Well, I have been looking jaundicely at my rim fire magnums for several years now... handloading 223s, became cheaper, gave much more accuracy, range etc...

Cost of Rimfire mags went up, with the popularity of the 17 HNR... while the manufacturers priced them to what the market would bear..

Well cost of components have gone up dramatically.. primers have doubled in price.. powder prices are climbing.. availability of brass for 223s has really declined.. especially "once fired" brass.... 223s just aren't as cheap to shoot as they were....

NOw attention is turning toward the 22 Winchester Magnum... CCI has put on the market a 22 Mag, with a 30 grain V Max...

Well I dedcided to spring the $10.00 for a box of them on sale...

I put a Simmons 4.5 x 14 ATV scope on a Marlin 22 Win Mag ( 25MN, with a replaced laminate stock) that I have had since the late to mid 1980s.. ( I originally paid $99.00 for it on sale down at Holiday Village in Minnesota)...

The scope needed zeroing since it had been removed from a 243 Ruger.. My dealings with Simmons and Weaver since they had been acquired by Meade was not a good experience.. therefore the ones I have are being demoted to rimfire duty where they won't get easily broken... sad as the ATV 4.5 x 14 is not a bad scope for the money...

Well, as life would have it, ( good this time).. at 10 yds, the point of impact verified the windage was good.. at 50 yds, the shot was just 6 clicks from dead bullseye!!1

So set a target out at 100 yds, and took the last 5 shots from that magazine load....

at 100 yds, all I got was a single hole that got a little bigger with each of the 5 shots...

at the end of 5 shots all I have was a 30 caliber sized hole in the target!

So for you folks who haven't dove into the 17 HMR mystique and still have a 22 Mag hanging around.. try out these CCI, V maxes...

They are definitely very accurate, especially for a 22 Mag... plus they have more ommph when they hit the target...

the bullet is a 30 grain Polymer tip ( almost looks like a round nose with a polymer tip drilled into it).. MV is 2200 fps...

That and a mil dot scope.. I would be you have an equal to any 17 HMR out to 200 to 250 yds... and with a bullet almost twice as heavy, it will definitely buck the wind better...

I recommend giving them a try.. my inexpensive Marlin MN 25 actually did superb with them.....

I still plan on shooting my 22 LR. Even though I have hundreds of factory ammo for each 223, 243, 280, 30-06, 338, and now 458. I use to complain about $20/box of .30-06. After joining this website and getting the big bore fever and buying my 458, I do not complain on ammo so much!

Justin

I never did fall for the 17. IMO it was and still is a marketing ploy to sell a new rifle and ammo. IMO the 17 does not compete with the 22 magnum. Everybody say's how accurate they are, but I have not seen one yet that will out shoot my model 82 Kimber. Tom.

I agree head, If I ever get the itch for a .17HMR I'll get a 22 mag. Bigger bullet wins

I called my 17 HMR the wounding wonder. I love my 22 mags. I have a Brno 611 that I love, also a HK 300. I have found that most accurate are the bullets in the 40-45 grn weight, I think CCI used to make a 50 grn FMJ great round. It dispached some pretty big varmints.

Ed

I love the HMR, although it aint that cheap to shoot any more either, I think the last box of ammo I payed nearly 12 bucks for, I used to get black hills reman box of 50 for $14 a couple years ago. the hummer is one of my favorites

The .17 HMR is a 115 yard rifle. At least mine is. After that the bullet starts to drop and suffers a lot from wind deflection on all but very calm days.

My .22 Hornet solved those problems, has as soft a report (maybe quieter), a nice frangible 35g V-MAX bullet, and is a piece of cake to load for. Just pour 13.3g of LilGun into the brass, seat the 35g V-max, and you have a pretty good ground hog gun for So. Central PA.

My Savage 93R17 is a good one of it's kind, but I like the Hornet better, and the Hornet isn't any more expensive to shoot (around $12.00 to reload 50 rounds).

