17 HMR "lackluster"

[Screaminweasil]

Went out for a final shoot in this particular private field the other day. Talked with the rancher and he said he's thinking of putting out gopher poison, sad deal for us varmint shooters. He is over-run with squeaks and despite letting many shoot his property, he is losing money with crop damage every year. I told him, not to poison them and that i'd come out more often to kill them. I'm not one to "wear out my welcome", so I don't hang out on a particular piece of ground when i'm lucky enough to be granted permission. Two or three shoots a season and I spread myself out to not be redundant.


Anyway, I shot my Ruger 77/17 custom 20" Volquartzen bull barrel .17hmr. I haven't shot an HMR on squeaks since 2005.

I was surprised by it's "lackluster" killing power and "dramatics". Most shots were 50 yards to 125 yards. I was using CCI A17 ammo which is 100 FPS faster than any other .17 HMR ammo.

I guess I'm just used to the 20gr V max out of the .17 WSM and 40 grain Varmageddon tipped loads from the hornets.

Regardless, I had a 1.5 hours blasting squeaks out the window of the F150..............thankfully legal here in Oregon on PRIVATE ground.

Shot up all 200 rounds and killed around 160 squeaks...........wind got the best of me (and the lowely HMR).

This setup sure is accurate though, turning in several 1/4" groups at 100 yards with this ammo.

Only reason I own this rifle is because I couldn't resist the absolute STEAL of a sale price on Gunbroker last year. It came with a leupold compact 3-9 stainless scope as well.

I sold the scope and am into the rifle all told............under $350. That's barely more than the cost of the barrel. Pays to be lucky sometimes.

[Bill K]

Do not get the explosive factor, that some of the larger 17 & 20 calibers do, but in my 17HMR the Hornady NTX 15.5 grain does do a better job and is more accurate than the normal 17grain bullets in CCI & Hornady line. V-max, etc. Have you tried them in your rifle ? Bill K Looks like a nice shooting field, even with the high alfalfa.)

[Screaminweasil]

Originally Posted by Bill K

Do not get the explosive factor, that some of the larger 17 & 20 calibers do, but in my 17HMR the Hornady NTX 15.5 grain does do a better job and is more accurate than the normal 17grain bullets in CCI & Hornady line. V-max, etc. Have you tried them in your rifle ? Bill K Looks like a nice shooting field, even with the high alfalfa.)

I have not tried that load Bill. I do think this CCI load is a great one. I was just used to more of a spectacle.....just the nature of the 17 HMR beast I think. Killed them dead.....just kinda "Blah". Love the rifle and accuracy I get from it though.

After shooting centerfires.......its kinda hard to get excited with the smaller rimfires I guess. Still a fun afternoon. ...........now a 22 mag with CCI 30 gr TNT loads.....that makes a spectacle out to 125 yards for sure. That combo gets me excited.

[Bill K]

Know what you mean, but my partner & I use our hummers, for the shots under and around 150 yrds. Still fun, even if they do not do the acrobatics the other cal's cause. Bill K

[Eric Mayer]

One of the larger ranches I hunt spent $20K on poison this year and will probably not use it next year. They did not see the ROI on the money spent, so maybe that's a good thing for us. I'm a lot like you and try to float around various spots during the spring. However, more and more I am getting asked to come back and kill as many as I can!

Since moving up to the 17WSM as my main rimfire round, the 17HMR and 22 Magnum have been less impressive for me as well. The A17s and the new VNT ammo seem to do a better job, but it's nothing like the WSM rounds.

VERY nice rifle, btw!

[B23]

Originally Posted by Eric Mayer

One of the larger ranches I hunt spent $20K on poison this year and will probably not use it next year. They did not see the ROI on the money spent, so maybe that's a good thing for us. I'm a lot like you and try to float around various spots during the spring. However, more and more I am getting asked to come back and kill as many as I can!

Since moving up to the 17WSM as my main rimfire round, the 17HMR and 22 Magnum have been less impressive for me as well. The A17s and the new VNT ammo seem to do a better job, but it's nothing like the WSM rounds.

VERY nice rifle, btw!

Yeah but you shoot one of those Franklin Arms 17 WSM things and they don't shoot as well as our POS Bmags and you probably miss a lot so those farmers know there's no real threat of you wiping them out.

