17 hmr

[stringnut]

Has anyone noticed that the same gun writers that praised the 17 hmr a couple of years ago,now condemn it as too small for almost everything? My wife and I use it on everything up to the size of coons and nothing has toddled off more than about 30 feet. The larger animals require more careful shot placement than the small ones of course. However, Ihave talked to users of the 22 wmr and they indicate that shooting a large coon lenghtwise from the rear is a fairly iffy proposition. It seems to me that both 17 hmr and 22 wmr are both done about 100 yds for any of the larger varmints.
Stringnut

[Dclewis]

Im fixing to go buy one. Can you reccomend a good make and model? Sounds like a fun caliber. Dave

[Yooper]

I'm trying to decide between the 17 HMR and a .204 Ruger.

[stringnut]

I have a Ruger77/17 and my wife has a Marlin 917 with bull barrel and laminated stock. It comes down to budget and preference. Both are very accurate and shoot under an inch with all brands of ammo we have tried. Some loads actually shoot under 1/2 inch under windless conditions. Take your pick and spend your money.

If your choosing between a 17 hmr and a 204 ruger you really are comparing two comepletely different cartridges. The 17 is a rimfire with a 17 grain bullet at about 2550 or a 20 grain bullet at 2350. It tops out on conn and woodchuck size critters at maybe 100 yds and on smaller varmints about 150 with good shot placement. The 204 is a centerfire that launches 32 grain bullet at 4225 fps with all the attendent noise and muzzleblast. I have shot a couple and it certainly rivals the 22-250 for being sharp and loud. However the 204 is useful for animals up to coyote size according to some and and can take all manner of varmints to very long distances. It depends on what you are going to use it for.
Stringnut

[Dclewis]

I picked up a Savage 17HMR today. It is the bull barrel, synthetic stock model 93R17. Price was right at $239.00 new in box. It came with a cheepo scope which I will throw on my kids 22.

Tommorow I will scope it and install a Burris tripod. I hope to make it out for a sight -in later in the day. I will give you my thoughts after shooting it.

I looked at the Ruger they had for sale but did not like the shiney silver screws and shouder strap fixtures. Plus it was another Hundred bucks. I can say though that the Ruger was way lighter but did not have the bull barrel either. Im just planning on shooting the heck out of it and doing some fox snipeing.

Dave

[farmer]

I bought a Marlin model 917V when they first came out and it’s a wonderful gun, except for the protruding clip. I sight it in at 33 yards and at that range I can put 5 shot groups through the same hole and just under .75 inch at a hundred yards on a windless day. My father bought a Ruger 77/17 the same day and its groups are just fractions of an inch larger over my groups.
As far as shooting varmints I have killed several coyotes at ranges up to 100 yards and unless you shoot them in the head it will take a finishing shot to kill them. During the winter we like to go out and spot light the plowed fields looking for any skunks, coons or possums. With a little wind pushing the bullets around it makes for a lot of fun trying to hit a skunk at about 200 yards. I should also mention that 1 shot each to the head from 25 yards killed the two meat pigs we butchered this year.

As the 22 mag is concerned it is an excellent performer on large game up to 1500lbs (Cows).
Seriously if who ever you where talking to had trouble killing a coon with a butt shot they were probably using varmint bullets. If you have an accurate gun buy the hollow points they are designed for larger game than the explosive varmint bullets.

[Mark]

Stringnut,
I believe your observation about gun writers is right on. It sure seems to me that they love the new stuff, go out to some game farm on someone elses dime, shoot a critter, and write how well the equipment performs. Here are some examples of cartridges; .350 Rem Mag, 6.5 Rem Mag, 8MM Rem Mag, Daisy VL22 system, 5MM Rem. rimfire, etc, etc. (I'm not intentionally bashing Big Green.)
My own policy is to wait 10 years before buying anything new. Fortunately, there is enough old stuff to keep me very happy. What do you all think of this?
Mark

[Vikingsin05]

Well if everyone waited 10 years to buy something new then there would never be anything new. I personally like buying the new gear.

[Mark]

Bless you Viking, without guys like you I'd probably be touting the advantages of my new 40-65!
Mark

[Yooper]

I don't know...

Some of us writer types like to use and abuse stuff in the real world and tell you the straight line on it.

Call me crazy.