Just put a Leupold VX-II 4-12X with the LRD I had on my cheap Savage 17 HMR. I wanted to be able to dial dope with the scope and can with the after market Stoney Point target knobs you can screw on the turret cap threads.

It's really cool that the aimpoints below the cross hair work great with the 17gr TNT at 150 and 200 meters perfectly!

I dialed 300 meters (330 yards) and it worked pretty good and then returned to -0- fairly well.

At 200 meters the 5 shot group (Yes wasbeeman, 5!) was a little over a MOA. At 300 it was pretty ugly but on a sheet of paper.

Those tiny bullets don't like a breath of a breeze!


It's a fun little shooter.

17HMR is a great round for foxes. I have kept nearly all my 17HMR Rifles.

I really like the round. It really makes a .22 lr obsolete, especially if you have one like a friend of mine; he took a Ruger auto in .22 mag and had it barreled for 17 HMR.

What a great 17 that's semi auto!

My 17 is the best squirrel control method you could find. I live in a rural neighborhood with lots of hills and rocks and plenty of horses, cows, and a few kids and windows within 1,000 yards. It is legal to shoot and safe with the right back drop, but a ricochet isn't a pretty sound.

With the plastic tips that little bullet just disintigrates when it hits something even an angled rock hidden in the dirt and is by far the safest high speed round available.

Oh.......and the squirrels just cease to exist when it hits them. Only weakness is that as mentioned the wind blows them off line like crazy. On a windy day any squireel over 75 yards has his chances of survival greatly improved.

I got the Henry's lever action varmint special in .17 HMR. Very accurate and the sites are great. A great plinker and a step up from the .22LR in case a fox or coyote just happens to be lurking by. I do agree its bad point is the very light bullet that goes a.w.a.l with just a bit of wind. All in all, a great round for vermin!

I've just purchased two cartons of .17HMR for my annual prairie dog safari to Wyoming. Of course, there are boxes of .223, .22-250, and .243, but the .17HMR seems to get the most use. Mine is a "cheap" Savage/Stevens with the heavy barrel and a Leupold 4.5-14x scope. Trigger was redone by me and I'm happy with the small groups it shoots!

Is the 17HMR much better in the prairie dog fields than the 22Mag?

quote:

Originally posted by Cliff Lyle:
Is the 17HMR much better in the prairie dog fields than the 22Mag?

Not in my opinion..

the 17 may have a longer range, but the 22 dopes the wind much better..

bullets in 22 Mag with the polymer tip and 30 grains in weight, are just as accurate and actually hit much harder than the 17 HMR...

for smaller gophers, the 17 gr HP / TNT is more explosive... for bigger rodents, ( prairie dogs) then the polymer tipped 17 is more explosive..

I'm taking my 22mag to Montana next month as a walk about rifle. Should be fun.

Howdy Cliff. I live in p-dog country and the HMR is my wifes favorite p-dog round. Check this out.
Using Hornady's info on their 30 grain V-Max .22 mag ammo at their figures compared to their .17 HMR ammo using a 17 grain V-Max at 2,550. Please note the wind deflection in a 10 mile per cross wind. I used Hornadys own BC's and just fed them into a computer ballistics program. Ballistics are ballistics and the HMR has a better BC at higher velocity hence better ballistics. I've shot lots of both and you'll do better with the HMR.

First the data with the .22 mag. Keep in mind this is Hornadys data and they sell both kinds of ammo so they got no dog in the fight, they win either way.

Name: Default Load:.22 mag Hornady 30 grain V-Max @ 2,200FPS
Ballistic Coeff: 0.095
Bullet Weight: 30
Velocity: 2200
Target Distance: 150
Scope Height: 1.500
Temperature: 70
Altitude: 4500

