Of those of you who use this calibre what is the longest range single shot kill recorded and what is the largest varmint taken with this tiny calibre

i shot a woodchuck that i lasered at 176 yards.

I shot 2 crows with 1 shot before I sold mine.
175 yards and there were 2 crows sitting side by side, overlapping each other. After the shot, one started 'reakdancig'and the other flopped around.

lasered 217 yards on a "woodchuck-sized avian".

not typical of my skill.

about a 10 mph wind at 10 o'clock, held 8 inches left, 8 inches high, or as close as I am to calling and holding those things.

198 steps. 2 starlings (english) on 2 different occasions off a very steady rest.
I did totally unravel a starling at 50 paces with the balistic tips. It looked like a string of skin and feathers afterwards.

Jonathan Tomlinson: I have killt two Coyotes with my 17 HMR - both were one shot kills and right at 100 yards.
I killt a large Boar Badger with one shot at a lasered 173 yards! This was a shot to the throat and the Badger never quivered. I walked out to the Badger and lasered back to my shooting platform to get that reading. I have lasered several shots for my friends on Prairie Dogs out to 240 yards and I have killt them at 200 yards myself!
I lasered a large black Flying Varmint (that lit on a Ground Squirrel mound to eat remains!) at 232 yards and he became a DRT - one shot kill as well.
I have taken MANY Ground Squirrels out at the 200 yard range as well.
I have killt several Skunks with my 17 HMR and I purposely try to keep those distances as long as feasible - I think about 150 yards is as long as I have done one of them in at!
Adult Rock Chucks have been killed with my 17 HMR out as far as 140 yards or so.
I think the two most benevloent attributes the 17 HMR possesses that contribute to the lethality of this round are its bullet spped and its accuracy.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Thanks every one for replying.

Thats makes some interesting reading. I have had hits on crows to 180 yards but figured there was still some range ability beyond that.

It is certainly a fantastic little round and with the sound moderator fitted you can wreak havoc with rabbit colonies on the edge of dark with a lamp, the rabbits don't know what hit em.

Jonathan Tomlinson: Just this morning I let my VarmintDog out to do his duty! His presence in my yard made a beautiful Snowshoe Hare jump up from a hiding spot under a shrub and run about 50 yards away. The Hare then proceeded to stand up on its hind legs and peer at "us" for a full minute! He was nearly pure white (they recently turned to their all white coloration from their summer all grayish coats) and even though we are at 5,400' elevation here in SW Montana there is NO snow on the ground yet, unusual this!
I quickly decided to "harvest" this Hare before the Fox and Coyote spot him (as he stands out like a sore thumb!) it being all white and the area is completely devoid of snow!
I commanded the VarmintDog not to chase the Hare, brought him back inside and I raced down to my gun vault, turned off the alarm, worked the combination on the safe that held my Ruger 77/17 V/T then raced over to my ammo locker got the 17 HMR ammo and raced back to the fields adjacent to my yard, where I began the "Hunt" for this "poor" Hare!
I never saw him again!
I mean the grass is one inch deep and pure tan in color and I could NOT find that Hare to save myself!
I had delusions of making a running shot on it or a long range shot and taking it right to the Taxidermist for full body mounting!
Not to be!
My main point is I could have chosen quite a number of different calibers to use on this Varminting venture but the 17 HMR came to mind first. I am sure it would have done a good job.
I am guessing the Hare went down a hole or maybe hid in the one drainage pipe in the area?
I will be on the lookout for him as he would make an excellent mount for my den!
Long live the 17 HMR!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

257 yds on a pdog not far from Malta. It was a dead calm day. A rf and a ballistic plex scope made it possible.
My son is back from his second tour in Irac, and he is going to have a CZ 17HMR with Burris BP 4.5X14 just like mine under the tree. Now that he is home the 3000 rds of that stuff I have will never last. I was going to get more anyway...Now I need twice that much.

Da_sidewinder: Great shot there at 257 yards!
Wow!
To those very few that profess the supposed "superiority" of the 22 Magnum over the 17 HMR all I have to say IS - try and do that with a 22 Magnum!
And what a great present for your son!
I am sure he will appreciate it.
I remember back in 1967 or so buying a Winchester Model 70 in 270 caliber for my older brother when he came home from his second tour of duty in Viet Nam!
He still has that Rifle.
I was just up Malta way a few weeks ago and the Prairie Dogs were out IN FORCE! I bonked a few and even got to see my first ever Black Footed Ferret!
Good luck this spring on the PD's!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy
P.S.: If you are not from the Malta area (like I am not) then maybe I better tell you about the wonderful restaurant we found there in "downtown" Malta.
Its called the "GN".
Their food was simply wonderful and the service was excellent.

