Opinions on .17HMR

17HMR is way cheaper than new 223.

SFRC sells 20 round boxes of 40 grain vmax for $21.50 and 50 round boxes of vmax 17 for $16. Oh and the 223 is all sold out.

17 is a flat shooting varmint round. It is exceptionally accurate and has the perfect range of a few hundred yards, which pits it squarely against the 22WMR, not the .223.

FF
 
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Love my HMR,
I find it great to intro people into shooting with, its a bit flatter and less picky than a 22, and looks a bit more awesome with its pointed polymer tips,
wish it was cheaper to shoot, but still love it,
and boy howdy it sure turns them gophers inside out!
 
Love HMR, much quieter than .223, like mentioned before, you can see what you hit through the scope, better for areas that have a denser population.(like a muzzle loader). Sucks in a high wind. Too light for yotes. Perfect for gophers or trigger practice. Gophers CAN fly!! I find I shoot less bullets with the HMR vs the .22 just because it generally takes less rounds to hit what you are aiming at. I will never sell my 452.
 
hometownhero said:
If you guys that shoot 223 with vmax bullets are getting it for the same price as hmr let me know as I will stop reloading 223. My 223 reloads are a few cents more then hmr ammo.
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^amen to that.

As for the OP's question~to me, you can't really compare .22 to .17HMR...especially if you're looking for similarities. :) I've had 3, 17HMR rifles and I don't have any of them any more, but that speaks to what I do with my rifles more than anything else. If I lived anywhere with a 1/2-decent gopher population, I'd be back in the HMR game for sure, but for big groundhogs here in Ontario, they're just not enough gun. Before anyone tells me they are, YES I've shot lots of them with that caliber. Anyhow, HMR is a great, high-performance rimfire that sort of fills a rather narrow niche if you ask me, since it's too small to take anything much bigger than rabbit, and pretty destructive on anything smaller than that. I (personally) find it too expensive to shoot as a target/plinking gun, but if you don't have a hankering for a centerfire rifle and want to see small groups at 100 yards, HMR is great for that. I'd love to see one sitting in the safe again, but not before I add a 22 Mag to the collection. It's a more useful (hunting) round here in Ontario.
 
burnaby said:
+1 cheap go for 22lr,
longer range go 223.

For same price as 223 why shoot .17HMR? I too would like to be educated.
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I couldn't find a .223 for around the same price. The .223's they had were all $500 plus, and then a sight on top of that. I will end up getting a .22 also, but will have to wait awhile. I am an accuracy shooter, that was the main reason I went with the .17hmr, that and the fact that even slight recoil bothers my shoulder, and even the rest of my body, because I suffer from rheumatoid arthritis. I know .223 isn't much more when it comes to recoil, because I remember firing 1000's of rounds when I was in the military. But I couldn't find a .223 bolt action that felt right for me either. It's a bit tough because I am 6'4 and most rifles feel unnatural to me when shouldered. And ammo isn't that bad, I can get it $15 for 50 rounds. That's about double the price of .22, because I have yet to see any .22 on the shelves here in Winnipeg for less than $7 a box plus tax. Cost of ammo isn't a big concern for me, it never has been. I don't have a problem buying a box of 20 rounds for $40 bucks lol
 
.22LRGUY said:
As for the OP's question~to me, you can't really compare .22 to .17HMR...especially if you're looking for similarities. :) I've had 3, 17HMR rifles and I don't have any of them any more, but that speaks to what I do with my rifles more than anything else. If I lived anywhere with a 1/2-decent gopher population, I'd be back in the HMR game for sure, but for big groundhogs here in Ontario, they're just not enough gun. Before anyone tells me they are, YES I've shot lots of them with that caliber. Anyhow, HMR is a great, high-performance rimfire that sort of fills a rather narrow niche if you ask me, since it's too small to take anything much bigger than rabbit, and pretty destructive on anything smaller than that. I (personally) find it too expensive to shoot as a target/plinking gun, but if you don't have a hankering for a centerfire rifle and want to see small groups at 100 yards, HMR is great for that. I'd love to see one sitting in the safe again, but not before I add a 22 Mag to the collection. It's a more useful (hunting) round here in Ontario.
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I agree, 17HMR is too expensive to take to the range an run 1000 rounds through in a day or over a weekend, and it just isn't comparable to .22LR. I grew up shooting gophers with a 22, it will do the job for that, but I decided i was going to grab a "fun gun" to shoot gophers at ranges beyond what a .22LR can hit reliably. I'll still take the .22's out to plink with, but I'll probably have this 17HMR as a gopher control gun.