Ballistic Data
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Range Elevation Velocity Energy ETA Drop Max Y 10mph Wind Deflect
0 yds -1.50 in 2200 fps 322 fpe 0.000 sec 0.00 in -1.50 in 0.00 in
25 yds 0.46 in 2027 fps 274 fpe 0.035 sec 0.24 in -0.54 in 0.24 in
50 yds 1.90 in 1862 fps 231 fpe 0.074 sec 1.00 in -0.34 in 0.99 in
75 yds 2.69 in 1708 fps 194 fpe 0.116 sec 2.40 in 0.06 in 2.46 in
100 yds 2.74 in 1563 fps 163 fpe 0.162 sec 4.55 in 0.68 in 4.55 in
125 yds 1.93 in 1430 fps 136 fpe 0.212 sec 7.56 in 1.59 in 7.33 in
150 yds 0.00 in 1312 fps 115 fpe 0.267 sec 11.69 in 2.87 in 11.02 in
175 yds -3.18 in 1209 fps 97 fpe 0.327 sec 17.06 in 4.59 in 15.49 in
200 yds -7.87 in 1126 fps 84 fpe 0.391 sec 23.96 in 6.83 in 20.81 in
225 yds -14.29 in 1061 fps 75 fpe 0.460 sec 32.57 in 9.67 in 26.90 in
250 yds -22.60 in 1009 fps 68 fpe 0.532 sec 43.08 in 13.17 in 33.67 in
275 yds -32.93 in 967 fps 62 fpe 0.608 sec 55.61 in 17.37 in 41.02 in
300 yds -45.48 in 930 fps 58 fpe 0.687 sec 70.36 in 22.36 in 48.98 in

Next the HMR.

Load Data
~~~~~~~~~

Name: Default Load:.17 HMR Hornady with 17 grain V-Max @ 2,5500FPS
Ballistic Coeff: 0.125
Bullet Weight: 17
Velocity: 2550
Target Distance: 150
Scope Height: 1.500
Temperature: 70
Altitude: 4500

Ballistic Data
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Range Elevation Velocity Energy ETA Drop Max Y 10mph Wind Deflect
0 yds -1.50 in 2550 fps 245 fpe 0.000 sec 0.00 in -1.50 in 0.00 in
25 yds -0.13 in 2406 fps 219 fpe 0.030 sec 0.17 in -0.56 in 0.13 in
50 yds 0.86 in 2268 fps 194 fpe 0.062 sec 0.72 in -0.41 in 0.62 in
75 yds 1.42 in 2134 fps 172 fpe 0.097 sec 1.70 in -0.15 in 1.46 in
100 yds 1.52 in 2004 fps 152 fpe 0.133 sec 3.14 in 0.26 in 2.64 in
125 yds 1.08 in 1878 fps 133 fpe 0.171 sec 5.11 in 0.82 in 4.22 in
150 yds 0.00 in 1759 fps 117 fpe 0.213 sec 7.74 in 1.60 in 6.35 in
175 yds -1.80 in 1646 fps 102 fpe 0.257 sec 11.08 in 2.61 in 9.00 in
200 yds -4.37 in 1538 fps 89 fpe 0.304 sec 15.19 in 3.89 in 12.09 in
225 yds -7.85 in 1437 fps 78 fpe 0.354 sec 20.21 in 5.50 in 15.75 in
250 yds -12.46 in 1346 fps 68 fpe 0.408 sec 26.36 in 7.50 in 20.11 in
275 yds -18.26 in 1262 fps 60 fpe 0.466 sec 33.70 in 9.95 in 25.05 in
300 yds -25.48 in 1190 fps 53 fpe 0.527 sec 42.45 in 12.90 in 30.65 in

Zero is 150 yards on both rounds.
If you look at both at 200 yards you'll note that the HMR has 5 ft lbs more energy, so much for the .22 mag hitting harder and in wind deflection at 10 MPH cross wind the .17 HMR is pushed 8.72 inches less than the .22 mag. So much for the old wives tale that you can't shoot a .17 in the wind. There is opinion based on personal opinion and there is opinion backed up by ballistics. Take your pick. Oh, did I point out that the HMR is 3.5 inches flatter shooting at 200 and is about an inch and a quarter lower at 100 yards to get there .

Seafire are you still at it on the .17's cause you don't like em? Shame on you fibbing to all these nice people .
Just kidding, you clearly stated it was just your opinion.
How ya doing amigo?

Actually if I were going to use the .22 mag I'd used a 50 grain Hollow Point and just figure out the trajectory. It wouldn't shoot as flat or as far but the extra weight would make up for it in delivered energy due to bullet weight. We do shoot a lot of p-dogs with HMR's though and it is my wifes favorite round along with a .17 MachIV "we" have.

My first 17 HMR was a CZ with a 3x9 Leupy on it. One day, I was finishing up at the range and the wind died. I had 3 rounds of 17 left with me, so I cranked them off at the 200 yard target. Three shots went in 3/8". I haven't tried to repeat it because I (for some stupid reason) traded the CZ and the wind ALWAYS blows here in SE NM.