Seeing 17HMR Misses At 300 Yards?

[RegionRat]

Just more food for thought...
I use a ShotMarker for load and trajectory work. Because of how they work, they require a sonic shock wave so the bullet must be sonic to be picked up by those transducers to show the position on the target.

When working with 17 HMR, the target cannot be farther than about 280 yards where the bullet transitions to subsonic. I'm doing that shooting from as low as 2000 feet to 8000 feet and generally in summer time temps. You may get a little farther at higher altitude, but I'm thinking the useful range is right around 250 to 280 yards where there is less than 50 ft*lbs of energy left and the bullet goes through transonic.

 

[CharlieNC]

Our range has various sized steel targets at 300yd against a dirt berm. When dry it's easy to see misses on the dirt to dial in the scope, and move to incrementally smaller targets for fine tuning. Around 1:10 shots drop short at that range!

 

[Turkeytider]

I have shot more 17 HMR than most. It really isn't a 300y cartridge. If your shooting at cinder blocks maybe but nothing smaller. On a calm day with a good lot of ammo, yes you can do ok. I can be more repeatable and reliable with a accurate 22 LR at 300y.

That said I start with a very large target to give you some room for error and to learn whats what.

Yeah, each range session I take a stab at putting 5 rounds inside of a 6" painted target dot on steel at 300 yards. I put two in.......once! 17 HMRs are supposed to be trans sonic at about 250 or so, so they may well be out of shape and key hole at 300. Far be it from me to question the veracity of those who claim to consistently hit small animals at 300+ yards........but I`m REALLY looking forward to the videos!

 

[Turkeytider]

I'm thinking that the angle of the light, or perhaps the color or freshness of the paint on your steel might make a big difference. Doesn't sound like you're missing the steel, just can't see your hit??
I was wondering if you can hear your impact at 300 with those little pills? I've never messed with one of these little rifles before. jd

I`ve really not had any trouble putting them on the steel.

 

[Turkeytider]

I really used to question the consistency of the 17HMR at even 200 yards. I`ve pretty much changed my mind on that. Once I get the scope dialed in with a few rounds at a 5" target dot on steel, a 4" gong gets a real good workout.

 

[RegionRat]

I came up on a set of hills with a reservoir one day. The rancher asked me to check for coyotes there, and one got up and ran before we crested the terrain, probably due to the diesel and the rocks on the track.

Once I saw where he meant, driving all the way up was a mistake. Point of that story here, is the place was covered in prairie dogs and the water hole was about 50 - 75 yards in diameter and made for a great wind call. The cattle had pounded the trails and grass around the water hole, so many mounds were a dirt background from an elevated advantage. I figured it would be a perfect spot to set up the swivel table and get to work with the 17 HMR.

I spent something like 300 shots. I never leave brass on the ground and I couldn't help but chuckle when I saw the pile of brass and carnage. It was such a blast that I just kept shooting, but the point was the ranging and shot spotting was ideal so I could go out as far as I wanted and still get good range with the LRF and spot the shots. I don't remember the altitude there, but it was North Dakota and probably under 3000 ft with summer time temps.

On that day, I spent most of the shots between 250 to 280 yards. The hits would not "pop" them and there was a few crawl offs. The majority would just roll over or lay down. I would liken the impact to an airgun hit. My DOPE was showing that 280 yards was the sonic transition, and the accuracy went way down if I tried to go out farther. Inside of 280, we were all smiles. This was CCI 17 gr VMax ammo.

Of course, that was an ideal spot for this, and with the pond nearby to show wind it was almost perfect conditions with winds less than 8 mph.




On the DOPE chart, the wind column is for 10 MPH full value. The gun had a near perfect 200 yard zero and the tuner was used to correct for the local conditions. At 200 yards, the ShotMarker said the group size was right at 0.75 to 0.85 MOA for two 10 shots strings once I found the tuner setting. That amounted to a roughly two foot hold-over.

I just use the reticle and don't dial with this sort of place. It makes it very easy to spot your shots and follow up if there is another volunteer at the same mound.

For the ones that stood straight up, you had to have the wind call right or you might graze them and they could crawl away. For the ones laying down, it was a walk in the park. The pond being right near the mounds made it one of those sessions you remember while you daydream of getting back there.....