Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires 17 HMR??

Killin' annoying little varmints, that's what it's good for. And having fun shooting. I keep the ground squirrels in check at my in laws place with a 17HMR, much prefer it to the 22lr.

It was the thing here for a minute.
Then the responsible guys were soon complaining about
groundhogs crawling off. It faded pretty quick.

A few love it for squirrels.

Personally never bought one.
Just didn't fit with my uses.

Was $159 standard pricing there or clearance pricing?

I suspect it was standard at the time. Last I was in there a year or so ago they still had some, but I didn't look at the price

Edit; I'm guessing it was a rifle that had been in stock for a while. Another dealer, same day, 4 miles away offered to order the same rifle for $270, and another dealer offered to order one for $260, IIRC

This, finally picked one up and wish I hadnt waited so long. First time out with some hornady (all we could find) both son and I were shooting about 1in 10 shot groups at 100. Pretty dang quiet suppressed too. All I do is watch squirrels in the deer stand at 100 yards and think...I wish I had my 17. Plan on some predator hunting with it too.

The 17HMR is a cool little round. I have a Savage 93R17GV that has been super accurate with almost everything. It puts a whollop on jack rabbits out to 200 yards. I would take your favorite centerfire predator calling though, it does not have the energy for dedicated coyote calling, not even close. We are talking 76 foot pounds of energy at 125 yards.

I bought my Ruger American 17 HMR about 3 years ago and paid $175.00 or thereabouts for it. Accurate little rifle.

I agree. The 17HMR is a great little round and everyone I've owned or have shot, was more accurate than a 22WMR, but I prefer the 22WMR for medium sized varmints. To me the accuracy loss is more than offset by the increased energy delivered to the target.

As far as brands, the Savage would probably be my pick in a lower cost gun. If you can step up a few dollars, look at CZ.

I use mine when the pups come out in the spring. Really like it for that.

Mine is a Winchester 94/17 model that I bought for $240. There was a close out at Galyins in Schaumburg Il about 15 years ago. Man I wish I would have bought every one that they had. The thing is crazy accurate and fun to shoot. Dave

I have a Henry varmint express, nice rifle really like it. 17hmr is a nice varmint round, much flatter shooting than 22lr or mag but wind is a factor. Perfect for ground squirrels, jack rabbits, fox and such.

The chart I looked at has it at 137 ftlbs at 100, 72 ftlbs at 200. The hm2 has about what you quoted.

I like the 17 HMR, and have found it quite accurate and effective in my Ruger M77/17. It is a legitimate 175 yard PD gun, and my experience has been good in anchoring them hard with a body shot. Mine likes and I use A17 ammo. My scope is an old Leupold M8 12x40 that I find about perfect for the little rifle.

That did seem a little low didn't it. I must have plugged in wrong info somewhere. I am showing 127 foot pounds with the plain jane CCI VNT polymer tip. .125 BC 17grn bullet at 2650. I've called in and plunked many coyotes and I still would not think about using a 17HMR.

Yeah . I still think it's too low, too. A coyote can be tough, and ANY rimfire is on the edge of not enough.

Everyone I know that has one says they are tack drivers. Even in the cheapest rifles. They are 2 explosive for edible small game unless you stick to headshots.

The shooters I've questioned who report the .17 HMR isn't enough for prairie dogs have so far all been using hollow-point bullets, which does NOT expand nearly as reliably or violently as plastic-tips.

Have found plastic-tips to expand reliably on PDs beyond 200 yards, which is why I generally use my CZ HMR as a "starter" rifle on towns that haven't been shot much before. It works fine out to at least 150 yards, depending on the wind, and the mild report doesn't spook them down into their holes like centerfires, even the .17 Hornet. Once the nearer dogs are shot (or missed) then I bring out the centerfires, these days usually starting with the .17 Hornet and working upwards.