22mag and 17hmr

Remmy700

Remmy700

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Why is there so little about these two rimfires? Grew up with my old man just loving his 22mag, when it came to rabbit hunting we use to use 22s and when he got his 22mag it was night and day. Just this last Christmas we had I bought the wife a savage model 93 in 17hmr, bull barrel, accutrigger with a banner 3-9 with two boxes of ammo for about $300 you wanna talk about a inexpensive tack driver, it'll shoot moa real consistently at 100yrd. Just want to hear the rest of your opinions about these two calibres.

ET
 
Don't own any myself but for x5 the price on ammo it gets very close to .223 center fire, which are a lot more powerful and if you reload .223 can be actually cheaper then 22mag and 17hmr. Couldn't justify it based on pricing personally.
 
Hmmm...don't know where the last poster is buying his ammo.
Decent .22LR (lets say CCI Maxi bulk) is about .12 cents a round compared to about .25 for CCI Maxi .22WMR, so about 2x the price. The only way you are going to approach 1/5 the cost is to compare to the real cheap (usually meaning not all that accurate) Federal Eagle and such.
Ya kinda gotta compare apples to apples in my opinion.
And decent .22WMR (again, lets take the CCI) is about $12-14 per box of 50 compared to about $20 for a box of 20 decent .223.
The .22WMR has as much energy at 100yds as a .22LR at the muzzle...so lots more power, with much less noise than a .223. So if you game (say coyotes) is going to be taken at 150m or less the WMR or the .17HMR are ideal.
There doesn't seem to be that much action on these two rounds on this forum...but if you check out Rimfire Central or a few other you'll find lots of info on them.
Personally if I was primarily plinking, or taking small game at 50m or less, I'd stick with the .22LR. But at ranges between 50m and 200+m (where you do want the .223 and it's brethern) the pumped up rimfires excel.
 
I just did some looking online for bulk prices. Found that 22lr was less then 5cents per shot(Federal bulk) some federal bulk .223 worked out to 25 cents a shot. 17hmr bulk worked out to 17cents and couldn't really find bulk 22mag but it was fairly on par with prices of 17hmr. Just not my cup of tea personally.
 
Got one of each. The 22mag seems to hit harder but the .17hmr hits pretty hard and is more accurate. I've never shot any critters with either but I would hazard to guess that both would leave you with a really messy rabbit....
 
30 cent a shot 17hmr shoots a hell of alot more accurately than 50 cent a shot 223. Heats up the barrel a lot less too if you were cleaning out a gopher patch. I like my 17hmr, even though its only been a range toy so far.
 
I tryed out 6 different .22mag rds, and come to find out my rifle likes the cheapest ones. Winchester JHP 34grain @ $11.99 a box. 3 shots at 100yrds... I put two almost in the same hole in the bulls eye and the other out about 1\2". I was using a bench rest I got from Cabelas. It hits hard. I've have yet to take out a critter as well.
 
My model 93 22wmr love cci hp+ and hornady vmax. Winchester super x was a massive no go with about a 40% ftf and hits all over the target. It's actually my wife's gun and now I want one of my own (put 100 rounds down range last weekend). Just bought the vmax from lebarons for 12.99 for 50 rounds. Winchester ammo for my sks is $23/20 rounds for instance (bulk corrosive is only $4/20 rounds but I don't like using it). Would love to use the 93 for a coyote run around here some day.

Ian

Sorry, I was at the range on very little sleep and a boat load of coffee. I grouped 5 rounds at just over an 1" the next day, which is really good for me if not the rifle.

 
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SleepyG said:
Don't own any myself but for x5 the price on ammo it gets very close to .223 center fire, which are a lot more powerful and if you reload .223 can be actually cheaper then 22mag and 17hmr. Couldn't justify it based on pricing personally.
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If you reload 223 this is just about right lol. My 223 loads cost me about 35-38 cents a round and factory hmr is 30 cents. 223 has alot less problems in the wind also.
 
I picked the 17hmr up to get my wife more into shooting because she didn't enjoy the recoil of the 308, and she loves it. If you've never tried one you don't know what your missing, dynamite little calibre. If you want to do a far price comparison do it with CCI, 22 about $7/50, 17hmr about $15/50 so about double price, almost double muzzle velocity. The 17 performs at 200 yrd like a 22 at a 100 yrd.
 
