I'm thinking of a rimfire that can maintain good accuracy past 125 yrds+, not sure why I picked that range, but let's go with it. For target, plinking and small varmit control would a .17 HMR or a .22 WMR be the way to go? OR am I way off base and would a regular .22 do the job? I grew up with a .22LR and had a hoot ridding our fields of gophers, but I remember the range being limited. Since I haven't tried either of the magnums listed, I leave it in your capable hands. Thanks in advance!
.17 vs .22 - advice please...
- Thread starter clhdluke
- Start date
hometownhero
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Toon Town, Sk
Lots of guys like the hmr me included unless it is windy. I have found the wind drift on that little 17 cal bullet to be of epic proportion. I would go with a 22wmr if I was to do it again. Heavier bullets and hits harder.
formerfarmer
Regular
- Location
- Winnipeg, now
The jury is split on these two calibres. A lot of people believe the 17 has more wind drift and others have the charts to say the 22mag drifts more. Overall both are equally accurate and about the same price for ammo. Give or take a couple cents. Get what you think is a pretty gun in either calibre and go do gopher damage. There are people who swear they can shoot a 22lr out to 2 hundred yards and hit a gopher every time and I for one "really" believe them. But you know if you can or not so for 100 to 150 I have a 17. But it is your choice. Go fondle a couple different makes and see what gets you feeling gooshy, then buy it.
hometownhero
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Toon Town, Sk
Well in my testing with the 17 20km crosswind at the range. The drift was 8-10 inches. Also from what I have noticed in my experience is that heavier bullets buck the wind better. That is why I would pick the wmr. But opinions are like a$$holes everyone has got one
Past 125 yards?
Yer getting to the outer reaches of practical range for any of the rimfires for all intents and purposes.
Time to move up to a CF round. Something like a 22 Hornet (or the 17 Hornady Hornet), or a .223.
Not saying you won't or can't shoot that far, but that is beyond what most rimfire makers expect and design around, so you will be pushing your luck, both in terms of finding ammo and a rifle that will shoot well, consistently, at that range.
Move closer!
Cheers
Trev
Yer getting to the outer reaches of practical range for any of the rimfires for all intents and purposes.
Time to move up to a CF round. Something like a 22 Hornet (or the 17 Hornady Hornet), or a .223.
Not saying you won't or can't shoot that far, but that is beyond what most rimfire makers expect and design around, so you will be pushing your luck, both in terms of finding ammo and a rifle that will shoot well, consistently, at that range.
Move closer!
Cheers
Trev
Hey cool hand Luke (assuming that's your handle? ), great question...and one that's been asked enough around here that you'll find lots of info./opinions if you dig even a little. Since I torture myself with these questions every day, I'm more than happy to chime-in.
First-off, if you love rimfires as much as I do, you won't be happy until you have at least one of each. Period. My collection is currently lacking anything .17, but I have multiple .22s and one .22WMR. What that doesn't tell you is that I've owned 2 HMRs, a Savage 93 and a CZ452 Varmint, and got rid of them both. Both great shooters, HMR is a fun caliber to shoot, but it just wasn't versatile enough for varmint hunting here in southern Ontario. In the land of gophers (and this from my Albertan friends) the HMR reigns supreme for dispatching them at fairly long distances. I've been told that plenty of gophers have met their maker out to 200-225 yards, but most shots taken were 150 or less. I've never shot any gopher, but I'm also told a .22lr will do a dandy job on them out to 100 yards, so a faster-moving .22WMR ought to be a step-up from there.
My opinion~you have to look at gun purchases from all angles...unless you have deeper pockets than I do. How much will you shoot? Will you be hunting? What will you be hunting? What range will you be hunting? and so on. The way I think of it is this~.22lr (about $6 per 50) if you're mostly target shooting, or hunting rabbit (or smaller) sized game out to about 75 yards. .22WMR (about $13 for 50) if you want that range extended to about 125 yards, and have more power to boot, .17HMR (about $15-$16 per 50) for a flatter trajectory, good power out to about 150-175 yards but on .22lr-sized game. Why? I've seen good HMR shots on groundhogs result in them still making it back to their holes, but I spent an entire summer hunting them last year with a .22WMR and only had that happen once. Plant one with a .22WMR and it's down, you can see/hear the impact too...a real smack-down. Granted, these animals get up to about 13+ lbs., so allot more heft than the biggest gopher, but you get the idea.
Opinions will vary on all of what I just typed, but that's my opinion having had allot of trigger time with all 3. I'm a real rimfire fan and always laughed-off the "just get a .223 and be done with it" talk, but consider this~tonight, I saw some Hornady .17 gr. V-Max HMR for $16 a box of 50 ($.32 a round) and some Federal 55gr. .223 for $10.99 a box of 20 ($.55 a round) Seems to me the price of rimfire ammo is really climbing, and not offering the value it once did. YES, you can buy bulk-boxes of .22lr that offer unbelievable value..but I'm trying to sell the guy on a .22WMR!
I'll leave-off with a photo of my .22WMR and a big hog it put down last summer, one of my favorite pics. I think .22WMR ammo is a nice compromise between .22lr and .17HMR, and the caliber is more versatile if hunting is on the horizon for you. I will say though, I never found my HMRs to have the kind of trouble in the wind someone else mentioned in this thread.
