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.17 HMR Opinions

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Full Quiver

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I'm thinking about getting a .17 HMR.
Just wondering if anyone has one, or has any experience with one, and can share some comments on them.
Thanks.
 
I have a savage bull barrel .17 HMR. They are sweet shooting little guns. Great predator gun, just make sure you get a head shot.

I usually burn about 200 rounds a month out of mine. Ammo is pretty cheap, and they are very, very accurate.
 
You don't need a head shot if you get a center fire gun..Plenty of punch there!..The rim fire guns are weaker and less (still deadly!)accurate... Remember the center fires are $$$$$... where the rims are pretty good priced.
 
I have the Savage bull barreled laminate thumbhole .17 HMR. Very deadly accurate. Great gun. Can't wait to try it out on coyotes this year. Excellent gun for small varmints. Get too small though and it gets pretty explosive. It will reduce a pidgeon to half.
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I have a savage bull barrel .17 HMR. They are sweet shooting little guns. </div></div>

My father in law has one and that thing is a tack driver! Sweet shooter!
 
I have wanted one for a while, just can't bring myself to spend the dough. I have the ultimate yote killer, an RRA .223, and I love my semi-auto Browning .22 for poppin squirrels. I better go get one though, they could be banned soon! /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/eek.gif
 
I have a .204 also. Fun gun to shoot, but does not always do the job on yotes. Best off shooting a 40 grain bullet.
 
I have a Savage .17 HMR (just a cheap combo from scheels at $269) and I also have a .204 Browning A-Bolt.

I love shooting them both.

My thoughts on the .17: I love using it for squirrel hunting. Although, it is a little loud. It sure reaches out and touches them. A couple years ago, I was out the last day of squirrel season and looking for some early sheds and I came up along a fenceline. About 125-150 yds away there was a group of 3 oaks in the middle of a cornfield. Upon further investigation, there were bushy tailed tree rats everywhere in those trees. I ended up shooting three of them with 4 shots at 125+ yards!.. I love the accuracy of it!! As a predator gun, I will never use it again. The very first night my buddies and I went out moonlight yoting in the snow, I ended up calling in 5 coyotes. I shot at 3 of them, all within 40 yards. All I had at the time was my .17 HMR. One of the yotes I shot at 30 yards, then it ran and I shot it again and it dropped like a box of rocks. It was on the other side of a deep stream, so we had to walk a long ways to get to the other side. I dropped my rifle off at the truck and my buddy brought his 10/22 along, just in case. When we went to get the yote, he jumped up and took off running... Never did find him or any of the other yotes I shot. Although, I believe I probably killed them all, the HMR doesn't leave a big enough hole for a good blood trail and the snow was hard/frozen from a freezing rain, so i couldn't follow their tracks.

.204:

The sweetest/flattest shooting rifle I've ever shot. I've only taken one shot at a coyote with it and shot over it's back (b4 I trusted that there was basically no drop with it).. and I have blown the heads off many rabbits with it. It also turns starlings and pigeons into feather dust..haha!! The main downside to my .204 is the ammunition is pretty expensive and you can't just go to walmart to buy it.
 
I have a Savage 93R17. Awesome inside 100-150yards, <span style="color: #FF0000">with little to no wind. </span>
The HMR is really not a round one should use for anything larger than a ground hog. Yeah it's fast but it's projectile is less that 20 grains in most cases. WAY too small or clean kills on larger game, at any sort of distance.

It's deadly don't get me wrong. I used mine recently to dispatch an aggressive stray dog that showed up and wanted to fight one of my shorthairs. The dog weighed around 70lbs. It was killed instantly, with a head shot at 40 yards. The only reason I used the HMR was because it was handy....my AR (.223) was in the safe.
 
if you are going after bigger game with the .17hmr, get the 20grn hollow points. they are a bit heavier, and alot less explosive than the 17grn ballistic tips
 
Yea, I dont have one, so take my opinion for what its worth. I have 4buddys that have them. Sweet guns.

Downfall: Is the wind. They are junk in the wind over 50yds.
My 22lr does better. If it is light wind or no wind I have real troubles keeping up with my little 22lr. Groups, knockdown, you name it. They are a bit much for squirrels/grouse/rabbits unless your headshooting; which isnt an issue once its sighted in good. I have seen a few people ruin a good grouse breast with one. 100yards is nothing special on about anything. I would love to have one but cant bring myself to retire my longrifle; and my bullets are cheaper.

If your in the market for a rimfire, I would suggest buying a .17hmr.


If your really wondering the finer points to .17s and the rimfires in general swing by http://www.rimfirecentral.com Other than the site has gotten way to big to keep up with there are people on there that have more knowledge about rimfires than imaginable. One of the active members did hold the world record for smallest 5shot group with a .17hmr. Used to be a great bunch of guys, but I havent been there for a long time.
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: JNRBRONC</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Man I love my 7MM Rem Mag! /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif </div></div>
That is funny. The first coyote that ran away after I shot it with my .204 I was thinking, man I wish I had my 25-06.
 
A friend hand loaded some 55 grainers for my 7MM Rem Mag. Haven't shot very many of the hand loads as I don't get it out of the safe that often.

I'm betting it would get their attention. /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: JNRBRONC</div><div class="ubbcode-body">A friend hand loaded some 55 grainers for my 7MM Rem Mag. Haven't shot very many of the hand loads as I don't get it out of the safe that often.

I'm betting it would get their attention. /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif </div></div>
That'll be a flat shootin' son of a gun. Prly about zero drop at 400 yards.
 
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