Home Forums Birds & Dogs Turkey Hunting 22 Mag or 17 HMR for turkeys?

I have never tried either of these calibers on turkeys but I know a guy who has killed a truck of gobblers with his old bolt action Savage 22 Mag, I am thinking of a little turkey rifle and would like to get the better of these two calibers, I don't know if the 17 HMR has enough azz for gobblers, I know it's a flat shooting laser but does it carry enough energy with it's tiny bullet for Turkeys?..............Thanks Hillbilly.

VA.

Check the energy numbers.

At 100 yards, the energy any 17HMR load is within about 20 ft lbs of any 22 mag load.

Plus, the 17s are usually so accurate that bullet placement is easier.

And shooting Turkeys properly with a rifle is ALL about shot placement, no matter what rifle you are using.

I prefer to take their heads off.

I also agree with the shot placement Jim, it is critical, I will look at the numbers at 50yds as this will be more the ranges I will be shooting Thomas Turkey...........Hillbilly.

.17 hmr as they are ACCURATE.

I've got one of the most accurate little 22 mag's I've seen and wouldn't be affraid of using it on gobblers. With that being said, you will have an easier time finding a load that shoots in a 17 hmr because it is more streamlined and every rifle I've seen from savage, marlin, ruger and cz will shoot lights out with the easy to find stuff from hornady. My old chuckster will shoot 3/8" groups at 50 yds easily, but I went through about 6 different loads trying to find the one that shoots that good. Finally settled on the remington 33 gr. accu-tip in mine (22 mag). Turkey arn't that hard to kill and I wouldn't be affraid of using a 17 on one.

VaHB...

.22Magnum.

The .17MHR lacks the azz.

More than a few have tried the .17 in recent years. I don't know a single one that hasn't gone back to the .22Magnum, or better yet, up to a .22 centerfire (the Hornet, Bee, and Fireball are just about perfect).

This might turn into one of those nightmarish threads about 17 hmr vs 22 wmr again. Hold up you guys while I go get my popcorn . Is it too early to start drinking beer??? Popcorn and beer and oh yeah my nomex underwear

I favor the 22mag. It has performed superior in terminal ballistics at all ranges for me, mostly used on fat PA groundhogs and not using 30 gr bullets in the 22mag.

But, if you are going for head-shots I would favor the 17 due to the flatter trajectory and slightly better average accuracy. This may actually be a good application for the 30gr 22mag loads that shoot flat and penetrate nothing though.

I favor the 22mag for body shots with 33gr loads and heavier.

My Marlin 22mag shoots some loads as accurate as my Dads CZ 17.

The difference between these two is minimal. The 17 shoots a little flatter and is slightly more accurate on average. The 22mag has better terminal ballistics for larger varmints. If you compare equally: light loads to light loads, heavy loads to heavy loads they perform very similar. The 22mag cannot quite match the trajectory of the 17gr 17 loads; and the 17 cannot quite match the a$$ of the 40gr and 50gr 22mag loads.

Start with coffee, have a glass or so of whiskey on the rocks, and then bust out the beer and combos, doritos, popcorn, etc...

Considering I know where he hunts, and that rifles are legal here... as well as more than a few folks who hunt turkeys with rifles exclusively, it's a safe bet as to experience trumping guesses.

Damn that sounds like the right way to do it . You left out the nomex underwear though. Maybe after all that I won't need them . I'll be too screwed up to care.

At any range inside 100 yards I would not use the plastic tipped slugs on bigger animals due to the erratic penetration.

Use either the 17g TNT or 20g Game point slugs.

Have seen and retrieved toms punched through the wing butts with a .22Mag at 150+.

Try that with a .17HMR. Actually, please don't.

I have killed several Toms through the years with a .223 but found it a little much for turkey, I know much depends on the particular bullet that is being used but none the less I think I would like to do a little Gobbler chasing with a smaller cartridge, I think the .22 Hornet is close to ideal but as I can't find a rifle in that caliber that suits me I think I will choose a nice little bolt action .22 Mag of some sort, I do know a hunter or two that hunt Spring gobblers exclusively with a .22 Mag and they do rather well, I don't know anyone in my circle that has even tried a .17 HMR on a Tom, and reading the wise advice given to me here I will go with something that I know is tried and true.......Now which rifle? that is the question.........Lots of nice .22 mag's out there these days.................Hillbilly.

Load the .223 down to .221 Fireball, .22Hornet, or .22Mag levels. Flexibility is a wonderful thing.

