It's gopher season let's see your rimfire field guns, I joined the .17 HMR fan club

randyhub

randyhub

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
66   0   0
Location
Calgary
After using .22 rimfires for many years, a couple of years ago I went pesting with a buddy and could not believe how a .17 HMR just completely outclassed my old school Anschutz .22 bolt action.

.17 HRM just flies so very flat and drags the rodents out of their holes. While more expensive to shoot I find the .17 HMR to be more humane, however wind is your enemy. I also find myself using the .17 HMR more and my .223 bolt action less.

Anyways I wanted a short, light truck gun, love the trigger and short barrel of this Savage.

Bought a few 10 round magazines as well, and a set of shooting sticks.

So let's see what you have for rimfires.

I'll go first.




And what have you found is the best zero for shooting out to 200 yards?
 
4,719 total between my brother and I and a couple buddies in the 5 or 6 days we made it out last spring! Although I enjoy my 17hmr, its not cost effective for the volume of shooting that we do. But I have a Dlask TUF 22 and a LH cz 452 American and my brother has a 452 varmint and custom 10-22 that seem to really do the job! My best day yet is 462 confirmed and my brothers is a cool 500 in a day.... THAT'S A LOT OF SHOOTING!IMG_20210606_211559_744.jpg20210515_195855.jpg
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20210606_211559_744.jpg
    IMG_20210606_211559_744.jpg
    120 KB · Views: 298
  • 20210515_195855.jpg
    20210515_195855.jpg
    145.4 KB · Views: 304
Last edited:
I have dusted a very few around here. Weather hasn't warmed up until today. With the exception of the 452FS .22 at the left end, here is my lineup, all 455's in .22lr, .22wmr, .17hmr. I've added a 457 American .22lr and bumped the 452FS to another wall. I was poo-poo'd for having so many of nearly the same guns for one job, but, guess what? (can't say it on here) I don't take them all out at once, but do try to rotate from year to year, according to the cleaning dates on the tags. One guy says I'm the Minnie Pearl of CZ's.

I have a little folding stool and a tripod with a nice pivot. Some character from Ontario sent the swivel to me. :) I can only walk and stand for a short time, so with my setup, I can shoot all day. I couldn't help you with any range/focus/settings. I have them all set so they hit gophers, that's all I can say.

CZ lineup a x.jpg
 

Attachments

  • CZ lineup a x.jpg
    CZ lineup a x.jpg
    119.9 KB · Views: 297
Have not been out yet, but I shoot out to 75 yards with the 10/22, then switch to HMR to 200 yards if it’s not too windy, once all dead move locations and repeat. Gives the barrels time to cool.
 
randyhub.....how do you like your scope and rings? I found a HD 6-24x50 on Amazon that may work on one of my bolts.
Nice setup! Enjoy......
 
Thanks, I like how short and light my 93 is, my daughter shoots it well and she is going on her first gopher hunt this year. My son prefers my Bison with it's 1-6 Bushnell. For me my Savage .223 has an excellent Athlon scope and is my bench gun.
Westhunter scopes like on my .17 are really not bad at all. Haven't taken it to the field yet but as I age I have found I need more magnification. This is my third Westhunter scope they are hard to beat for the price. But they are not like my Athlon that costs four times as much.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the info.
I'm looking for a scope for my 20" Savage TR .22lr bolt and thinking the Westhunter scope might work. It's currently wearing a Bushnell .223AR 3-12 scope which works fine but a little undersized "looking" imo. Besides, I could use some more magnification for my aging eyes:)
 
If you buy from Amazon and it doesn't work for you send it back. :) Mine was 145.00 with rings, sunshade, lens caps, and the lever.
 
I cant find any pictures to upload, but we also enjoy backing up sometimes and shooting them at 200+ yards. And for this, I have a LH Rem 700 sps Varmint in .17 Rem Fireball shooting 20gr projectiles at 4,150 fps! Even at 250 yards, the show is pretty spectacular! Besides the fireball, I also use a LH Browning A-Bolt in 22 Hornet and it's probably my favourite long range gopher gun! My brother is very pleased with his CZ 527 MTR in .222 rem, but he enjoyed my hornet so much, he decided to pick up a hornet for this spring. If things were anything like last year, itll be quite the gopher season!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom