[TnShooter83]

Recently bought a .223 for the farm.
Never owned one. (Savage 10)
Should I stick with the 17HMR on the Groundhogs, or
Use the .223?

[Conqueror]

Barrel life should be very long. 10k rounds at least.

[TheLaxPlayer]

Well if the 17 is doing the job I don't see a reason to switch, but you shouldn't worry about wearing out either barrel really. If either will do the job, go for the cheaper ammo (17HMR).

[taliv]

where in TN are you? not many groundhogs around here (cookeville) anymore... :(

pretty common amongst high power shooters to rebarrel after 2-3k rnds. but if you're shooting a groundhog sized target inside 100 yrds, it may never wear out.

[gcrookston]

Barrel life of a .223? "depends". Ammunition type, rapidity of shots fired (i.e. getting the barrel hot), they way it is cleaned and the frequency of cleaning, can accellerate the degradation of a barrel. HK in their 93 series claim 10k rounds. The service life of most M4s is about that amount or a little less.

In 10 years I've logged just a little under 5,000 through my Savage with no noted decline in accuracy (it's still sub 0.50 MOA -- just like it was the day I took it out of the box).

[rangerruck]

bbl life on a 223 is forever, unless you are firing it up to near combat speeds.
however, I would take both for a hunt. the reason is this; while Pdog hunting, they have extremely good ears, and very sensitive to even vibration. So when you fire your 223, they soon get a feel for exactly where you are, and try to pop up out of your range. The 17hmr eliminates most of this, since they cannot hear not so much the sound, but locate the source of the concussion and vibration. Once you whack all the ones, say within 150 yards, and they start popping up out from 200 yards or more, then reach for the 223.

[TnShooter83]

Jefferson county, Tn

and thanks for the info.