I took a couple of guys out on Saturday to hunt P-dogs. One of the guys had a .223 and .220 Swift, the other had a .223 and .17 HM2. I was impressed by the little .17 HM2 round. I was spotting the dogs and calling out the range for him and if there wasn't a cross wind he didn't have much problems hitting targets at 200 yards with the rifle. I was pleasntly suprised at the performance of this round at that range. The only downfall of this cartridge is it doesn't take much wind to blow it off course.

The really nice thing I noticed about the round is it didn't produce much noise and didn't bother the dogs much when the shooter missed. Thus he was able to dope the wind with most of his second shots and get the kill. I don't think I'll be trading my .22's in for .17's but if a good deal comes along I wouldn't be afraid to add this one to my P-dog rifle collection.

As a side note while it killed the P-dogs well, I'd say that I wouldn't shoot anything larger than a P-dog or Jack rabbit with the .17 HM2.

Taylorce1: Good report. I am so impressed with my 17 HMR that I have not seriously considered trying one of the 17 HM2's!
Your report has me looking for a good deal on the new "little hummer"!
Keep after'em.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

My friends and I shoot a good deal of PDs with 17 HMRs. As you said they are fairly silent and don't seem to disturb the others around. It is especially nice if you can get downwind of them which helps with both the noise and also the bullet drift. Not to mention like with other centerfire cartridges, it won't blow your eardrums out if someone shoots close to you and you don't have you hearing protection on.

I love my .17 HMR. My dad used it and shot a big female coyote and she dropped to a neck shot. It is a really nice squirrel gun also.

Only complaint I have about the HMR.
It's NOT centerfire!!
So I can't reload it.

Ammo is now $12/50 in my local stores. Just can't see that price.

Intend to chamber something into a small centerfire about that size. They also gain velocity beyond 3000fps.

George

George, I don't know where you are buying the ammo but try www.cheaperthandirt.com you can get a considerable discount on the .17 cal stuff. I bought 1000 rounds of Federal 30 grain hp in .22 WMR for $140 delivered. If you buy in bulk like I did you should get the ammo pretty reasonable. I think if you check out Big R and watch for specials you should be able to get the .17 HMR for less than $10 per 50 and the .17 HM2 for around $6.

Your better off with a CZ 527 hornet you could load it up with 40 vmax at 3000 fps or 35s or load it down to 22lr velocities I use sierra 40s and 45s in it and get more range than the 17 and more accuracy less wind doping and more punch and cheaper to shoot and every bullet i shoot is less than one inch at 100 and the vmaxs will shoot under a half inch all the time with lilgun powder

The 17HM2 and 17 HMR are fine prairie dog (PD)rounds. During the 2004 year I shot about 1500 PDs with a 17 HMR rifle . Last year I shot about 550 PDs with the 17 HM2 round. I use the 17 HM2 for shots out to about 80 Yds and the 17 HMR for shots to about 150 Yds. I have shot PDs at longer ranges with the two rounds but most of the time I,ll switch to a 221 Fireball or 204 Ruger rifles for shots over 150 Yds. Today I did shoot some PD pups with the 17 HM2 at ranges out to 100 Yds. Using the 17 HM2 and 17 HMR I shot 60 some PDs in three hours. I live in PD country and go out 40 to 50 times a year to shot them.

Fireball10X: If you own a Hornet that shoots 1/2" groups all the time then you sir have won the firearms equivalent of the Lotto! Big Casino!
Bronze that baby and hang it in the den!
I have never owned or seen such a beast!
Good for you!
Yep the 22 Hornet is a nifty round to have in ones arsenal for Varmints but don't discount the time and effort used up in load development and in reloading those tiny rounds.
I know, I have been doing it for decades now. I have not given up completely on the Hornet as yet.
Anyway, anymore I fire WAY more 17 HMR rounds at Varmints during the last couple of years than I have with my Hornet.
I am wheeling and dealing and getting my Remington 17 HMR ammo for $7.90 per 50 and no tax. 16 cents apiece for the 17 HMR versus the time AND effort AND 12 - 14 cents apiece for my Hornet loads aaahhh..... yeah I see why the Hornet is at home a lot anymore.
And by the way my Ruger 77/17 V/T is more accurate than ANY Hornet I have ever owned or seen shot! And I seen a lot of em!
Your Hornet is apparently the exception but when I put 100 or 150 rounds through my 17 HMR in a day I am guessing I am saving 3 or 4 hours of my time by not using the Hornet and not having to prep brass and clean brass and reload for the Hornet. My time is worth $25.00 per hour so $75.00 to $100.00 will buy a LOT of 17 HMR ammo.

Tuck 2: I much appreciate your observations on range with both your 17 HM2 and your 17 HMR on Prairie Dogs.
Thanks for that.

Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I really have to give the guy credit that had the .17 HM2 to pull off some of those long shots with such a little bitty round. He had obviously spent a lot of time at the range with his rifle and knew it well. This was his first hunting experience and he did comment it was a lot different than punching paper.

I likewise am impressed with the .17HMR round for PDs and for squirrels.



I might also mention the .204 Ruger, which like the .17HMR was developed in conjuction with Hornady and with the 32 grain VMAX. If the ranges go to 400+, the little .17HMR runs out of gas, just when the .204 picks up it's stride. If one were to have a two gun battery in this modern world I would recommend those two cousins!

D.

