Is my gun big enough?

[tim jurczak]

Hey everybody, looking for a little reassurnce here. Last fall I bought a new Remington LVSF in .17 Rem for late winter early spring wolf calling. My friends have been laughing at my new toy gun and think there is no way it will take a wolf. Just getting into wolf hunting I haven't much practical experience. I did shoot one few years ago while hunting deer with a .243 and it just ran away. I feel bullets made for deer don't expand properly on k-9 and violent expansion via varmint bullets is best. Fwiw none of my friends ever heard of the 17 Rem let alone shot one til they saw mine.

Tim J.

 

[roninflag]

i have not shot a wolf. where are you hunting them?? what ammo were using?? in outdoor life a guide there reccomends a .257 weatherby. the .17 is a fine round for prairie dogs. i have seen it fail on coyote they are much smaller than wolf.

 

[SBruce]

I've never shot a wolf, but I have shot hundreds of coyotes. IMO, the 17 is too small for most shots I've ever had at coyotes, and not enough gun for wolf.

IMO, the 17 is a great cartridge for praire dogs, jackrabbits, chucks and such, but not enough bullet weight for the bigger varmints. Personally, I'd try and go with 243 as a minumum, and use bullets that are varmint class, but on the heavy side, or big game class but on the light side.

I am not saying the 17 won't kill one with the right shot placement, but they can be dangerous animals..........are you willing to risk your life on it? They run in packs usually too I've heard/seen on video. They drag down elk and moose and horse size animals. I've seen video of them running off Grizzly Bears!

 

[royinidaho]

Well......it all depends..........

Do ya wanna kill them DRT or do you want a dead wolf every once in a while?

I've shot plenty of small critters with the 17. Mainly house cats, magpies, jackrabbits and such. Worked pretty well.

I've never thought the 17 as a large animal cartridge. However it does well on yotes.

As far as large calibers not working on K-9s, I tend to dissagree, fairly strongly.

I've taken plenty of yotes with a 270 Win and 140gr bullets of about every ilk. Lost Rivers, Nosler, Hornady and haven't ruined a hide or lost a yote that was hit.

Wolves are just big dumb dogs. Go for it.

 

[partisan1911]

I have shot a couple wolves up here in AK. I would think of them as a small deer but with more will to live. In my opinion a .17 would be too small. I have used my .223 but a .243 would give you a little more range which is pretty important. They tend to be a very careful animal when approaching your calls.

 

[smoked]

more bullet selection than anything, i lost 2 yotes this year with a .223 using what i thought would work great but it didnt, 40 gr v-max at 3900 fps is dropping them, but they get up and run off, going to try the 50 gr noslers next at about 34-3500 fps, but for now the .223 is demoted for squirells and chucks, i am having no problems with deer grade bullets expanding on coyotes so they should work on wolves, in my opinion for wolves like mentioned earlier, the .243 would be great with heavy varmint or light deer loads.

 

[Mark Brendemuehl]

I am a firm believer in "bring enough gun." Though a .17 could do it under the right circumstances, what are the odds you will have the right circumstances? I too would say go with something more like a 6mm, or .243 at a minimum.
Mark

 

[roninflag]

tim- i am quite envious. i have never shot a wolf. i have shot over 250 coyotes mostly with a .243. additionally i have shot several antelope, 20+ deer, and guided three guys that shot elk with a .243. it is an accurate and deadly cartridge.

 

[bigngreen]

No, your gun is not big enough!! A 17 rem is great for coyotes but you have to be careful to stay away from the front shoulder and watch it in the wind. Wolves can haul the mail! Most guys around here shoot a couple with the coyote rifle then start packing the deer rifle and loads after that, they can take a 22-250 like a rock star and I would not shoot them with varmint bullets unless it was all I was packn. Still a dead wolf is a good wolf, Rock on!!!!

 

[blanket]

I've never shot a wolf, but I have shot hundreds of coyotes. IMO, the 17 is too small for most shots I've ever had at coyotes, and not enough gun for wolf.

IMO, the 17 is a great cartridge for praire dogs, jackrabbits, chucks and such, but not enough bullet weight for the bigger varmints. Personally, I'd try and go with 243 as a minumum, and use bullets that are varmint class, but on the heavy side, or big game class but on the light side.

