.22LR vs .17HMR for squirrels

[twoblink]

been reading a bunch about varminting... http://www.cctrap.com/~varmint/ahunt.htm

It seems that the latest talk is the .17HMR...

I'm curious as now I can barely find anything on .22LR for squirreling.. Is the .17 really THAT much better? I know it's flatter shooting, but a .22LR is twice the mass and should be fine right?

I have a 10/22, and was wondering if I really need to add a .17HMR to the fold or a .22LR will do just fine for most hole digging critters..

 

[nico]

when my dad was a kid, he and my grandfather used .22lr pistols (a ruger single six and a luger semi-auto) for squirrel hunting. They'd carry a shotgun or .22 rifle and just used the pistols when they could get a good clean shot. I'm pretty sure that was with plain old led round nose bullets too. I don't see why you'd have any problems using a 10/22.

 

[tango3065]

Do not shoot anything that u want to eat with the 17hmr trust me I learned this the hard way.

 

[David4516]

.22 should be good out to 50 yards. The big advantage to .17 would be longer range.

Of course if you wanted longer range but don't want to pay for expensive (and hard to find) .17 HMR ammo, you could go with .22 WMR...

 

[twoblink]

Is the effective range for the .22LR really only 50 yards?? I'd figure 100 to 150 is ok.. no?

 

[Coltdriver]

I never shot a squirrel that was more than 100 feet away. That may just be the nature of the pine forest where I hunt.

A .22 including 22 short ammo will take care of mr squirrel just fine.

The .17HMR is a lot of fun. It is a mini laser beam out to around 120 yards. All of the bullets from .17HMR fragment a lot.

Finding .17HMR ammo was a problem a year ago. Today everyone that I shop from Wal Mart to my Local Hardware store has it. The prices run about 8 to 9 bucks for 50 rounds. A little steep but I have never considered it a plinking round.

The .22 will always have the edge on everything when it comes to cheap shooting and a 10/22 is as good as it gets for a plinking rifle IMNSHO.

 

[Surely]

effective range totally depends on your skill and the ability of your equipment to perform consistently.

17 HMR ammo is actually cheaper than WMR if you compare similar cartridges. The thing is that there arent really any 'low quality' 17 hmr rounds out yet, Check out the price of 22wmr balistic tips if you dont believe me.

Right now you can get a brick/500 rounds of 17 redtip ammo from cabelas for 75 bucks, with shipping it figures to just over 8 bucks a box.

They are comming out with a new 17 hmr round that should significantly reduce the meat destruction of the current rounds. Right now all the rounds are the explosive type/fragmenting but the new one is going to be a 'controled expansion' bullet.

So heres a rundown, 17 has about twice the effective range of a 22lr the same shooter. 17 ammo is more pricy than 22lr but it still wont break the bank if you are hunting with it. It does get pricy if you want to do alot of plinking though. When I go out I usually take both my 10/22 and my 17, Then I can blow the hell out of cans at close distance and still do some long range sniping if I feel like it. I dont know anyone that has regretted getting a 17hmr btw, its a fun little round to shoot, extremely accurate, and explosive on varmints.

If your on a budget, most walmarts carry or can order the marlin 17v for under 200 bucks.

 

[David4516]

Prices per 50 rounds:

.22LR: $1

.22WMR: $5

.17 HMR: $8

"Is the effective range for the .22LR really only 50 yards?? I'd figure 100 to 150 is ok.. no?"

If you're a good shot you can go longer than 50 yards, but I think its safe to say that 150 is out of the question for this caliber. If you want to shoot at rodents that far away you need a .22 WMR or a .17 HMR...

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I used to shoot .22 rimfire silhouette with my Model 82 Kimber. I zero at a 50 foot range, which puts you dead on at 75 yards, and about 3.5 inches low at 100. For the 25 and 50 yard targets, I hold a bit low.

I have used the same rifle, same zero, to kill a mountain of squirrels, and yes, I have killed late season squirrels at a hundred yards. A squirrel is about the same size as the ram target, and that makes it easy to range and judge holdover.

