Weapon Choices for Varmints

OKRattler said:
If I'm worried about ricochets I'm grabbing a .17HMR, for your application I'd probably get a Bear Creek Arsenal upper chambered for it. I can't recall a time that I've ever heard a .17 grain V-Max ricochet.

I don't think there's a varmint you'll run across that's running anywhere after a shot to the head with one of those.
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Crazy story, I did predator control in my wetlands. I would take out American Snapping turtle to stop them eating my baby ducklings in the spring. My wetlands is 60 feet below my house with a small wooded area in between. I shot a big turtle through the head with my HMR .17 I could not reach the turtle so I drove around to my pole barn next to my house to get a pitch fork. When I got there I noticed my gutter was dripping and a small hole in my gutter. Got the ladder and that .17 HMR bullet was laying in the bottom of my gutter. I went back and got the turtle out and there was a hole in both sides of his head. The bullet traveled 25 yards went through that turtles head. Deflected went 60’ up a hill and another 25 yards through a wooded area and hit my gutter. I could not believe it, I thought The Kennedy magic bullet was strange but this blew my mind! So never say never!!🤔
 
viper said:
Crazy story, I did predator control in my wetlands. I would take out American Snapping turtle to stop them eating my baby ducklings in the spring. My wetlands is 60 feet below my house with a small wooded area in between. I shot a big turtle through the head with my HMR .17 I could not reach the turtle so I drove around to my pole barn next to my house to get a pitch fork. When I got there I noticed my gutter was dripping and a small hole in my gutter. Got the ladder and that .17 HMR bullet was laying in the bottom of my gutter. I went back and got the turtle out and there was a hole in both sides of his head. The bullet traveled 25 yards went through that turtles head. Deflected went 60’ up a hill and another 25 yards through a wooded area and hit my gutter. I could not believe it, I thought The Kennedy magic bullet was strange but this blew my mind! So never say never!!🤔
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I used to shoot a lot of 45 ACP at an aluminum beer keg. It is all tore up. I have a metal garage that is behind where I stand, Damned if there is not a .45 hole in it! How I don't know but a straight hole not a keyhole. I'm the only one shooting and never shoot towards the house of course. If a ricochet would have hit me it would be pretty bad, plus I would feel really stupid!!!
 
No ricochets:
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K
 
bowhunter57 said:
@Klenchblaize
Details.... what am I looking at here? :unsure:
PCP? Caliber? Brand? Model? Cost?
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* Rifle: Daystate PCP Air Wolf MCT
* Calibre: .22 FAC* Rated 35ft/lbs. (*Note: I'm based in England UK where firearms ownership is overly controlled. You can own an air-rifle without a Firearms Certificate but it must have a power rating below 12ft/lb)
* Cost: Rifle Discontinued - 2026 Catalogue: Product Range - Daystate
* Scope: Vintage Zeiss 3-9 Variable 1" Tube
* Mounts & Rings: S&K One-Piece Rings and modified Bases to allow enough height for 10-shot pellet magazine
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Klenchblaize said:
* Rifle: Daystate PCP Air Wolf MCT
* Calibre: .22 FAC* Rated 35ft/lbs. (*Note: I'm based in England UK where firearms ownership is overly controlled. You can own an air-rifle without a Firearms Certificate but it must have a power rating below 12ft/lb)
* Cost: Rifle Discontinued - 2026 Catalogue: Product Range - Daystate
* Scope: Vintage Zeiss 3-9 Variable 1" Tube
* Mounts & Rings: S&K One-Piece Rings and modified Bases to allow enough height for 10-shot pellet magazine
View attachment 25518
K
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Gorgeous rifle! I have an old huntsman put away somewhere. My only daystate in my 80 plus airgun collection
 
Klenchblaize said:
No ricochets:
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K
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When i did a lot of shooting with my 22cal pcp i had bad ricochets unless i shot NSA slugs that were super soft and deformed enough to stop. Otherwise nothing “blew up”, just went through and kept going of whatever it hit. I never really noticed it until hunting a dead quiet timber with frozen ground for squirrels, could hear the slug hit a tree then the ground, or a tree then another tree.. or a squirrel head then the ground way to the side.

Only time it didnt was if i shot them head on and the slug would go in the head and get stuck in neck or front shoulder. Pellets were really bad, hard jsb would go everywhere like a pinball machine.
 