[Eric Mayer]

One? Shoot! I hammer them with a couple of them mounted to a Humvee, fed by belt mags that I custom made myself. Add the Binary trigger system from Franklin and I'm mowing down hundreds a MINUTE!! Btw, because I shoot so many rounds/squirrels, UPS airdrops my ammo directly from Winchester into the field to restock my belt mags.

I heard they are really canceling the poison because I've killed so many! My nickname is "Poison-Pill" .

Actually, I was speaking with my cameraman about doing some hunts where I leave all the camera equipment at home and just have fun. We normally have at least one day of open shooting, but it would be nice to just shoot for 3 or 4 days and not have to worry about getting anything on camera.

Last year was my best morning, from one spot, was 121 Belding GS. I'm hoping to top that this year, as we have plans to hit a ranch where their shooters shot 80,000 rounds last year and barely made a dent. It should be interesting!

[Bayou City Boy]

I've never been a big RF person, but after you shoot a 17 WSM, the other RF rounds do become rather "lackluster". Still, a 22 WMR gives good results also.....

JMO - BCB

[Daryl]

CCI advertises 1,650fps for those17gr., however in an article in Rifle magazine, or Handloader, I saw it recorded at 1,450fps, over 100fps slower than the standard HMR 17gr. produced in the same rifle.

I have not chorno'd them, but they are more accurate in my 'new' Marlin than any other 17gr. with 20gr. HP's being best.
This is a FAST rifle fro some reason doing 2 ,527fps with 20gr. HP and 2,630fps with 17 Vmax, so I should run the CCI's over the clock - one of these days.

I found with chest hits using the 17gr. Vmax, instant kills. With a good rest(bench) we are able to do this to 200yards. Past that range, too many crawl-offs. Under 200yards - rare event.

Inside 150yards, the little guys are usually pretty much emptied out the entrance hole.

These are Columbia Ground squirrels though and might give a bit more resistance to the bullets, making for more explosive results on the close ones.

[Screaminweasil]

Eric:
You are at a killing advantage with those "fully semi automatic" Franklins!!

Hal:
It's all about perspective; I remember when the .17 HMR came out. I had never owned a .22 mag, all I ever had shot at ground squirrels was a 22LR. I remember thinking......"Wow" with the HMR results. Not so much anymore.

And I find it interesting that I still hear on the "internet" that it's not worth getting a 17 WSM if you have an HMR.

Haha.......yeah right Coming from the "experts" that have never shot a .17 WSM on game. That thing absolutely rips. Reminds me of a 22 hornet in a lot of ways. Whole new level of Rimfire indeed.

I could live without the .17 HMR, but that's based off of actual field use

If my HMR wasn't a sweet little junky Ruger with a Volquartzen barrel, I'd send it down the road. My son will get good use out of it in the future; I'll keep it around.

And, I LOVE the .22 mag. My Ruger 77/22 mag with stainless fluted sporter green mountain barrel shooting 30 gr V maxes or 30 gr TNT HPs makes a pretty nasty mess outta ground squirrels out to 125 yards. I'd take that over any .17 HMR, any day.

Daryl:
I have shot these CCI A17 side by side with Hornady 17gr and I can tell the CCI have more "poop". Louder and sure seemed like a bit more punch, didn't chrony though, so can't say for sure. I will say they are incredibly accurate.
Don't get me wrong, I'm sure i'm being too hard on the little .17 HMR. It seemed to do the job well enough, just nothing special. Kinda like ordering a house hamburger that's served on a dry bun with ketchup and a side of soggy fries. Edible, but certainly "lackluster", leaving you hungry for something else.

I'll stick to my .17 WSM and bigger for any kind of ground dwelling squeaks, but it was fun in any event and certainly killed most of them on the spot. I was shooting mostly this years young ground squirrels (Beldings), so they were less than 1/2 the size of a Columbian. My .17 WSM would have blown these literally in many tiny pieces. The HMR just knocked them dead without ripping them apart. A few at 50 yards turned inside out, but there would have been pieces flying with a .17 WSM. Crazy how much difference between those two rounds.

And, you can buy the .17 WSM ammo for nearly the same price as HMR, often under $10 per 50 on sale in my neck of the woods, or online.

I have a MGM 22" Stainless Bull contender setup in .17 WSM. Pretty sweet rig, I shot over 1,000 Beldings with it last year, so I'm speaking from experience here.