 

[Sharpshooter223]

If I were you I wouldn't even mess with the .17. Even if you were a serious squirrel hunter just go with the 22 mag if the LR doesn't have enough range. And as far as 100-150 yard "effective" range. If you hit a squirrel at 150 yards with a 22 then yes it would drop it dead. But as far as hitting the squirrel? My bench 22 shoots match ammo at 1/2 inch groups at 100 yards. Normal .22's i've shot shoot the normal federal ammo "good shooting ammo and cheap" at about 8" groups at 100 yards. If you just have a basic .22 there wouldn't be any skill required to drop a squirrel at that range. It would simply be luck. If you are wanting to shoot squirrels that far off then go with the .17 or the .22 mag whichever you find more attractive.

 

[Poodleshooter]

The .17 would be a headshots only round, at least until they get decent FMJ ammo on the market.
As Sharpshooter said, the problem with most .22lr hunting ammo at 100yds is inconsistency of velocity and dimensions, leading to large groups. Most bulk pack ammo is barely supersonic, and drops like a rock.

 

[Mannlicher]

I am sure that there is nothing wrong with a .17 for squirrels. I think it will destroy more meat with the higher velocity, but it should kill them just fine. I would not buy one myself, having had a life time of success with the .22 LR.
I use a Remington 721t bolt gun in the late season when the leaves are mostly off the trees. This is a good 75 yard tree rat getter. For early season, I take the Ruger 10/22 International.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I think using the .17 HMR as a squirrel gun is trying to make it do something it was never intended to do. It was designed as a short range varmit cartridge, and does that fairly well -- but right now, there is no loading suitable for use on edible game.

I'd much rather use a .22 LR -- and have the added advantage of being able to shoot it enough to be really good with it, for very little cost.

 

[sumpnz]

From what I understand (and I'll hopefully get firsthand experience soon), the .17 HMR is fine for edible game provided you restrict yourself to headshots only. A body shot on even a jack rabbit, let alone a ground squirrel, would blow them apart. That's fine, though, if you're just trying to feed the coyotes

The .17 is certainly good enough to humanely kill rodents out to 200 yards (and I've heard of 300+ yard shots, though I'd never advocate that), but anything past 125 yards is touchy unless it's a pretty calm (i.e. not windy) day.

As far as expense goes, it's not that much more than a .22 mag to shoot, and the .22lr that is as good (in terms of accuracy) isn't THAT much cheaper either. Sure you can get .22lr for $10/500, but that ammo will group about as well at 50 yards and the .17HMR at 250 yards. I've seen match grade .22lr for only $1/50 less than .17HMR
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/ctd/...u=fr&mscssid=S8NV5C37FM9V9GQRN2WP7X1K32A32DK7

Bottom line seems to me at least to be that the .22lr is the ultimate plinker, and is perfectly adequate for rodents at <50yards (with inexpensive ammo). The .17HMR is the ultimate rodent slayer out to 200 yards (or more on a calm day if you're an exceptional shot), but was never inteded to compete with the .22lr as a plinker.

 

[JohnKSa]

I think everyone's missing the real reason that the .17 is great for squirrel hunting.

The bullet won't exit or ricochet. That's a big plus when you start shooting up into the air.

If you're hunting for supper, aim for the head.

 

[BlkHawk73]

If you can't use a .22lr for squirrels than you guys got some BadA$$ squirrels there. I just see no need to utterly destroy the animal I'm hunting which seems what the .17 does to them. I really - at this time - see no real advantage to the 17 as compared to the .22 and .22 mag.
OK, go ahead and give me the "more accurate, faster, longer range speil" Heard it once, and again, and agin. still don't care. I'll take my .22s anyday.

The bullet won't exit or ricochet. That's a big plus when you start shooting up into the air.

So that hyper velocity piece of pointed metal won't exit a soft tissued animal that's less than 2 inches wide? Sure. Shoot up into the air? what about the rule that goes something like "be sure of your target and what's beyond"? I've never seen a 17 NOT exit a squirrel.. they always passed right through it. So where's that bullet going after that when aiming up into the air?

 

[JohnKSa]

Something may come out the other side, but if it blows up the meat like you say, then the bullet's not exiting in anything like the configuration it started out in.

