A friend bought a gun in 17HMR. He wants to know what scopes people are using on them. He hopes for something with upper power ranges 12-16x. He says the only rimfire scopes he sees are 2-7, 3-9 in good scopes with BSA etc offering higher powers. Is a rimfire scope (most likely tailore to 22LR) even the way to go?

I run an older 3-9x40 Nikon UCC on my 17HMR and have never felt I needed anything larger.

I run a Zeiss Conquest 4.5-14x44 on mine and really like it. Side objective adjustment is very handy and helps with targeting.

I put a Nikon Monarch 3 Rifle Scope (4-16x, Mildot, 42mm) on my Anschutz 1517. I think that's about perfect for the cartridge, especially if you like to shoot ground squirrels.

The glass is good, it tracks well and it didn't break the bank.

I, too, love the side focus.

I have a 5-15 on mine. 15x at the range and 5x in the field. FS

Stay away from rimfire scopes as they are often paralax adjusted to 50y.

I put a fixed 4 on my anchutz 22wmr light weight and magnifying enough.

I have a fixed 6x Meopta on mine. It's as heavy as a 4-16x, though.

quote:

Originally posted by Nordic2:
Stay away from rimfire scopes as they are often paralax adjusted to 50y. ... [snip] ...

I might disagree slightly. Both Nikon and Leupold make EFR scopes which are intended for rimfire/air guns.

I have the Nikon 3-9 on my CZ 452 silhouette and I totally love it.

EDITED 8/18/2015 to correct link to Leupold scopes.

I have put three 17 HMR's together this year, two full customs and one only slightly modified. They were all intended for both hunting and shooting in 50 yd. benchrest matches.

I used Weaver 4X16X42 with AO and a dot on each of them. Anything from 4 to 6X works well for hunting and 16X is great for 50 yd. BR matches and 100 yd. egg shoots.

I bought them with a coupon from Optics Planet for only slightly more than half what I would have had to pay for Leupolds.

We have shot all the guns with these scopes and are very happy with their performance.

A second on the 4-16x Weaver. Put it on a left-hand Savage 93 when they first came out with the .17HMR in that gun. My best friend did the same, buying the right-hand Savage 93. On the prairie dogs out here in Colorado, the guns are good out to 150yds and out to 200yds...if you can read the wind.
Everyone out here who has put a 3-9x on their rifle has wished for a little more power. 4-12x would be my minimum.

quote:

Originally posted by prof242:
Everyone out here who has put a 3-9x on their rifle has wished for a little more power. 4-12x would be my minimum.

Not everyone ... More than happy with my old Nikon 3-9. Besides, if a 3-9 won't reach to 150 yards, brother we've got other problems.

Big honking SWFA.

I put the same 2-7 Leupold on mine that I have on most everything else. Seems fine to me.

I have had a Zeiss 4.5x14 on my 17 hmr and liked it well, then I put on a Weaver Grand Slam 6.5x20 with a fine target dot and it works well for shooting small varmint. I think any scope in the 4-16 range would be a fine choice.

Yep, went too far on the "everyone." However, you can see that there are people, most of us trying to shoot the head on a hiding prairie dog, that like that little extra.

I have a 4.5-14 Mueller on mine

I have a Burris 3-9 on my Savage.