17HMR ?'s

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lizziedog1

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I am about to buy a Savage Rifle in 17HMR. I have been invited to shoot ground squirrels around here. The problem with using a 22LR is ricochets, the area I'll be shooting in does have some homes around it. From what I hear, the 17HMR's bullets are suppose to be less ricochet prone.

Is there any truth to this? Is the HMR a bit safer is this regard?

I know that with any gun the shooter needs to test a variety of ammo to find what it likes. There does seem to be few different types of HMR ammo. For those of you that are HMR shooters, which ammo have you had the best luck with?

One more question. At what distance should I sight it in at?
 
I sighted mine in at 100 yards honestly. .17hmr is very flat shooting compared to .22lr. As for being less ricochet prone, they lighter bullets traveling faster: they tend to disintigrate when they hit things, IME
 
The Horandy vmax rounds tend to disintegrate almost completely upon impact, making them, IMO, much safer than the .22 in that regard. However, when shooting around occupied structures, no chances should be taken regardless of ammo type. My marlin VST shoots the vmax rounds better than the hollowpoints of FMJ rounds, and the Vmax's are likley what you'll want to shoot if you are looking for the least likely bullet to ricochet on impact.
 
I own a Savage 17 HMR, probably the same model as yours and I most certainly agree with two gentlemen above that the 17 HMR bullet tend to diisintagrete upon hitting a solid object or surface, but hopefully we all are safe and responsible shooters and know what's behind our target.
 
Lizzie, the .22 rimfire round are notorious for ricochets. The .17HMR with its light pill and high velocity tends to break apart on impact. Even when it doesn't disintegrate its so light that it sheds its energy pretty fast after impact. Its a safer round ricochet wise then any of the .22 rimfire rounds.
 
I have shot several 1000 rounds out of my 17. I have yet to hear the whistle of a ricochet.
not that it wont. I shoot paper with my 17. You can find fragments of the 17 all over the dirt back stop. So im pretty confident in saying the 17 will & does come apart from hitting paper targets.
 
Everything I heard points to explosive impacts with the 17, very safe. On that note, I hear the same thing about CCI Stingers in .22LR. Not saying the stingers are better, but they may satisfy you for the situation.
 
Don't worry about matching ammo to the gun in this case - most of the 17HMR ammo is made in the same factory, with only minor variations in jacket thickness and powder blends. The difference in accuracy will be tiny, akin to simply lot variations in many other brands.

As long as you stick to the same bullet type and weight, you shouldn't notice enough of a shift to effect anything in the field. If you were shooting rimfire benchrest then you may have to consider it, but my experience hunting with a 17HMR says no for your use.
 
I have killed loads of big hogs with my Savage .17hmr and 20 grain bullets, they sure didnt disintegrate, they did do massive internal damage, blowing up the heart, lungs etc. I am glad I aint got no houses around me for miles. the Savage 93 is a great lil accurate fun rifle. cheap way to kill hogs.
 
Wouldn't really put it at "safe" around houses. What if you miss and it doesn't hit something first? I think on the box it says that the bullet will go 3 miles or something like that. Be careful listening to someone saying you are safer or safe at all with these when homes and people are involved. That being said you will like the .17 HMR it is a fantastic round.
 
Ever tried to shoot squirrels past 200 yards? I didnt think so. Anything over 200 yards is .223 territory an up in caliber, not rimfire for any substantial hits.

lizziegod1, I would sight it in at 25 or 50 yards. Not going to be much vertical change between those two. If its open sights even better. If not, use low power magnification to hunt with. Its hard to follow squirrels with you can see the hairs on their head.
 
Coyotes at 150 or so is a breeze with this cartridge. Past 200 is really pointless for this caliber. Still think you could kill squirrels at 200 with 0 wind pretty easy. For sure at 199 before it drops off like crazy at 200. :D
 
I decided to sight her in at fifty yards at the first range session. Then I decided to go kicking around the desert with it. I spotted a jackrabbit at about fifty yards. I aimed a bit over the bunny, the bullet went a bit over the it. It does shoot flat.

How often should a gun in this caliber be cleaned? Do you go by rimfire standards or centerfire standards?
 