If it punched a neat hole, I might believe it's going straight through, but you can't have a 17 grain ballistic tip bullet make a crater and still exit in one piece. Besides, even if it comes out in more or less one piece, the ballistics of a sub 17 grain (after impact) expanded bullet are pretty pitiful. You're getting into airgun pellet territory (in terms of ballistic coefficient after expansion) and those things are pretty much harmless after 400-500 yards.

A .22 bullet, on the other hand, is still good to go for a mile or more after poking a little hole through a little bit of meat.

 

[Jiles111]

.22WMR: $5

Lets compair Apple to Apples

CCI Ammunition 22 Winchester Magnum 30 Grain TNT Jacketed Hollow Point Box of 50
Product #: 126222
Status: Available
Our Price: $7.19

CCI Ammunition 17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire (HMR) 17 Grain TNT Hollow Point Box of 50
Product #: 254639
Status: Available
Our Price: $8.49
__________________________________________________________

Remington Premier Ammunition 22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire 33 Grain V-Max Boat Tail Box of 50
Product #: 215355
Status: Out of Stock, Backorder OK
Our Price: $9.95

Hornady Varmint Express Ammunition 17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire (HMR) 17 Grain V-Max Box of 50
Product #: 689451
Status: Available
Our Price: $8.99



Hummmm Wheres the BIG difference I keep hearing about?

(Prices from MidwayUSA)

 

[David4516]

Or Wincester "Super-X" 40 gr JHP .22 WMR, $5.50

Ya it's cheaper, but in my rifles at least, it is MORE accurate than the CCI stuff...

http://www.outdoormarksman.com/merchant/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=om&Product_Code=99756

 

[PATH]

I own both and it is the .22lr for the squirrels. Woodchuck cranium is the preferred target of .17's everywhere. Well, at least for me anyhow!

 

[ProCharger]

Like said before....if you cant use a .22 you have the worlds most badass squirrels. Think about it....a .22 on a scale to human size would be like pounging a human with a baseball size hunk of lead traveling at the same speeds the .22LR is traveling. It's near cannonball to a squirrel. Far as range....I probably wouldnt shoot at anything over 50 yards tops after a mishap I just had. I had shot one at near 70 yards and I had hit the squirrel while he was on a limb and he died in the tree. I had to shoot him once more to get him down.....after i picked him up I counted 4 entry holes and 4 exits. I had hit him 3 times at the long distance.....in otherwords the meat was really tore to pieces. I will stick with the .22 anyday.....especially for price.

Brett

 

[artherd]

The .17 is the 'easier' killer if you want them deader than dead. .223 works well too.

I find it difficult to shoot .22LR very accurately past 50 yards.

Both .22 and .17 will work quite effectively however. I'd use .22 (or be damn good with the .17 at close ranges for headshots) if I wanted the meat.



Then again, I'm considering taking my .30-06 semi-auto squirrel hunting, so pay me no mind

 

[BlkHawk73]

Sounds like we have those that hunt to hunt (sport) and those that hunt just to kill something (egoist wastes of sperm)

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Quote:
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"You may hate rich people, but when was the last time a poor person gave you a job?" - G. S.
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Off topic, but AMEN!

When we rail at "the rich" and "big business," we should remember, nothing keeps US from starting our own businesses and creating just as many jobs -- other than laziness and lack of ability.

 

[Sharpshooter223]

Easy Easy This started as a "what should I use" thread. This has pretty much turned into a your gun sucks mine is better i'm right your wrong ect. In firearms everyone has different calibers for different needs. I am still not aware why anyone would ever come out with a .17 or the new 204 ruger but a lot of people like the .17. I'll admit it's a good shooter, flatter shooting than the 22 mag, and ammo is high (but still about the same as 22 mag.) I think at this point for small animals I would use the 22 LR and at longer distances the 22 mag just because of the explosiveness of the .17. But remember the .17 is still fairly new and came out with the idea of punching paper and blowing up varmits. I'm sure a less explosive bullet will come out for them and it would be "neat" to have. I'm also guessing that as they become more popular the price of ammo will drop. But as far as the 22 and 17 go for hunting it's all about what you are shooting, why you are shooting it, and how many houses are around As far as the .17 being a usefull or useless caliber look at the 220 swift, 221 fireball, 222, and the 223. All about what you find more attractive and what you want in a rifle.