I'll have to try that place. Always like to know about good places to put the feed bag on.
Last time I shot dogs in that area. Ther was a re introduction program with the bf ferrets. That was 5 years ago. Careful..they come out of the holes with the wee ones in their mouths...lol
I get so jealous of you folks that live over there that get to shoot on those pdogs in the fall, and winter. I hear it can still be fantastic in Sept, or even Oct.
Back to the .17hmr. I have not shot a coyote with mine. I sure like it for rodents. Especially ground squirrels! Absolutely no reason to spend time loading ammo to shoot them! Blows them up just fine. I don't know why I bring 4 or 5 guns when I go cause I just shoot the .17hmr. Thats why my son has to have one too. I know he will feel the same. Those things are also easy on the ears.
I should'nt even get on this forum. I have the varmint hebie gebies so bad. The bird shootin, and the late silver, and steelhead fishin aint gonna cut it. AR is the place to be for a good varmint fix, and any, or all of your varmint need to knows.
Thanks all!
Happy Holidays

I spotted and ranged for my friend "ChopperGuy" last June on a prairie dog in Montana. It was 287 yards in nearly calm winds at 2800" MSL. He was shooting a Volquartsen 17HMR rifle and I think he had a Burris Ballistic-plex scope on it.

I have made a lot of shots out to 250 yards with my CZ 452-2E in 17HMR, but Mike's was the longest I have seen to date.

F224: I have a friend that comes out to the high plains from the east coast, every year for a 10 day Varmint Safari. He brings a Volquartsen 17 HMR along and really "goes to town" with it!
He has a Leupold 8.5x25 variable scope on it! Now "I" am the worlds biggest proponent of variable scopes and always profess the more power you can use - the better! But even I at first was taken aback a bit by this scope on the 17 HMR!
Well it just took one clip full of 17 HMR ammo to convince me that this rig was THE "supreme" Ground Squirrel Rifle! I mean I always take the opportunity to shoot my friends new Rifles when they offer a chance, but seldom do I fire more than just a few shots with them.
I could not get enough of that Volquartsen!
It had an exceptional trigger and was splendidly accurate!
The scope left nothing to be desired while shooting the Ground Squirrels! When a distant Gopher was spotted with binoculars or with the scope on low power, one simply turned the power up and placed the 17 caliber bullet right where you wanted it!
Now I am not bragging here but I ran two clips full through that nifty Rifle the first time I shot it, and never missed a Gopher!
I admit things were just right - a perfect rest was in use at the time, not to much wind, an excellent trigger and tons of Varmints to pick from.
I am gonna guess and say that the average shot on those "two clips" full of Gophers was at least 90 - 100 yards!
I just checked my 2,005 CZ Catalog and they do not show your CZ 452-2E Model in there. Could you describe your CZ to me (which stock, heavy barrel or not etc)?
Long live the 17 HMR!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

quote:

I just checked my 2,005 CZ Catalog and they do not show your CZ 452-2E Model in there. Could you describe your CZ to me (which stock, heavy barrel or not etc)?

It is the Sporter version, blue steel, Walnut stock, tapered barrel about 22" long and mine wears a Leupold 2-7x Rimfire scope. If I were doing it again, I would just go with a straight FXII 6x36mm scope, maybe with a Mil-dot. The new Varmint version with the single set trigger might be even better than mine. Although my barrel has been free floated and it has had a trigger job.

I loved shooting "gophers" in Western Montana, but have to admit I have only used rimfire's on them. I would guess I have killed several thousand of them in various alpha fields around Bozeman, but they keep breeding faster than I, or anyone else, can kill them! The last few years I have been limited to Eastern Montana prairie dog shoots, however.

F224: Thanks for the info.
I have shot four different CZ's in 17 HMR that belong to friends of mine. They all performed well indeed!
Come to think of it I have shot 17 HMR's by Remington, Ruger, Winchester, Volquartsen, Marlin, Savage, H&R and the CZ.
I'd say this cartridge has caught on!
"Montana - its worth the drive"!
ANYONE, that uses centerfires on Ground Squirrels is a wealthy masochist!
The loading room time itself would be like me taking a full time job all winter!
Not me.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

jackrabbit shot at 236 yds with my custom sako finnfire 17 HMR.

cb <*)))>{

Cajun Blake: Nice shot on the Jack Rabbit there!
Good for you and your custom Finnfire!
That brings me to a question there Cajun Blake - I went to the online Sako site and could not find a Finnfire in 17 HMR, or in 22 Magnum for that matter!
Was your "custom" Finnfire formerly some type of 17 HMR, 22 Magnum or a 22 L.R.?
I found the beautiful Finnfire Model in 22 L.R. but none in 22 Magnum or 17 HMR.
Is it possible to make a 17 HMR out of a Finnfire 22 L.R.?
Again great shot on the Jack Rabbit.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Poked my nose in at the gunshop before they closed this afternoon...

there were a bunch of 20 yr olds, checking out the different 17 HMRs...

