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Posted: 2/26/2007 5:09:07 PM EDT
| I've been debating between a new .22 or a 17hmr. Anybody have one they can tell me about. I know they are supposed to be very accurate but they are also pretty spendy to shoot. I already have a semi auto .22 and wanted a bolt. I would like to shoot it for fun as well as a few times a year for prarie dogs and ground squirrels.Today I looked at the marlin and savage and both seemed pretty good,but I liked the marlin better.Is this round all it's said to be or should I stick with the .22.I also looked at the .22 magnum but figured at $8-9 a box I would stick to the 17 if it's better.All help welcome. |
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have the marlin also. nice rifle very acurate. nothing like watching a head of a squirrel exploding, except maybe the head of a coot. the feathers flying around afterwards is down right funny. a .22lr will bend a quarter into a fortune cookie, a .17hmr will punch a hole clean through without bending it. |
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Was at the range last week and a gentleman let me shoot his Clark's Cutom .17 mach 2 10/22 (yea i know it's not HMR but similar idea). I was impressed with it. Very flat shooting round good grouping. If you are looking to hunt varmits then go with a .17 it'll do ya good. But the price of ammo keeps me away. I can shoot ten shots of .22 for the price of one shot of .17 and if you can read the wind and bullet drop well enough .22 is just as accurate. |
| .22magnum will drop about 20 inches at 200 yards. The .17hmr will drop 8.5 inches at 200 yards. Zero the .17hmr at 50 yards and you will also be dead on at 100yards. Any target closer than 50 yds. will need the crosshair held slightly high, just top of the squirrel`s ears. .17hmr velocity is 2550 fps according to printing on box but it`s actually closer to 2600 fps, according to many who have chronographed it. The Marlin rifle is very good choice. Factory trigger is heavy, but not bad. The trigger spring can be changed out easily and replaced with a spring from a PENTEL ink pen. Lighter trigger will result, better than factory. A much better adjustable trigger is available from JARD. Easy to install and adjust from about 8 ounces to 2 lbs. Midsouth Shooter Supply had best price for the Rifle Basix trigger for the Marlin .17VS at $78.00 included shipping, I think it was. If hunting for squirrels and you want the meat for yourself or to give away head shots are a must. Scope should be a 6x - 18x or 6x - 24x. Marlin .17hmr rifles all seem to like Hornady redtip 17grain ammo best and Remington green tip a close second. The CCI brand shoots all over target like a shotgun, however, the Savage rifles seem to like the CCI brand ammo better than the Hornady redtip ammo. Look at RimFireCentral.com and you will find every thing about rimfire rifles. |
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GAH! I wish I had seen this thread earlier. I just read an article earlier today(at the barber shop actually) that pitted the .22 against the .17 hmr and the 3 testers all gave the victory to the .22 hands down. If I would have known this thread was here I could have brought the magazine home and cited it as to why they felt that way. All I can tell you is I read it and they convinced me I want a .22 and NOT a .17. 
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I have a Marlin 917V. Very deadly on squirrels and groundhogs so far. If I had to do it over again I may go with the 17mach2 now. A little cheaper to shoot and not too much drop off from the 17hmr. The hmr has been very accurate for me. My rifle loves the Hornady 17gr vmax. 
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Personally, I don't see the allure of the .17's. For plinking, a .22lr is fairly quiet, uber cheap, and plenty accurate. For hunting squirrels, or squirrel sized game, it's ideal. Plenty of whallop to kill em, and doesn't tear up the meat. Most shots on the bushy tails comes at 50 yards or less back here, negating the flat shooting of the .17's. Actaully, I think it's better because it's far quieter and doesn't chase the critters away at the first shot. If I want to shoot farther, for bigger game, or to make spectacular pop can explosions, I just use the .223. Does everything the .17 will do but better. So that leaves the .17 with no real niche. It's an expensive plinker, or an under powered varminter. The only real allure I can see would be to the western prairie dog shooters, who would like a smaller flat shooting round for the long distance shots, thats quieter and slightly cheaper than a .223. Personally though, I'd still rather use a precision AR for that, and get more "spectacular" hits. YMMV |
I bought one of each!  And I really like them. I shot a fly on a target at 35 yards last summer with the Marlin 17 Mach2VS! There was a very tiny hole and a splat of fly guts!!! I made my son come out see it so I would have a witness. It was way too cool!!!
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I have shot around 200 ground hogs with my Marlin 17vs and not one of them got away, unless it was a clean miss. One made it 10 ft. with a body shot, but that was the farthest. It is not uncommon to shoot 150 yd. head shots with the 17hmr and they drop like they were hit with a bolt of lighting. The only evidence is a mushy skull and the occasional obital dislocation. Many of the ground hogs that I shot were the size of large house cats or small dogs at around 10 lbs. They still died! Sometimes you can't even tell they have been shot. They are just lying there in perfect condition externally. Body shots are very effective under most conditions out to 150 yds. and I have achieved head shots out to 180 yds. Starlings make instant feather dusters when hit on center! |
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if you are looking for a super cheap (ammo/gun) plinker, then the .22lr is for you if you want it almost exclusively for small game hunting, then the ammo costs should not matter as much because you shouldn't be going through lots of ammo. there are lots of different loads availible for the .17 HMR, at least two work great for small game. if you want to do target shooting, the 17s tend to be more accurate, and have better long range trajectory the .17 works MUCH better for long range varmit shooting, no question .17s are by no means in the same league in the .22, they are more expensive and fill a different role |
Do some research over at rimfirecentral.com. |
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