Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires 17 HMR....Amazing

On Saturday I found a "used" Savage 92 in 17 HMR. If it was used I couldn't tell and for less than $200.00 out the door. Mounted a scope over the weekend, grabbed a box of ammo at Dicks on the way and headed to the range this afternoon.
I sighted the rifle to hit dead on at 25 yds. and took the target to 100 yds. 3 shots you could cover with a nickel and about an inch high just like the ballistics table said. I specifically bought this rifle for trigger time and targets of opportunity when out hiking/scouting. Too much fun. I never had a rimfire rifle this accurate. Next up one of those swinging gongs, for rimfires, that I can practice with this summer. Where was this caliber when I lived in PA and shot 100s of groundhogs, I could have saved a fortune!

you wouldn't have been killing 100's of groundhogs then

Fun. Ain't they?

no kiddin'.....

Been thinking along the same lines myself: cheap ammo and good out to over 100 without worrying about hold-over, plus accuracy right up there (or better) than match .22s.

I don't know that I have ever heard of a 17HMR that wasn't accurate. Most of them are silly accurate.

IMHO the last several years have provided us with several cartridges " 204 Ruger,17 HMR and the 17 MK " that are EXTREMELY accurate. I believe that creators (Hornady) did their homework on these items before releasing them to the public.rate.

As with the HMR it is HARD 2 find a 204 that is not accurate.

Too bad Winchester and Salvage did not spend more time on the 17 WSM

Jim

I've got an old Marlin 17V, probably from the first batch ever made (2002), that regularly shoots 5/8" groups at 100 yards, with a Hubble scope. I can't see well enough to do that with it's normal Burris FFII 3-9 on it, on a regular basis. I have squeaked out a couple .25" groups with it, but not regularly. I had a local gunbutcher work on the trigger, and I glassed it. It's a fun, fun gun. Prairie dogs do not like it, groundhogs do not like it, and prairie rattlers don't like it, either. OTOH, I love the little stinker.

Homely it is, but it shoots beautifully, and that's what it's about

I have a Marlin 917V that is scary accurate as well. It will rival a good centerfire at 100 with no problem. I put it in a Boyds laminate and it fits me great. Looks a lot better than the original hardwood stock. That gun has whacked a bunch of praire dogs.

There isn't much difference in accuracy between my $700 Anschutz 1517 and my $190 Marlin 917S.

I have a Marlin 917, and you got the homely part right! Boy, does that ugly sucker shoot! It's actually incredible.

We use them for p-dogs to 175 with no problem. Kill really well. Doping the wind is fun, they do better than You would think.

I busted a pdog at 187 last summer. Slight breeze, had the elevation, but took 3 shots to get the wind doped. My buddy was amazed.

I actually have a 250 yard kill with my HMR. I caught a PD on a mound almost exactly downwind one time, and with the Ballistic Plex reticle in the Burris, I held on him with the "250 yard" hash mark in the scope, and squeezed off a shot. Tipped him right over, and he laid there kicking for a couple of minutes. At that point, I decided to keep any other shots under 175 yards. The rifle/cartridge is plenty accurate enough to HIT them, but lacks the pizzazz to do the job cleanly. It's just not enough gun to do much past 175.

It doesn't change my feelings toward the cartridge/rifle combo, it's funner than it needs to be, and that's all I need or want out of it.

One day before I die am am going to do a Prairie Dog hunt.

Go for it, I highly recommend it! Take a LOT of ammo, and a LOT of different guns. Don't cook barrels, swap them out often, and have more fun than you should. Do your research first, though, some of the more famous locations have gone lead-free (Rosebud Sioux Reservation, for example), and you don't want to drive all the way up there and then not be able to shoot.

I've only made a half-dozen trips up that way, but they were memorable...............

I've kilt a bunch of fox at 200 yds on a den. Only one was able to make it down. I shot a coyote at just over 200. Thought I must have missed, as he took off running. Went azz over teakettle after about a 50-60 yard run, lunged 'im.....

I too have a post here about my recently acquired 17HMR anschutz 1517. Accuracy at 100 was nearly impossible to comprehend, enlarged single hole. At 150 it was 5 shots into two holes one above the other. I would say it's the most accurate gun I've ever shot at 100 yards, without any question.