DMCI: Thats a good looking Cooper 57 M rifle on the bench. What brand scope is on it ? ----------Varmint Guy : So far I have fired 380 rounds out of my old Kinber Mdl 82 22 Hornet trying to find less than a one inch five shot group at 100 Yds. With LilGun powder with Hornady 45 Gr Hornet bullet I have gotten some o.95 inch groups at 100 Yds. Got tierd of messing with it and got a 221 Fireball rifle that will do 1/2 inch groups.

Hi varmint guy I too had a few hornets and gave up on the hornet for some years because accuracy wasn't all that good,even with my anschutz.I'm a gunsmith and shoot rifles everyday some mine some customers have a 300 yard range in my back yard.But now with the new powders and bullets the hornet is comming back to life.I have shot some rugers in 22 hornet that don't group that well maybe if they work with the load they could get better or buy a CZ.And I like reloading it doesn't take long I have a RCBS chargemaster it makes it go fast,You don't load at all and buy all factory loads?Muat get expensive in those 204s and other guns but if you got it may as well spend it. The CZ 527 is a great shooter and the first load I shot was 13.2 grns lilgun with a 40 vmax 3000 fps took a couple shots to site in and that was it except to adjust for longer ranges!The 40 and 45s I load lighter with rel 7 10.6 grns at 2200fps 45s and 2400fps for 40s and this is not the only one that shoots like this we sold 3 of these CZs and they all shoot like this and we also sold a fireball in the CZ 527 and it shoots around a half inch and these are the american and weigh a little over 6lbs!There barrels are hand lapped and the mini mauser action is great and their triggers are excellent.I'm shooting some winchester 46grn hp for a cheaper load $6.00 100 and primers 1.70 and powder for 100 rounds cost 3.00 for a grand total of $10.70 so thats 5.30 cheaper than the 17 and it hits harder with less windrift I mostly shoot woodchucks and they are harder to kill than prarie dogs they take some hits with 17s at less than 100 and get to their hole but the hornet drops them. I don't shoot prarie dogs but I'm gonna get out there one of these days the last time I was there I went to sturgis with my bike.If I want a load that reaches out farther I use 40 Vmaxs with lilgun and it does a good job out to 250 sometimes 300 on a nice day but it's pretty windy here most of the time.Now I ordered a 204 in the CZ varmint my freind has the american in 204 and thats a tack driver.I also have a rem 700 lvsf in 221 that shoots great and a 22-250 in a 700 vssf I took a woodchuck with that at 820 yards 3 weeks ago.But I'll tell you those CZs are hard to beat they also make the 17 I just don't have much use for one.Here is a pic of group with the hornet.[IMG:top] [/IMG][IMG:top] [/IMG]

Guys:

I was just pricing the store's ammo. I don't own a rimfire 17, although I've thought about it. When I go shooting, many a day I'll shoot 400-800 rounds a day. Don't know about you guys, but, I can't afford those HMR's at that rate.

Fact is, I'm intending to turn some dies and pins to make my own .22's from fired .22 brass. Just for the hell of it mostly. But, to save that 3-7 cents each for bullets.

I shoot a one hole shooter Sako .223. Best ten shots at 100yds was .260". Someone with younger good eye's and steady holding could do that all day long. I get to moving around, or my eye's get tired after an hour or so. After a few minutes break I can go another hour.

I'm in the middle of starting to build a single shot, the first one will be on a NEF/H&R. Am going to chamber it for .17x28mm on the necked down 5.7x28mm FN case. I do need more brass. It's basically 8 gr cartridge. Shoots about 3200fps with a 20gr. 200yds is about the limits from what others have said. That's fine as I'll save the .223 for longer shots.
I've shot enough p/dogs to have shot out the originaly .222mag barrel on it, some over 6000 shots.

VG: enjoy your hunting/shooting stories. And all the pictures everyone posts. Am glad I found this forum, don't know why some of my 'friends' didn't tell me about it yrs ago.

Shoot straight,

George

GeorgeEld: Thanks for the kind words.
I have enjoyed sharing my experiences with Rifles and Hunting with them, for 12 years or so now via the computer!
I have learned a lot of useful things - as well as places to Hunt over the cyberspace forums!
Good luck with your new 17 caliber project - sounds interesting.
I find I need to use eye drops about once each mid-day when I am on Varmint Safari!
I think its a combination of things like eye strain from looking through not quite perfect optics, dust in the air, sun exposure, constantly changing focus from near to far, high altitude (less atmosphere to filter or dampen the suns rays?) and things like that.
Anyway I now use a product called "Natural Tears" more than I use my old standby "Visine" for eye strain (pain) relief.
Keep after them and thanks again.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I've been following this "debate" on the 17 HMR for quite some time, on here, and on a few other forums, and still don't know if I would buy one. That said, my reason is that I am old enough to remember Remington's foray into the sub 22 caliber game when they introduced the 5mm round, 5mm Remington.

While the endorsements are many and praise is always there, I think that if I go that way, it will be with something chambered in the 204 Ruger due simply to the fact that it is a centerfire and can be reloaded.

I do in various types of varmints, and if it is inside 150 yds, I use my 22 WMR, out to about 300 yds, I use my 223 Remington, and past that it is my 25-06. Caliber is dependant on which "varmint" I'm after, and what my set up is going to be, distance wise.

You guys keep talking about it, I'll keep thinking about it.

John