BBK said:
When i did a lot of shooting with my 22cal pcp i had bad ricochets unless i shot NSA slugs that were super soft and deformed enough to stop. Otherwise nothing “blew up”, just went through and kept going of whatever it hit. I never really noticed it until hunting a dead quiet timber with frozen ground for squirrels, could hear the slug hit a tree then the ground, or a tree then another tree.. or a squirrel head then the ground way to the side.

Only time it didnt was if i shot them head on and the slug would go in the head and get stuck in neck or front shoulder. Pellets were really bad, hard jsb would go everywhere like a pinball machine.
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Pellets ricochet all over the woods when everything is frozen!
 
As much as I love this new Bergara BMR 22 Mag, the magazines are certainly a huge disappointment. :mad: Both the 5 and 10 round magazines have a tendency to not feed properly. I've been doing some searches, looking for a replacement magazine, that doesn't come from Bergara and I'm not having any success. :rolleyes:
I don't have a problem with the mags being plastic, if they would feed properly. I can't seem to find any burrs inside them to file off, so I don't understand where it's hanging up. I've already polished down all the plastic mold lines, but it didn't seem to help.

I've got less than a box of ammo thru this rifle and I'm already on the fence about selling it, due to this magazine feeding issue. :unsure:
I'm going to put in some serious time trying to get this magazine issue resolved, but if it doesn't get resolved to my satisfaction, I may be looking for another rifle....and it won't be a Bergara. đźš«
 
popper43 said:
Cycle real slow and look for the hangup. Sometimes the lips are too long/wide. Sometimes it's the follower spring force.
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When I get a failure to feed, the next cartridge is sitting just below the lips of the magazine. Enough so that it can't be picked up by the bolt. :rolleyes:

I disassembled both magazines, looking for a plastic mold line burr and found a few. So, I used a very small fine file, to buff them off flush. It's like the loading follower is snagging on the sidewalls of the magazine itself....and it's in both magazines. :unsure:

I would love to just replace the plastic magazines with metal ones, but the don't exist.
 
popper43 said:
Cycle real slow and look for the hangup. Sometimes the lips are too long/wide. Sometimes it's the follower spring force.
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Well, sir, you hit the nail on the head. đź’Ż
After doing some research, I found a number of Bergara BMR rifle owners experiencing the same magazine spring issues, as well as the BR-14. :unsure: I found a company in Pennsylvania called Hoz & Shield that has recognized the issues with Bergara's magazine spring issues and sells quality replacement springs. They use aircraft grade wire for their springs, plus they're tested to 10,000 cycles without fail. (y)

I ordered 2 springs, as I intend to purchase another 10 round magazine, pull the Bergara weak-azz spring out and install this new one with 14 coils, instead of 11 coils on the factory offerings.
hozandshield.com

Hoz and Shield

Engineered for shooters, by shooters
hozandshield.com hozandshield.com
 
The 2 magazine springs that I ordered, arrived today and I installed one immediately. I could tell, just from reassembling the magazine with the new spring that it was a huge improvement. (y) The spring has more coils than the factory Bergara spring and they are made of heavier gauge wire. I loaded the 10 rd. magazine to full capacity and cycled it thru my rifle's bolt-action without a single hiccup. đź’Ż

I'll be purchasing another 10 rd. Bergara magazine and as soon as I get it home, the factory spring is going in the trash. I'll install the other Hoz & Shield spring in it and go hunting. :cool:
 
bowhunter57 said:
I do a lot of close range varmint hunting, around buildings. So, I went with an M&P Sport AR-15/22. I never thought I would've owned a rimfire rifle in an AR platform, but this rifle has impressed me with its' accuracy and how quiet it is with a suppressor and sub-sonic ammo. As it turned out, this past summer I killed over 25 groundhogs with this setup. (y)

My first choice was a PCC in 9mm, but I'd have to reload the ammo to get hollow-points and since I'm shooting around buildings, bullet skips or ricochets were a concern. :unsure: Despite those issues, I still think a PCC would be fun and another possibility. I like the heavy hitting 9mm bullets vs. the offerings of the 22LR. It is not uncommon for me to shoot 1 groundhog several times, to keep it from escaping. :rolleyes: You'd think a head shot would drop those varmints and sometimes it does, but I've had them make it back to their holes a few times too.

Considering that I'm shooting around buildings, are there any other weapon choices that come to mind for this type of hunting?
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I shoot a 17 HMR with a suppressor. Quiet and deadly. So the neighbors dont know whats going on
 
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