Read an article in an African magazine about the use of the 17 on the small PG in Africa...Have overlooked the caliber as Ive had a Rem 5MM junker that shoots like a bench rest rifle for about 40 or more years..but the 17 sounds like a neat rock chuck, etc gun..

Only 17 I have used was the 17 HMR.

Totally useless on guinea fowl unless hit in the neck or head.

Body shots and they fly off.

Took me a while to learn this.

Our driver, was making fun of me.

"Saeedi my friend. 4 shots no chicken!?? Hahahaha. Yesterday 3 shots 3 buffalo! Hahahaha"

perhaps you just need bigger targets i find the 17 very useful in shooting the flies off cattle at 200 or so

I like my 5MM Rem Rimfire, shot a couple of deer with it, one got tied up in barbwire, the other in a steel trap and broke its leg, and a number of Javalina...the 17 Rem MV is 2550 FPS,not to shabby. I didn,t like the hot shot 17s due t0 a number of problems.

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
I like my 5MM Rem Rimfire, shot a couple of deer with it, one got tied up in barbwire, the other in a steel trap and broke its leg, and a number of Javalina...the 17 Rem MV is 2550 FPS,not to shabby. I didn,t like the hot shot 17s due t0 a number of problems.

One in barbwire, one in a trap.

Impressive. Not.

quote:

Originally posted by butchloc:
perhaps you just need bigger targets i find the 17 very useful in shooting the flies off cattle at 200 or so

I knew a girl that was Deathly Afraid of flies----til she opened one!

Hip

I have shot 17's since 1961 when I was impressed by the killing power of a 25 gr bullet. I have shot 5 whitetails with the latest 17 Rem and all were neck shots. I am now on the 204 kick and hope to use it in a whitetail hunt. I never have played with a 5MM rimfire as velocity was too slow.

I like the high velocity 204 Ruger at around 4000 ft per sec. The 40 gr bullets shot very accurate in my Mini Mauser custom and I am playing with a special 204 at a reduced fps on a Martini single shot made with about .100 shorter than a 223 case. I loaded it down some to be able to extract the fired case easily.

RCraig, as a rancher and game manager, Ive had to put a number of wounded deer and antelope out of their misery, if the situation called for it..

The 17 Im referring to is the later ones that are in competition with a 22 magnum or 5mm..

Saeed's story on the 17 HMR on guinea fowl is interesting. I shot one with the 17 HRM with a 17 grn V-Max and the same thing happened - it flew off. Then I shot several with the 20 grain Hornady XTP round and they all died where they stood. I then used the 20 grn XTP round to take bat earned fox, cape fox, dassies, and some interesting ducks, and they all dropped where they stood. The harder 20 grn XTP bullet worked perfectly. There was absolutely no damage to the animals either, which I was happy about since I was collecting the animals for taxidermy. At home, I have used the 20 grn XTP load on red fox, racoon, and groundhogs, all with dead-in-their-tracks results. The 20 grn XTP bullet is all I shoot now. The 17 v-max round is too fragile on anything with the slightest resistance. For example, I shot a crow broadside and the 17 grain v-max exploded on the wing bones and only broke the bird's wing. The 20 grn XTP breaks through the wing bone and goes through the crow. My only frustration with the round is that in wind, it's unreliable beyond 50 yards.

Bullet break up has been known to cause no damage on game.

That is why years ago hunters in Africa preferred full metal jacket bullets.

Today mono metals bullets work wonders.

Many years ago I shot a ground squirrel with a 20 inch 17 Rem Contender and it's front end was held onto the back end by a half inch strip of skin, it was deadly on the right animal with the right bullet.
I had a Ruger American 17 Hmr and it was laser accurate on several crows.

Steve......

CCI makes a full metal jacket load for he 17 HMR. Has anyone here tried them?

The only .17 I have is a .17 HMR which has been fun and accurate for me.

I thought about getting a .17 M2 pistol, but haven’t seen one in years- although I do see the ammo around.

I’ve never gotten a sub .22 caliber centerfire. Is there some reason that they are more useful or better for than a .22 hornet/.223/.22-250/.223 WSSM?

If so, maybe I should look for one.

At one point I thought an over 4000 FPS bullet would be utterly devastating for varmints, but found with 40 grain bullets in my .223 WSSM and light loads in my .25/06 that they really didn’t perform that differently than the standard bullets in the 3k velocity zone.

So can anyone convince me that I “need” one in the nebulous sense that a gun nut needs any new rifle?

quote:

Only 17 I have used was the 17 HMR.

Totally useless on guinea fowl unless hit in the neck or head.

Body shots and they fly off.

I had the same problems with rabbits with the 17HMR.

May it was the ammo.

This is the Rim fire forum.

There is a huge difference between the center fire 17's and the rim fire ones.

My son has a Savage in 17HMR. He used to have a coon problem. Accurate & Deadly.

I have two Winchester 17 WSM's. Super fast and deadly.

Never bothered with a 17. But, I have a 22 magnum and 22 Hornet.