17HMR, are they really that good?

I wish I had known beforehand that the 17 HMR wasn't a fur friendly bullet! ;)

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^^ Geez! You ruined a good pelt there! :p

I also like to drag out one of the .22mags and smoke a few gophers. That cartridge makes a dramatic SPLOP when you make a direct hit, too! :)
 
Semi in a 22 mag with light fast ammo and the 17 mach 2 are usually the only guns I use now on gophers. The 22 lr for me would ricochet way to much for my liking. I have used a 223 for a few years but the noise within the areas where I was shooting just didn't make sense. One gun that I do use from time to time is my over under combo, it has a 22 mag barrel on top of a 20 gauge barrel. A light birdshot target load with an open choke works great for around the grain bins and farm machinery.
 
I'm a big fan of .17 HMR and I can't recommend it enough. The groups you get with factory rifles and ammo is just incredible and it lays waste to varmints.
 
It seems like everything has been said, but :) I would recommend 17HMR

I have been shooting with a Savage 93 BRJ for 3 years and it can gets several rounds in coin at 200 yards.

t2VKsa7JM_ZMAl6NG8z.png

The staining of the wood, the fluted barrel...it's an very nice rifle...
 
I have a 452 american in hmr really accurate very fun but with the current cost of ammo it wont see much use anytime soon. Shot a few thousand rounds out of it and a few thousand gophers with the hmr but might just use my 6x45 from now on cost me about 40-45 cents a rount to load and that is what i am seeing hmr sell for nowadays
 
I agree with stubblejumper: if you are on a budget and are looking at the cheaper savages,the. 22 LR is your best choice. The. 17 will kill your wallet too!
Save a bit more, get a cz 452 in 22LR,you are good for a life time. You can shoot them out to 100 yds.
If funds improve get the. 17 later. A. 22 mag is a great second rimfire as well. A good 22 LR is your best first gopher gun.
Regarding scopes, a bushnell banner 4-12AO is a perfectly useful scope for your purposes. You can probably pick one up for around $100 shipped on the EE. Yes there are better scopes,but they only offer a relatively small benefit in the field.
 
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LarryG said:
I agree with stubblejumper: if you are on a budget and are looking at the cheaper savages,the. 22 LR is your best choice. The. 17 will kill your wallet too!
Save a bit more, get a cz 452 in 22LR,you are good for a life time. You can shoot them out to 100 yds.
If funds improve get the. 17 later. A. 22 mag is a great second rimfire as well. A good 22 LR is your best first gopher gun.
Regarding scopes, a bushnell banner 4-12AO is a perfectly useful scope for your purposes. You can probably pick one up for around $100 shipped on the EE. Yes there are better scopes,but they only offer a relatively small benefit in the field.
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I already have a few 22LR's. just looking for something new to reach out and touch those gophers that are a long ways out. I still think the 22LR will be my main gopher gun, but I am pretty sure I will be getting a 17 asap.

Thanks for all the replys, keep them coming.
Steve
 
If you reload for other cartridges, the 17 hornady hornet is maybe a better buy. It gives about 1k more fps, and costs about the same if your reload. You can also use 25 gr bullets in it that are less affected by wind. And it's easily big enough to kill yotes with the 25s as well...

Reloading seems to consume a max of 13 gr of powder. 7000/13=538.46 shots per pound. Where you get the extra 0.46 shot is beyond me... Kind of like having 0.2 of a kid...

Sorry for the digression... My calculations have the hornet a bit cheaper to reload for than the HMR. The initial cost is a bit higher however...

http://saubier.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22639

Here is a link to guys who are making 17 hornet brass from 22 hornet. Budget shooters supply has prvi 22 hornet brass last time I checked...

I've been eyeing up the RWS brass in Germany as well... Been kinda looking for someone to go in with me on an order for once fired. Also looking for someone in Europe who could order it for me...
 
If you're going to step up to a 17 Hornet, why not just get a .338 Lapua.......

More speed, more noise. Economics aside, not everyone wants a centrefire. Where I live, shooting rimfires is no problem, but hammering away with a centrefire would make the neighbors a little edgy. My main attraction to the HMR was two reasons, flat shooting, zeroed at 100, it is 1/4" high at 50. Same situation with a .22LR is about 3" MRT. The other one is low ricochet. I'm sure everyone has heard the bzzzzzzzzzzz of a .22LR when they're out plinking. I've never ever heard a .17 spin off into the wild blue yonder. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but it seems like it is a greatly reduced risk.

It's too bad the .17WSM isn't available in some better platforms. I have a Ruger and I'm still trying to get it to perform, I think I might try a Bmag next. WSM ammo is priced pretty much on par with the HMR.....more brass, more powder, same price.
 
PGW Steve said:
If you're going to step up to a 17 Hornet, why not just get a .338 Lapua.......

More speed, more noise. Economics aside, not everyone wants a centrefire. Where I live, shooting rimfires is no problem, but hammering away with a centrefire would make the neighbors a little edgy. My main attraction to the HMR was two reasons, flat shooting, zeroed at 100, it is 1/4" high at 50. Same situation with a .22LR is about 3" MRT. The other one is low ricochet. I'm sure everyone has heard the bzzzzzzzzzzz of a .22LR when they're out plinking. I've never ever heard a .17 spin off into the wild blue yonder. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but it seems like it is a greatly reduced risk.

It's too bad the .17WSM isn't available in some better platforms. I have a Ruger and I'm still trying to get it to perform, I think I might try a Bmag next. WSM ammo is priced pretty much on par with the HMR.....more brass, more powder, same price.
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I've shot a hornet and a hmr side by side. The difference isn't so much to be readily noticed. I've calculated that after I have the brass, I can reload the hornet for about half the cost of the HMR. If by WSM, you mean the winchester 17 rimfire, I've been told by a few who have tried it that it that it suffers from accuracy issues due to manufacturing consistencies...
 
I'd rather have something in .223 to be honest. I owned a savage .17hmr for a year or so and once the novelty of making things explode at close range wore off, I found it rather boring and overpriced to shoot. If you want to extend your range out further, may as well get .223 and reach out several hundred yards. A .223 with a good adjustable parallax scope is accurate out to 3-400 yards or more.
 
Tigerzclaw said:
It seems like everything has been said, but :) I would recommend 17HMR

I have been shooting with a Savage 93 BRJ for 3 years and it can gets several rounds in coin at 200 yards.

t2VKsa7JM_ZMAl6NG8z.png

The staining of the wood, the fluted barrel...it's an very nice rifle...
Click to expand...

exactly the rifle i want... but im a left haneded shooter and i wonder if its comfortable for a left handed shooter!?
 
I purchased a Savage 93r17gv back in july and mounted a vortex diamondback 4x12x40mm scope with viper rings, it has proved to be very accurate firearm. Have been shooting hornady 17grain bullets with great success. I was hesitant to buy a rifle chambered in .17hmr due to the cost of ammo that cannot be reloaded, that being said I use it more for varment hunting and putting holes in squirrels then in paper. The speed and flat trajectory of the .17hmr is quite impressive and fun to shoot.
:sniper:
No regrets here!
 
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