Firearms, For thouse who know what there talking about,?

Question

I have just had a .17HMR and a .223 centerfire endorsed onto me firearms cerfificat as well as 2 modarators, Before i buy any of them dose anyone have any suggestions, tips, best makes, ammunition etc Thanks
and all the best

Answer 1

there is no 1 who spoke the truth mor than david m, First of all this question is posted in the british yahoo forem so what laws you americans have are totaly different to what us brits have and secondly it is iligal to shoot deer in britan however not scotland with a 223. For the person who dose not know what a modarator is , you will know it as a silencer.
mitch you obviously know what theas 2 rifles are to be used for and what can legaly be hunted with them, .17HMR (hornady magnum round) genral vermin, rabbits etc, 223- vermin/foxs.
For the 223 i would go for a remington or one of the cz's and for the .17 eather a ruger or anschutz. With the modarator and sights just stick to your price range there is some good gear to be picked up. For ammunition i tend to go with balistic tips
for the 223 they do quite an addiquet job with foxs apart from that i load my own,
happy hunting

Answer 2

Ah, you must be British (the "moderator" gave you away). I would use (as others have suggested) the HMR round for hunting only. There are plenty of models to choose from. I used to have the Rem 700 ADL (cheap base model) in .223 and it was ok, but it was definitely not a target rifle. I would use a .223 as a target rifle and look to get a benchrest model (Remington, Ruger, and Savage make these). Savage is probably the best deal (if it is available in your area). I would get good glass on the .223 (Nikon, Leupold, etc.) For the .17HMR, you can be more oopen-minded with scope brand and quality (Tasco, Simmons). Of course if you get an expensive .17HMR, you might go with one of the nicer scopes.
When it comes to ammo, you will probably shoot 55gr .223 if you are budget minded, but realize that the newer twist on all .223s (1:9) is made to favor the 62gr. slug. With .17HMR you are restricted to just a few .17HMR ammo manufacturers and no real huge disparities. One more thing, however, I wwould avoid any Russian-made/Chinese-made .223.
I have had problems with these offerings (chamber problems/firing pin isssues). Good luck and have fun.

Answer 3

Man if you want the best bang for the buck you need to get the .223 and if you're buying a bolt action rifle I would suggest a Howa 1500. Howa is produced on the same assembly line as the Weatherby Vanguard and cost a great deal less. They are the same rifle. I've sold several hundred of them and havent had a single complaint. They also offer a combo rifle that comes with a 3x9x42 scope which is great for someone that just wants to walk out the door and go shooting.

Answer 4

In .223 I would suggest either a Ruger Ranch Rifle (Mini-14), FN FS2000 (civilian) or an H&K G-36 or G-41 and their civilain counterparts, although they do make the HK416 which can be had in just the upper reciever ,which is far superior to the Stoner style action, and when mated to a standard AR-15 style lower provides an unbelievable accurate and reliable rifle for not alot of $.
For 17HMR there are a few semi-auto pistols in that caliber which I would think would be unbelievable fun, but a bolt action rifle with synthetic stock would be your best bet.
Horndady ammunition along with Black Hills would be the most accurate, although to a level usually unatainable and unusable in the field or at the range. Wolf makes good quality, good value ammo.

I don't know your definition of moderators but for optics I would suggest a Leupold Mark 4 CQ/T, expensive but red dot style with variable magnification up to 3x, or a ACOG (official optic of the USMC) for regular 1x red-dot, on the 17HMR find yourself a well-priced variable power scope, 5-8x on the utmost power.

Answer 5

Mitch, first of all, both the .17HMR and .223 are VARMINT rifles. Yes the .223 will kill deer, but it is really TOO SMALL to humanely kill them.

In '79 a friend of mine ordered a Colt M-15. In those days no one was even loading hunting ammo for the .223 so I asked him what he intended to use it on. He was already hunting our lease successfully (taking Whitetale deer, javalina and feral hog with a .270 Winchester). He said he was going to try it out on hogs. He killed a number of hogs with it (no bag limit) and a small buck.

One morning we heard the sound of rapid fire. We made our way to his shooting blind and found him frantically waving at us. He told us he had just shot the biggest buck he had ever seen (massive body & antlers) twice in the neck with that AR-15. The buck ran off. The buck's neck was swollen (from the rut). In a panick (when he rapid fired) he dropped a doe in the buck's harem. That was a one shot kill. We spent the entire day, until well after dark looking for that buck. We only found a spot of blood here and there but we never were able to find that buck.

The next day our friend meekly put away his AR-15 and took out his dependable and proper (I might add!) .270 deer rifle for the duration of the hunting season.

For deer use at least a .243 Winchester rifle or larger. The .223 is a good coyote gun, home defense weapon or plinker. The .17 is good for crows, gophers, ground squirrel & the like.

Good luck.

H

Answer 6

Personally, if hunting small game (squirrels, rabbits and the like) I would use the .17 hmr....for small deer (like eastern deer, 150 lbs. or so) I would like the .223 (Remington, preferably). The .223 is a nice light rifle, suited for a smaller person, but for a larger person, it is so light that it tends to "wobble" a bit with a persons pulse when sighting for a long shot. A larger person (200lbs....6'0") would want a heavier (and thus more stable in aiming for long shots) rifle like a .30 caliber. My very favorite rifle is a customized .303 British.

Answer 7

I swear by Hornady factory ammo if you don't reload. Have fun and be safe.