So who besides me shoots a 17 HMR??

[2 Dogs]

My own experience with the 17 HMR is clearly not as extensive as some of you, and I thank you for the opportunity to benefit from your experience. My first 17 was a Marlin, purchased largely on a whim, in hopes of taking some prairie dogs with it in an upcoming hunt. While the trigger leaves a bit to be desired, the heavy barrel delivers sub MOA accuracy at 100 yards with reliability and ease. On the prairie dog plains however, there was way too much wind blowing on the days we were out and the prairie dogs were pretty much 200 yards and beyond. I did have one get too close, about 180 yards, measured with my laser, and it did take me 3 shots to get a round on him in the wind. That one shot did do the trick tho, and I was pleased the little rifle drew blood.

The Marlin has made a few trips to the ranch, but Ive taken no critter larger than a cotton tail with which it seems to kill handily. We dont normally shoot at our cottontails with a scoped rifle but the dang fuzzy butt havin SOBs on our lease are wilder than Calamity Jane on Saturday nite. I read and noted the reports of excessive destruction on small game written above. I am thinking that I will have to restrict my aim to head shots only on these wild little bunnies and see what I see. Besides, they dont seem to want us within pistol range of them.

I did pick up one of the Savage TRR fluted barrel 17s the other day. I just couldnt help myself. For the way my new gunshop job has been so busy, I havent had time to range test it yet. I hope to remedy that possibly as soon as tomorrow. I mounted a Nikon 6.5x20X scope on it in Warne rings and bore sighted it at the shop so it is range ready. I just need a day off. The aforementioned Marlin has a Leupold 6x on it now and I may have Raymond shorten the barrel some to increase its handiness.

Thanks to you all for your responses. I enjoyed reading them. I have never even given a passing thought to the 17M2 before reading your works with them, but now I will have to conduct some post mordem examinations on ole Hop Along and decided if a 17M2 is a "must have" as well. It seems to me, my brother who hunts on a lease with a good number of bushytails ranging about has whacked quite a few with his Ruger 17 but has not complained of excessive destruction.....

More investigation is in order here.

[buckheart]

Haven't bought a rifle in a while. You guys got me thinking. Never shot this caliber but found a lot of good info on this guys site.

www.varmintal.com/17hmr.htm

[tek4260]

I have had 4 or 5 of them over the years. I don't think an inaccurate HMR has been made. There were several hundred sold at the shop when they first came out and no one ever complained about a lack of accuracy. The shooters all reported ragged hole groups. Heck they even shot good in Contender rifle barrels.

For some reason I never kept one. I could always do what I needed the 17 to do with a 22 Magnum. Coyotes at 100 yards don't drop with the 17 like they do with the 22 Magnum. They always seemed to turn and bite their side, like they were trying to get a wasp off, then run out of sight with the 17 HMR.

With all that said, if another comes along at a steal of a price, I'd get it. It can sit in the safe like the rest of the unused ones

[Mountaineer]

Have you all been following the introduction of the new 17 Winchester Super Magnum? If it lives up to the initial promises, it should vastly exceed the performance of not only the 17 HMR, but the 22 Magnum as well. To my knowledge, there have been no production rifles to hit the market as of yet, but that should change this spring. The following from Guns & Ammo:

"This new load spits a 20-grain bullet at 3,000 fps, and a 25-grain load at 2,600 fps with energy levels right at 400 foot-pounds and 375 foot-pounds respectively—150 pounds more than the 17 HMR and solid 60 foot pounds more than the hottest .22 Winchester Magnum loading. Plus, when it comes to factors like wind drift and drop, the .17 Win. Super Mag. beats the HMR by half, and when it comes to the wind-challenged .22 Win. Mag., it simply leaves it in the dust."

[akray]

A salesman at the local Fred Meyer store once told me that the people in Anaktuvak Pass use the 17 HMR for head shots on caribou and sometimes out to crazy long ranges. Those guys like guns that are economical and work and they bought the guns and ammo from him. I wouldn't do it myself and I haven't seen any of them do it, but that's what he says.

[COR]

Somebody told me that if you slip a 20gr XTP behind the last rib of a deer as they are angling away they'll fall in a few hundred steps. Doesn't exit but it makes a mess of the soft tissue and organs. Hit a rib and you may be in for a walk...which will take all the fun out of gathering "camp meat".

[tek4260]

Mar 5, 2013 17:35:44 GMT -5 COR said:

Somebody told me that if you slip a 20gr XTP behind the last rib of a deer as they are angling away they'll fall in a few hundred steps. Doesn't exit but it makes a mess of the soft tissue and organs. Hit a rib and you may be in for a walk...which will take all the fun out of gathering "camp meat".

;D They shoot good enough for a high neck/head shot.

[Markbo]

Mountaineer, there are tons of .17s out there already. I think this new one is a 50/50 chance of survival at best. .17 Hornet beats that velocity by 600-800fps and readily available components to the reloader and it is a proven coyote killer. The .17HMR in my opinion is no coyote round. It is a small game/varmint round.

Fermin my experience with the HM2 is that I like it better for Jacks. I have shot lots of Jacks with a .22 that seemed to take a while to expire. Just didn't seem ethical to watch one crawl off and hear it sucking wind for 2 or 3 minutes to finally die. The HM2 has lots more shock and internal damage. Now on a cottontail? It had better be a head shot unless you aren't going to eat it.

I have no experience with any of these on large game, but then again I'm not a poacher.

For anyone wondering about the .17WSM here is a pic:

[2 Dogs]

I would agree that the 22 LR is woefully weak on the big Jackrabbits we have around my part of the country. Yes, they can be killed with the 22 LR, but more often than not, they are a bit further out than precise placement is a sure thing. More, the 22 LR is even less powerful out of a sixgun! No 22 LR on JRs for me!!! I have often stated that I now use a 32 magnum where I used to use a 22 LR for killing.

Ray and I went out to the lease yesterday and after we did our work we did a bit of shooting. I zeroed my new Savage 17HMR TRR at 75 yards on a steel plate in a couple of quick adjustments. I didnt spend time trying to shoot groups with the thing since I had 3 other guns to shoot but the Savage predictably looks to be quite accurate. It was my intention to shoot some cottontails in the head but we only saw one and that one was after dark. Im at a loss to explain why??? Perhaps the drought? Who knows. Will have to try again and see what we see when we autopsy a head shot cotton tail or two.

[44keith]

17HMR? Hmm... I guess you could say I shoot it.

[2 Dogs]

Looks like you do indeed. So what have you learned that you can share?

[temmi]

I have a standard and heavy bbl. Savage HMR

[44keith]

Well, in my experience they are very accurate, and no slouch for speed shooting either (savage 93r17fv). They work great on starlings to. Once (and only once) I even witnessed a measured 500 yard shot on a milk jug with said savage.

[2 Dogs]

I can believe the 500 yard shot. If the wind were as calm as it needed to be to make that kind of shot we would all be GREAT rifleman! Did the little bullet just punch a hole in the jug or did it make any kind of a splash?

[44keith]

No splash, just punched right through both sides. It kinda surprised me when I saw it, because that v max usually turns those jugs inside out. However, the velocity at that range has got to be very slow.