SleepyG said:
Don't own any myself but for x5 the price on ammo it gets very close to .223 center fire, which are a lot more powerful and if you reload .223 can be actually cheaper then 22mag and 17hmr. Couldn't justify it based on pricing personally.
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x2 on that. With .223 you can also download it if you don't want too much heat build up and report, and it would still out perform the magnum rimfires for less cost.

super7 said:
Got one of each. The 22mag seems to hit harder but the .17hmr hits pretty hard and is more accurate. I've never shot any critters with either but I would hazard to guess that both would leave you with a really messy rabbit....
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Shoot them in the head! :D A friend of mine took two rabbits with his 30-06 this way. They turned out to be great eating.

Remmy700 said:
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If you want to do a far price comparison do it with CCI, 22 about $7/50, 17hmr about $15/50 so about double price, almost double muzzle velocity. The 17 performs at 200 yrd like a 22 at a 100 yrd.
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The other factor is 22LR ammo goes on sale regularly. Local shops have an annual sale and CCI Blazers were sold by the case (5000 rounds) for well less than $200 last year. That's less than $2/50 round box or $0.04/round. This is the 50 rounds per box ammo, not the 500 round bulk pack stuff. I shot a 3/8" group at 50m with it out of my CZ452. I think that's accurate enough. :D I haven't seen any sales like that with the magnum rimfires.
 
SleepyG said:
Don't own any myself but for x5 the price on ammo it gets very close to .223 center fire, which are a lot more powerful and if you reload .223 can be actually cheaper then 22mag and 17hmr. Couldn't justify it based on pricing personally.
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I see ammo prices (taxes in) for the two to be about the same...$12-14 for a box of .223Rem (20 rounds) and a box .22Mag (50 rounds). So you get more then 2x the shooting for the same price.
 
IMPO , the .22mag is a hunting round while the .17hmr is for target.
( yeah , the .17hmr will kill , but I would not attempt it on a 'yote size animal...more of a gopher gun )
I'm plenty satisfied with both my .22mags , which are a Rem 597mag and the good 'ol Marlin 25mn.
I would really like to see a tactical version of the .22mag
 
I've shot a few variations of both calibres. The .22 mag while great for its time and function has become an antiquated system with the release of the .17hmr. The .17 makes all but the most novice shooters attain a level of accuracy gained from years of shooting within the first few weeks of ownership. The muzzle velocity with the lighter round produces some of the flattest shooting I have ever experienced. The downside is the inability to reload the calibre and the wind, which hampers all rimfire rounds.
 
Timberlord said:
IMPO , the .22mag is a hunting round while the .17hmr is for target.
( yeah , the .17hmr will kill , but I would not attempt it on a 'yote size animal...more of a gopher gun )
I'm plenty satisfied with both my .22mags , which are a Rem 597mag and the good 'ol Marlin 25mn.
I would really like to see a tactical version of the .22mag
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hit a yote in the boiler with a 17hmr it locks them down pretty fast. the 17 was not designed for target shooting. it was designed as a varmint gun.
 
You can buy 22mag ammo (dynapoints) for under $10 a box at wallyworld , I have both a 22mag and 17hmr and load for .223

.20 a round for 22mag

I can load my .223 for about .29 a round useing bulk 55grfmj, 25gr h335 ,primer and once fired brass...............but dont forget to add in time as well.

22mag is a great round and would not trade it for .223 ,it is a must have in the safe , buy one of everything and be done with it !
 
So I just got back from the "candy store" and got CCI stingers for my 22 for $6.99 plus tax, I decide it would be as fair of a comparison as I myself can make cause there 32 gr. Then got a box of 17 CCI 20 gr for $14.99 plus tax. I was going to go to the range but the wind is gusting up to 30km today :( So on the next calm day I'm going to head to the range and shoot the 22 (sr-22) at 100yrds and the 17(savage model 93) at 200yrds, groups of 5 and I'll post the pics, and make you guys believers in this calibre. Now I know the sr isn't as accurate as the 93 that's why I figure it's fair to double the yardage. If anybody's interested in a little friendly competition let's make a day of it at the Nanaimo fish & game club, pm me and we can set up a date.

ET
 
I also don't think it's fair to compare crappy bulk 22 shell to the cost of 17 shells because there is no such thing as crappy cheap 17 shells, coincidence I think not.

ET
 
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