17HMR, are they really that good?

S

Smason

Member
EE Expired
Rating - 100%
3   0   0
I am thinking about getting a 17HMR for the upcoming gopher season.

I have heard a lot of hype about the 17HMR for years, are they really that much better than a 22LR considering the price of ammo,
I am wanting a Bolt action rifle, the Savage 93R17 GV is what I am looking at, it has the wood stock, I thought about getting the 93R17 BTVS, but I am on a budget, so I think I am better off getting the cheaper gun and then I can afford a better scope. I think a good scope makes more sense that having a nicer stock but I can see what I'm shooting with a cheap scope because with a 17HMR has a much long range than a 22LR.

Your opinions please, thanks
 
I have a heavy barrel savage 17 hmr in a thumb hole stock. It's a nice shooter. It doesn't get used as much as it should. I will never sell it regardless of how little I use it though. Ammo is a little spendy.
 
I got my first HMR about a year ago, a Savage 93R17 BVSS. I was impressed with its accuracy, but you sure notice the unrefined action, trigger, magazine latch and magazine....It's a very much a utility rifle. I followed it up with an Anschutz 1517 MPR, which is an absolute drill and addresses all of the cheap mechanical issues of the Savage, but at triple the price. My love of the HMR carried on into a CZ 455 Canadian, not as accurate as the Savage, but much nicer mechanics. Next up was an Anschutz 1727F which has the most incredible mechanics and aesthetics and shoots second only to my MPR most likely because of the stock design and weight difference. At the end of the day, I shoot the Savage more than the others as I don't have to worry about banging it up when it is slung and I'm following my brush mower down the ditch shooting gophers.
 
17hmr is around $18-$20/50 around here. For that kind of money, I prefer just bringing a 22lr accompanied by the .243 to the gophers.

Short and long covered better than the 17hmr can.

Only use 17 if noise is the issue and need 150-200 yd shots. (Rare)
 
Last edited:
Smason said:
I am thinking about getting a 17HMR for the upcoming gopher season.

I have heard a lot of hype about the 17HMR for years, are they really that much better than a 22LR considering the price of ammo,
I am wanting a Bolt action rifle, the Savage 93R17 GV is what I am looking at, it has the wood stock, I thought about getting the 93R17 BTVS, but I am on a budget, so I think I am better off getting the cheaper gun and then I can afford a better scope. I think a good scope makes more sense that having a nicer stock but I can see what I'm shooting with a cheap scope because with a 17HMR has a much long range than a 22LR.

Your opinions please, thanks
Click to expand...

One of my favorite topics..and I'm an Ontarian who travels to Alberta to shoot gophers. :) Let's start with similarities.

1. They'll both kill gophers.
2. Ability to hit "longer"-range gophers will depend heavily on the amount of wind.
3. You have to figure-out what ammo your rifle likes~holds true for 22 or 17HMR

Ok, let's talk about differences.

1. Cost~HMR is about $20+ (+ tax) for a box of 50, 22LR varies...but decent stuff starts around $4 for 50. The more shots you take, the more this difference will matter. Or not. For some people...more $ isn't a big deal. I'm not really one of those people. :)
2. Effect~22 will knock them over, some fast 22HPs might even mess them up a little...nothing less than a good shot may see them wiggle/hobble back to their holes. They're pretty much goners if a 22 bullet makes contact, whether you see them flop over or not. A 17HMR hit will vary from just "bang/dead" to making one gopher into a collection of smaller gopher parts. Whatever the case, I can't remember hitting a gopher with a 17HMR and it doing anything other than dying within a 2' radius of where the bullet made contact. Usually right on the spot, and usually with something that was once inside of it now on the outside.
3. Trajectory~the HMR tends to be laser-accurate, and very flat shooting out to about 125 yards or so. Very easy to reach a little further without over-thinking bullet drop. 22LR is slower, bullets heavier, so trajectory has to be factored in. I zero @ 50 or 75 yards...then hold-over if I want to stretch it out a little. My scope's reticle has hash marks on the vertical crosshair to make that a little easier/repeatable.
4. The noise difference isn't really a concern, not too big a difference there...17HMR is a little fussier to clean in my opinion. (the bore) I also give very little thought to barrel temperature with a 22 bolt gun, but the 17HMR can get a little warm.

