Next time you get a chance fill two 1 gallon milk jugs up with water. Shoot one with a 17 HMR at 100 yards and one with a 40 gr JSP 22 magnum at 100 yards. See if that influences your thoughts about penetration, disruption and power.
Groundhogs ain't milk jugs, and I perfer to judge it by the groundhogs reaction to it, A 30.06 and a 22/250 have similar milkjug explosions at 200 yds,(yes Sir I have tried it before), but at that range the deer knows the difference, too. I'll stay with my previous observation.
