Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 17 caliber!! Can’t decide?!?

Hello to all!
I have a serious desire to own a .17 something.
Totally looking for something that will be around awhile.
I’m torn between the .17 WSM and the .17 Hornet.
Or should I be looking at the .17 Remington or Fireball?
Looking for a little or any guidance...

Thank you, Tom!

Have the machII, hmr, and hornet. Sold the Rem and Fireball. Whoregnat is the fave......

Of those two choices I would go hornet. It’s pretty awesome. Hard to have just one .17 though.

I’ve had a Mach2 and an HMR. The only 17 living here now is a 17 Remington. I don’t know how I survived without it for so long. Hornet interests me too but I haven’t jumped yet.

Have owned and hunted considerably with the .17 Mach 2, .17 HMR, .17 WSM, .17 Hornet, .17 Fireball and ,17 Remington. Am now down to a .17 HMR and .17 Hornet.

Might still have a .17 M2 if the ammo had stayed readily available--and hadn't gone up in price to near .17 HMR. The .17 WSM is a good round, but not that much zippier than the .17 HMR with CCI A17 ammo.

The negative myths about the .17 Remington are BS, but decided the .204 Ruger was a better cartridge for that size of case and recoil.

Loved the .17 Fireball so much I used it as my primary rodent rifle for several years, but after a year of shooting the .17 Hornet found I couldn't tell any difference in the field. Brass for the Hornet was far more available and affordable, and the Hornet only uses 2/3 the powder.

Purty much the same here. The 17 rem didn't hang around long once the 204 came out....

I like my hornet.


Its just handier than my 17 Fireball.

My .17 Rem has stayed around, as has my .204.

Great small game kill'n sticks.

From ground squirrels to coyotes and sometimes random badgers....my .17 Rem has not disappointed, though I do enjoy the other rounds as well.

The 17HM2 is probably the best tree squirrel cartridge yet to hit the market and since ammo is now widely available and reasonably priced it might get a second life.

Find an Anschutz 1502 for under $700, install a scope that meets your needs, buy a couple of bricks of ammo, and go have fun.

17 rem for coyotes inside 300 is tuff to beat, if your worried about fur. Great beaver gun also, but so are the rest of the center fire 17’s.

Handy schmandy.....my CZ 527 in 17FB is my favorite rifle, I had a Cooper in 17AH....GeeDub now owns it.
I still love my old 17Rem for Coyotes but I don't hunt them very much these days.

17FB (CZ)....17Rem (700)....

My favorite is 17 Hornet. One pound of powder goes along way when putting loads together.

Thanks to all those who responded!
I think the cheap bastard in me has decided that the Hornet will be the way to go.

Now to pick a platform .....:)

Thanks again, Tom

Good choice it is a classic and a well balanced little cartridge. But once you have the small caliber bug you will want two so you might as well get a matched pair of Coopers withe the second in 17 Rem. Just think how much you will save in postage alone if they ship at the same time. Me I shoot the HMR and Rem. you will probably want to get the HMR or an HM2 as well. Hows that for being an enabler?

If I lived in Rhode Island it would be a .17 HMR.

But nothing hangs with a .17 Rem. Nothing.

Agreed....Kimber America in 17Rem flat out shoots and gets it done with little pills.😎

I have a Mach II, HMR, Hornet and Fireball. I can't part with any of them.

Tom, You never said, and I don't think anyone asked, what you were going to shoot with it and at what distances. But the .17 Hornet is a great cartridge and I have one in both a CZ 527 and Savage 25. Both are incredibly accurate and I use them for varmints/predators to about 200 yds. I don't trust the .17 HMR to anchor larger varmints or predators based solely on my experience with them. Although my favorite .17 is the Hornet's bigger brother, the Fireball, performance is pretty close and Hornady's done a better job supporting the Hornet than Remington did with the Fireball. Better availability of ammo, more reasonable cost, cheaper to reload,...I think you made a great choice to begin your adventures with the .17's.

That’s a beauty!

Thanks Kingston. You have an eye for all things cool. Likely, because you have awesome stuff that most of us hope to own some day 😎