What is 17 HMR for?

I have a little CZ455 American 17HMR. I found 17g Cci vmax shot the best so I used it. Shot a lot of crows around the farm with it.

Ammo cost too much now so I will use the .22lr or shotgun.
 
JeffEff95 said:
I personally use mine for grouse, rabbits and any varmints around the yard.
Be careful though, too low of a shot on a grouse and there is 0 left.
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Use solids for grouse. No need to blow a game bird to pieces. I shoot bush partridge (Ruffed Grouse to the purist) with solids in .22 lr, or shorts if I am in heavy bush.
 
Grizzlypeg said:
It's so devastating on gophers its funny. I see the head and shoulders lauched 6 feet in the air when you shoot a standing one in the torso. I know there was some talk on here about wind affecting the 17hmr more, but I find that at 100 yards, it is much more accurate than 22lr.
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So , kind of like a 9mm at 20 yards ……that’s a whole lot of fun !
I have a 17 Henry lever and yup, it’s pretty devastating on gophers at a distance .
The ammo is just too stupid priced for this old gal to use regularly on gophers . A few hundred to kill a day means I use my .22 .
 
I had one, a CZ455. Really nice rifle, and very accurate. It was quieter than a .223 and .22-250, but more susceptible to wind, even at 100 yards. I had a few more ground-hogs need a second or third shot than I have with other rifles. I sent mine down the road to someone who wanted a beautiful rifle that shoots well, and who really wants a .17.

I went back to my first love, the 6.5 x 55 with light varmint bullets. I will be sticking with it.

Mark
 
IMO …. 17HMR’s start to shine in the gopher patch starting at the distance the .22LR is starting to get stretched which for me is about 75M. Although my .22’s are generally pretty effective out to 90M, the HMR is stellar at leaving blood and guts around gopher holes between 75 - 150M from the muzzle.
 
I use gophers for gophers, I enjoy it more than my .22 .. call me superficial but I like the bigger bang and it’s fun to shoot.. ammo is costly yes. Take yours out and see how you like it! I guarantee you will, every person who’s shot mine absolutely loves it. Ive got a cz455 .17hmr .
 
JEC said:
IMO …. 17HMR’s start to shine in the gopher patch starting at the distance the .22LR is starting to get stretched which for me is about 75M. Although my .22’s are generally pretty effective out to 90M, the HMR is stellar at leaving blood and guts around gopher holes between 75 - 150M from the muzzle.
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^this, 110%. Distances are also consistent with what I've found possible as a visiting gopher shooter over the years. Towards the end of our week there recently, the wind really picked-up....and it's remarkable how much 22LR and 17HMR can drift, even at under 100 yards. Don't own a Kestrel or anything...but our guesstimates on wind speed got pretty good by watching the puff of dust after each shot.

As things stand right now, I wouldn't even own a 17HMR were it not for gophers...and I don't even live in a province that even has them. :) Spring 2022=largest number of gophers I've ever seen, and what I thought was a good stockpile of 17HMR lasted about 3-1/2 days. I run my .22LR 99% of the time, my travel parter runs that HMR for the most part. Spectacular what HMR does to a gopher, but fast HPs from the 22LR rearrange things reliably too. Fun when the #s allow you to wait until 2 or more are lined-up. That opportunity was there multiple times a day. :)
 
I started shooting gophers with the 22 long rifle with Rem. yellowjackets, then moved up to the 17HMR.Shot magpie with 17 HMR at 200 yds. - one shot/one kill. When I ran out of gophers and found new place to shoot gophers, I switched back to the 22 shorts and found that I could shoot more gophers because of the low sound of the 22 short.
 
As many have pointed out, the 17 HMR is devastating on gophers. Was in SK this June after a 3 year absence and found the little squirrels abundant. The 17 HMR (Ruger 77/17) and the 17 Mach 2 (Sako Quad) were fantastic choices. For my walking gun with sticks, I used an Anschutz 1416 22LR. Distance was done with a 223 (Howa HB).
 
Back on the farm we always used a .22 long rifle round for putting down a beef for butcher, one shot in the forehead at close range and it was lights out. One time a neighbour thought he’d try his new .17 hmr to drop a steer. Must have shot it 7 or 8 times in the forehead and it would not go down, finally went to get the .22 magnum and was lights out with one shot. I don’t own a .17 personally, still love using .22 lr for gophers. 17. Hmr would get pretty costly when your shooting hundreds of rounds in the gopher patch. Bulk packs of Winchester .22 hollow points are what we use. Not match grade but still plenty accurate for gophers to 100 yards and less costly.
 
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