Gundigest

My father has a Ruger 77/22LR and a 24" .223 barrel for his contender. He said he wanted a 17HMR. I told him he didn't need one he has a lot of guns he never shoots. I told him his .22 will take care of all the cheap plinking with xpert ammo and small game with velocitor ammo. I also said that he hads a .223 which will work for varmint and I hand load so I can load it down to .22 hornet performance. I don't think he needs a 17HMR and he doesn't shoot the guns he has. The only thing he would use it for is sqirel hunting. What does everyone else think?

gopher slayer

i love my 17hmr, i dont know what i did without it(well i saved money on ammo). once you get a hold of one there just soo much fun to shoot. there just so damn accurate. and they sure make a mess of gophers and rabbits. for squirrel hunting he would only want to take head shots or use only the tnts bullets because the v max will rip em in two. The cheap guns such as the marlins or savages will give him 5 shots dime size groups easy and better with higher power scope and a steadier rest. I know if i only had my .22 i wouldnt have made that 155 yard shot on that gopher or pound that one gopher town from 105 yards. but then agian my .22 had open sights.

trailer

I would have to agree that the 17HMR isn’t required but it’s fun to shoot.

Aught Six

I'm a .22LR kind of guy myself when it comes to small game. While the .17HMR is fun for plinking, I don't plan on buying one just for that. Not to mention that using the .17HMR on squirrel is akin to using a .300 Mag on deer. Really shreds the bejeezus out of the meat.

gopher slayer

like your compiarison it all depends on what bullets you use. Ive seen a 300 win mag to a 200 pound mulie using nosler partitions and it wasnt bad at all. the TnT in the 17hmr wont do much to squirles . it passes through without to much damage on gopher anyways. it leave an exit hole similar to a .22

coyotejohn

Needs a gun and wants a gun are two different things, you should nothave to need a gun to want a gun! Don't give him a hard time - He wants the GUN....

missed_another

i just talked myself into a savage .17 about a month ago. and the thrill of shooting it is just about gone already. as far as i can see it is just an expensive to shoot plinker. it is fun to shoot and it is one of the best shooting guns i have. but for $10.00 a box for shells is way out of line for this little gun. i still have not fugured out what i am going to use it for. i will stick with one of my .22's for close practice shooting and one of my .223's for any distant practice.

North Texan

Amen to that! Nothing wrong with adding another gun to the collection.

Gundigest

He is adding an SBE II to the collection, if he were to buy the 17 HMR he would never shoot it. He doesn't shoot the guns he has. I use his guns more than he does and I have my own .22 and .223 so I don't need it either.

Howler

You need to find a prairie dog town with a bunch of un-educated targets! That will answer your question about what the 17 HMR is good for!!