Not only is it that accurate but the bimart has 50 rounds of CCI for 8 bucks a box. Why use a centerfire? I cannot hand-load more accurate or less expensive ammo. Any idiot can look like a marksman with this rifle. I have had .22 rimfires that were stupid accurate, but the entertainment value was limited to 50-60 yards. This triples or quadruples that range, now we have an entertaining rifle!

The velocity at 100 yards with the 17 is higher than the .22RF at the muzzle with a much better BC getting it to 200 well ahead of the .22RF at 100. I need the perfect scope now. I would like a BDC crosshair and 16 power at the high end. 44-50mm obj although if I had to 40 mm would work. I can imagine a BDC with 50 yard drop increments built in. This would be the sweetest mini sniper rifle! Kinda like the Vortex Viper HS 4-16 X44

Speaking to a firearm industry friend of mine last night, the question came up, imagine a bullet like the barnes TSX or competitive equal in this tiny cartridge. It would change the lethal impact of this by a significant margin. He said that the equipment to manufacture is the limit right now because they cannot make a cavity easliy in that tiny bullet.

However it's being considered and may at some point be a viable product. His interest was in the centerfire 17 caliber cartridges which go 4000 fps and need this bullet even more!

Kinda wonder when we will see the new ammo offering from CCI?

http://www.varminter.com/new-cci-17hmr-vnt-rimfire-ammunition/

I saw this too. I can’t see anything different between them and the A17’s, except the tip color.

Speer bullets, apparently NOT a V-max, with a thinner jacket. That would imply that Speer finally decided to offer a poly- tipped bullet.

My Ruger 77/17 is not as accurate as I'd like. It's also picky about ammo. A few months ago, I shot some A17 ammo in it, and I think it may be the answer to my accuracy problems.

I have a Ruger 77/17 in 17 wsm. Before I bought it I did some google reviews reading on the 77/17 and came away with a consistent impression that Ruger was hit or miss on accuracy. Some reviewers were upset over accuracy because of the higher cost for a Ruger 77/17 compared to other manufacturers. Expecting a true tack driver for $650 or more paid. Other Ruger owners swore by the dime sized groups theirs shot. I rolled the dice knowing the potential for disappointment. First thing I noticed was the horrible trigger out of the box. This, I had to fix, before I even chambered a round. I bought a Jard trigger. Put it in and set it for 2.5lbs. Took it out to sight it in and was happy as hell not only with the improved trigger, but the accuracy was good too. I got lucky. Maybe working on your trigger will produce better groups for you.

how can it be cheaper than 223 on blue dot

primer 0.018
powder 0.035
bullet 0.04

that's 0.0947 per round or $4.75 per box and kill a heck better than a 17HMR , even full house loads cost only over 0.13 per round

I sure can't find primers for $1.80 a pack or bullets for $4.00 a box round here. If I could I sure would stock up.

God Bless, Louis

10,000 Speer TNT bought in 94, for $200.00 bulk box, primers found a heck of a deal 2 years ago, old Remington primers made in 93 for $17.95 found in back of a warehouse and they blew them out. deals are out there, I always buy in bulk

Gemby, your explanation of cost is not apples and apples today. Using 1994 price levels is an odd way of sharing cost, at least to me. I don’t view reloading as a brilliant enjoyable past time. It’s great for precision loads but not for volume at least for me.

My time value has also got to be figured into the mix. I can be doing a lot of other things in my life than reloading bulk ammo in volume. Not to mention I could not load it to be more accurate.

i can quote 94 prices as that's what I paid and still have a box and ahalf left so this is what it cost me to load, its alot cheaper than 17HMR prices, and kills one heck of alot better, more accurate and less wind sensitive, I enjoy reloading, i better i do it every day for at least 2 to 3 hours, if I didn't I would not do it or pay someone else to do it.

I own a 17 HMR and a 17 Hornet.

17 HMR ammo on sale for 9.99 for 50 or .20 cents per shot.

17 Hornet, a lb. of powder reloads 700 cases or about .03 cents per round. A small rifle primer is .03 cents. A bullet is about .12 cents or less. Total cost is .18 cents.

