Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Scopes for the .17 HMR?

It's been covered before, but hoping there are more options.

What are some good scopes for the HMR with a LR dot, BDC, or ballistic plex type reticle?

Both Eileen and I use scopes with multi-point reticles. The scope on Eileen's RAR is a 2-7x Burris FFII with a Ballistic Plex, and on my CZ 452 a Leupold 3.5-10x40 VX-III with a similar reticle.

Thank you

A few years ago, I stumbled across a great deal on a pristine used Browning T-Bolt LH with a varmint barrel that was too good to pass up. When I bought it, it already had a Hawke Vantage IR 4-12x40 AO with a .17 HMR specific reticle mounted on it which I was pleasantly surprised to find has been a really nice scope for this particular rifle:

https://us.hawkeoptics.com/vantage-ir-4-12x40-ao-rimfire-17-hmr.html

Odd man out my 17/77 wears an old Burris long tube 6x with super fine crosshairs and 1/2 minute dot.seems to work for the range the hmr works. Mb

The last time SWFA had a real sale, the 6x in stock was the MOA version, often derided here by the MIL contingent, but it has a fine center dot and numbers beside the marks on the lower section. I ordered it for my 10/22 CSC, and it’s worked great for shooting to 200 yards, the farthest I’ve tried it so far. The numbers let me hold without counting, and dialing it works as well as the MIL version. Even though it’s only a 6x, that fine center dot with open space around it really makes it easy for me to center on a tiny target center. I prefer white ones.

Might be too fine for some hunting use, but that’s not what that rifle is for, now anyway. Oughta be killer in the snow though.

The Ruger American HMR now wears a Hawke vantage 2-7 scope with dots that would move a 100 yd group about 4 or 4.5" at 100 if utilized. Usingthe first dot down at 200 results in centering shots high.

And I've noted before that all of the publications about the HMR talk about 9 or 10" drops if sighted at 100 and shot at 200. I don't see that
I have always found that this rifle, sighted 1.5 high at 100, centers about 3" low at 200. And that with Hornady 17 gr loads. Any wind at all moves me more at 200 than trajectory. I actually shot this rifle at 200 yesterday in a very stiff and gusty breeze and was as much off paper as on.

This HMR, that groups about as well as and sometimes better than My .222 at 100, only seldom stays with the .222 at 200for accuracy. I attribute this to even the slightest breeze shifting impact on the .17
I figure both of these rifles to be equal in mechanical accuracy

johnw,

We're mostly using our .17 HMRs on Richardson's ground squirrels. Even the "big" ones weigh less than a pound, and by May 90% are young of the year, which average maybe 4 inches long and an inch wide. With the standard Hornady V-Max 17-grain ammo we sight the rifles in an inch high at 100, and aim pretty much dead-on out to 120, and a couple inches high at 150.

The advertised muzzle velocity of that load is 2550 fps, and averages just about that in both our rifles. But the Hornady A-17 ammo is considerably zippier, since it was designed to reliably cycle the Savage A-17 semi-auto rifle. The advertised MV is 2715 from the Savage rifle, but in our bolt-actions it averages around 2850, which makes a big difference, especially when shooting white-tailed prairie dogs, which are considerably larger than the ground squirrels.

If the wind isn't blowing too much it's pretty easy to hit 'em consistently at 200-250 yards even with the 1"-high sight-in at 100. And in both our rifles it groups very similarly to the "standard" Varmint Express ammunition, with the same point of impact at 100. All of which is why we recently purchased another 1500 rounds of the A-17s after coming across a good deal.

I was basically goofing off when I bought a 50 or $60 Sweet 17 for my pawn shop Savage. After 3 trips west to shoot prairie dogs a rough estimate would be it's been dialed, with success, over a thousand times.

I'll be sad, but can't be angry when it dies. It's been a good one & doubt I'd get this lucky again.

Simple Burris FFII 3x9 with ballistic Plexiglas...readily available for under $150 and the best bang for scope money.

I use the Burris FF II 4.5-14 X 42AO with B plex on all my rim fires Best bang for the buck in my estimation .

Another Burris ballistic plex vote but I prefer the Droptine model over the Fullfield ll, it is a bit less expensive and has a more conventional eye objective focus.

The 3-9 magnification works good for me because I generally confine my shot to limit to around 150 - 160 yards.

I have also used a Leupold Freedom 4-12x40 in a model called the 6.5 Creedmore reticle - it is similar to the ballistic plex but the glass is a bit better than the Burris.

drover

Thanks boys...

Leupold vx-ll 4x12x40 AO, LR reticle works on my tikka 17hmr

My T1x has a Leupold VX-2 3-9x40 CDS, but only because I had a spare when I bought the rifle.




I’ll play the clicky game when I’m shooting sage rats past 150. She’s sighted in at 100 yards, so I’ll aim high out to 150.





P

I run a 6X SWFA MQ on my heavy barreled Ruger.
I usually keep it sighted in at 100 yards and like JB, I prefer the A17 loads.
It see’s the majority of its use on ground squirrels and sqeakers.
The trigger breaks right around 1 1/2#. 6X is enough power for its use.
If the critter is much past 100 yards, I’ll range, dial and shoot.....

Me too, Eddie....

Nice lookin rifles.
What are they ?

Have a meopta, a SWFA, and a Leupold on them

I also use one of these Burris FF II 4.5-14x42 scopes on my .17 HMR. It works very well for me.