Fitch

Hi all...been doin too much fishin, and bird hunting.
Now that we are a few months out. I need a vermin fix. This is the place!
I have spent the the last 7 mo. stocking up on .17hmr ammo. That stuff is plain getting out of hand to buy. I shoot a lot of it come squirrel season. No...I mean A LOT. My son is out of the Marines now, and I may go broke.
I shot more centerfires last year than usual. My son is the cause of that. I am a .17hmr freak, but my son kept shooting the big guns, and I started watching too much...and well....you know what happened. Now I gotta load more .223's.
Seafire... I do not own a .22 mag, but if I did I would be trying those. With the price of those 30 v-max's I won't be buying a .22 mag to save on ammo. The only advantage I see with the hmr is adequate effect, and time at the reloading bench. .223's are better in the effect debate, and win hands down on killing power. Ya better shoot a squirrel in the top half with a .17hmr or that poor thing is gonna crawl off, and with bigger varmints you better be spot on with shot placement.
I tried what you mentioned with the .22lr last season..(head shoot them) That works!
I may be shooting way more .223's this year.

Ya know Sidewinder...

I am starting to look at 17 HMRs and 22 Win Mags like they are centerfires, for their useages.. instead of looking at them like faster versions of rimfires...

I am pulling them out of the high volume rimfire shooting category.. a scope with a mildot reticle can compense for the range that the Rimfire Mags had.. out to 125 yds or more...

These rimfire mags are making a dandy round for Turkeys, or long shots on squirrel you are gonna eat...

As Fitch said above.. the 22 Hornet is getting as cheap to shoot as the Rimfire Mags...

a 17 KHornet is looking attractive.. as is the 17 Fireball....

but minus the 22 LR, the economy is definitely out of the concept of a rimfire mag...

so I have been thinking of just modifying my use of it...

as one of the European guys stated, over there they pay like $25.00 for a box of 50 rounds! so they pick their shots and the rounds uses accordingly....

that is the new attitude that I am starting to put toward the rounds...

I don't hate the rounds.. I hate the costs...

I have a 17 HMR NEF, and love the way it shoots. Trouble is, I hardly every shoot it. When I want to plink or hunt at short distances, I grab my 10/22; it's customized and dead-on with the right ammo. When I want to go out past 100 yards, I go for either the .223 or the 22-250. Lately it's been the 22-250, because handloading is easy, and the rifle, a Rem 700 heavy barrel with laminate thumb-hole stock is a dream to shoot. Seems the little .17 fills a niche that just doesn't exist for me, and it's not the price of ammo, either.

I've heard locally that some of the ranchers prefer using the .17 if you're close to their cattle; the frangible bullets pretty well vaporize if you miss, and won't cause problems the way a .223 would. And, the Fish & Game people like it for the same reason, when going after some of the javelina and coyote that stray into city limits.

quote:

Originally posted by AZ223:
I have a 17 HMR NEF, and love the way it shoots. Trouble is, I hardly every shoot it. When I want to plink or hunt at short distances, I grab my 10/22; it's customized and dead-on with the right ammo. When I want to go out past 100 yards, I go for either the .223 or the 22-250. Lately it's been the 22-250, because handloading is easy, and the rifle, a Rem 700 heavy barrel with laminate thumb-hole stock is a dream to shoot. Seems the little .17 fills a niche that just doesn't exist for me, and it's not the price of ammo, either.

I've heard locally that some of the ranchers prefer using the .17 if you're close to their cattle; the frangible bullets pretty well vaporize if you miss, and won't cause problems the way a .223 would. And, the Fish & Game people like it for the same reason, when going after some of the javelina and coyote that stray into city limits.

I agree. I've tried to justify the inclusion of a 17HMR or a 17M2 but can't find a spot for it.

I too have a 10/22 that is tricked out and very accurate and a couple of other 22LR's that get a lot of action but when the distances start to stretch over that same 100 yards one of three varmint rigs seems to get the call.

I have to admit, If there is a great spot for a 17 HMR it is with the NEF Handirifle..

I have one in 17 HMR.. and that would be the one I'd most be inclined to keep.. it is a tack driver and a half.. it is convenient.. and you don't burn thru ammo with it like you do a bolt action or a semi auto...

it makes one handy little truck rifle... sitting on the right seat, with the breech open and shot in the chamber... just close the action and pull the hammer back in one fluid motion and it is instantly ready to go...

both that rifle and the other one in 22 mag are the most accurate rimfires I have ever owned.. even over the CZ 452 in 22 LR...