17 Hornet is 3700 FPS and is much more accurate than a 17 HMR

I am a very frugal buyer of reloading supplies. It costs me less than .16 cents per round to reload .223 ammo. Bullet hornaday 55 fmc or spire point, when purchased in boxes of 6000 bullets, cost me .0575 per bullet, powder cost is .07 and per primers cost is .025 cent.

I have a 17 hmr... Truthfully, I love it.. I also have a host of other varmint rifles from the 22 mag. though the .220Swift... I have reloaded thousands of rounds and plan to load more, but the 17hmr, and .22 mag. are rifles I really like because I don't have to reload for them.. I bought ammo when it was cheap and plentiful.. Probably have enough for the next 5-10 years.. I use the two rifles when shooting under 100 yards or so.. When ranchers want varmints gone, I try to do my best.. As ranges lengthen I switch to another caliber.. I love these two calibers and they have a special place in my varmint shooting battery..

There's some places you can't shoot a centerfire rifle.

anyplace where you can shoot a rim fire you can shoot a centerfire, rimfire ricochet more than centerfire, if you use a bullet like the speer tnt in a 223 no ricochet

There are some places where centerfire rifles are illegal to hunt with, but rimfires are allowed.

not in PA

Is it legal to hunt squirrel in PA with a centerfire? And why would you want or need to?

how's about semi's?

gemby58,

Good to know Pennnsylvania is the entire U.S., or maybe the universe--which is what some other Pennsylvanians I've met seem to believe.

There are some places where centerfires aren't allowed for some hunting on public lands, at certain times of year, which is why the .17 Winchester Super Magnum was developed for larger varmints such as coyotes.

yes you can hunt squirrels with a centerfire, I use a 223 with blue dot loads to do so, squirrels @ 100 yards are easy

yes you can hunt squirrels with a centerfire, I use a 223 with blue dot loads to do so, squirrels @ 100 yards are easy

Mule Deer,

I'm not concerned with the rest of the united states, I don't live there, I'm saying what I use here in pa

can you use semi-auto's there?

Well, there are 49 other states. IIRC, Connecticut has strict rules on where you can and can't use CF rifles.

The 17 HMR with the 17 grain poly tip bullet is very low risk of ricochet. When those bullets hit almost anything they come apart and have no gas left. I certainly wouldn't say the same for your average 223 bullet, even the more lightly constructed ones. In the unlikely event of a miss, the 223 is going much further.

You gotta love that free range brass.

You ought to let these folks know, they have it all wrong.

https://www.pacode.com/secure/data/058/chapter141/s141.22.html

Holy crap man. I am a little bit disappointed I have to explain this to you. You were extolling the cost benefits of reloading based on the price you paid for reloading components a quarter century ago. That's like me getting into a "which gun" discussion and trying to convince people to buy a Winchester Model 70 based on what I paid 25 years ago. That's plain damn dumb.

I see 22 cal or less

I consider a .223 or .224 bullet to be greater than .22 caliber. I guess PA leaves that up for interpretation.

gemby,

You really don't get it, do you?

You're insinuating that anybody who buys and uses a .17 HMR is dumb, because YOU don't need/want one, since Pennsylvania (where YOU live) doesn't require rimfires for hunting small game, and YOU can handload cheaper ammo based on 1994 prices.

Are you related to Savage99?

It'll be interesting to see if he lets it go rather than double down. If I were a betting man I'd wager a big bet that he doubles down on the dumbassery and wears it like a badge of honor.

It's hard to argue that a 22 caliber centerfire isn't 22 caliber. Rimfire 22's aren't 22 caliber either, by such a definition, as the guns are cut with .222" grooves as standard. I reside part-time time in PA, and no one I have ever spoken to regarding guns or small game hunting in PA interprets the law the way you have here, Paul.

But I agree that standard attribution error is going on here, with Gemby universalizing his rather specialized set of experiences, which is irrational at best.

Is anyone producing 17 HMR with bullets over 20gr?

25-30gr and a bit less violent expansion?

