wasted 17 HMR

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the elton

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so im planning on picking up a heavy barreled marlin 917v from my walmart, its only $220 but i was wondering if it truly would be worth the money. i own a 10/22 already as well as a remington bolt 22...they both are plenty accurate for my purposes killing cans but i feel that it would be worth it to buy a 17hmr for prairie dogs out around the 125 yard mark where my 22s lose their left and right accuracy.

how many of you who own a 17hmr use it regualarly at the range and for other hunting aspects? or does it just wind up as a safe queen never getting used
 
what ever you can do with your 22 you will do twice as good & far with a 17hmr
 
I have a CZ452 in .22LR and one in .17HMR. I use the .17 a lot more as it is much better at pest removal then the .22 (which I have a hard time putting down groundhogs with). I also prefer the .17 for shooting past 100 yards.
 
I have shot hundreds of prairie dogs with a.17HMR; while not as dramatic as the .223 with 50gr. SX, the little .17 does the job with less noise.

mbogo
 
I recently picked up a Marlin HMR, but have not had a chance to shoot it yet, but do have the scope on and ammo in hand waiting to go. Just waiting on the time and weather.

I had debated on one for a while. Went back and forth. Finally decided the only way to decide if I wanted on was to buy and shoot. Then decide. If I like it, I will keep it and probably thread the barrel for a "future purchase".:D If I don't like it, I will send down the road for something else. Then my question will be answered..........
 
I have 5 17 HMR's and I think it's a dandy little cartridge, the only down side is that in recent years the ammo has almost doubled in price. They certainly have some "pop" behind them.
 
thats some pretty reassuring information, its common for me to buy a rifle similar in POU to others i own and watch the new one become safe queens because it didnt perform noticeably better than what i already had, but if the HMR is as much of an upgrade as yall say hopefully ill be takin it out as often as possible

BTW viking what kind of suppressor would you be putting on a 17HMR? i wasnt aware any manufacturers made them
 
Got one on a whim and it's become perhaps my fav plinker. Deadly accurate and packs a serious punch well beyond where .22 runs out of steam.

Only reason not to buy one is because you'll spend so much on ammo because you'll be shooting it all the time!:D
 
I dunno. I use 22 l.r. on prairie dogs out to about 225 with great effect. Takes awhile for the bullet to get there, but the prairie dogs die just the same.

Something about the predictability of the 22lr trajectory... one of my buddies has the 17 HMR he brought out, it is a neat little cartridge, but to *me* it seemed to just drop very rapidly just beyond 100 yards or so. Perhaps I am deluded, but it went real flat to 100, then just dropped, and I found it harder to hit prairie dogs with it beyond maybe 100 or so.

Granted, I didn't shoot a lot of rounds through it, and my experience is very limited.

If it floats your boat then it is a good choice for you. :)
 
My little Savage 93R17 is one of my most-used utility rifles. I keep it loaded for anything from feral cats and crows to foxes and coyotes. It shoots half-MOA with little effort and thus far has been deadly out to 250yds. Though I prefer not to shoot coyotes past 150yds with it.


Perhaps I am deluded...
Click to expand...
That's possible because with a 100yd zero it is only running 9" low at 200yds. Compare that to 40" to 50" of drop for the .22LR.
 
what ever you can do with your 22 you will do twice as good & far with a 17hmr
Click to expand...

THIS!

Even if your just shooting bottles or cans, its FUN to see a soda bottle somersault 12 feet into the air! You just don't get that with a .22LR. :)

It is a good hunting round. 125 yards is no problem for animals under 10 lbs. I've taken animals up to 20lbs at ranges of 30 to 50 yards - at those close ranges the EXIT wound is generally about the size of a half dollar: this often produces an fist-sized wad of fur/feathers and significant splatter left on the ground at point of impact.

The terminal performance of the 17HMR leaves the 22LR in the dust. Performance is adequate for all CPX1 game. (pests, small game animals, up to predators).
 
everyone I know who has a .17 hmr loves its accuracy, speed, and range one heck of a round in my opinion, I plan on buying one soon
 
My .17 is way more fun than my .22's, which are still loads of fun. As long as you're looking, check out the Savages with the Accutrigger. I spent a little more for the laminate thumbhole stock too, which I think looks really nice and is very ergonomic. My dad has that Marlin you're looking at, while I don't like the trigger as much, it's still amazingly accurate and a blast to shoot.
 
