For a couple of years now, I've been hunting squirrels 'n crows with Eley Tenex in my Kimber. Today I tested Eley Subsonic Hollowpoints for the first time.
Altho' I've had good results with Tenex with squirrels on a log, I think crows need a bit more killing power at longer ranges.
Called it a day with a hunting group of five in a fingernail @ 55yds. - do think I can squeeze that size down some next time around.
So!
With Eley Subsonics, what size vermin can be shot-up to, or is this cartridge still a squirrel 'n crow game?
Should work great on pigeons.
The 22 subs still carry lots of penetration under 100yds. Pretty much all small game under 30 lbs should fall to a vital shot. I'm not sure what you have in the fields of MO in that range but racoons would be no problem with a vital shot under 100yds IMO. The problem is ensuring a vital shot on small game at relatively long distances can be challenging.
I shoot a lot of raccoons with a .22 every year before I put up an electric fence (five and seven inches above the ground) to keep them out of my one-acre vineyard. Agree with Chuck: I would think twice about making a clean kill at 75 to 100 yards.
I use Win. sub. hollow points; I imagine the ballistics are very similar to the Eleys
I have no problem with clean kills on rabbits out to 100 (and sometimes beyond), but accurate range and wind estimation and knowledge of the trajectory become crucial beyond about 60-75, making it an iffy proposition beyond there not for lack of terminal energy, but for loopy trajectory and wind affectedness.
RG
I've shot some racoons with a 22 pistol using common hi-vel (1300fps out of a rifle) which equates to about hi 900s fps if I recall some magazine quotes. But they were close, maybe 15-25yds.
Look on the box, Eley puts the velocity for the lot on each box. In
"Rifleman's Guide to Rimfire Ammunition", Steve Boelter's testing showed Eley Subsonic at 1021.9 and Tenex EPS at 1073. Steve Boelter is a champion rimfire benchrest shooter. This velocity difference is enough to cause a change in group size. In terms of killing power, there is no measurable difference between the two. If you want to move up, get one of the 17's.
22 Hornet, 17hmr, 17hm2, 22lr
Pete
Up in the squirrel woods shots are only 20-25 yards max, little more with called in crows.
We have the large Eastern Coyote and the usual 'sortment of vermin which I can live with most of the time - but who knows!
Pack of dogs are another story.
In the post Wby. world of the speedy centerfire cartridge, bigger and slower is now better. I think it's the same with the 40g 22lr over those tiny 17s.
Pete M,
That .17HMR does not look to be one at all .. illustration looks more like a 17 Mach lV, also Hornet looks much more like 'K Hornet than a regular Hornet.
I use Eley subsonic hollow points for all my vermin shooting.
If you can hit your quarry with one, it will kill it clean. A head-shot rabbit at 100 yards has a hollow head after impact. A shot in the 'engine room' will also kill stone dead. Likewise crows and pigeopns, which are not hard to kill if hit in the body, it is just that when a fether is knocked out it may look like the bird flew on after being hit when in fact there was no tissue damage at all.
A lot of pest controllers in London use this round in urban gardens to shoot foxes - ranges of up to 25 or 30 yards is the maximum likely to be encountered and it works a treat.
the hollow pont does have more stopping power than the solid slug as it delivers more energy into the body of the target rather than speeding through cleanly.
I would think at about the same fps, the hollowpoint would be deadlier than the solid - even at the slow rate of a 22lr.
Squirrels and crows aren't worth the price of Tenex. That ammo is for OC guys who weigh each round and determine rim thickness.
I have used Eley hvhps and sshps until I found $2/box Winnie hps shot just as well in my gun. If there is Gander Mtn. near you you might try some Lapua offerings. Fiocchi Biathlon load was also very accurate in my gun.
I bet if he'd try some CCI Mini-Mag hollow points he might be surprised...that Kimber will kill a squirrel past 25 yards Lowell.
I have done all of my small game hunting with Eley Subsonic Hollowpoints for 11 years now. Beofre that I used the RWS SS HP since around '91. The Eley shot about the same as the RWS and I was using Eley in competition, so I liked to keep the same lube in the barrels of my rifles.
The Eley SS HP performs MUCH better on game than Tenex, Federal 900B, or any other solid bullet. The solids will often pass through a squirrel's brain and leave the animal alive. I hate messy kills like that and feel terrible when they happen.
As for what I would take with the round, large raccoons and foxes would be the largest animals I would attempt to take with the bullet. I have shot coyotes with a .22, but used, and reccomend, high velocity HP's for the yodel dogs.
Lowell, you hold on to that Kimber real tight. My understanding is that they have ceased production of the rimfire rifle line.
http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=197443Pete
I've never understood why American hunters wouldn't invest in a handsomely accurate rimfire sporter. The seasons are long, and there's plenty of game.
Sad if true about Kimber.
...but we know the rap of the 150.00 gunshow special 22lr rimfire rifle that shoots rings around the Anschutz, Cooper and Kimber.
My Kimber SuperAmerica is my only real keeper of my lot.
More puZZling is why an American Hunter would top a Kimber off with a cheap scope.
Well then handsome anyway hey!
Think those Cooper and Kimber owners/shooters were on message boards at the time of this competition?
Good point Pete!