What's with this caliber. Is it going to stay the course? Anyone have a rifle in this caliber? There seem to be some good deals on rifles in this caliber so I was wondering if the caliber was going down the tubes.I assume it is competing with the 22mag?
Peter.

I have a NEF Handi-Rifle in 17HMR. It's easily the most accurate rimfire I have ever owned. And it's absolutely devastating on squirrels.....if you plan on getting any meat from them you better make a head shot.

I've got one. it's spectacular. It's easy to make one small ragged hole at 100 yds, 150 and maybe 200. I'm not a hunter but I also think it's doing a good job on everything upto yote's

i was going against the flow when i bought a .22 magnum a few months ago. Everyone i know who is/has bought rimfires are buying 17HMR, and raving about accuracy and damage.
I have shot eleven foxes in the last month, from cubs up to big dogs, and i love my .22 magnum. I suffer from slightly more bullet drop/less accurate range, but i can buck the wind a little better than the 17 shooters.
The real difference for me is penetration. I wanted a rabbit/crow rifle,AND OCCASIONAL FOX RIFLE.
I don"t believe the 17 with it"s lightweight bullets has the penetration for foxes. With good(head) shot placement the 17 will kill foxes, but it blows up so easily, i don"t have confidence in it for foxes or coyotes.
I shot a fox at about 100 metres, trotting towards me with it"s mouth open. With a 40 grain bullet from the .22 mag, i hit him in the mouth, smashing 2 of his teeth. The bullet continued through his tongue, on into the back of his head. I hit another one, very similar 2 nights ago, where it grazed under his chin, splitting the skin all along underneath his jaw and into the neck. Both of these foxes were dead on the spot, but the 17 HMR would have produced terrible, but superficial wounds.
I"m not knocking the 17, it"s one of the most innovative and effective cartridges of recent history and is definately here to stay, but don"t let those who are in love with it tell you it"s a coyote rifle!
For rabbit sized game it is perfect.
good shooting

While I don't have either caliber (yet), I found this posting on rimfire central to be interesting.

17 HMR bullet from rabbit

If you scroll down the page there is a pic of a bullet fired into some plastic milk jugs. It seems to have held together quite well. How it would perform on a fox I don't know but I don't think I would feel undergunned with it.

Thanks for all the responses. What rifles are you guys using for the 17HMR? I was thinking perhaps of a Rem 597, but would be open to any accurate rifle.
Peter.

Check out the CZ 452 American. In a word: SUPER.

Peter: The 17 HMR Rifle I bpought several years ago is easily the most accurate rimfire Rifle I have ever owned!
I have owned at least 70 or 80 rimfire Rifles of all makes and models!
The 17 HMR is the new King of rimfires no doubt about that.
Don't worry about the 17 HMR going away any time soon.
The 22 Magnum has some advocates still and some good attributes but the 17 HMR's vastly superior qualities have all but killed new gun sales in 22 Magnum.
I still own a couple of guns in 22 WMR but I will never buy another new one as long as the 17 HMR has such an obvious accuracy, performance, trajectory and lethality edge!
Hold into the wind
VarmiontGuy

I brought a friend out last night with his 17 mhr, when i was going to the range.
Shooting off my rucksack, it was going into less than 1" at 150 mtrs. Very impressive, even for a cynic like myself. I"m still not convinced of it"s ability on anything bigger than rabbits, but if that"s all i was shooting, that"s what i"d be using.
(and it was quieter that i expected too)
good shooting

So varmintguy...what rifle do you have in 17HMR?
brassthief, what make rifle did your friend have?
thanks, peter

I have a rem 597 in 17 HMR. The rifle is the blued laminated stock sporter barrel version which is no longer offered by remington. I went with the sporter barrel so it would be light enough to carry in the woods all day. I have a burris 3x9 rimfire scope on it. The first range session was amazing. I was pissed I could not even hit the paper or so I thought. I cranked the spotting scope up and was shocked the first eight rounds were in about a quater inch. I popped in the next mag and was even more amazed. Sixteen rounds could be covered by nickel. The 17 grain cci tnt loads shot the best followed by the 17 grain hornady. For hunting edible or bigger critters the 20 grain xtp is the way to go. Another great thing with 597 is you can easily convert it to 22 mag. I can change barrels in about five minutes. My only complaint is the magazines. Keep them clean and lubed with a good dry lube or they will jam up. Also the trigger takes some getting used to on the bench. Due to the total lack of recoil I found myself not releasing the trigger and it would not always recock. After a bit of shooting I got over this issue. I replaced the sear with a a volquestern or power custom I forget which. Lightened the pull alot. Some will say the bolt action rifles are more accurate but this cartridge is just too much fun to not be able to shoot rapid fire. Now if it was just legal for deer hunting. I know everyone will jump on me for saying this. I know with a solid rest I could put a shot in a deer's eye or ear out to a hundred yards no problem. I know a 22 mag will drop a deer with ashot anywhere to the head I don't see why the 17 would not do it too.

my mate has a ruger, not sure of the model but it"s a standard barrel in a wood/blue rifle.
The trigger on it is crap, as was mine(on the m77 .22 magnum) when i got it. A quick trigger job with a file and an arkansas stone tricked it up just great.
good shooting

forgot to say, his rifle shoots better with the 17 grain stuff than the 20"s
good shooting

Mike7mmo8. I did not realise that you could simply swap the barrel and convert to a 22mag. I assume that you have done this? How does the 22mag shoot?
Peter.