I have a Liberty Kodiak TL ordered. It is rated for 22, 22 mag and HMR. Planning on using it for my 22's, but also have a mag and now an HMR. Still debating on whether to thread the mag and HMR.
 
I kill at least one hog a day when I ride my pastures, the majority go down to my Savage .17hmr with 20 grain hunting tip, I just idle up to less than 100 yards or so, put one thru their ear or even a lower body shot. I got lots of guns but with this many hogs, the .17 is just cheaper and gets the job done.
 
I have an NEF Sportster in HMR that has been sitting for a couple years now. It's very accurate with the 17gr Hornady ammo. Not so good with the 20gr version.
I choose not to use it because when I bought it, the ammo was $6.95 a box, now it's nearly double that.
I can just about load my 222 Rem and 223 Contender for the cost of 17 HMR, and the centerfires are far more potent than the 17, and as accurate.
The NEF will probably end up as trading fodder or get rebarreled to 22LR.



NCsmitty
 
I wanted the most range I could get without going into center-fire. I have a 13 and 15 year old, I trust them to shoot by themselves, the 15 year old at least, but I wasn't going to put a 223 or 243 in their hands yet.
Very flat here in west Ohio were I live, I like the fact the tiny bullets will pretty much disintegrate on contact with the ground and have little ricochet. There are always farm houses in the distance.
 
I prefer .22 mag but have several friends that have hunted with me and .17 hmr is a well suited round for ground hogs ammo is a little to expensive for the capabilities in my opinion
 
I had a savage .17hmr. It was a very accurate gun and took squirrels with ease but I just got tired of paying ~$15 per 50 rounds for such a small cartridge that I couldn't use for anything else besides small vermin.

I think it is actually cheaper to reload .223 but I am not sure. However, .223 has more oomph so if I wanted to use the rifle for larger vermin at more distance it would be perfect.

Basically, if ammo wasn't so expensive for it I would have kept it. Oh and the ammo is basically match rimfire ammo, but I can't afford to shoot match all the time. Plus, cleaning the bore once in awhile is a PITA.
 
I won a Savage HB 917 in 17HMR at a NRA banquet several years ago anf I found it to be a very accurate for small ground critters the 17HNR is much harder hitting than the 22RFM and a bit more accurate to boot.
 
This is what a 17HMR will do at 90yds to a squirrel. You won't see many 22's doing this kind of work near 100. This is from a Savage with a heavy barrel.


Squirrel.jpg
[/IMG]
 
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I find it astonishing how often it is compare to the .223, either to cheap factory ammo or by handloading. For I would love to know where you can buy a 6lb .223 that shoots half-MOA for $300, is not loud enough to make your ears bleed and does not require time spent at the reloading bench. Premium quality .17HMR ammo is around $13 per 50rds. The absolute cheapest domestically loaded .223 I can find is $20 per 50rds and it's FMJ. You 'may' be able to reload it for less but the .17 doesn't require dies, components, load development or brass chasing. Sorry folks but they're too different to compare on cost alone. I'd rather spend my bench time reloading sixgun cartridges.
 
I laughed when the HMR came on the scene. Then I searched it out and heard what real life shooters were doing with the new round. I broke down and bought the Marlin 917vs with a Sweet 17 Scope for a Christmas present to self last year. Man am I glad I did, for the critters in the backyard the 22lr gets the duty. For the small critters past the backyard the 17hmr gets the job. I absolutely love the sound as well, sounds like a 22 magnum on steroids. I've heard of people shooting the center of dimes at 100yds. I'm not there yet. I'm not joking, do a search on youtube and watch it being done.
 
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My 17 is my go to gun for small game hunting period. Keep your shots farther than 25 yards and damage isn't bad. As far as ammo cost, lots of people complain but its still cheaper than the majority of centerfire ammo-
 
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