MorgansBoss Posted October 31, 2005 Report Share Posted October 31, 2005 Haven't been squirrel hunting yet this fall due to the warm temps and then the archery & M/L deer hunters in the woods. I enjoy early fall days hunting tree rats. The weather is beautiful, the squirrels are active feeding on the abundant nuts and acorns and since squirrel hunting isn't as popular as it used to be, I pretty much have the woods to myself. This morning was grand, cool enough for a light jacket but sunny and pleasent. Went up to the mountian and as hoped the bushy tails were everywhere. The downside (if you can call it that) is that there are still lots of leaves on the trees making it difficult to get shots. Took the .17 to see how it would fair and couldn't have been happier! Three squirrels - two grays & a fox squirrel - for six shots. Every hit was DRT (dead right there). Both the grays were head shots, the big fox squirrel was taken behind the shoulder at approximately 65 yards. I'm typically very pessimistic about the usual hype surrounding "new" guns or ammo, but this .17 is a keeper! So far its been everything I've heard about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manureman Posted November 1, 2005 Report Share Posted November 1, 2005 Squirrel ,biscuts and gravy!!! I was almost raised on it and if there is any better eating than a nice mess of young squirrels I,ve not found it.I don't own a .17 rimfire ,and it's been alot of work keeping from it after seeing what they will do first hand ,but I,ve struggled and managed so far but guys like you just keep comin' along and throwin' just a little more gas on the fire... What ya got MB I dont recall reading about it?What ammo you usein' Details man!! If your gonna stir me up do it right . Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsefly Posted November 1, 2005 Report Share Posted November 1, 2005 Fried squirrel and gravey,now we're talking! My wife won't eat venison,dove,or feral hog,but she'll tear into fried or grilled squirrel.Like Jim,I was raised eating wild game of any kind,and squirrel was our favorite.Nope,wrong,it was quail no 1.I'm going to get back into squirrel hunting this year,somehow.North of Decature Tex. is the LBJ National Grasslands that's open to hunting,but with shotguns,archery,and muzzleloaders only.I need to get either a .32 or .36 muzzleloader or a .410,but the muzzleloader sounds like the better idea.There's nothing like setting under a big cottonwood or pecan tree just waiting for a squirrel to think the coast is clear,come crawling out of his den,and then popping him in the head.Man I'd like to go squirrel hunting with you MorgansBoss.Jerry oh ya,I want a .17 too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorgansBoss Posted November 1, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2005 Gee, you mean ya'll got trees in Texas? They teach us its all brown grass and cactus... probably a ploy to keep us up here! I to ate a lot of squirrels as a kid only back then we mostly hunted em by floating the creeks and river and shooting em (and the occasional duck) with shotguns. These days there are too many city people living near the creeks who don't appreciate a day sneak boating with good friends or relatives. I took up hunting squirrels with .22 rifles about 15 years ago and now look back on the days spent doing so with my boys while they grew up the same as those long ago days floating with my uncles and oldest brother. This was the first I ever used a rifle other than a .22. My hummer actually started life as a M782 Marlin in .22WMR! Bought it for the wife and she never shot it so on a whim I ordered a .17 liner and reamer from Brownells this summer. Bored her out (the rifle!) and acraglassed the liner in on a Saturday. Sunday afternoon I stared reaming it with high hopes for testing it that day. Unfortunately, about 7/8 the way through I shattered the reamer - those little devils are mighty fragile! Ordered a new reamer, finished it the next Saturday and was very pleasantly surprised at the results. In fact I had to put a different scope on to do her justice. I use CCI ammo w/ 17gr. Speer TNT bullets. Unless you count the flopping around that one head-shot grey did, nothing I've shot with it yet has moved after being hit... and that includes one big groundhog (wood chuck for you folks north of PA) that probably went 15 lbs. Here's a pic of the rifle, the ammo and an actual 100 yard group to wet your whistle... that's a 30-06 shell for comparison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manureman Posted November 2, 2005 Report Share Posted November 2, 2005 MB,I remember now.Wondered at the time how it turned out,how big of a deal was boring it out,and how did you go about it.I've got a