17 HMR Effective range?

Kelly Timoffee

Kelly Timoffee

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Recently purchased a 17 HMR rifle for fun and varmint beyond the range of the 22lr.

Just wondering what kind of effective range(within reason of course) the users of the round are getting on small game.

75 yards on coyotes, 150 on gophers , etc.............what are your experiences and findings?
 
Really? I'm getting that with a Norinco .22LR and stingers. Glad I didn't lay out money for an HMR. I am sure that you are missing something in the mix because the .22 mag will do better than that.
 
Ummmmmmm, I am asking what guys are getting for effective ranges on the 17HMR I put the numbers out there for exapmle, As I didn't purchase a 22lr or a 22mag and I haven't shot the 17 HMR yet, I am wondering about the 17 HMR and effects on getting game at certain ranges.Don't think I missed anything in the mix.

Sorry that I was unclear as to what I was asking, hopefully that clears it up a bit.


rookie wildcat said:
Really? I'm getting that with a Norinco .22LR and stingers. Glad I didn't lay out money for an HMR. I am sure that you are missing something in the mix because the .22 mag will do better than that.
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I shot a coyote in the face at about 125 yards last spring. Dropped like a bag of hammers. Hit a magpie sitting on a fencepost, offhand, at about 250yards same outing. I'll admit it was kind of a fluke shot on my behalf;) but I was still impressed by the SMACK and all the feathers flying around. Lot's of gophers in the 100-150yrd range, some out to 200. I like the 17.
 
It will poke a decent hole in a gopher at 297 yards, one very calm day last spring I flattened one way out there. The wind really plays with the little 17 bullets, but on a calm day its a solid 250 yard plus gopher gun.
 
I've shot turkeys at almost 200 yards, the .17HMR sure makes getting that tom a lot easier...no need to get it into 40 yards' range for the shotgun! It is pretty sensitive to a strong wind at distance, on small game I'd limit my shots to 150 yards if there's a brisk wind happening.
 
Have a 17 in a marlin heavy barrel most accurate gun i ever owned . Shoot starlings and little pesty birds out past 100 yards.No ground hogs left here. Pretty lite for dogs used a 17 centerfire on coyotes one winter killed quite afew but lostalot to poor hits . Tiny bullets just don:t have enough retained energy. You will love that little 17 hmr but dont expect it to do a mans job..
 
I use my 17mach2 to about 125-150 yards on gophers, I will likely add another 50 yards with the 17HMR. I have no intentions of hunting coyotes with any 17 rimfire.
 
Don't know about gophers, but the furthest I have taken mine out is 320 meters on an old tire rim. I could hit around 9-10 shots, but there was little to no wind.
 
Effective range was the question. I shot a Ruger 17Hmr for an entire season, about 1.5k rounds expended in the gopher patches. I tried every brand of cartridge available. I had multiple ocassions at ranges of 75 yds and over with really poor terminal effect. Meaning a good hit, gopher flops over, gets up and trys to run down the hole, usually successfully. had a few that took multiple hits and still made it down. Good success with headshots as its a pretty accurate cartridge when its calm. Sold the 17 and bought a 204.
 
Well once I scope it and it gets decent out I will report back with my findings.

I did find various different ammo, I did read somewhere that it is all made by CCI, so that does limit it to approx seven different configurations. Found lead free, and FMJ also.
 
I agree with most, it is a great gopher gun to 200 yds or so, but seems to drop quickly after that, wind drift out here on the prairies can make shots tricky.
 
Kelly Timoffee said:
Recently purchased a 17 HMR rifle for fun and varmint beyond the range of the 22lr.

Just wondering what kind of effective range(within reason of course) the users of the round are getting on small game.

75 yards on coyotes, 150 on gophers , etc.............what are your experiences and findings?
Click to expand...

I dont know how far it was for certain, but 140 long stride paces on a jack rabbit a few years ago in Alberta.
Rob
 
Yoteboy said:
The only reason to use a .17HMR on a coyote would be to to dispatch one in a trap.
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I shot the one that I did in self defence. I was standing in a field full of dead gophers and yet this coyote was eyeing me up, hence the shot in the face.;)

If I was specifically after coyotes I would use more gun also.
 
I think of my .17 HMR as the perfect tool for the 50 to 150 yard shots when in the gopher patch.

When gopher shooting I find it optimal to have 3 guns, a .22 LR for the close range shots, the 17 HMR for 50 to 150 yard shots, and then a centerfire (such as the aforementioned .204 Ruger) for anything beyond that.

Sadly I had to sell my .204 varmint rig last summer when I run short of cash so I may stretch the distances of the .17HMR this summer.


As for coyotes I really think there are better options than the 17 HMR in that regard. If its what you have, then its better than a pointed stick but coyotes deserve to be dispatched quickly and humanely with a more powerful gun.
 
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