.17HMR...What are its capabilities?

hoffbill

New member
I have been using a Savage 93 bull barrel 17 for several years. Excellent for target practice to 200 yds. The Vmax bullet is very accurate and since it disintegrates on impact ricochet risk is minimized. I use it on prairie dogs to 100-150 yds while my 223 cool off. The Vmax bullet is explosive on them, but that is not a plus on larger animals like coyotes since they can come apart before getting enough penetration to be fatal. So switch to the 20 gr HP game bullet for anything larger. But keep in mind that with such small bullets the energy is limited and drops off quickly as you go past 100 yds. Just go to Hornady website and run ballistic calculator comparisons on 22lr, 17 HMR, and 22 mag to see the differences in velocity and energy at various ranges.

My comparative experience is the 17 will equal or exceed the 22lr and has considerably more range. And as others have mentioned even with the high velocity that little bullet will drift a lot in crosswinds especially anything over 10 mph. The 22 mag cannot match the 17 accuracy at ranges over 100 yds, but with twice as big a bullet, it is the way to go if you are planning to shoot at larger animals like coyotes and bobcats.
 
Funny story, I heard a guy at my LGS telling that the .17HMR is a sniper caliber. I dang near wet myself. He said it will shoot flat and straight as far as you can see. ....now back on topic....

I like the .22Magnum better, but he 17HMR is great for what it is. I could hardly bring myself to shooting the one I had.... I didn't like paying $10-14 for 100 rounds for plinking. I gave it to my nephew and he loves it....and is a terror on squirrels in his area, with it. If I am just plinking, the .22lr is still my favorite. Don't worry about the supply, it is slowly coming back, as mentioned in another thread, I recently ought 6k rounds of .22 at a somewhat normal price... I shoot over 1k rounds of .22 a month, easily. I was worried about finding more ammo, but it is there.
 
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