Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires 17HMR or 22WMR

Which would you choose and why for coon sized varmints?

flip a coin......

I will bet you a corndog, the 17 HMR will be more accurate...

A corndog eh? Grandad always said don't bet what you ain't willing to lose. I'll ponder on that a spell.

Ammo availability or costs for either an issue?

17 hummer been available here, all along. maggie was spotty.

True here too...

Here too .... But I still love my WMR more than the HMR ... the former is a Ruger whilst the latter a Marlin. Both shoot well.

Not sure its applicable, but its hard to find a 17hmr semi with a good reputation. Even Volquartsen's have had issues. There's a few 22mag semis that are a lot of fun.

Bolt guns - flip a coin.

Old issue, speed vrs weight. 17HMR has been much more accurate for myself.

For coons I would prefer the mag but the 17 ammo is easier to come by in my area anyway. In my coon hunting experience dime size accuracy is not required but Im assuming your gonna sell the pelts so pelt damage will be a consideration. In the end I would do a good old fashion 22 LR...

Either would work ok, I prefer the weight of the 40 gr mag.

For coon sized I'd say there is not much difference in the two unless pelt condition might be factor. If it is a .22lr or even a short may be the best option.
When you step up to coyote sized critters the heavier .22wmr has always seemed to do a better job for me.

.22 mag. .17 HMR is great for ground squirrels. For anything bigger, .22 mag just has more "authority".

Story time. We have some kind of gi-normous rabbits or hares up in the hills east of town. Not exactly sure what they are but they're noticeably bigger than the jackrabbits I shoot in eastern Oregon. They're in the same areas I shoot ground squirrels but they're pretty much early morning / low light critters. Somethin' to shoot early in the morning before the diggers come out.

So one day a particularly large one tried the "freeze and hide in plain sight" deal. It was sitting broadside so I put the crosshairs of the HMR behind his shoulder from about 35 yards and fed him a 17 grain VMAX. He stood up and moved a step or two, then stopped. I thought I'd gotten "buck fever" and missed so I racked in a fresh shell, lined up, and shot again. That time he didn't move but his shadow changed shape. WTF? The shadow looked like there was a big growth on his other side. Bein' stubborn, I racked in a third shell and hit him again. That time the "growth" fell on the ground. It was a wad of blood, guts, and half digested food. That SOB ran off without his guts. I was in that stunned, bug-eyed denial between you gotta be [bleep]' kidding me and laughing my ass off ... forgot to shoot again. Fortunately he only got about 50 yards before he tipped over, kicked once, and was "done."

So ... I really like the .17 HMR but that's too much job for it.

I also watched a guy try to finish off a coyote that'd been gut shot with a .223 using the .17 HMR and ... it was kinda icky.

For anything bigger than ground squirrels I'll stick with the .22 mag even if I have to shorten the range, otherwise, time to switch to centerfires.

Those same rabbits that kind overmatch the .17 HMR are no challenge for the .204.

Tom

Best thing about the 17 is they made the ammo makers come out with better 22 mag boolets. Hasbeen

Muleshoe: I began with the 22 WMR way back when (early 1960's) I have owned MANY of them and still do own some.
They seldom get taken Hunting anymore because the 17 HMR so soundly surpasses the 22 WMR in every pertinent aspect of Hunting useage.
Not the least of which are better accuracy, lethality and trajectory with the 17 HMR.
I am planning a Hunt right now in fact, on 3 noisey Raccoons, who make a mess of my digs and keep me awake at night.
I have taken several Raccoons to date with the 17 HMR.
All I need is for someone willing to get up in the middle of the night and to hold the spotlight then my 17 HMR will eradicate these Varmints.
17 HMR's outsell 22 WMR's by 10 to 1 anymore and the reasons for this are valid.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Here as well. That being said I don't own a 17 HMR.

The 22 mag bug bites me every few years as it did two years ago. I was seeing ammo on the shelves at the time, so I bought another one. Then the ammo dried up around here. I've managed to snag a couple boxes locally but not much.

For the past couple months I've been seeing 17HMR ammo so after turkey day I'm going to try and grab one of the RAR's that Cabellas is putting on sale.

For my main use, crows and other vermin around the house, I prefer the 22mag cause it ,at least to my ears, is a little quieter. A damn bunch quieter when you have no ammo.

Dave.

diggin for a coin....

Yea, Tom your not the only one that has happen to, a friend and I was out in the Arizona outback where the Jack rabbits get as
big as some coyotes, and I took a shot at one with a 17hmr at about 75 yards and it just shook his big ears at me, so I took
a second shot at him and he fall over that time, so when I took a look at the shots they were about a inch apart from each other.
I purchased the .22 MAG after that.

I would be interested in hearing results using a 20 gr XTP. Vmax's are too frangible to use on bigger stuff.