I should add that my dad built a 17 HMR out of a Ruger 10/22 in 22 Mag, with carbon fiber bbl, heavy bolt, and special recoil spring. He never shot it while he was alive. I swapped out the crappy factory trigger for the Ruger light trigger (that they should put in the guns in the first place). It will shoot a full 9 shots into an inch at 100 yds with whatever ammo I've this tried. Awesome rig, just awesome.

I'm not insulting anybody that owns a 17 caliber heck I own 17 HMR 17 Hornets 17 Remington I'm just stating that my experience for the 17 HMR for groundhogs in Pennsylvania is least an adequate I rather take a 22 long rifle out there and shoot groundhogs in with a 17 HMR and this is based on my experience

I'm not insulting anybody that owns a 17 caliber heck I own 17 HMR 17 Hornets 17 Remington I'm just stating that my experience for the 17 HMR for groundhogs in Pennsylvania is least an adequate I rather take a 22 long rifle out there and shoot groundhogs in with a 17 HMR and this is based on my experience, and that I rather take a 223 out with blue. Reduced loads and a 17 HMR because it kills more adequately

I'm saying that I rather go load 223's and go pay $10 a box for HMR ammo when I can load a hundred rounds of 223 is 4 less than that doesn't matter if my bullets came from 10 years ago 20 years ago 30 years ago I still have a pile bullet so it does not cost me that much money holy crap man

I'm saying that I rather go load 223's then go pay $10+ a box for HMR ammo, I can load a hundred rounds of 223 less than a box of HMR holy crap man

1994 prices should include the cost of the money.

You lost your bet

What did a brick of 22lr cost in 1994?

Seems like I could get the cheap ones for 9 or 10 bucks at the local grocery store. Manufacturers eventually came out with the bulk packs that were priced cheaper, but I don't recall those in my area in the early-90's.

Either that or I employed reverse psychology to improve the tenor of your responses.

Yup, doesn’t get it.



“You can’t fix stupid.”
- Ron White

You hate to throw out generalities as it usually does take the world or someone in it to disprove you quite quickly.

Ione conversation that come up a lot out West is where do the most annoying eastern hunters come from. My universal response is Pennsylvania. All I need to hear is, “well, back in P.A.....” and I go deaf quite quickly. Point proven here.

LOL

I have also had guides tell me that some of their best shots come from that state... But it is common to hear back in WHAT EVER STATE this is the way we did it.. Tiresome..

Just curious, why do you prefer to use a .22 LR to shoot 'chucks in lieu of a 17 HMR?

It would seem that the advantage would be significantly in favor of the 17 HMR. The flatter trajectory would make longer shots easier and the fragile bullets would be much less likely to ricochet.

Californians, except they don't hunt, just like to talk about California as many times and in as many ways in a conversation as possible. Disgusted by the whole attitude myself.

Californians, except they don't hunt, just like to talk about California as many times and in as many ways in a conversation as possible. Disgusted by the whole attitude myself. [/quote
I don't hunt but I am the best shot in this great state of California, and Oregon too. I guide in my spare time and a client of mine made a 364 yard kill on a yellow breasted sapsucker with my 17 HMR. He was a Californian of course. Here, our HMR's are on average 50 FPS faster than elsewhere because of all the awesomeness in the air.

Well, in West By GOD Virginia the 17 HMR is the biggest round we use. If we think we need more bullet weight we just tape a bullet of the appropriate size centered over the muzzle. That way it doesn't increase recoil or muzzle blast. If we think we need more velocity we just yank the trigger, eject the brass and blow a shot of compressed propane down the barrel and then take aim before the bullet exits.

17 HMR does a great job on p-dogs out to 175. Further if the wind is nice.

Yes..And the Brits even use it a bit further on hares..

https://youtu.be/Tah3Tn-3tK0


And, contrary to some reports from PA ,the 17HMR does not appear to bounce off of groundhogs either.. Imagine that..

https://youtu.be/yRdBoy8UFLc

I have a 640 chuckester in 22MAG that shoots way above it's weight class. For a $75.00 gun it is a blast. It really like the V-MAX 30g ammo.
MM879

Haha 17 hummer is faaaaar from “amazing”.....

Have 2 Savage .17's they are great little rifles, love them on prairie dogs.