17HMR long range?

[canuck]

At 12x power and a solid rest I'm picking off gophers at 200 yds pretty regularly - wind can be an issue tho
Cheap Savage rifle that only likes Federal ammo
I like it over a 22 because of the lack of ricochet (with the 17) more than anything - to many near houses here

 

[TJCote]

I routinely shoot steel targets out to +400yds with my rimfire rifles. Currently my furthest target is 458yds. At about zero-250 yds my .17 HMR with decent ammo will keep up to the 22’s with match ammo.(Sk- LR). However after 250, I’m hitting targets way more consistently with the .22’s in all wind conditions. As someone previously mentioned, the 17’s are all over the place at farther distances. I’ve noticed this on windy and relatively calm days as well. I always assumed it might be the bullet doing the “funky chicken” going through transonic velocity. Since the .22 is subsonic all the way, it doesn’t behave as badly. Anybody with thoughts on this?

 

[kjohn]

Realistically who will shoot a rimfire past 200 yards pesting? Unless you want to mortar in rounds? Yes we have all had fun hitting gongs with 22s while aiming at the sky, but if I am pesting past 200 yards I am breaking out my center fire as why bother wasting ammo with a 22 plus foot holdover at 400 yards with a 22. But I get the context of the post just not the real world need while pesting. I just know more and more of my friends are using 17s when they want to get serious while pesting.

My thoughts as well. Occasionally, I will try to show off and take a crack at a gopher way out there, and, to my amazement, I actually hit them - but not every time. I have been shooting gophers for a lonnnng time, and try to shoot them as close to me as possible. Long shots, most of the time, for me, are a waste of ammo. So far, the only centerfire I have used on gophers is a shotgun. Nearly 100% kill rate there. I do love shooting .17hmr and .22wmr, but I shoot mostly .22 lrhp.