17 HMR or 22 WMR

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CanXB

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Hello all,

I am in the market for a new rimfire. The rifle will be the new Ruger American Rimfire Target with the stainless barrel. I have a couple 22 LR rifles so I am looking for something different. If it were up to you, between the 17 HMR and the 22 WMR what would you choose and why? The intended use would be mostly target shooting at 50 and 100 yards with a bit of groundhog fun. Thank you for any opinions and insight you can offer.
 
17 all the way, cheaper, easier to find ammo, works fine out to 200 yards.

My gopher rig.



Might sell my compact Savage .17 and buy a Ruger Precision, but all I know is these Savages shoot incredible, gophers just get dragged out of the holes.
 
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randyhub said:
17 all the way, cheaper, easier to find ammo, works fine out to 200 yards.
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This, and it is almost universally accepted that 17 is more accurate. .17 Winchester ammo is garbage though. CCI, Federal and Remington are all quite good. I have a CZ 455 Canadian; and I love it.
 
Meroh said:
This, and it is almost universally accepted that 17 is more accurate. .17 Winchester ammo is garbage though. CCI, Federal and Remington are all quite good. I have a CZ 455 Canadian; and I love it.
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And yet my first 17HMR, a Cooper, shot the Winchester Supreme more accurately than any other load, with zero split cases. However, when used in a Savage rifle, split cases are common.
 
You're popping gophers and you hear a ruckus in your chicken coop and you see a coyote or fox or racoon or stray dog carry a dead checken 100 yards out and it stops at the fence line and looks up at you. You weren't hunting larger animals so the .222 or 22-250 or 223 or 270 or 243 or whatever you hunt coyotes with is in your safe... do you take a shot with the 17hmr? The person with the .22 mag at lease knows they have a chance.
 
^^^ I'd pick the 17HMR, there'd be a volley of 25rds launched at it with my semi. There is a video of a guy hitting paper at 300 with a crosswind.
 
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Garaldtao said:
You're popping gophers and you hear a ruckus in your chicken coop and you see a coyote or fox or racoon or stray dog carry a dead checken 100 yards out and it stops at the fence line and looks up at you. You weren't hunting larger animals so the .222 or 22-250 or 223 or 270 or 243 or whatever you hunt coyotes with is in your safe... do you take a shot with the 17hmr? The person with the .22 mag at lease knows they have a chance.
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This^^^^ Get yourself an Annie in 22 mag. See how accurate it is.
 
The OP mentioned groundhogs, which are MUCH..much larger and more wary than gophers are. Groundhogs can be taken with 17HMR but having shot lots of them with both 17HMR and 22WMR, I will say that 22WMR is significantly more effective on them. 17HMR really demands a perfect shot to be a humane kill on something the size of a big groundhog, 22WMR seems to be more forgiving..which is good. It isn't as accurate a caliber to begin with. lol

Based on the OP's thread-starter, it DOES sound like 17HMR would be the better fit of the two for sure. 17HMR is very accurate/flat shooting out to 100+ yards, and pretty capable from a varmint hunting POV. Depending on where groundhogs fall on the priority list, it's worth exploring how your rifle likes the heavier 20gr. hollow points. Like any rimfire, figure out what ammo IT likes...and just run that. Even if it's a ballistic tip like Hornady 17gr., you're better making a great shot with an inferior bullet type than a so-so shot with a 20gr HP. For targets the size of gophers~17gr. BTs are exactly what you DO want. They dump most of their energy instantly, so less risk of flying lead after hitting such a small target at such high speed.

So to sum-up.. :)

17HMR~best for speed/accuracy, probably the easiest rimfire caliber to get the best accuracy results from quickly
22WMR~sort of the clumsy, more powerful big brother of the .22LR :) Nobody I've ever met picks this caliber for target shooting, but for 100 yard varmint hunting=very decent

FOR groundhog hunting specifically, about the smallest...most capable caliber I've used (to good effect even 2 days ago :) ) has to be 17 Hornet~which is a centerfire of course. Only seems a bit louder than 22WMR, zero recoil, and deadly out as far as I've pushed mine~198 yards. I do still keep a 17HMR for my western gopher trips (never use it here in Ontario) and while I don't currently own a 22WMR, I'm planning on getting another in the not-too-distant future. Will probably be a Savage B series heavy barrel. I would pick a CZ if I had even a shred of faith the extra $ would equate to better accuracy. Just hasn't been my experience that any gun shoots 22WMR exceptionally well.
 
Garaldtao said:
You're popping gophers and you hear a ruckus in your chicken coop and you see a coyote or fox or racoon or stray dog carry a dead checken 100 yards out and it stops at the fence line and looks up at you. You weren't hunting larger animals so the .222 or 22-250 or 223 or 270 or 243 or whatever you hunt coyotes with is in your safe... do you take a shot with the 17hmr? The person with the .22 mag at lease knows they have a chance.
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Coyotes are quite dead at twice that distance if you place your shot with a 17. Quite dead.
 
To answer the OP's question, I've found the 17 to be more accurate at longer distances although I've only shot a few rifles/ammo in these two cartridges. On average I think 22wmr can be found slightly cheaper if you shop around.
 
17 & 22 Mag Hornady ammo is the same price in my part of the world. I've found 17 to be incredibly susceptible to wind, but is still my favorite gopher round. Great round for gophers and upland birds, but I personally wouldn't use it on anything much bigger than that.
 
Grain said:
17 & 22 Mag Hornady ammo is the same price in my part of the world. I've found 17 to be incredibly susceptible to wind, but is still my favorite gopher round. Great round for gophers and upland birds, but I personally wouldn't use it on anything much bigger than that.
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I don't disagree, nor would I ever target coyotes with an HMR. Not judging those who do, but having seen how it can be ineffective on groundhogs (presumably, easier to kill than a coyote)...it strikes me as being a very poor choice for coyotes. If it's what I had with me and I had good reason to line one up~I doubt I'd hesitate. Were I going hunting FOR coyotes, I wouldn't even pick my 17 Hornet~which is FAR more capable than HMR.
 
joe-nwt said:
Coyotes are quite dead at twice that distance if you place your shot with a 17. Quite dead.
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Ever heard the story about the aboriginal woman who killed a polar bear with a .22lr!?! Shot placement right!?! Just because it is remotely possible doesn't mean it should be done. I hate seeing animals suffer and if there is a greater chance of that happening and less of one for perfect shot placement, why would you do it?
 
stubblejumper said:
And yet my first 17HMR, a Cooper, shot the Winchester Supreme more accurately than any other load, with zero split cases. However, when used in a Savage rifle, split cases are common.
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Common in CZ and a couple of others as well. Accuracy with the winchester was 3-4" groups of 5 at 100 yards. Hornady and federal; under 3/4" consistently.
 
The .17 would do it at 100 yards; but if the bugger was eating my chicken at 200, i would still give him a go.
 
Garaldtao said:
Ever heard the story about the aboriginal woman who killed a polar bear with a .22lr!?! Shot placement right!?! Just because it is remotely possible doesn't mean it should be done. I hate seeing animals suffer and if there is a greater chance of that happening and less of one for perfect shot placement, why would you do it?
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Did I say I recommended the .17 for coyotes? Are you saying that in your hands a shot at 200yrds with a .17 is only remotely possible?

I merely pointed out a .17 will kill a coyote at 200yrds. Cleanly, I might add.
 
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