Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires Why 22mag when 17HMR is so much better?

Well, not exactly. There's a bunch of WMR ammo out there with higher BC than the HMR ammo and the drift advantage of the HMR is not significant when compared to the heavier WMR bullets, say 40 grains and higher @ 100 yards. The light WMR bullets do not fare well in comparison.

http://www.exteriorballistics.com/ebexplained/22rimfire.cfm

http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57007

DigitalDan,

I see some higher BC's for .22 Magnum bullets, but they are not started at anywhere near the velocity of the .17 HMR bullets.

Having shot a lot of different .22 Magnum and .17 HMR rounds at various small rodents in the field, here in windy Montana, I have found the .17 HMR to be noticeably less affected by wind. Perhaps this is partly because on a typical summer day of 80-90 degrees (typical for ground squirrel shooting) the 2550 muzzle velocity of the .17 increases to 2600-2750 fps.

Am thinking the drop figures are greater for the 22 mag. also.

Don't have a drop chart, but do know I was out shooting my buddy last year on Sage rats because the 22 mag was dropping way more than my 17HMR.

Would love to see a drop chart if someone could post a link.

Virgil B.

Virg,

Go to this page of Varmint Al's

http://varmintal.com/17hmr.htm

If you go down about 10 charts/graph down, there is a Trajectory comparison charts comparing all the rimfire loads together.

MD, wouldn't argue that the .17 doesn't have better drift numbers but running BCs and published velocities through a calculator that advantage was not something I perceived as significant. The calculated difference is small for the two examples below 100/200 yards. Velocity has an effect to be sure and published BCs are either real, false, estimates or averages. I think Sierra's stuff to be credible and velocities may vary.

Numbers I used for the comparison:

.17 HMR, 17 gr Hornady - BC .125 MV 2550 3.77/15.72" Drift
.22 WMR 40 gr JHP (Sierra) - BC .145 MV 1900 4.65/18.55" Drift
.22 WMR 40 gr JHP (RFC) - BC .110 MV 1900 6.21/24.76" Drift

You are using 100 yard numbers- which means you ARE missing the point of a 17HMR.

From 100 to 200 yards , the advantage to the 17HMR is even more stark.

A 40-50% reduction in wind drift IS significant given the small targets engaged with rimfire rifles.

Jim, with all respect, the drift numbers provided are for both 100 AND 200 yards. Don't know how that's missing a point, truly.

Digital

If the 200 yard figures were there, I sure did not see them. I must have been composing my reply before I saw your edited version.

My point still stands. For the valid data you posted ,the drift difference is very real.

The middle line of 22 mag data is pure fantasy. No commercially available 40g 22 mag load meets those downrange specs. Real world 40g data is about 20% more.

The reason is your BC of .145 for the Sierra CENTERFIRE bullets is higher than that for the real bullet used in 22 mag loadings. The actual 40 slug profiles used in 22 mag ammo are more blunt nosed to meet the OAL cartridge length specs for the rimfire ammo and have a lower BC.

Jim, you need to argue that point with Sierra...the BC is specific to the WMR form and weight. It is also consistent with with several aspects of comparison to include some of the BC information on LR bullets at RFC. At any rate, I don't have an agenda on this, but it's been my experience that few arguments based on extremes get good mileage.

Shoot what you got and enjoy the day.

That's funny, since Seirra does not make 22 magnum ammo of any kind, nor do they supply 40h HP .22 mag slugs to any maker.

What does that have to do with anything?

Like I said in three posts back- the 40g Slugs Seirra makes for centerfire reloading are not the same shape as the slugs actually loaded in 22mag ammo.

The Seirra 40g bullets have a higher B.C. than anything of that weight loaded in a 22 mag due to the OAL constraints of the rimfire round.

Jim, I think we're flogging a dead horse here and talking apples and oranges at the same time. Enjoy your shooting, I'll do the same.

I wonder what .22 Magnum you used in 1955? The Winchester Rimfire Magnum was introduced in 1959 and as a 12 year old I was overwhelmed by the new cartridge. I obtained a Mossberg Chuckster the next year and that really accelerated my groundhog (Woodchuck) hunting career. It has always proved effective to 125 yards but gets a little iffy beyond that. As a farm and general woods loafing rifle for varmints and game up to forty pounds it has been quite satisfactory, and there are available loads for edible small game that don't tear things up too badly.

The .17 HRM for me anyway, has proven to be problematic. I love it for crows as it will reach out to 150 yards, but I have been less successful on the tenacious woodchuck with too many escaping to their dens when shots are beyond 50-60 yards. Because of it's accuracy it is great for squirrels as long as head shots are made, but a shot a little far back will ruin the shoulders.

Since the HRM originated in Nebraska, I always figured it was designed with ground squirrels and prairie dogs in mind. I suspect for this use it is a bit better than the WMR.

For my use I have returned to the .22 WMR, but I am also sure that there is a place for both rounds.

Nicely stated kwII. Do you still have that old chuckster? I was shooting mine the other day with some remington 33 gr. polymer tipped bullets that run 2000 fps and 293 ft. lbs of energy and shooting one hole 10 shot groups (ok less than 3/8" it was a ragged hole). After a while it is just wasting bullets because your not hitting paper anymore .

Thanks for the nice comments. The Chuckster is long gone, replace with a Win. 61 WMR and a CZ with a Mannlicher stock. Those old Mossbergs will shoot!

I'd like to shoot a 17HMR at our Beldings ground squirrels. I can not, however, make myself spend the money for 12,000 rds of ammo each spring. That is in no way an exaggeration (2 cases and 4 bricks last spring). I shoot a sh-tload of squirrels firing my bolt action rifles in single shot mode, and do it with a couple of 22LRs.

I think they have penciled way too much profit margin into their HMR pricing.

So use a 17Mach2 instead,for about half the cost.I use the 17Mach2 for ground squirrels out to over 100 yards,and then switch to the 22 Hornet at 150 yards and more.

I like both. I have two CZ's one in 22Mag and one in 17HMR. Their accuracy potential is very similar both being 1-1.25MOA capable with favoured ammo.

Past 125 yards on small gophers the 17HMR is indeed a bit easier to make hits with. The "Chunking" factor belongs to the 22 Mag with 40HP's however. On Gophers I might use either but prefer the 17HMR for the slightly better long range hit ability. In really thick populations the 22LR gets the nod as it starts getting expensive to feed the other rounds.

For small edible game I like the 22 Mag with 50 grain bullets. It kills without lots of tissue damage though the 20 grain game bullets in the 17 are lots better than the 17 grain VMAX.

For a wilderness gun the 22WMR in a Cricket or Chipmunk is very versatile. More so than a 17 IMO. The 22 bullet really does hit harder on larger game. I wish someone made a light 22 Hornet repeater along the lines of the old Chipmunk but with a 5 round magazine. I bet they'd sell well! I'd get two.

In the meantime I am happy to have both rimfires. If the 5mm Rem ever gets developed with good ammo at a reasonable price; I think it will beat both.