17 HMR vs 22 mag

[winmagman]

4ked
I've got both in the Ruger 77. They both shoot pretty well (.75" at 100) and both kill varmits pretty cleanly. The 17 is a little more explosive on impact but also more susceptable to wind drift. The CCI ammo for the 17 seems to be a little tougher than the Federal,Hornady,or Remington I have had it go through gophers without extensive damage, but they are still dead.

Haveing to pick one would be tough, guess thats why I own both.
Chris

 

[brian b]

Actually all of the 17hmr ammo is loaded by CCI ,the Hornady 17gr vmax is exactly the same as the Remington Premier only one has pretty red tips and one has pretty gold tips then there is the TNT's and XTP's but all are loaded by CCI even if they say Rem. or Fed.or Hornady on the box
B

 

[4ked Horn]

Winmagman, How about coyotes? Do you have a prefference or a reccomendation on a max distance for these two rounds on larger varmints.

 

[4ked Horn]

I have a neighbor that wants to buy a rifle for his boys and was thinking of getting the 17 but recently he has heard some negatives about the round not expanding and just poking a hole clean through the critter.

What pros and cons about these rounds are you finding relevant to varmint shooting. In short, which one would you reccomend and why?

 

[lead foot]

If you're only going to have one, I'd buy the .22 mag. The .17 HMR shoots flatter, the .22 mag hits harder.

All 3 of the .22 mag rifles ... winchester 61 mag, Ruger 77/22 (light stainless synthetic), Winchester 9422 ... I've owned would shoot right on MOA with a 3-9X scope and their preferred ammo. That's accurate enough for anything I'd do with a rimfire. I spent quite a bit of time with the Ruger shooting at longer range and found that once I got my range, I could drill soda cans reliably out to a bit over 200 yards.

The .17 HMR is interesting as an addition to the .22 mag, not a replacement for it.

 

[gonehuntingagain]

I guess we will have to go shoot a yote with my 22 mag and see what it does.

Bullet selection has a lot to do with it. A hit in the shoulder with an explosive varmint bullet does nothing to the yote - the yote just stood there looking around until I hit it with the 300 mag. The 22 mag bullet had no penetration, the bullet hit looked like it just broke the skin. I have not hit one with a different bullet. I would venture to guess that a shoulder hit with another type of bullet may not be too good either, and a heart/lung shot would be like shooting a deer in the same spot with the 300 mag at 430 yards where the deer runs 20 yards and topples over.
The selection of 22 mag bullets has come a long way in the last few years, so it may be better to use now.

Price of the ammo may be a consideration. $10/box for .17 or $6 per box of 22 mag. Heck, he should just get a 223 since the ammo isn't much more than a box of .17 ammo. Maybe you could sell him your mini 14, then you could use the proceeds to buy an AR15

[ 11-03-2004: Message edited by: gonehuntingagain ]

 

[winmagman]

4ked
I have only shot 2 coyotes with the 22 mag, 1 with the 17. Inside 100 maybe 150 yds I wouldn't have a preference but beyond that I'd reach for the 22 mag.

The one with the 17 was at about 80 yds. standing broadside, hit him right behind the shoulder and he went down like he was poleaxed.
One of the two with the 22 mag was at a lasered 124 yds also broadside, hit behind the shoulder, went right down but he kicked around a bit before cashing it in. The other was at about 40 yds running straight away, hit him in the back of the head (quite a bit of luck there) dead right there.
Chris

 

[4ked Horn]

Thanks everyone. I still want anyone with input to hop on with their two cents but I wanted to acknoledge all the good input we've had so far.

While we are at it can I get some reccomendations on what rifle you all think would deliver the best bargain in accuracy and useability for a pair of boys that go hunting with their dad ALOT and are just getting to the age where they will start shooting ground vermin and rock chucks and of course the occasional coyote that is to ignorant to flee when the truck stops?

Again, Thanks. I will be printing this all out for the neighbor to read.

 

[SamSpade]

Sounds like I am the only 17 hmr lover here. This little round has brought back more fun into shooting then I have had in a long time. I doubt that it hits harder than a 22 mag. but it is way more explosive and accurate. I don't know if I would take it coyote hunting but if one presented itself under 125 yards or so it should be fine. I have to admit I am not a 22 mag. lover, never could get one to shoot under an inch at 100 yds. Even a custom clark 77/22 mag would only shoot 1-1/2". The first thing I did when the 17 came out was rebarrel that gun and immediately it shot 1/2" groups. There is nothing more fun than shooting black birds at 100+ yards and all you see is a puff of feathers.

 

[IceSniper]

Although i've haven't had the chance to use a .17 yet my choice would be the .22 Magnum. I have an old sterling 1500 thats been bedded in epoxy and had the barrel floated and it will shoot .5 - .75 inch groups at 100y with Winchester Supreme ammo, Remington premiers shoot about the same but they're not worth the extra $13 a box.

With the 34gr jhp supreme i've cleanly killed wallabies and 'roos out to about 270y with chest shots.

For a rifle i like the CZ line, with a little work these guns can be made shoot really well

.

 

[kac1345]

Not to get into a ****in match but I"m hearing a 17HMR puts a clean hole through a Gopher..and only breaks the skin on a yote until whacked with a 300WM why waist you time with either for a young shooter that recoil may be a concern why not go with a .17 Mach4 or even simpler go with a standred .17 rem will flat out roll yotes out to 400 yards with hardly any pelt damage and the repor of the rifle is Nill! ....I would imagine the yungster is going to be supervised so why send him out witha pee shooter to do a mans job ....just curious? maybe I'm way off base here and I applogise id so ...but there are some bettre options and i just thought I would mention a few.

 

[QuietHunter]

I really like the 17 HMR. Flat shooting to 150 yards and I just have not seen one that was not accurate out of the box. Great for prairie dogs in semi-urban areas as the bullets will pretty much always come apart on impact at normal ranges. Fun to shoot, but I would keep expectations realistic.

I would not go out with the intent of hunting coyotes with either the 17 HMR or 22 Mag. They both will kill them, but situations need to be right.

If your are looking for a great solution for low recoil, inexpensive ammo, accuracy and the ability to kill a coyote, get a .223 Remington. You can buy bulk ammo for around $10.00 / 50 which is a little more expensive than the 17 HMR and 22 Mag, but downrange performance is substantially better. Shots on yotes at 300 yards are not out of the question as with the rimfires.

 

[kac1345]

I hope you enjoy sewing! the .223 is gunna put hurt on them for sure but a little .17 going 4000fps at 300-400 yrads will do hardly any damage, IMHO.

 

[QuietHunter]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>I hope you enjoy sewing! the .223 is gunna put hurt on them for sure but a little .17 going 4000fps at 300-400 yrads will do hardly any damage, IMHO. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Depends on the bullet, but I honestly have not cared to much about pelt prices since the fallout in the eighties. Even when I did I never hesitated to shoot one with whatever I had - .22 LR - 30-06 - .54 cal muzzleloader

The real advantage to the .223 is cheap ammo and lots of it. Once you take the step from 22 LR you go to 17 HMR, 22 Mag and 223 Rem. The 223 Rem really gets you the most bang for the buck.