17HMR's place in Australian shooting

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17HMR's place in Australian shooting

Post by whert » 14 Jul 2014, 11:26 am

G'day,

A mate of mine is getting into shooting for the first time and is getting a little advice from myself (not an expert) and another of his mates who I don't know.

He's looking at a rimfire for his first rifle and his mate is talking up the 17HMR for his first but I'm not so sure for a couple of reasons.

He's going to start with target shooting and come hunting occasionally.

Anything above 22LR (22mag, 17hmr included) you can only shoot hunting in the forest/private property or at Little River which is over an hour away.

22LR you can either shoot at the local range which is a few minutes away, and all the same places above.

For all intents and purposes the 17HMR is basically the same as a centrefire cartridge here, and ammo isn't even that cheap right?

My thought is he might be better going to a .223 and he can use it in all the same situations but get a lot more out of it compared to the 17HMR.

I know that's a problem due to our laws etc. and not the fault of the cartridge. If you were in the US with more freedoms it might be perfect, but we're not...

What do you guys think?
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Re: 17HMR's place in Australian shooting

Post by Shotfox » 14 Jul 2014, 2:43 pm

The .17 has had as many starts as Pharlap with cartridges including .17 Mach, .17 Hornet, .17 Fireball, .17 Remington, .17WSM, .17 HMR and more so you are spoiled for choice.

Great calibre but the ammo is expensive and you wont save much should you choose to reload. The other issue is ammo cannot be bought everywhere like the 223. and there is much more of a range of factory ammo for the 223 than the .17.

Get yourself a copy of the June 2014 Australian Shooter Magazine as it has a great article on the .17.

Opening up a can of worms with opinion but I think the 223 is the way to go especially if you intend to reload in the future.
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Re: 17HMR's place in Australian shooting

Post by Bills Shed » 14 Jul 2014, 5:18 pm

This is an old chestnut. 17 VS 223, what do I get for my first rifle etc, etc. It is all the same question and it is still the same answer. What are you going to do with it ? Are you going to reload?
If it is his first rifle he will probable want to shoot all day every day. To do that with his limited range options I would get a .22lr as it is cheap to run and he will learn the basics. When he gets better and wants to reach out further then I would go the CF and start reloading.

I was / am a big fan of the .224 pill as it is everywhere. You can load the Hornet and everything bigger with it. Yes I have a rifle that shoots a 224 pill but also have a 17 Hornet and I love it.
These days I will pick up the 17 CF before I use the 224. It is fast, flat and cheap to run if I reload. You can get 17 pills almost every where but they are still a bit pricy. If I am culling I use the 22 K Hornet as I swage my own pills and it is very cheap to run. 16 cents a shot.
After the economic considerations the rest is emotive and he will get what he wants not necessarily what he needs.

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Re: 17HMR's place in Australian shooting

Post by NukeBOMB88 » 14 Jul 2014, 7:00 pm

I was going to get a .17HMR a couple of years back but the ammo is very expensive for a rim fire and I think that if your going to pay that much anyway your better off going for a centrefire like a .223 or a .204 . I know that .204 doesn't have a huge range of bullet weights but it is super accurate and almost always kills any fox or rabbit on impact. If you want a bigger range of projectiles ( And cheaper ammo) then go with a .223. Although Bills Shed in that it's all about what you want to get out of your rifle.
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Re: 17HMR's place in Australian shooting

Post by mausermate » 15 Jul 2014, 10:49 am

whert wrote:He's looking at a rimfire for his first rifle and his mate is talking up the 17HMR for his first but I'm not so sure for a couple of reasons.
Anything above 22LR (22mag, 17hmr included) you can only shoot hunting in the forest/private property or at Little River which is over an hour away.
22LR you can either shoot at the local range which is a few minutes away, and all the same places above.

I think you have answered your own question. :D
Now that's been said, who's coming for a shot?
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Re: 17HMR's place in Australian shooting

Post by whert » 15 Jul 2014, 3:42 pm

mausermate wrote:I think you have answered your own question. :D


Ha ha. I did think so, but I've been wrong before :lol:

Thanks for the feedback all. Just wanted to run it past the pro's.

Will pass it along.
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Re: 17HMR's place in Australian shooting

Post by Hinky » 15 Jul 2014, 3:44 pm

Go the 22LR. Endless fun for cents a shot.

I'm sure he's saying "I'm only going to get the one rifle" but we all know he will end up with a centrefire in the safe as well before long :lol:
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Re: 17HMR's place in Australian shooting

Post by Chronos » 15 Jul 2014, 6:02 pm

Hinky wrote:Go the 22LR. Endless fun for cents a shot.

I'm sure he's saying "I'm only going to get the one rifle" but we all know he will end up with a centrefire in the safe as well before long :lol:


I agree. It's a perfect tool to learn on but also to teach others on. You can shoot numerous competitions with it should you desire plus hunt with it. The .17 is purely a hunting tool for when the bunnies are just out of reach for the .22 but you can't really target shoot with it as such and it's more expensive to shoot if you just want to plink away

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Re: 17HMR's place in Australian shooting

Post by boolia » 16 Jul 2014, 9:53 am

The plinking cost alone makes 22LR worth it I say.