As far as not being able to shoot anything bigger than a rabbit, there's plenty videos of brits using it for Fox on youtube, and there are more than a few guys around here that use it on coyotes. It really boils down to shot placement, which the 17hmr round is definitely capable of. Just my $0.02.
 
I have gone to mostly 17HMR when it comes to gopher shooting, the .22LR rarely comes out of the case anymore.

When I lived in the country and could head out the back door into the pasture several times a week the .22 was my tool but now that I work in town and get out on average only every second wknd in prime gopher season I want every shot to count.

Sure it costs more, but as life gets busier my time in the field becomes more limited, it goes beyond putting a price to it.
 
17HMR is probably the most accurate round out there (to 100 yrds) for the price......if you factor in the combined cost of both the rifle and factory ammo.
 
ShadNuke said:
I couldn't find a .223 for around the same price. The .223's they had were all $500 plus, and then a sight on top of that. I will end up getting a .22 also, but will have to wait awhile. I am an accuracy shooter, that was the main reason I went with the .17hmr, that and the fact that even slight recoil bothers my shoulder, and even the rest of my body, because I suffer from rheumatoid arthritis. I know .223 isn't much more when it comes to recoil, because I remember firing 1000's of rounds when I was in the military. But I couldn't find a .223 bolt action that felt right for me either. It's a bit tough because I am 6'4 and most rifles feel unnatural to me when shouldered. And ammo isn't that bad, I can get it $15 for 50 rounds. That's about double the price of .22, because I have yet to see any .22 on the shelves here in Winnipeg for less than $7 a box plus tax. Cost of ammo isn't a big concern for me, it never has been. I don't have a problem buying a box of 20 rounds for $40 bucks lol
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Look at Mossberg MVP series. I was blown away last weekend, when my guest showed up at the range with a MVP Target. Fit and finish were good, bolt action not too bad, trigger could use some work, but boy was it accurate. All in all $500 ish out the door with a scope! cannot beat that value. BIG bonus,in 223 form it uses AR mags, so 10 round LAR mags are a go!
What I use my 17 HMR for is to make me feel good. It makes really small groups in really small target stickers!!
 
baldabe said:
Look at Mossberg MVP series. I was blown away last weekend, when my guest showed up at the range with a MVP Target. Fit and finish were good, bolt action not too bad, trigger could use some work, but boy was it accurate. All in all $500 ish out the door with a scope! cannot beat that value. BIG bonus,in 223 form it uses AR mags, so 10 round LAR mags are a go!
What I use my 17 HMR for is to make me feel good. It makes really small groups in really small target stickers!![/QUOT
Very nice variety of the mossberg mvp's. They look to be around around $900 for the lowest price though?
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tipper said:
baldabe said:
Look at Mossberg MVP series. I was blown away last weekend, when my guest showed up at the range with a MVP Target. Fit and finish were good, bolt action not too bad, trigger could use some work, but boy was it accurate. All in all $500 ish out the door with a scope! cannot beat that value. BIG bonus,in 223 form it uses AR mags, so 10 round LAR mags are a go!
What I use my 17 HMR for is to make me feel good. It makes really small groups in really small target stickers!![/QUOT
Very nice variety of the mossberg mvp's. They look to be around around $900 for the lowest price though?
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Hmmmm, what can I say, I believed the information I was given was true. Looks like you are right about price, also I see it is the varmint model I shot and not a target model.
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The 17hmr out here on the prairies is a great addition to a number of rodent calibers; we have two, one in a heavy barrel (ha!) Marlin and the other in a Skull camo Savage which is a huge hit for the teens. I love the 17hmr for helping the kids become accurate shooters. We start on a 22lr, then 17hmr, then 22Khornet, then 204 and 223.
On a good spring day, all those calibers are out and simply a great way to spend the weekend. Cost is always a concern, but is better than a gym membership or sitting around playing with electronics too much. BTW, the gun in 22K hornet is by far the most popular every time we go out. I reload a lot.......
 
I like mine, devastating on small game. Shoots well, but not so great in cover. Light leads and high velocity makes for more ricochet prone shots.

Of course, I use mine for grouse hunting, and it may be a parallax issue, haven't had time to fully investigate yet.

That all being said, my 17 hmr gets used a heck of a lot more than my 22s. I don't regret it for a second.
 
Love my marlin 17 hmr gets constant loonie size groups at 100 yds and wow really does a number on grouse too love it it has taken over for my grouse needs from my ruger 77 22. Don't get me wrong still love my 22s but the hummer is funner
 
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