I checked CZ's site out and found that they make the Mod 455 American in .22 Mag, I have owned a few 452's and found them to be pretty accurate, though not the best at spent cartridge ejection, but from what I have read here and on rimfirecentral I think I had some bad luck with My 542's as this problem doesn't seem to be the norm for CZ rimfires.............Hillbilly.

Va, I totally agree but I don't reload anymore, I sold my equipment and quit several years back, I think it may be time to start again though as ammo prices are going through the roof!..................Hillbilly.

Ah....

And, yes, it's time to start again.

If you can find one, CZ makes a lovely little rifle in .221 Fireball and in .22Hornet (the Fireball is a personal favorite), and Ruger's 77/22H in .22Hornet gets a lot of play as well. Both are light, handy, and the CZ especially has a notorious reputation of being incredibly accurate out of the box. That set trigger doesn't hurt one bit in that regard. The Ruger's can take some tweaking, but work fine for most of what you're looking for.

What ranges are you generally taking birds with a rifle?

Oh, in regard to CZs in .22Magnum; coyotewallace had one. I've never been a .22Magnum fan, but that one of his was one of the most accurate rimfires I've ever seen. 5-shot, .3"s at 100 were normal.

The problem with .22Mags is the same problem with any rimfire; you've got to find (or hope to find) one or two brands/loads of factory fodder that it likes, and then buy enough of it to keep it happen because the factory WILL change the load from time-to-time, and the rifle might not like it. You've got no tweak-ability, outside of what the factories produce. And, in .22Mag, there are less options for finding good fodder.

I'd take a .22 Hornet, K-Hornet, .221, or .223, with reload capability, any day and all day, over a .22Magnum for what it is you're looking for.

Va, I Turkey hunt in the big timber mostly, straight up and straight down kind of terrain, the ranges I kill Mr. Tom even with a rifle are usually no more than 60 yds or so, most have been killed within easy shotgun range, I just like to hunt with a rifle sometimes as I am truly a "Rifle Whore" at heart (not crazy about shotguns) I don't even use a shotgun to squirrel hunt the early season, I use a rimfire, I haven't hunted in the Spring with a rifle in several years and kinda miss it.................Hillbilly.

Hillbilly go with the hornet you will not be sorry. I have shot many turkeys with both the 22 mag and 22 hornet and I take the hornet hands down.

I know that feeling, very well.

The Hornet is your huckleberry.

One of those Marlin 1894s that they did a few years back in .218 Bee or .25-20 would EASILY fill the bill as well.

I gotta feeling I'm in the midst of many "Rifle Whores" like me on this site, we have to congregate in places like this cause nobody else really understands our sickness ..................Hillbilly.

You just now catching onto that?

I know a guy that swears by shooting them with the 22lr facing away between the wings(upper back/lung area), so either of the two you mentioned should do just fine.

I prefer the shotgun myself, but can't say I wouldn't try it if legal. I have a very accurate 22WMR that does a dandy job on wild hogs, so I can't imagine it not working on a tom at less than 50. It would be an insteresting challenge.

Yep, just now catchin onto it, I'm a little slow.....Grin..............Hillbilly.

You are right Reloader, it is an interesting challenge, instead of blasting away at a gobblers head/neck area when he gets within range of your shotgun, you have to wait for that precise shot and sometimes that ain't easy, especially if the first time you see the turkey is when he pops his head up 25 yds away, in the terrain I hunt this often happens and is a tough situation if your hunting with a rifle. I have had many more Toms get away in these close quarter encounters when I was rifle hunting than I ever had when carrying a shotgun, if a Turkey pokes his head up at 25 yds and I'm shotgun hunting 99% of the time he's going to turkey heaven where he can get his 15 virgin hens and live with Allah.................Hillbilly

Yep.

Had a similar argument with a pard.

He said I was "unsporting" to snipe gobblers with a .22 centerfire; he was "doing it right" with a shotgun.

I asked him how wide his pattern was at 25 yards and at 40 yards. The answer was about 18" at 25 yards and about 30" at 40 yards.

I asked him how wide my bullet was at 25 yards and at 40 yards....

He got quiet. Fast...

I was thinking that today at work. I was actually wondering how many people are like us in each town???

I have many friends that "like" rifles/guns, but I know of only one guy that is close to being as big a gun whore as I am, and between us I am probably the sickest, I think not many gun owners percentage wise are like us...................Hillbilly.