Remington 597 22 mag that might need hummerized. Jerry we dont have many quail here but have heard they are fine eating,only killed one in my life and Mom burned it,only thing I ever remember her burning ,she was a whale of a cook,I was only 12 or 13 and remember her being sick over burning it.I've thought about a little front stuffer for squirrels but they're just more work to clean than I care for anymore( the muzzle loader) MB me and my brother did alot of floating for squirrels,me with my old stevens single shot .22 and him with his .22 ,.410 over and under Savage he sure would make it rough on em'.One of our favorite times was when the mullberries were on,we would tie the boat and fish under a mullberry tree for catfish and when mr.bushy tail would show up we would pick him too,man were those good times,hadnt thought about them in years. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest_MorgansBoss_* Posted November 2, 2005 Report Share Posted November 2, 2005 While the conversion, or re-lining any rim-fire, isn't too complicated I'd have to suggest it'd be cheaper to just buy new. In my particular case - breaking the 1st reamer - it was more expensive to re-line! In your case Jim, just about any Remington has at least as high a re-sale as many of the new Savage or Marlin HMR's. Not sure why that is, guess its a collector thing or something. I do know a bunch of local guys who shoot hummers on a friendly, competitive basis and the Savages and Marlins consistantly equal or beat the Rugers to everyone's surprise. Any way, since you asked. I did mine on the lathe but it can be done by hand as well. Drilling by hand can be a long, tough process though. I already had a drill for doing .22's but if you don't you'll need one. Brownell's sells the bit and extension seperately, you have to braze them together. This makes a drill bit long enough to go about half way through a barrel, then you swap ends so the hogged out hole meets in the middle. The liner is then either soft soldered or acraglassed in. Most folks these days use acraglass. De-grease everything, plug the (liner) bore, coat it good - don't try to scrimp - and slide it in so both ends of the liner stick out of the barrel. Set it asside for AT LEAST 24 hours before doing any further work. Its then a matter of reaming the chamber as you would any other barrel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest_MorgansBoss_* Posted November 2, 2005 Report Share Posted November 2, 2005 BTW - I'm still working the bugs out of posting pics here and down-sized the above photo. That makes it nearly impossible to see the group on the target. That is a 5/16" dot and the group is just above it. The actual measurement, center to center of the farthest holes is 5/8"! There are some notes written on the target, which all kind of blur together at this smaller size so I wanted to clear things up. If this group was shot with a 30 cal. it'd be a one holer. Like I said before, I'm always pessimistic about such popular "new" stuff, but this one really is a quantum leap over the .22mag., which I grew suspecious of due to hearing the whine of ricochets way too often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manureman Posted November 3, 2005 Report Share Posted November 3, 2005 Thanks MB, bout how I figured it.Isn't it amazing how they shoot?I've seen more then one guy with their favorite .22 centerfire embarassed by the .17 rimfire!I'd thought about trading this thing but honestly hate to do that to someone,not Remingtons finest work. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorgansBoss Posted November 3, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2005 Jim, You did say 597 didn't you, aint that an auto? Probably not a good candidate for hummerization. Don't know anybody who's actually tried it but I've read several cautions AGAINST it. Reasoning is that rimfire's (or any blow-back) semi-auto is engineered for the specific physics of power,bullet weight, etc. of the intended round. There's a big difference between the 40gr. .22WMR bullet and the 17gr.HMR. It'd likely either not function properly or else beat itself to death... or just maybe work like a charm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manureman Posted November 3, 2005 Report Share Posted November 3, 2005 It'd likely either not function properly or else beat it's self to death... or maybe just work like a charm,MB you've described it perfect.I'm sure converting it would only make things worse as this POS has really been a lemon.I've thought about just trading it to someone for a good club but like I said earlier ,hate to skin anybody that way . Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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