Don't get caught up in all this 17 cal stuff. Its new and some in experienced guys think its the living end. You can do better with a 22 mag. Get a Volquartsen 22 mag if you want a fine rifle. They can not be beat. 17 cal has a drop after 75 yards not 150 as some dope said.
Man, first of all, you've got a chip on your shoulder the size of a dreadnaught's keel, buddy. You remind me of the pubescent punk that I was at age 13. How old are you anyway? Because if you're much older than 16 I'd say that you should be ashamed of yourself for such adolecent behavior.
Secondly, I don't think that you understand external ballistics very well, since any bullet from any gun "has a drop" the instant is clears the crown of the muzzle. Just becase it's going away from the ground doesn't mean that gravity isn't accellerating it toward the ground. And from all the charts I've seen, the .17HMR shoots a heck of a lot flatter and is quite a bit more accurate than a typical .22WMR. And because it uses premium high BC varmint bullets (V-Max and TNT to name two) at high velocity it'll definately mess up anything from a groundhog on down out to 200 yards or more. I think that the .17HMR, of all the newest cartridges introduced in the last 5 years, is one of only a few that really fills a useful nitch and will probably not become obsolete in 10 years like so many other "new and improved" cartridges will. In fact, I can see the .22WMR becoming obsolecent in 10 years because of the .17HMR.
But hey, if you like your .22WMR so much, then shoot it, but don't bash others just because they choose to use a different, and in many ways superior cartridge.
From what I've seen of it, I think it's a nifty little short range light varminter. I resist the urge to buy one ever time I walk into Ganger Mtn. For $200 bucks it's hard to resist for a Savage .17HMR it's been tough to keep one from finding it's way into my safe!
Mike