Good luck with whatever you choose. It's not a matter of picking the right gun. Like I said, you'll probably own them all, so it's simply a matter of what you buy first!
), great question...and one that's been asked enough around here that you'll find lots of info./opinions if you dig even a little. Since I torture myself with these questions every day, I'm more than happy to chime-in.First-off, if you love rimfires as much as I do, you won't be happy until you have at least one of each. Period.
My collection is currently lacking anything .17, but I have multiple .22s and one .22WMR. What that doesn't tell you is that I've owned 2 HMRs, a Savage 93 and a CZ452 Varmint, and got rid of them both. Both great shooters, HMR is a fun caliber to shoot, but it just wasn't versatile enough for varmint hunting here in southern Ontario. In the land of gophers (and this from my Albertan friends) the HMR reigns supreme for dispatching them at fairly long distances. I've been told that plenty of gophers have met their maker out to 200-225 yards, but most shots taken were 150 or less. I've never shot any gopher, but I'm also told a .22lr will do a dandy job on them out to 100 yards, so a faster-moving .22WMR ought to be a step-up from there.My opinion~you have to look at gun purchases from all angles...unless you have deeper pockets than I do. How much will you shoot? Will you be hunting? What will you be hunting? What range will you be hunting? and so on. The way I think of it is this~.22lr (about $6 per 50) if you're mostly target shooting, or hunting rabbit (or smaller) sized game out to about 75 yards. .22WMR (about $13 for 50) if you want that range extended to about 125 yards, and have more power to boot, .17HMR (about $15-$16 per 50) for a flatter trajectory, good power out to about 150-175 yards but on .22lr-sized game. Why? I've seen good HMR shots on groundhogs result in them still making it back to their holes, but I spent an entire summer hunting them last year with a .22WMR and only had that happen once. Plant one with a .22WMR and it's down, you can see/hear the impact too...a real smack-down. Granted, these animals get up to about 13+ lbs., so allot more heft than the biggest gopher, but you get the idea.
Opinions will vary on all of what I just typed, but that's my opinion having had allot of trigger time with all 3. I'm a real rimfire fan and always laughed-off the "just get a .223 and be done with it" talk, but consider this~tonight, I saw some Hornady .17 gr. V-Max HMR for $16 a box of 50 ($.32 a round) and some Federal 55gr. .223 for $10.99 a box of 20 ($.55 a round) Seems to me the price of rimfire ammo is really climbing, and not offering the value it once did. YES, you can buy bulk-boxes of .22lr that offer unbelievable value..but I'm trying to sell the guy on a .22WMR!
I'll leave-off with a photo of my .22WMR and a big hog it put down last summer, one of my favorite pics. I think .22WMR ammo is a nice compromise between .22lr and .17HMR, and the caliber is more versatile if hunting is on the horizon for you. I will say though, I never found my HMRs to have the kind of trouble in the wind someone else mentioned in this thread.
Good luck with whatever you choose. It's not a matter of picking the right gun. Like I said, you'll probably own them all, so it's simply a matter of what you buy first!
hometownhero
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Toon Town, Sk
I laugh at those charts. They can say what they want. I have seen what im talking about happen. A chart is just a chart and does not apply to all real world situations.
Buy what you like and deal with the pro's and cons both calibers have them
Where ?
hometownhero
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Toon Town, Sk
+1 The lowest around here I have seen is $14.99
Farmer Harv
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Scratchnwin
Where is right! If I can buy HMR for under 10 bucks I'm getting a rifle chambered in it ASAP. If it's only a couple of pennies more than HM2 I've run out of reasons not to have one.
If price were not a factor, I would definately choose 17hmr over 22LR. It's flatter shooting, which makes judging distance less critical, and far more accurate than the run of the mill 22LR cartridges. Even comparing the top end 22LR ammo, I've read that 17hmr fares better in competition. So, its really your decision as to whether the added cost is worth it. Given the reasonable cost of most of these rifles (under $500 gets you a good rifle), I'd say you are best served to eventually buy both.
Donny Fenn1
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- East Kootenays
i have lots of 22s, they get brought out when i'm taking new shooters out or for "plinking", occasionally i'll shoot gophers with them if i'm with a bunch of guys/kids...
for me the 17s (HMR and Mach2) are so much better in all aspects of accuracy/damage/distance etc that the "increased" price is not a factor...some thing that isn't mentioned in these threads regarding "hunting gophers" usually is outside of 50 yards when you start playing with drop and such on a 22LR (i know no one on here misses) are you factoring the cost of your misses into the equation...
for me the 17s (HMR and Mach2) are so much better in all aspects of accuracy/damage/distance etc that the "increased" price is not a factor...some thing that isn't mentioned in these threads regarding "hunting gophers" usually is outside of 50 yards when you start playing with drop and such on a 22LR (i know no one on here misses) are you factoring the cost of your misses into the equation...
hometownhero
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Toon Town, Sk
Think you need to come to the gopher shoot. Last year most of my shots were 2 feet - 50 yards. But gotta find a spot with that many in it is the thing.
