17HMR- What are your thoughts.

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
 
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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
 
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.
 
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 :)
 
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