Top performing varmint rimfire???

[Leveraction35]

A few areas I hunt have a rimfire restriction. Shot distances will be 150 yards or less taken from a seated position with a bipod to ensure solid rest. Fox will be the most common game but it is not impossible for a coyote to pop up either.

17WSM was on my radar but I will not buy a savage B.mag unless I could find a heavy barrel target model.

What do you guys think about 17 HMR or 22 mag for my needs? 17 HMR is flatter shooting which is nice, put the crosshair where you want and pull the trigger with no thought, but the 22 mag obviously has more energy transfer for when a coyote pops up… I’m torn

 

[jak67429]

17 hmr should work fine. may want to look at the 20 grain bullets. I have never used mine on anything bigger than prairie dogs but killed alot of them out to 200 yards with it.

 

[d2wing]

I use .22 Mag, but I know guys shoot fox and coyotes with 17 HMR.

 

[12Bravo20]

Both will work well. The 17HMR will definitely be flatter shooting for longer ranges.

I don't have a 17HMR but I do have its little brother the 17m2. I know it is good out to 125 yards and will definitely do a number on groundhogs and small coyotes.

 

[Leveraction35]

I use .22 Mag, but I know guys shoot fox and coyotes with 17 HMR.

How does it perform on fox? Fur damage? What distance are you shooting them

 

[mcb]

I like 22 Mag, shot a lot of big groundhogs with it. Using the Remington 33gr ballistic tips bullets and the bullet rarely exist but puts them down fast.

 

[BigBlue 94]

The 17 WSM is king of the hill, bar none. Though i have no experience with it.

Ive had a 17 HMR since they first came out. A Savage 17VS topped with a compact Leupold. I would use it on squirrels at about 30 yards or so, on bird feeder patrol. DRT with virtually no pelt damage. And laser accurate.

Not sure i would trust any rimfire on a yote though, but thats personal preference.

 

[Boattale]

.22 WMR is king of the hill, bar none. I have a lot of experience with it too.

Flat is not everything. Dead with one shot is.

Remington 33 grain polymer has proven to be most accurate in this, my most favoritest of rifles. Killed everything I ever shot with it with the one shot. Most have been head shots.

A picture that has been posted several times on this site.

 

[3Crows]

Just an opinion, having both .22 Magnum and .17HMR rifles, for coyotes I would think the .17HMR might be a little bit light even with the heavier 20 grain game bullet. Open to being wrong .

Really, for myself, coyotes, I might want my .30-30 or .243 or a .223/5.56 size rifle. But a .22 Magnum will put the kill on them.

3C

 

[Boattale]

Just an opinion, having both .22 Magnum and .17HMR rifles, for coyotes I would think the .17HMR might be a little bit light even with the heavier 20 grain game bullet. Open to being wrong .

Really, for myself, coyotes, I might want my .30-30 or .243 or a .223/5.56 size rifle. But a .22 Magnum will put the kill on them.

3C

Love that avatar.

 

[BigBlue 94]

.22 WMR is king of the hill, bar none. I have a lot of experience with it too.

Flat is not everything. Dead with one shot is.

Remington 33 grain polymer has proven to be most accurate in this, my most favoritest of rifles. Killed everything I ever shot with it with the one shot. Most have been head shots.

A picture that has been posted several times on this site.

View attachment 1058362

I see what you did there. Clever! I hope my sarcasm came across on that, as a joke about the 17 WSM and its internet fanbase. In addition to my last sentence in that post, i would consider 22WMR to be the best rimfire at popping a yote. Not optimal in my opinion, but certainly capable. The 17 doesnt have the projectile weight imho.

 

[Boattale]

I see what you did there. Clever! I hope my sarcasm came across on that, as a joke about the 17 WSM and its internet fanbase. In addition to my last sentence in that post, i would consider 22WMR to be the best rimfire at popping a yote. Not optimal in my opinion, but certainly capable. The 17 doesnt have the projectile weight imho.

Right on brother. That's me, doing Randy Savage.

 

[someguy2800]

I love 17 HMR. Shoots very accurately out to 200+ but there isn’t a whole lot of energy left past 150. My dad is an avid coyote hunter and has shot quite a few with 17 hmr with good success. I haven’t done any coyote hunting since I got mine. For a dedicated hunting setup I would get a 17 wsm. It just about doubles the effective range of a 17 hmr

 

[BigBL87]

I think the 17 HMR would be the best bet if you're limiting yourself to rimfire. It's a little lighter than I'd like for coyote but I know some guys do use it for that with success. 22 WMR wouldn't be bad either, just more drop at range than the 17 but I believe it will maintain energy better so that's a tradeoff.

 

[Varminterror]

17WSM was on my radar but I will not buy a savage B.mag unless I could find a heavy barrel target model.

So find a heavy barrel, target model…?

The 22WMR is only king of the hill if you enjoy crap ammo and have never heard of the 17WSM. It’s not fanboi BS to state the obvious power and trajectory advantage for the larger case. The WSM doesn’t have the inherent accuracy of the 17 HMR, but sub-MOA performance with the WSM will let you hit a coyote’s vitals farther away than any Rimfire will cleanly anchor them.

The 50grn Federal load in WMR begs for energy, but it does carry momentum well down range. I had high hopes when it dropped that it would rekindle my love for the 22WMR, but it only marginally does better killing.