I am not saying the 17 won't kill one with the right shot placement, but they can be dangerous animals..........are you willing to risk your life on it? They run in packs usually too I've heard/seen on video. They drag down elk and moose and horse size animals. I've seen video of them running off Grizzly Bears!

+1 I have not shot a wolf, dearly love the little 17's but they are not ideal for anything above a fox Russ

 

[436]

Thought I might jump in here for a moment... The .17 Rem really is a pretty neat cartridge... I've had a few rifles and shot quite a few critters up to and including white tail deer with the .17 Rem while living in Idaho; although most my varmint hunting was in done Eastern Washington state. I've had my days with the caliber, I found that the factory 25gr load were very hard to beat back then. So with that in mind I set out to duplicate the factory load, this was back when you could buy the Remington 25gr HP bullet and not many others.

As it turned out I did develop a load for my M700's which were dead nuts on the factory specifications. When I shot the factory ammo, then my loads, they were all in the same hole, so to speak.
The load: Remington brass
Remington 25gr HP
Remington 7 ½ BR primer
The powder was a little harder…. Looking at the factory powder reminded me of a powder I had seen or used before'.., the weight and powder would be the key. As I checked through many of my power I found {then one of the newer ones as was the .17 Remington} in the form of VihtaVuori N-135
I weighed the power in the factory .17 Rem at about 22.8gr… looking at the powders in comparison they virtually looked identical. So that's where I started under by 20% of the 22.8gr factory load... Well to make a long story short… the factory load had a very consistent 4040 fps. When I reached .22.8grs in my M700 using N-135 it was also a very consistent 4040 fps. Without pressure what so ever'.., bingo! I had their load. And it shot like a dream from all my rifles.

Next was the field, granted I'd had it out with other loads…. And was never really happy with it'…, until now!
Anything in the 300 yard mark was mine… 301 yards it seemed to be iffy I'm sure that's just me an the way I think about.. I did make some very long shot's with that load on Ground Hog; far beyond that 301 yard mark. But they all just seemed to lie down and die no real interaction with the bullet... But at 300 and under… stone dead and "smack" the hell out of them.

The same with Coyotes, Badgers and Bob cat. The White tail at 250 yards neck or head shots were just anchored. I have a few friends with cattle ranches and they'd ask me in during caving time to weed out the Coyotes that kept bothering the heifers and keeping them from dropping.... not to mention any new born they could sink their teeth into. The rancher as I did liked the very low ricochet factor of the .17 Rem if I missed near the cattle or other live stock. A lot of farmers and ranchers bought the .17 Remington rifles.

For Coyotes back then I used a Leupold M8 6X {great all round glass and still is} with duplex reticle, this helped me range the dog and keep him in that 300 yard mark. If he was stand and his feet to head was inside the heavy plex he was 300 yards. If he was standing and feet on bottom plex and head at the center if the cross hair he was 600… so if they weren't plex to plex I didn't take the shot.

Well anyway… I've always liked the.17 Remington and still have a sweet spot for it. I still have tons for factory Remington 25gr bullets and brass left over and I know where there's a very nice lightly used .17 Remington M700 that might be for sale; who knows "beaver might shine again" some day.
Just thought I'd add my .02
436

Ps. Wolf? Yeah…. I'm betting it would kill one stone dead.

 

[Jayhawk]

Totally agree on big enough IF you stay away from the shoulder!! I have owned as many as 2 of these, one a lvsf like yours and the other which I still have a heavy Rem vs in stainless. Both guns have accounted for many furbearing animals, in my opinion this is what the 17 Rem is made for. One tiny hole in, no exit and the insides are just mush! Have shot both factory Rem cartridges with the 25 Hornady but eventually turned to the 30 grain Bergers and the 30 Golds for a little more anchoring power. This cartridge is carried by many people that pelt hunt for a living....good luck with the wolf hunt!

 

[MHO]

I have to agree. Its a little small. I would definitely recommend you bumping it up a little. Just like a previous reply"a dead wolf is a good wolf"

 

[264WinMag-8mmRemMag]

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