I just happened to walk by the box of 204 rounds on the counter... Remingtons and Speers were marked $14.95 a box and Hornady's were marked $15.50 a box!

No wonder my 17s are pretty much collecting dust in the closet...

I have hopes that handloaders will make it clear that the 17 Fireball is actually cheaper to handload than the 17 HMR... and eat into its sales enough, that it will become competitive with the 22 Win Mag in price...

30 cents a round for a rimfire is getting ridiculous!

I shoot a Cooper Mdl. 57M LVT 17 HMR w/ Burris 4.5-14 X AO scope. AT 200 Yds with the 17 Hornady V-Max bullet MV 2700 ft/sec the bullet may not open up on a prairie dog when hit thru the rib lung area.Most of the PDs get back into their holes when shot at that range but I inspected the few that dident get back into their holes.I now limit my shots to about 150 Yds . Shooting prairie dog thru the full length of their bodies will drop them out to about 180 Yds. The 17 Gr bullet has about 140 ft/lbs energy at 100 Yds, at 150 Yds 100 ft/lbs/ , at 200 Yds 75 ft/lbs/ ,and at 250 Yds 55 ft/lb energy. When sited in at 125 Yds the hold over at 250 Yds is about 17 inches and with a 10 MPH wind at 90 degres the wind drift will be around 12 inches. The 17 HMR is a great round but Shooters ethics should govern how far a person shoots to get humane kills.

Seafire/B17G: The Buy-Mart Chain stores has 17 HMR Hornady ammo for $8.99 a box of 50. I arranged for 2,000 rounds to be put on hold in Ellensburg, Washington.
I have about 2,000 rounds of Remington on hand now and paid under $7.00 a box for that.
Those numbers come out to 18 cents and 14 cents per round! If you are paying 30 cents per round for rimfire ammo you simply are paying to much!
Again I would MUCH prefer to pay the piper for the 17 HMR and not have the hassles of barrel wear, brass pick up, brass tumbling, brass tracking, brass prep, resizing, re-priming, powder weighing, charging, seating and inspecting 4,000 round of ANY kind of centerfire ammo!
With comparable bullets loaded in them the 22 Magnum ammo is not that much cheaper than 17 HMR ammo. And with the clear cut superiority of the 17 HMR vs. the 22 Magnum I have not bought much of the 22 Mag in the last several years anyway.
I do price it though and there is a "premium" put on the 17 HMR over the 22 Magnum ammo - I know not why!
Price gouging I suspect, as the cases are the same and the powder charge can't be that much different and the bullets can be comparable?
Again I can't explain or defend the slight price difference in those two cartridges.

Tuck2: Your self imposed limit on range for your 17 HMR is fine with me.
Stick with it and prosper!
But I won't be limiting my shots to 150 yards.
I don't know if you read my thread where I killt a big Boar Badger with one shot at 173 lasered yards with my 17 HMR Rifle?
DRT!
I contend that a Prairie Dog shot "in the lungs" at 250 yards with a 17 HMR is going to die a pretty humane death!
Within a few seconds (about 6!) it will be unconscious from lack of blood to the brain, and within 15 seconds will completely succumb (die!).
So it might or might not make it into its den?
You are right to include (consider) the hold over and hold into that would be needed to strike a Varmint at 250 yards.
Just because those numbers are there does not mean that we as Varminters can NOT deal with them!
We can!
Personally I would not be shooting at Prairie Dogs at 250 yards in a 10 MPH CROSS wind with my 17 HMR.
I have centerfires for that!
But with an accurate 17 HMR, a good rangefinder, fair conditions and an observant shooter, 200 yard shots on modest sized Varmints is a humane endeavor - in my opinion.
I just got an offline E-mail from a Varminter who claims to have killt a Rock Pigeon at 300 yards with his 17 HMR Rifle.
These Varmints though are quite fragile compared to a big ole Jack Rabbit, Rock Chuck or Badger! I wouldn't try a 300 yards shot on them with my 17 HMR to be certain.
I have also heard of very long distance shots (200 yards+) on Commorants and other medium size Varmints with not much mention of follow-up shots being needed by the story tellers! Indeed I was just talking to a Varminter out in Washington State and he is just thrilled with the lethality of the 17 HMR on Raccoons. Now I have shot a fair number of Raccoons over the years and they are not an easy Varmint to bring to bag without using a cartridge that does a lot of pelt damage. The 17 HMR, according to him, does accomplish this difficult task!
Kills them quick and yet he can save the pelts.
With an accurate 17 HMR like you have and a 14 power scope I suggest you add 25 yards to your self imposed yardage limit (new total 175 yards) and instead aim for the Prairie Dogs head/neck area.
That would be humane shooting - IMHO.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy