22 WMR or 17 HMR?

You should buy it in

  • 17 HMR

    Votes: 61 48.8%

  • 22 WMR

    Votes: 64 51.2%
  • Total voters
    125
guess_kto

guess_kto

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I want to buy a rim-fire rifle, but cannot chose! It's the same rifle, but I can take it in either caliber.

A little background:

.22 WMR
.22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire, is a rimfire rifle cartridge, commonly loaded with a 40 grain bullet, it can deliver velocities in the 2000 fps. range from a rifle barrel. The .22 WMR was introduced in the 1950s by Winchester, and it was the only successful rimfire cartridge introduced in the 20th century. The .22 WMR uses a larger case than the more popular .22 Long Rifle rimfire, both in diameter and length. The .22 WMR's case is also much thicker, allowing much higher pressures. Since the .22 WMR generally uses the same weight bullets as the .22 Long Rifle, it is generally used in similar situations. The 40 grain .22 WMR at 100 yards still retains the velocity of a .22 LR at the muzzle, which can provide improved penetration at all ranges, and more reliable expansion at long range with expanding bullets.
Specifications:
Case length: 1.052 in.
Overall length: 1.350 in.
Bullet diameter: .224 in.
Bullet weight - 40 gr.
Velocity - 2,020 fps.
Energy - 360 ft.lb.
Click to expand...

.17 HMR
.17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire, is a rimfire rifle cartridge descended from the .22 Magnum rimfire. It was developed by necking down the .22 Magnum case to take a .17 caliber bullet. Commonly loaded with a 17 grain bullet, it can deliver muzzle velocities in excess of 2550 fps. It is widely considered to be the one of the most accurate of the rimfire cartridges.
Specifications:
Parent case .22 WMR
Bullet diameter .172 in.
Neck diameter .190 in.
Shoulder diameter .238 in.
Base diameter .238 in.
Rim diameter .286 in.
Case length 1.058 in.
Overall length 1.349 in.
Bullet weight - 17 gr. / Velocity - 2,550 fps. / Energy - 245 ft.lb
Bullet weight - 20 gr. / Velocity - 2,350 fps. / Energy - 250 ft.lb.
Click to expand...

So in your opinion, which one should be my choice for small game? One of the concerns are wind drift, accuracy and trajectory.

:jerkit:

Another important question is meat damage, for example if I shoot a rabbit.

:jerkit:
 
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Just pop the rabbit in the head with the .17, its what I do.... don't worry about the meat then!

The V-max bullets in the majority of the .17HMR cartridges out there just destroy soft tissue. It has massive expansion and fragmentation..... I do recall a photo floating around here of an unlucky groundhog missing alot of guts.

-EDIT- here it is - http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v362/nomames/gophergone.jpg
 
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Something else to consider is $$ of ammo, depending on how much you shoot.

A box of 22 Mag goes for ~$10-11, while 17HMR is in the $14-15 range.

Myself, I voted for the 22 'cause I'm thinking of getting one myself.

(E) :cool:
 
If push comes to shove, go for the 22WMR. I have and use both, on CZ452 rifles. The 17 HMR is very accurate, but it certainly doesn't have the puch of the 22WMR on rabbits at 100+ yds.

I have never witnessed the socalled explosive effect of the 17HMR on any small game shot with it, even with TNT bullets, rabbits, gophers, pigeons, crows and magpies. The animals, unless head shot, usually run away to die unfound, not good.

The 22WMR on the other hand, especially with TNT bullets, leaves massive wound channels. If you happen to hit the shoulder or even the gut area, they expand reliably. I've never had an animal or bird hit with the 22WMR with TNT hollowpoints get away.

If you're going to hunt small game with your chosen rifle, the heavier 22 is the way to go in my opinion. There is more frontal area on the bullet and a larger cavity to fill and expand properly. Bearhunter
 
I have never witnessed the socalled explosive effect of the 17HMR on any small game shot with it, even with TNT bullets, rabbits, gophers, pigeons, crows and magpies. The animals, unless head shot, usually run away to die unfound, not good.
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Meanwhile, thousands of gophers die of fright every year......
 
I have owned both HMR and WMR and I sold the HMR. The .22 Magnum is more fun to shoot in my opinion, ammo is cheaper and the "thud" effect is greater with the WMR.
 
.22mag is cheaper and better for hunting. I've never liked the .17 for anything but paper punching, it just doesn't have the knock down power.
 
My .17hmr savage is like a laser. It suprised me by cutting through 1/4" aluminum at about 100 yards like it was nothing; leaving behind a 3/4" hole. Very accurate.
 
A few weeks ago a friend and I went out to the back 40 to do a little plinking. I had my CZ 452 in 22 mag. his in 17. He brought some 1/4 in steel targets to shoot at. The .22 mag was putting 1/4 in dents in the steel at 75 yds the 17 just went splat. Nuf said.
 
Sooo... please explain what shooting metal plates has to do with shooting game? 17 is designe to explode little varmints which it does with great success.

.22mag does the same--many considerations though--availability and cost of ammo, etc are all valid.

One further point though in my experience .22mag is not as accurate unless you take the time to guage and separate the ammo by rim thickness. If you do that there is not much to choose between them as far as accuracy goes.

The other solution is get a Ruger 77/.22 mag and scrounge up a .17 hrm barrel and have the best of both worlds.

44Bore
 
44Bore said:
Sooo... please explain what shooting metal plates has to do with shooting game? 17 is designe to explode little varmints which it does with great success.

.22mag does the same--many considerations though--availability and cost of ammo, etc are all valid.

One further point though in my experience .22mag is not as accurate unless you take the time to guage and separate the ammo by rim thickness. If you do that there is not much to choose between them as far as accuracy goes.

The other solution is get a Ruger 77/.22 mag and scrounge up a .17 hrm barrel and have the best of both worlds.

44Bore
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It hits HARDER. And it's cheaper.
 
If you were just vaporizing gophers, I would say get a .17 in a heartbeat. I once got gopher on my shoe!

But with larger target animals and not wanting to correct for slight winds at relatively short distances, I think you are better off with the little weight advantage that 22 wmr has. It will also damage the meat of a rabit less IMHO.

I always used subsonic .22 lr to hunt rabbits though because I found HV .22s too loud on my poor ears in the birch forests I was in.
 
If you want a general "small game" rifle as your post suggested, then from your two choices I'd take the .22 magnum because it's havier bullet and power advantage will give you more versatility over the .17 HMR. However, countless small game have been killed with plain old .22 lr and the cost of ammo is 20% of the cost of either of your choices and you have a vast number of rifles to chose from, all cheaper than .22 mags and .17's . If you want to be the big spender on a small game rig then your options are fine, but many of us have never wanted more than a nice .22 lr with a good scope and some good .22 ammo (like $4.99 for "the good stuff") for small game.
 
I own both and would use my hmr over the wmr any day of the week, it does not get any more accurate then the .17 at all yardage. How much stopping power do you really need for your sitaution?
 
I have .22 LR, but want something different. I can shoot a rabbit with 22LR, but what if I come across coyote or fox? What if we just go varmint shooting... I'm trying to figure if I can use one caliber to do everything instead of getting extra gun for each hunt....
 
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