17HMR- What are your thoughts.

[dfuller81]

I have been considering purchasing the above mentioned a a trainer. What is the popular opinion on the rifle and equally as important, the 17HMR round vs. .22lr?

 

[MarkCZ]

I have both. A 455 Varmint in 22LR and 17 HMR. Both shoot great. I can run the 22LR cheaper.

Mark

 

[Rolltide]

17 HMR's tend to fairly accurate, regardless of manufacturer to an extent. It's a fun round and I have several, but given the choice, I'll take a 22 LR every time.

 

[deltawiskey]

I have a 455 in 17HMR, its a great rifle...very accurate!
That being said, I shoot my .22lr's a lot more often. They are cheaper, quieter, and for some reason seam to be more fun. There is just something about lobbing that round into the target that's just sooo much fun!
DW

 

[AMGtuned]

.22lr definitely cheaper. But I've yet to see one eradicate a fox like a .17hmr. Sweet round in my opinion.

 

[Atticus_1354]

I love .17hmr but I wouldn't choose it exclusively. It makes a good complement to a .22 rifle and can be a fun hunting round for small game.

 

[jamescj]

How much further can you reach out with the .17hmr?

 

[dfuller81]

thank you for the feedback gentlemen.

 

[AMGtuned]

How much further can you reach out with the .17hmr?

I dont think either .22lr, or .17hmr are "distance" rounds for anything but practice. Far too light. The .17 has the speed, but knockdown power will be severely limited. If you want long distance hunting, leave the rimfire home

 

[Peterpan]

I shoot a lot of lapua center x 22 so it’s not really cheaper than the 17 hmr hornady ammo. It’s not as accurate of course but still fun to shoot and does carry longer range. I wish I had the 17 hmr shooting turtles as a Kid lol. If looking for a training rifle in 204 or 223 would be hard to beat.

 

[Sieg]

FWIW - I've been shooting .17 rimfires since they came on the market for sage rats/ground squirrels. I started shooting rats with .22lr, then .22mag and .223. There's no comparison to the .22lr or .22mag in trajectory and energy. From 50 to 125yds the .17's (HM2, HMR, WSM) are laser flat as in .5" +/- POI wit 50-100 zeros. My longest documented kill with a .17HMR is 318 yds on a standing sage rat, stone cold kill, no movement. I was zero'd at a 100 and held over about 12-15", .22lr and mag's cannot easily do that. My .17WSM hits with authority at 150 and is easily a 300yd killer on squirrels.

If ricochets are an issue the .17 V-Max bullet makes them a rare occurrence unless you nick a spine or skull on a squirrel and the bullet is most likely fragmented. 22lr's ricochet frequently.

At the range I prefer .22lr hands down, when shooting small varmints I'll take any of the current .17 rimfires first.

…….FWIW

 

[Prebanpaul]

I agree with Sieg. 22 lr fun at the range. When hunting out to 200 yards I have killed squirrles, rats, groundhogs, crows, hogs, with a 17 hmr.

 

[USNavy06]

I have taken several fox around my place with the 17 hmr. Only had one run about 30 yards. Usually drop right on the spot when I shoot them.