Once you learn to shoot the 17HMR you will soon realize that it is a wonderful rimfire cartridge with an effective range of 150 yards, and trying to push it farther will be a study in frustration. This is no difference between the effective range of a 22 LR out to 100 yards and the 17 HMR just giving you an extra 50 yards.
 
Dont worry about cleaning it too much if its a bolt action. It shoots better dirty because the rifling is filled in where it needs to be and the bullet is not scraping against bare metal every shot. Cleaning it too much can eventually wear a barrel out, but that is more of a problem in bigger rifles. Pick up a bore snake and run it through once every couple hundred rounds and you will be fine. Wipe down the bolt and you are good to go.
 
I LOVE me some .17HMR!:) I got it just for ground squirrels ("gophers" around here). If you can see it, you can shoot for it. I am so impressed with this gun (CZ 452 Varmint) and this caliber. I haven't shot my .22 since I got this. I have only heard one ricochet with the .17 so far.

My gopher "crack" addiction is costing me about $30 a day in ammo!:banghead: It was cheaper when my gopher range was 50 miles away, but I found one only about 6 miles from my house, so I'll go out for a couple of hours when I feel the shakes coming on.:evil:

Speedster
 
They are far less ricochet prone than most other cartridges, especially .22LR, FMJ, and pistol cartridges. I really like the cartridge, though it is not a adequate replacement for the .22LR (the inverse is also true).

Last month I managed the following group at 100yds. (BTW it's 5 shots...three in the same hole, one to the left then one over-corrected for) with my Savage 93R17-TR:

May11.gif

This was using Winchester Supreme 20gr. HPs IIRC, the 17gr. BTs didn't do remotely as well. As far as cleaning goes, I believe cleaning is required at more frequent intervals than other rimfires because it doesn't fire lubricated (wax coated) projectiles; though I have only cleaned mine once (before firing it) and it seems to be doing just fine (though I have only a few hundred rounds into it thus far).

:)
 
Never tried it, and it's probably pushing it a bit, but I would say it could take one at moderate range (less than about 150yds.). A Coyote is about as big as I would go though. Also, if I were specifically going after yotes I would lean towards a small bore centerfire (.22Hornet or greater) so shot placement isn't as critical at longer ranges.

:)
 
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Yesterday I went to the range and tested a half dozen different 17HMR rounds. The rifle doesn't like the Winchester ammo too much. Not that it wasn't that bad, but if grouped the others better.

Talk about groups. All the ammo hit the target pretty close to the same area. No scope adjustments are needed.

It does seem to like the Hornady 20 grainers just a tad more. Not a big difference, but one none the less.

Today I am going to test it on reactive targets (jackrabbits)

I know that some 17HMR handguns are out there.

Has anyone tried any of them?
 
I think you will find that jackrabbits just go to pieces when hit by a .17HMR. Anyways have fun with it, I think you will find the .17HMR will do just about everything you ask of it within reason.
 
re:Jeff F

I think you will find that jackrabbits just go to pieces when hit by a .17HMR.
Click to expand...

I went and did a little varmint shooting this morning with the gun. I nailed two gophers for sure and one maybe. I also hit a jackrabbit, no doubt. It was about 20 yards away. He was standing straight up. I put the crosshairs on his head. I pulled the trigger and made a contribution to the local food chain.

This gun and caliber are awesone. I am calling it my pellet gun on steroids.:D
 
Warning, Graphic Details!!!

I have a new nickname for the 17HMR. I'm going to call it my WBD, weapon of bunny destruction.

Yesterday I was walking around the desert. I was in an area saturated with jackrabbits. The problem was that the brush was pretty thick. I would only catch glimpses of hares running through the different paths. They were not offering any easy shots.

Then I was in a more open area. I spotted a jackrabbit parked in the shade of some sage brush. It was about twenty yards away. There was nothing to take a rested shot from. So I dropped to a knee and planted the crosshairs on him. I pulled the trigger and it just dropped on the spot. It didn't even do any kicking. Even with head shots, they do that sometimes.

I went to exam it. Things that were suppose to be inside the the rabbit were outside of it. In other words I disembowled the creature. I left it for the scavengers to eat. It was going to be any easy meal for them, the HMR did all the hard work for them.

This is one awesome little gun and little cartridge. Its funny, you look at an HMR round and think that it couldn't possibly hurt anything. It is a weapon of mass destruction, at least on unwary hares.
 
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