The 22 mag is not as accurate as the 17 but as accurate as a 22 mag can be. With loads it likes it will shoot about an inch. I need to adjust the scope of course. I recorded the needed adjustments. Everytime I have switched and readjusted the scope both barrels will shoot exactly were they did before. To swap the barrel out you need to take the action out of the stock. There is a block that sandwiches the barrel lug between the reciever and the block. You remove the one allen head bolt that holds the block. The block can be a bit stubborn to remove light tapping may be required. I usually just work the bolt a few times. The bolt hitting the breech is usually enough force to dislodge the block. When reassembling I always use a bit of antisieze. The only other thing you need to do is unseat the bolt guide rods from the barrel. This is easy. On the back of the receiver there are to small hex head screws. Remove these. Work the bolt a few times the guide rods with backout through the rear of the reciever. Don't go more than a half inch or so that is all that is needed. It you remove the rods completely have fun is all I got to say. The rods go through a spring inside of another spring that takes about twelve thumbs to get back onto the guide rods and back into the receiver. When you reassemble do not over tighten the screws that hold the guide rods in. If you over tighten the bolt can bind. One final note on the barrel. They are readily available from remington. Just one catch they will not sell them to you. You will have to have a ffl oder the barrel for you. The 22 mag barrel was less than 80 bucks. You can go the route of an after market barrel. I do not know of one being made the is the same contour as the factory barrel though.

Thanks very much for the detailed information! I plan on looking for a deal on a 597!
Peter

Great info! I'm still trying to decide between a 22mag and .17HMR. I've decided if I can't decide within a month I'll just get a 22.250 ...

I don't think the 17hmr will die off at all.
In fact it could very well kill off the 22mag in the long term.

It's not often something comes along and makes it's nearest competition look fairly ordinary, in this case the 22 rimfires, but that is exactly what the 17hmr does.

Don't get me wrong, there will always be a place for the 22 in short range target/hunting or subsonic applications but beyond 80 yards the 17hmr blitzes the 22lr and 22mag giving almost centrefire performance out to 180 yards, all with high quality projectiles, flat trajectory and stunning accuracy.

Don't be fooled thinking this thing won't take a fox with a chest shot, I've seen plenty killed in this way. Some will run 10 or 15 yards and some will drop where they stand but they are all dead.
Anything shot in the head and it's lights out. I am yet to see a bunny kick back down a burrow like they do when headshot with the 22.
Most of the time there's not much of the head left!

A mate of mine uses nothing but a 17hmr when foxing or hunting rabbits but will quite often encounter and kill pigs to 150lb. He also has a one shot kill on a 300lb red deer with a 17hmr/20grain TNT.
All the big stuff has to be shot between the eye and the ear and sometimes this requires an enormous amount of skill and patience, but it proves that the 17 hmr is quite a deceiving little stick of dynamite.

Now they even make an FMJ, I'm waiting for him to book his ticket to Africa...

Boof.

I'm in shock at how happy everyone is with this 17 HMR cartridge. We have a lot of hunters come through our pig hunting business and just to make conversation I ask how many of them have 17's. Most of them do and ALL of them seem to be extremely happy with them.

I never would have guessed this one would be a hit but it's here to stay.

Kyler

Over the years I have spent a lot of time shooting prairie dogs with the 22 LR and 22 WMR rifles. Since I got the 17 HMR and 17 HM2 rifles the 22 rimfires stay at home. I now use the 17 HM2 for shots out to 80 Yds and the 17 HMR for shots out to 150 Yds when prairie dog shooting.

Peter: Pardon my slow reply. My 17 HMR Rifle is the Ruger heavy barrel model. I call it the Ruger 77/17 V/T but the real model number is 77/17VMBBZ!
A mouthful that model number is!
My Rifle has the 24" heavy barrel and is all finished in brightly polished stainless - the current model of this Rifle is finished in what is called "Target Grey". The Ruger 77 has a wonderfully comfortable and utilitarian wide forearmed Varmint style stock - it fits me perfectly.
I have had my 17 HMR Rifle along on many excursions since I last posted and I think I will have to agree with one of the more recent posters - the death knell (slowly tolling bell) for the 22 Magnum just started sounding!
The accuracy superiority alone of the 17 HMR over the 22 Magnum would be enough to kill off the 22 Mag, but when you throw in the vastly superior ballistics (BOTH trajectory wise and wind drift wise) of the 17 HMR - well its just a matter of time til the 22 Magnum gasps its last!
I also have attended numerous Gunshows since we last talked and countless Gunshops and Gunstores. Based on my pointed questions and intense observations - for all intents and purposes the 22 Magnum is dead!
Ammo sales I am sure will continue for 15 to 25 years but its formerly feeble grasp on "life" has now been lost completely!
For instance in my little town here in SW Montana the owner of a combination hock shop and gunstore has had a 22 Magnum Rifle in his racks for two years! During that time he has sold more than 50 Rifles in 17 HMR! I was in his shop one morning last week when he sold TWO (2!) 17 HMR Rifles to be used on Fox and Coyote!
The word is out on the lethality of this round on both Fox and Coyote - it WORKS within its reasonable ranges for these creatures!
Now, as for me, I have owned way more 22 Magnum Rifles than I care to admit to over the last 40 years!
You might say I refused to give up on a BAD THING!
I have learned my lesson - I will keep the few 22 Magnum Rifles and pistols I have left on hand - but will never even consider buying another 22 Magnum for field use!
Long live the wonderful 17 HMR - the new KING of rimfires!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy