Buying a .17hmr
 

I think i am going to buy a 17hmr just for messing around maybe some squirrels, looked at the Marlin 917 would like some opinions on the rifle and some others please, Thanks

I'll pitch in that the 2 Savage 17HMRs I've played with have worked quite well. No problems, other than the cost of shooting a 17HMR.

I have a savage 93r17 BTV and its well worth the money. I got it at dicks sporting goods for $299 and that was with a bushnell scope. I'd highly recommend looking looking at those.

I use to have a Ruger 77/17 in 17 HMR until it got stolen from me during a break in at my apartment. I sure did love that gun. It was accurate even out there at 100 yards. I used it for squirrel hunting multiple times. Go for head shots because if you hit the body, it pretty much destroys all the meat. The Ruger is probably the most expensive way to go but I had a lot of experience with bolt action Ruger rimfire rifles and I love them. I now have a Ruger 77/17 in 17 Mach 2 and a 77/22 in 22 long rifle. They have all been great rifles.

here is what I'm looking at myself.



http://www.marlinfirearms.com/Firear...m/917VS-CF.asp




FYI;

http://www.chuckhawks.com/compared_1...int_rifles.htm

I haev the Marlin .17 HMR, I absolutely love that gun. We shoot a lot of squirrels, turtles, snakes, my dad even took it up north prarie dog hunting. Very very accurate gun. We will probably pick up a second so we can each have one around the camp.

tHUMBS UP ON THE mARLIN, BOUGHT ONE A COUPLE YEARS AGO, GREAT rifle, shoots nice small groups. I changed the trigger spring and it made a good improvement, eventualy I would like to do a rifle basics trigger in it. Check out www.rimfirecentral.com, it's the place for rimfire's.

My Marlin 917V topped with a 3x9x32 is worth its weight in gold to me!Best lil squirrel gun i ever looked at!Accurate as heck![DISCLAIMER],squirrels and rabbits absolutely HATE this gun!LOL!!!

I have owned the marlin 917v topped with a bushy banner 4-16x40 for 2 years and love it. I've probably pumped through a least a 1500 rounds in the past 2 summers of gopher hunting(my best guess is about 75% kills, the wind can be a b#@ch). Doesn't seem like much, but I also carry my .22 lever with me for the shots 75 yards and below.

savage with accutrigger

thanks for all the input, i think I am going towards the 917v

I also have the 917V, I topped it with a Mueller 4.5-14X40 AO APV scope. Squirrels at 100 yards is a piece of cake, and I've heard stories of guys taking them as far as 175 yards. If you can hit a squirrel in the head at 100 yards a deer won't be a problem to hit come deer season. Here's a pic of mine, I dyed the stock with dark green RIT dye and finished it with Formsby's low gloss tung oil finish.

917 and shes a shooter.

Those are some fine looking guns, anyone else have pics of their set ups?

Save a little money for a descent scope, you don't need to spend a fortune but don't put a $50 scope on a caliber this accurate. Zrex and I both have Mueller scopes on ours, they're the best scope out there for $115.

I was thinking of the BSA but everyone seems to really be down on them

If you really want to get the best 17HMR....get a 22lr. Cheaper than hell to shoot and bucks the wind much better. The 17's are real accurate until you throw in a slight breeze and I can shoot 550 rounds of 22lr for the price of 50 cheap 17's. That's just my opinion but it's a good one.

absolutely not true.
the 17 has less wind drift than the 22.lr and the .22 mag

not to mention trajectory.
17 with a 50 yd zero has 3.1 inches drop at 150 yds
vs the .22 lr which has 19.7 inches drop.
The LR cant hang at any range

I've got a Remington Viper 22LR that I got when they came out, I'm just looking for a new toy

I agree with the 17 HMR having better capability at longer distances in the wind. I know that larger bullets buck the wind better but the 17 HMR is traveling basically 2.5x as fast as 22 which means a lot less time in the wind and the wind will have less effect on it. Longer range shooters are starting to shift to faster bullets these days. When you consider that 22 ammo costs 12 bucks or so for 550 rounds, that is cheap ammo that doesn't produce the accuracy I would like at 100 yards, however all the 17 HMR ammo out there is premium ammo, and when you compare premium 22 ammo to the 17 HMR stuff, the price gap is a lot less.

Decided to go with the Savage 93 with bull barrel it will be in by the weekend, can't wait

Am interested to see what you think of your new savage. I sent my Remington 597 back (recall) and I was given the option of taking a 917 replacement or a cash rebate. I'm taking the rebate (for a Remington gun only) but am looking at a 93 for my next 17hmr.

Good choice. I have a 93 with bull barrel. People talk about ''tackdrivers'' all the time, but let me tell ya, this gun is truly a tackdriver. You can shoot dimes all day at 50yds with no challenge whatsoever