As for your rifle choice~for 17HMR, if you have the money~get a CZ Varmint. My second choice would be a Marlin heavy barrel, third choice a Savage heavy barrel. I've owned a Savage thumbhole HMR and I couldn't sell it fast enough. Great for the bench, crummy hunting rifle shooting prone with a bipod. 22s~really...the same advice.

The 2 rifles I'm taking to Alberta this spring~CZ452 Varmint in 22LR, Marlin 917 Heavy Barrel in 17HMR. CZ has a 4-12xAO scope, the 17HMR a 6-18x AO scope. Lots of magazines, lots of ammo.
 
I've got a Savage 93R17 FV-SR. 16" barrel. Shoots much more accurately and flatter than .22lr. It is good for smacking crows and what not out to 150-200yds.
 
Get an HMR. It can't hold a candle to a small centerfire obviously, but the HMR is great. Some places you don't have the ability to shoot a bigger caliber because of proximity to buildings etc. I like my 10/22, but I only use it about 10% of the time because of my CZ 452 HMR.
 
Smason said:
I am thinking about getting a 17HMR for the upcoming gopher season.

I have heard a lot of hype about the 17HMR for years, are they really that much better than a 22LR considering the price of ammo,
I am wanting a Bolt action rifle, the Savage 93R17 GV is what I am looking at, it has the wood stock, I thought about getting the 93R17 BTVS, but I am on a budget, so I think I am better off getting the cheaper gun and then I can afford a better scope. I think a good scope makes more sense that having a nicer stock but I can see what I'm shooting with a cheap scope because with a 17HMR has a much long range than a 22LR.

Your opinions please, thanks
Click to expand...
I live in Ont. & only went gopher shooting 1 X for a 2 day shoot in southern SK. . I & my resident friend both used .22 LR HP. with scopes .
My friend has a vast collection of more powerful varmint cal. rifles but still brought the .22 LR .
We both killed all the gophers we shot @ . Ranges where within 75 yds. & most about 50 yds. Gophers are not hard
to get within those ranges . Many times the problem was re-loading fast enough , as they kept poping up . The other small problem
was carrying enough ammo. Certainly the .22 LR was all the power you needed. If you want to shoot them @ longer shots then any
of the more powerful cal. will be needed . The 17 HMR is certainly a good choice 4 that .

That was my experience . ,,,,,,,,Frank
 
Frank McFarquhar said:
I live in Ont. & only went gopher shooting 1 X for a 2 day shoot in southern SK. . I & my resident friend both used .22 LR HP. with scopes .
My friend has a vast collection of more powerful varmint cal. rifles but still brought the .22 LR .
We both killed all the gophers we shot @ . Ranges where within 75 yds. & most about 50 yds. Gophers are not hard
to get within those ranges . Many times the problem was re-loading fast enough , as they kept poping up . The other small problem
was carrying enough ammo. Certainly the .22 LR was all the power you needed. If you want to shoot them @ longer shots then any
of the more powerful cal. will be needed . The 17 HMR is certainly a good choice 4 that .

That was my experience . ,,,,,,,,Frank
Click to expand...

^good advice.

The hornet/centerfire/reloading is cheaper advice~I don't think that's a factor for a guy who is asking about the pros/cons of 22 vs. 17HMR. I like to think if that's the nature of the question, there is a pretty good chance they're not ready to sink their teeth into reloading...and all the time/expense involved. Especially for gophers where a progressive set-up ($$$) makes more sense due to volume of shots. For a stooge like me (who reloads .223 and .243) traveling out there, even I'm not considering any hand loads or my beloved .223. It's rimfire only.
 
Again picture is a 1000 words... Honestly, the best tree rat smacker I had... I never took any game more then 50 yards though so I sold it and just use my 22... Mind you it is so very satisfying to go to the range with... Cheaper practice then a center fire and can hit 100 yards no issue... I love tight groups, something any 22 I will ever own will never come close to... I wish I could get a 22 to do this at 50 let alone 100...

 
I use my 17 HMR for Crows (Savage 93R17 BTVS Thumbhole).

