I have been shooting the HMR for some time and it is a great rabbit round with good legs.

With a 35yard zero you have flat shooting out to 120yards and with a little work you can use it effectively out to 150 to 200 yards if your skill is up to it. Longest rabbit I have taken was just over 170 yards. Still plenty of energy in the bullet at that range.

If you use the 17gr ballistic tip rounds then ricochets are rare, you may get the odd one but as I said it is rare. There are also 20gr hollow points and these are more liable to ricochets but no where as liable as the .22lr rounds.

As the 17gr rounds are very accurate on the whole, though you will need to experiment with you’re actual rifle to settle on the best, I tend to go for head shots up to 120yards and then chest shots above that.

With head shots the meat is untouched and fine for eating, chest shots can be a little messy but it depends on the exact point of impact, the rear haunches are still fine for eating though.

If you look at this thread you will see my rifle after I mounted a new scope and how accurate it is, if I do my thing I can get very very tight groups at 100yards with out much bother:

http://shootingcommunity.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=1273

Many FEO’s like the HMR due to the reduced ricochet risk, some forces will also grant it for fox as well as vermin, my force are one of those. I will use it on close fox but have a center fire for proper fox control.

I find it a great little calibre and worthy of it’s place in my cabinet.

HTH

Jerry