Sucks when you have to stop doing something because cost got in the way :(

Shoot all day long with the 22 for a handful of dollars :)
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Re: 17HMR's place in Australian shooting

Post by jennageit » 19 Jul 2014, 12:08 pm

You've sold me on the 22lr guys. No .17 for me now.

Best thing is, my hubby is all for it, although until he gets his own licence, it's mine I tells ya! lmao

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Re: 17HMR's place in Australian shooting

Post by crys » 20 Jul 2014, 7:02 pm

He'll get jealous and get his license after seeing you have a good time with it ;)
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Re: 17HMR's place in Australian shooting

Post by lole » 20 Jul 2014, 7:02 pm

Can't go wrong with the .22LR, Jenna.
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Re: 17HMR's place in Australian shooting

Post by tommyguns82 » 23 Jul 2014, 7:42 pm

I'm a big fan of the .17hmr but then again I own one and it was the 1st gun.

Not sure what the difference between .17HMR and the 22LR.

I was told that you can get a 22HMR now too.
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Re: 17HMR's place in Australian shooting

Post by mausermate » 23 Jul 2014, 8:54 pm

tommyguns82 wrote:im a big fan of the .17hmr but then again I own one and it was the 1st gun.
not sure what the difference between .17HMR and the 22LR.
I was told that you can get a 22HMR now to

Hi TG8, sorry, me again. The 17 HMR is a 22 Magnum necked to .17. therefore a 22HMR is a 22 Magnum.
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Re: 17HMR's place in Australian shooting

Post by Streamline » 24 Jul 2014, 11:14 am

tommyguns82 wrote:I'm a big fan of the .17hmr but then again I own one and it was the 1st gun.


There is always a special place for the first gun ;)
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Re: 17HMR's place in Australian shooting

Post by Hucka » 24 Jul 2014, 11:18 am

tommyguns82 wrote:Not sure what the difference between .17HMR and the 22LR.


.22 Long Rifle is a larger calibre round but with smaller case capacity.

.17 Hornady Magnum Rifle is a smaller calibre lighter round but with increase case capacity.

22 is shorter range but will buck the wind better. Perfect for 50m target shooting.

17 shoot further, better for small varmint hunting.

Here they are side by side for you.

22lr-vs-17hmr.jpg
22lr vs 17hmr
22lr-vs-17hmr.jpg (6.25 KiB) Viewed 8515 times
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Re: 17HMR's place in Australian shooting

Post by tommyguns82 » 24 Jul 2014, 11:22 am

Mausermate I'm starting to think your stalking me haha. But all jokes aside I didn't know that. I just remember something saying something about the 22hmr a few weeks ago but I guess u just explain it
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Re: 17HMR's place in Australian shooting

Post by harlow » 26 Jul 2014, 12:01 pm

tommyguns82 wrote:I was told that you can get a 22HMR now too.


Sure you're not thinking of 22WMR? Plain old 22 win mag that's been around for 50 years?

Maybe someone got a letter confused when they told ya :)
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Re: 17HMR's place in Australian shooting

Post by AZZA'S HJ47 » 25 Dec 2016, 1:18 pm

I have both i personally find myself shooting the 17 more then the 22. Cant wait to use it on a fox or a rabit flat shooting have pushed it out to 200. Only down side is wind can be a killer. Why dont you just get both lol
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Re: 17HMR's place in Australian shooting

Post by happyhunter » 25 Dec 2016, 3:00 pm

A few years ago I did some ballistics tests with the 17HMR, shooting 17 grain vmax into ballistics gel at 100 and 200 meters. First thing is people need to loose the myth that 17s are hell in the wind. If you think the wind adversely effects the 17s trajectory then consider that compared to other rimfires, ie, the 22LR and 22WMR, the 17 is far more resistant to wind drift.

At 100 meters the 17 vmax is explosive to the extreme in the ballistics gel. Relative to bullet diameter, a large 30cm wound channel with great fragmentation. There was a lot of damage. At 200 meters, the cartridge maintains great accuracy, but on impact, the projectiles would no longer fragment and because of this the wound channel was much narrower and longer. At 200 meters The recovered projectiles maintained 100% mass minus the poly tip which would separate and beak in two pieces. At 100 meters there was nothing but fragments to recover.

As far as killing power, and this is from field experience shooting hundreds of rabbits and dozens of foxes, the 17HMR has it in spades over the 22LR. At distances of 70 meters to 150 meters, the 17s performance is way above the 22LR. At 200 meters the 17 has the accuracy to take head shots, but expect crawlers if you take a chest shot as the little bullets no longer have the energy to expand and fragment.
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Re: 17HMR's place in Australian shooting

Post by duncan61 » 25 Dec 2016, 3:06 pm

The first time I saw the 17HMR I ordered a ruger lever rifle and had a ball with it.We had a problem with ducks flying in the sullage dam then landing in the fresh water dam at the dairy farm so the farmer liked me getting the ducks I learned that if I placed the shot just where the neck starts to fatten out on the body it dropped them on the spot and did not damage the breast meat.All the internal organs would be mush.They would waddle along in a line and once I got 3 working from the back before they flew off.My best was 150m and it did the same damage
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