None of the rimfires are really “good” by any standard for killing coyotes. Before my son was born, I spent many years calling coyotes 100+ days per year, and I’ve killed coyotes with 22LR, WMR, 17HMR, and 17WSM - none are “good” for the task. But if that’s your objective, the 17WSM is the best option, with 22WMR in second place. Head shooting with the 17HMR is a very reliable and productive game, however, if you arrange proper field support to enable smaller shooting. It shortens the field, but it does increase reliability.

 

[d2wing]

How does it perform on fox? Fur damage? What distance are you shooting them

Sorry, my post was misleading, I use mine to shoot pests like groundhogs, muskrats and such. I have friends that talked about using the 17 HMR and 22 WMR on coyotes and fox. Mine shoots 1 MOA at 100 yards I have heard 150 yards from others, I don't imagine that there is not much pelt damage.

 

[MacAR]

I have a Savage 93R17 in 17 HMR, and with the 20 gr bullets I've taken quite a few animals with it. Virtually no fur damage on larger critters. Groundhogs and crows out to ~175 yards haven't been a problem so far, but I can't make myself trust it on fox or 'yotes past 100 yards. I've also found the wind really plays havoc with the smaller bullets vs. the 22WMR. Once upon a time, I had a Henry 22 WMR carbine. I killed a heckuva lot of 'yotes with it, and at longer distances than you'd think you could. No pelt damage with it, either. All this comes with a caveat, however. Rimfire varmint hunting requires the man behind the rifle to be, well, a rifleman. You darn well better know your gun, scope, and ammo if you start stretching past 100 yards with either caliber. I missed or wounded several when I started using the 22 mag, but got the hang of it pretty quickly and learned how to hold at distance. A scope would've helped me quite a bit, since I was using a peep on it at the time.

These days, my go-to varmint gun is my 222 Rem. So far, I've either cleanly killed or cleanly missed what I've shot at; no wounded critters to track. Pity you couldn't use one of those where you hunt. They're no louder than a 22 mag and shoot quite a bit farther. Thrifty reload for, too.

Mac

 

[someguy2800]

17 hmr 20gr



22 magnum



17 WSM

 

[Howland937]

How does it perform on fox? Fur damage? What distance are you shooting them

I shot quite a few cottontail rabbits with the .17HMR one snowy day. They just kind of tipped over, almost like slow motion. No exit hole that I could find so the "pelts" would have been in great shape...but internally they were mush. Lots of damage, no matter where they were hit and probably only ended up with about 3 rabbits worth of meat. Worse than any I'd ever killed with a shotgun. I don't shoot bunnies with a 17HMR anymore.
ETA- ranges from 40-100 or so yards.

 

[Dr T]

It is game dependent. In our part of West Texas, the primary varmints are fox, ringtails, raccoons, coyotes, bobcats, and mountain lions. The brush can be heavy. With this mix, I come down on the side of bullet weight. With a rimfire, a 17 HMR would unquestionably work for the first 3. When you get the fourth and fifth items, the thought of wading into brush after a wounded animal with a 20 gr bullet begins to give me pause, and so I come down on the side of 22 WRM. And with the last item, I want my Bisley 44 Rem Mag with the 3.5" barrel along for company (or my Shockwave loaded with buckshot) with something heavier than a 22 WRM as a primary hunting gun..

Like most questions of this sort, the answer is "It depends". For the record, I don't have a 17 HMR. I find the .17 WSM of some interest (but not enough to buy one yet) because of the novelty. However, if they would get around to making a .22 WSM, I would tempted to pick one up--but I have been tempted by a 22 Hornet for years and never taken the plunge.

 

[CraigC]

Inside 150yds, the .22Mag is better for bigger critters but the .17's offer more range for the smaller stuff.

 

[someguy2800]

It is game dependent. In our part of West Texas, the primary varmints are fox, ringtails, raccoons, coyotes, bobcats, and mountain lions. The brush can be heavy. With this mix, I come down on the side of bullet weight. With a rimfire, a 17 HMR would unquestionably work for the first 3. When you get the fourth and fifth items, the thought of wading into brush after a wounded animal with a 20 gr bullet begins to give me pause, and so I come down on the side of 22 WRM. And with the last item, I want my Bisley 44 Rem Mag with the 3.5" barrel along for company (or my Shockwave loaded with buckshot) with something heavier than a 22 WRM as a primary hunting gun..

Like most questions of this sort, the answer is "It depends". For the record, I don't have a 17 HMR. I find the .17 WSM of some interest (but not enough to buy one yet) because of the novelty. However, if they would get around to making a .22 WSM, I would tempted to pick one up--but I have been tempted by a 22 Hornet for years and never taken the plunge.

A 22 WSM loaded with a 40 or 50 grain vmax would indeed be very interesting. A 20 WSM loaded with 32 grain vmax would also have me running to the store with money in hand.

 

[Varminterror]

I think a lot of folks take for granted that while 17WSM shoots a lighter bullet than 22WMR, it’s about like comparing a 7-08 to a 30-30. Up close where either are about equivalent, the difference doesn’t matter as much, but downrange, the lighter, faster bullet penetrates better, has larger temporary cavity, and frankly, kills better.

Maybe a 22 or 20 cal option in the 25 cal case would be interesting, or maybe it won’t gain anything because of the sacrificed speed. But it doesn’t take much time perforating fur with these two to see the difference.

 

[CraigC]

Lots of experience with the .17HMR keeps me from putting much more faith in the WSM. I wish it had been a .20.

 

[Varminterror]

Reminding here: comparing a 17 HMR with a 20grn bullet at 2300 to a 17WSM with a 25grn bullet at 2600fps is about the proportionate difference between 165grn 308win and a 200grn 300PRC.

The HMR ain’t the WSM.