Could we use HCl instead in HNO₃ in the Volhard method?

The Mohr titration method has a limitation: it must be conducted at neutral pH because at low pH the solubility of silver chromate changes. Therefore, if the compound to be titrated for chlorides proves to be acidic, the Mohr titration cannot be used.

The Volhard method is a back-titration developed to deal with this problem. In this modification, the solution's chlorides are precipitated using excess standardized silver nitrate. The silver nitrate used is produced by the reaction of silver foil with nitric acid. In the titration, the silver ions react with chloride and precipitate, leaving behind excess silver ions, which are then back-titrated with thiocyanate ions, using Fe(III) as an indicator.

Answer: no, HCl could not be used instead of nitric acid. The silver foil would react with the chloride ion to produce insoluble silver chloride, rendering the silver unusable for the titration process.