Fans of the 17HMR lets hear some stories......

[Tomcat088]

Originally Posted by mrnyman

Most people confuse and compare the 17 to 22mag and even .22lr, its not, the 17 is in a class by itself, its scary accurate , so scary accurate you might not even want to shoot it much.
That little .17 cal bullet is quite devastating too .22lr doesnt compare and in terms of range none of them comes close to the .17. Its also pretty quiet too.

If you want a fun ,fast, flat shooting rifle get a .17, NO its not a .22.

I wouldn't say that most people confuse the .22 mag for the .17 HMR, and I wouldn't necessarily say it's a "fallacy" to compare the two. The fact is that the .17 HMR is a .22 magnum necked down to the .17 caliber bullet. So it's not a fallacy to compare the two because they have the same case, only different diameter and and weight of bullet. Now because the .17 is so much lighter and more aerodynamic, sure it's going to be flatter shooting. Either way, they're scary accurate, but on a really gusty day I'd rather have the .22 mag, any other time the .17 HMR. Either way, it's a great round, and I'm also a big fan of the 77/22.

[mrnyman]

Tomcat , i meant to hint that most Newbie who go shopping for a rimfire tend to dismiss the 17 as just a another 22lr type gun, not knowing that the the 17 is a much more dynamic round . Sure the 17 is a necked down .22 mag. but the high quality spitzer bullet moving at high speed makes a world of difference ballistically.

Yes the .17 does suffer on windy days. I have a Marlin 883 heavy barrel gun in .22 mag that is scary accurate with Winchester supreme bullets so i,m not knocking the .22 mags ,its my favorite .22

Lets face it .17 ammo cost 10$ a box for a reason- far superior quality control, and accuracy.

mrnyman

[P-11 shooter]

They are interesing little guns. I really don't shoot enough critters to get a deticated mini tack driver. I would really like one, but have to be more realistic and get a nice .22 for the much cheaper ammo.


One of these days, i'll get one.

[bogey1]

Originally Posted by Arch007er

yeah its a really great gun...i have the 77/22(22 mag) with a lilja barrel and it will consistantly shoot under an inch group at 100 yards....and a really flat shooting round too....my drop is only around 3 in at 200yrds (sighted in at 100)...my farthest kill was a crow at 204 yards so dont be shy to cut one loose on a far target....
also be sure and try both the 17 grain and the 20 grain....my gun loves the 17 grain and shoots like shit with the 20's....and friend of mine, his gun is just the opposite .... but we both shoot the hornady's...good luck, im sure you'll enjoy it

is that a dan lilja (the 50 cal guy)? how much how much was the barrel?

[Qtrborecrazy]

Da foxes and hawgs don`t like me no more!

Qtrborecrazy

[Tomcat088]

Originally Posted by bogey1

is that a dan lilja (the 50 cal guy)? how much how much was the barrel?

The rifle is not mine, but yes, I'm almost 100% positive he is referring to Dan Lilja. Dan Lilja is not just a .50 cal guy, he's a quality barrel maker of just about every caliber you can think of. He's also out of necessity a great shooter and extremely knowledgable about barrels, ballistics, etc. Barrel prices will depend on all kinds of things, but I'm sure he can give you some specifics. High quality barrel from different manufacturers can be cut or button rifling, contour, taper, material (stainless, blue, etc), custom rifling, fluted or not; all of these things affect the price. Some manufacturers also have more than one grade of barrel, others have only "top shelf" and all of their barrels are held to one standard. Just to give you an idea, I bought a 26" .30 caliber barrel from Krieger, Stainless steel, 1:10 twist, 4 groove, Remington Sendero Contour and fluted and it cost $387. That's just to get the barrel blank, the barrel still had to be threaded, chambered (for the cartridge) crowned, and installed; so you gotta pay more for the gunsmithing. Because we're talking about rimfire barrels, he might not have paid quite as much for his as my big bore, but some of them are almost the same price. Some rimfire barrels also already come chambered, etc, just depends on the manufacturer, etc. Maybe if he likes, he'll disclose how much that particular barrel was.

[Arch007er]

Originally Posted by bogey1

is that a dan lilja (the 50 cal guy)? how much how much was the barrel?

yea its the same guy...i believe he's out of montana....tomcat is right he makes just about any barrel you could want and they're not too expensive, especially for the quaility...i believe mine was around 300 or just over....but for the most part on the .17's you have to shoot +50yrds until it will run away from factory guns cause even factory .17's are so damn accurate

[Lucas]

I'm jones'n for a 17 in the worst kind of way. I'm looking for either a Savage 93bvts or a Marlin 917VT. I've got so many .22 rifles it's not even funny, I feel the need to add a dedicated mid range rimfire critter killer.

The 17HMR seems like it would nicely bridge the gap I have between .22lr and .243 as varmint rifles.

[Tomcat088]

Isn't that what the .223 is, the gap between the .22lr and .243? I guess if you were kind of thinking about it, the .17 fireball, and .204 would be considered. I personally think the .22-250 surpasses the .243 in terms of varmint rifles, so I wouldn't say it's a "gap" between those two. Either way, they will all blow some stuff up.

[Lucas]

Yeah, I should have worded that differently. I didn't mean to fill a gap as far as capabilities/power, more as a gap in what I would personally use each round for.

I try to keep all shots I make with a .22 within 100 yards, just my comfort zone with my rifle. I think I would be more comfortable with longer shots with a .17 on a day that conditions wer right. If shots over 200 yards may be possible, I'd bring out the .243. Only because it is what I have.

Good call on the other cartridges mentioned, I would love to have an example of each, but my uses and bank account just do not justify those purchases.


Great stories everyone.