First and Foremost I love all of em!
I've had numerous .22Mags. I bought a 792 Remington 5MM Mag new off the shelf back when and I now have a CZ .17HMR as well as a CZ .17M2, both wear 6X20X40 Weaver Grand Slam scopes. Seafire as you know I'm completely biased and un-objective as I'm a confessed sub-.22 caliber wildcat junkie. No sneakiness here
All that said I do believe there has been a lot of internet "shrinkage" if you will when it comes to groups shot from the various rim-fires, especially on some of the "rim-fire sites" and other sites as well.
They all have their strengths and weaknesses. Without starting a fray and I repeat I love "ALL" of em , I will just say go to Hornady's site and read their published ballistic figures comparing the .22 Mag and .17HMR as well as the .22 Long Rifle and the .17 M2.
I'm retired and about all I do in the summer is fish and more importantly help various ranchers I know eradicate their rodent problems without having to resort to poison that effects everything. I'd tell ya how many gophers, p-dogs, and badgers my buddy and I shoot a year but it would sound like internet "expansion" instead of "shrinkage".
As you mentioned Seafire it really isn't fair to compare the performance of center fires to rim fires. Problem is cost of shooting leads ya that direction, has to. The one round I shoot that actually competes price wise and wins flat out performance wise is the .17 Ackley Hornet. I can load it for about a dead push with .17 HMR ammo and instead of the HMR's 17 grain V-Max doing 2,540ish fps it moves a 20 grain V-Max at 3,800ish fps and is a legitimate 250 to 300 yard gopher gun if the wind is at all reasonable. A big part of the equation to me is seeing all the hit's (or misses) in the scope. Even my .22 Hornet using 40 grainers at 3,000ish fps leaves a gopher under recoil at 175 yards. The rimfires and .17 Ackley absolutely do not. To me at least that's big, ya gotta experience it to really know how big.
Next is all personal "opinion" from shooting lots of what we call gophers (Richardsons Ground Squirrels actually) and assorted other field rats.
First. I had my CZ HMR at the range after I'd had it a bit and on a decent condition day, I shot 9 consecutive 5 shot groups at 100 yards that agg'd a .71. The biggest group was a 1.2 and the smallest was in the mid.4's.That's with a rifle I paid $359.00 for, I was dancing with glee in spite of the posts that all seem to ag between an 1/8th and 1/4 inch groups . At that time my .22 Mag was a Ruger M77-.22Mag Varmint with a Lilga barrel added to it and it wouldn't shoot close to that, it cost two or better of those CZ's. It's gone now.
Also I have a 10-22 Ruger all Clark'd up by Clarks Custom guns down in Princeton La. with a Volquartzen trigger on it and my CZ .17 M2 with nothing but Eric Brooks $14.00 trigger kit on it out shoots it substantially at 100 yards and especially beyond, at 50 yrds the .22 holds it's own with target ammo as it is indeed a tackdriver but over 100 no contest (it's the ballistics plain and simple). As to price of ammo I stocked up on CCI M2 ammo which is my rifles favorite at $2.99 a box as opposed to .22LR American Eagle HP's that I stocked up on a few years back at .79cents a box of 40. Big difference in price no arguing that.
More opinion. For some purposes such as rock chucks in and around buildings and in more populated areas the non ricochet factor of that 17 grain, very frangible V-Max is big.
At gopher rifle distance 75 to 125ish yards I get "way" less crawl off's with the .17M2 over the .22LR. My shooting pardner and I thump many gophers between 150 and 175ish yards and possibly a better shot than I can compete with that with a .22 Mag, I sure can't.
After all is said and done will I ever be without both a .22 rifle and handgun for gophers? Absolutely not! Do I feel the M2 is more effective on gophers at 100yards+ than a .22LR? I absolutely do.
Same-same .17HMR to .22Mag comparison at 125 to 175ish yards.
Is it worth it price wise? .22/M2 maybe not depending on viewpoint, HMR/.22Mag they cost the same when I stocked up on Hornady HMR so I think the HMR wins at least for what I do but maybe not for someone else. It's up to you.
There ya have it everything ya ever wanted to know plus enough more to make ya go to sleep or throw up or whatever about my views on this topic. A topic by the way that seems to be a lot like that Ever-Ready Bunny cause it just keeps going and going and going.....

I started shooting prairie dogs back during 1949. .Over the years I have shot them with the 22 LR, 22WMR, 17 HM2, 17 HMR, rimfire rifles. I have centerfire varmint rifles but for spring prairie dog pup shooting I like the 17 rimfires. Low muzzle blast and no recoil and I dont have to take time to reload ammo. I m going to get a box of 30 Gr V-max Hornady WMR ammo to try out in my Kimber Mdl 82.