting speeds around 800fps with CCI subs (well below the 1000~ you normally get) so again, more reading is probably a good idea.

I've seen a few test of the .17HMR in particular and it was quite interesting. Have a read of this: HMR Velocities

The claw is on to it then 19" optimum for 17hmr(velocity)
Got nothing to back it up but 512mm sticks in my forgettery for 22lr. ?

The old marlin HMR I've got has retained its standard length barrel, 22" or thereabouts and it vapourises magpies!

has anyone got a ruger sr 22? it looks like a ruger 10/22 with bits hanging off it! but the free standing commercial pattern pistol grip is nice!

Originally Posted by Rock river arms hunter

The old marlin HMR I've got has retained its standard length barrel, 22" or thereabouts and it vapourises magpies!

has anyone got a ruger sr 22? it looks like a ruger 10/22 with bits hanging off it! but the free standing commercial pattern pistol grip is nice!

I know, it's just a puff of feathers aye I love my 17

Tthose SR22s are a way overpriced 10/22. you have to pull the scope rail and everything off to clean them so you screw round with your zero (not that a 22 is that accurate anyway). I have held a couple. I'd just get a normal 10/22. That's my 2c

Yea thats what i reckon 2! a 10/22 with lots of sh1t hanging off it attempting to be an AR.... cut the crap already and just Buy a REAL AR if your going down that track lol!

the HMR will always have a place in my heart,shot my first possum,rabbit etc with it and one cannot deny how deadly effective it is, provided one shoots within its limitations both realistically and ethically its a fantastic little round that I'd buy in a heartbeat time and again.
I've found it kills quicker than my 22mag,just when its windy my 22mag is trumps in that department.....
aside from that go and buy one,their rediculously accurate, the old 917 that we've got is a $500 rifle with a synthetic stock and blued barrel etc, it shoots quater of an inch at 100 with a gw supressor!

NOT BAD AYE!

Rock River, do you check your 17hmr ammo for concentricity? I used to have to and used the wobbly/ out of true ammo for close shots. The straight ammo grouped fantastic at 100yrds, longest Rabbit kill is 338yrds at a Matapiro vineyard I frequent.

Rem 17 HMR 504T LS HB


Or I use my 1955 BSA Century with a 17cal sleeve in it, chambered in HM2, longest shot so far is a hare @ 175yrds.


The early HM2 ammo had the occasional crack around the case head which gave you a hell of a fright when you touched the trigger, the later batches are great and i havnt seen a cracked case in years.

I do like the 17HMR and since CZ make a lefty I have a couple, one is going to be rebarreled as a 22WMR since CZ don't make a lefty in 22WMR.

The link to Bulberry's website about the 17HMR velocities is quite interesting but does anyone notice that the 22" velocity is less than the 21" velocity, and only 2fps faster on average than the 20" and the 21" velocity is greater than the 20" velocity. Another thing I noticed was that the 22", 21", 20" & 19" all have extreme spreads of between 66 and 103 yet when you cut that 19" barrel down to 18" the extreme spread drops to around 40fps, which should mean better accuracy. Perhaps more than 5 shots need to be done at each barrel length.

Vietnamcam I shortened a JW15 down to 17" the rifle was for my nephew and the bore was nowhere near centred where I cut it off, still grouped under 1" at 50yds. The nephew was extremely happy to have a rifle sized for him.

7mmSAUM that BSA looks rather nice do you have a full side on shot of it?............Kiwi