I "wanted" a 17 and the rifle looked cool. For me it doesn't do anything that I wouldn't use one of my three 22's for. The 22 is great for all manner of smaller varmints, bunnies, partridge, squirrels etc, but since the "cool kids" are shooting the 17 HMR's and WSM's I had to have one. I did consider the WSM but hated the only one I could get my hands on (Savage B-Mag - just couldn't stomach the locking lugs on the rear of the bolt).

And yes, the HMR ammo is "expensive" - with recent increases it's now getting close to 25 bucks for 50 (50 cent a pop).

So if I'm going out "hunting crows" I will only shoot at them and maybe burn through 10 bucks worth of ammo in a half day even managing to take out half a dozen crows in the process.

If I am going out to try and scratch out a rabbit and have some fun shooting stumps, rocks etc I take the 22 and still burn through 10 bucks worth of ammo, but I get 100 "pops" for that 10 bucks.

I simply treat the 17 like my big game rifles - and I don't take those out either and burn through 100 rounds in an afternoon - that's what 22's and self loaded 223's are there for. So if you want a "dedicated" gopher gun that you won't "plink with", the 17 would be decent and the cost of ammo wouldn't get too far out of hand. If you like shooting, stick with a 22 LR.
 
I am not an Olympic quality shooter, so what I have to say needs to be taken with a bit of an open mind. I have two 17hmr rifles. A Canadian and an American 455. I used the American last summer for the first time. I was absolutely amazed at the laser accuracy of the rifle/cartridge combination. If I can get a decent steady aim, POOF!, gopher is blown to bits. :cool:

My son-in-law, who is NOT a shooter, took the American and was smoking gophers like a seasoned old gopher shooter. He was amazed. He is a real live Finn, who did some time many years ago in the Finnish army or cadets, but hadn't shot since.

Sure, the cartridge is more expensive. Most people can figure that out for themselves. :rolleyes: I am willing to shoot off a box of .17hmr @ $20/50. I have three Canadian and three American 455's. All will end up with scopes of one sort. I just put a nice little Leupold VX-1 2-7 on one of the .22wmr's this winter. As I can justify the $$, they will all end up with decent scopes.

Bottom line, answer to the OP question - YES, the .17hmr is a great little cartridge! cou:
 
galamb said:
I use my 17 HMR for Crows (Savage 93R17 BTVS Thumbhole).

I "wanted" a 17 and the rifle looked cool. For me it doesn't do anything that I wouldn't use one of my three 22's for. The 22 is great for all manner of smaller varmints, bunnies, partridge, squirrels etc, but since the "cool kids" are shooting the 17 HMR's and WSM's I had to have one. I did consider the WSM but hated the only one I could get my hands on (Savage B-Mag - just couldn't stomach the locking lugs on the rear of the bolt).

And yes, the HMR ammo is "expensive" - with recent increases it's now getting close to 25 bucks for 50 (50 cent a pop).

So if I'm going out "hunting crows" I will only shoot at them and maybe burn through 10 bucks worth of ammo in a half day even managing to take out half a dozen crows in the process.

If I am going out to try and scratch out a rabbit and have some fun shooting stumps, rocks etc I take the 22 and still burn through 10 bucks worth of ammo, but I get 100 "pops" for that 10 bucks.

I simply treat the 17 like my big game rifles - and I don't take those out either and burn through 100 rounds in an afternoon - that's what 22's and self loaded 223's are there for. So if you want a "dedicated" gopher gun that you won't "plink with", the 17 would be decent and the cost of ammo wouldn't get too far out of hand. If you like shooting, stick with a 22 LR.
Click to expand...

This is good advice. The 17 hmr is much more suited to a fun day in the gopher patch and the odd "look how accurate my 17 is". Target shooting. Not so good for plinking ( that's what a 22 is for). When you shoot a gopher with a 22, the gopher dies. When you shoot a gopher with a 17hmr, the gopher dies dramatically and the child in you will let out a giggle. As far as hand loading center fire, I would get sick of picking up brass after about 20 minutes if the gophers are hot that day. Where I shoot, there aren't many 200 yard shots to be taken, they are all within 20 to 100 yards which is dead on accurate ranges for the hmr. Just pull the trigger, and watch them 'splode'.

Ps. If your hunting gophers for the table, hmr is not recommended :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom