17 HMR, what rifles and loads do you use?

[Wapiti]

Hi people,
Just wondering,
What sort of game you all see as suitable for the 17HMR for all you owners out there?
What's your favourite brand or type of rifle, and why?
Do you have a particular brand or type of ammo that you use and what do you reckon it's best for?

It seems like this cartridge, made from the 22 mag case, might even have surpassed the popularity of it's parent, for what reason do you reckon?
Keen for your thoughts.

[bigrich]

IMHO the 22 mag is more flexible, 30gn to 50gn projectiles. Ballistic tips, hollow points and FMJ and sub sonic rounds. Makes it suitable for a wider variety of game than the 17hmr, especially if you want to eat rabbits. 17hmr is good at blowing stuff up. 22 mag accuracy is very so-so compared to the 17hmr. From what I’ve been told accuracy drops of in the 17 after about 40 shots and it’s easy to bend a 17 cleaning rod . Hope this helps, cheers

[Bugman]

17 HMR ammo, from what I have found out from reliable suppliers is that it is made in the same factory...just re-badged. Could be true. I dont know for sure. I like the caliber myself, but it is an absolute "wanderer" if there is a bit of breeze about.

[Jorlcrin]

Hi people,
Just wondering,
What sort of game you all see as suitable for the 17HMR for all you owners out there?
What's your favourite brand or type of rifle, and why?
Do you have a particular brand or type of ammo that you use and what do you reckon it's best for?

It seems like this cartridge, made from the 22 mag case, might even have surpassed the popularity of it's parent, for what reason do you reckon?
Keen for your thoughts.

I bought a CZ455 in .17HMR, about 6 years back.
Bought the .22LR barrel about 2 years later.
Bought the .22WMR barrel about 18 months back.

Not a fan of the CZ455(since owning one), though some of my gripes are addressed in the 457.
But they stopped making them in Stainless/Synthetic, which annoys me somewhat.
Wouldnt buy another CZ, with what I've seen on the 455.
When I finally started using the .22WMR barrel on the CZ, I find the HP loads I had (CCI) kept jamming on loading.
The marked 'crease' in the HP design was catching on the lip of the chamber.
Eventually found CZ make mention of this buried in some online help, and give instructions on adjusting the legs of the magazine follower, to adjust the angle of the follower.
Didnt seem to help much, but a different style of projectile means the rifle feeds just fine.

Bought the .17HMR primarily because a neighbour had one loaned to him for a week, and loved it for short-medium ranges on small game.
I found I dont mind it, but it wasnt quite as revolutionary as I had expected.
2550/2650fps for the .17gn VMax(A17 ammo is 100fps faster), vs 2200fps for the 30gn .22WMR(Hornady and CCI VMax).

Also found the .17 barrel was annoying to clean; needs a smaller cleaning rod than the .22, it's fiddly getting the rod past the extractor, and it's quite easy to get a patch jammed in the barrel.
And it's then quite damned hard to get the patch out without doing damage.

And they are very light projectiles; 17gn and 20gn, vs 30gn to 40gn for the .22WMR.

Eventually moved to the .22WMR barrel, and thats what has stayed on the rifle ever since.
With the new 30gn Vmax rounds, I find the .22WMR runs pretty close to the performance of the .17, but carries nearly twice the weight down-range.
There are number of small pest animals animals(both furry and feathery) whom have taken one for the team from the .22WMR.
I keep it as my Close-Combat Small-Game Pokker.

Havent done extensive target shooting, and havent trialled another make/model of rifle in .17HMR to compare.
Didnt find the groupings were too bad in .17, but very sensitive to wind(no surprise..).
Havent done any side-by-side comparison to test .17hmr against .22wmr for groups; not fussed about changing that barrel too much.

I suspect that before the 30gn VMax rounds came along for the .22WMR, the gap was a lot larger, but the 30gn VMax has shaken the tree somewhat.

These are my experiences; not seeking solutions.

But in returning to the original question, and repeating what others have mentioned; I would definitely buy a .22WMR before I'd buy a .17HMR.

[Bugman]

You are right about the 17HMR barrel. It is a bit of a bitch to clean.

[bigpete]

Mine likes CCI 20gn game points

[Wapiti]

IMHO the 22 mag is more flexible, 30gn to 50gn projectiles. Ballistic tips, hollow points and FMJ and sub sonic rounds. Makes it suitable for a wider variety of game than the 17hmr, especially if you want to eat rabbits. 17hmr is good at blowing stuff up. 22 mag accuracy is very so-so compared to the 17hmr. From what I’ve been told accuracy drops of in the 17 after about 40 shots and it’s easy to bend a 17 cleaning rod . Hope this helps, cheers

Yes, completely agree with you there.
But the 17 is great for the b@stard Indian Mynas. Teaches them a lesson to try and move in here.

Hey I find that with the new 22 Mag ammo, like the 30gn Vmax and the 35gn CCI A22 ammo, I can get tiny groups. The new ammo is awesome. I'll find a pic to show.

[Wapiti]

Here's what I mean about the ammo available for 22mag. Actually, the 22mag eclipses the 17's I have in consistency by a long shot. Pardon the pun.

[mchughcb]

I use 17gr Vmax CCi or Hornady.

I've found 20gr TNT to be more accurate but the vmax splatters small targets a 100m

[Wapiti]

My two 17HMR's. One is a 77/17 SS Varmint, the other is a Ruger American SS. I'm extremely happy with how both perform, although I haven't bothered to chrony the difference between the short and long barrels, because at all ranges I use a 17, there doesn't ever seem to be a practical difference.

[bigrich]

My two 17HMR's. One is a 77/17 SS Varmint, the other is a Ruger American SS. I'm extremely happy with how both perform, although I haven't bothered to chrony the difference between the short and long barrels, because at all ranges I use a 17, there doesn't ever seem to be a practical difference.

how do you find the ruger rifles ? i've read a lot of negative stuff about the 77 series to do with head spacing because of the two piece bolt . i've heard lots of good stuff about the ruger american however . what game and circumstance are you using your 17hmr in ?

cheers

[Die Judicii]

I purchased a CZ 453 17HMR with the factory set trigger about 10 years ago.
Walnut stock and put a Zeiss Conquest on it.
Using it without the aid of the set trigger I hated it and felt like ditching it.
But,,,,,,, WITH the set trigger it transformed and became one of my favoured go to rifle for small stuff.
Overall, its a lovely little rifle to carry and shoot with consistent accuracy.
At the height of the drought I used it every afternoon to dispatch roos and wallabies that were at deaths door and could hardly get up under the weight of
massive ticks the size of marbles.
Brain shots never failed an instant death for these poor creatures

It prefers a diet of Hornady 17gr V Max over other offerings including the HP variety.

Since then I also purchased a Ruger 77 .17 WSM Stainless/Walnut and put a Zeiss illuminated Duralyt on it.
Havnt used it all that much,,,,, but it performs like an HMR on steroids.
If you look at the reviews on this cartridge they mention 3 or 5 shot groups that have an occasional flier.
My findings are the same, and it's rather annoying,, but not bad enough to cause a complete miss.

[deye243]

I purchased a CZ 453 17HMR with the factory set trigger about 10 years ago.
Walnut stock and put a Zeiss Conquest on it.
Using it without the aid of the set trigger I hated it and felt like ditching it.
But,,,,,,, WITH the set trigger it transformed and became one of my favoured go to rifle for small stuff.
Overall, its a lovely little rifle to carry and shoot with consistent accuracy.
At the height of the drought I used it every afternoon to dispatch roos and wallabies that were at deaths door and could hardly get up under the weight of
massive ticks the size of marbles.
Brain shots never failed an instant death for these poor creatures

It prefers a diet of Hornady 17gr V Max over other offerings including the HP variety.

Since then I also purchased a Ruger 77 .17 WSM Stainless/Walnut and put a Zeiss illuminated Duralyt on it.
Havnt used it all that much,,,,, but it performs like an HMR on steroids.
If you look at the reviews on this cartridge they mention 3 or 5 shot groups that have an occasional flier.
My findings are the same, and it's rather annoying,, but not bad enough to cause a complete miss.

So you can shoot roos in qld with a hmr ...... I wish . in Vic. 204r min with a 40g pill .
What a joke .

[bigrich]

I purchased a CZ 453 17HMR with the factory set trigger about 10 years ago.
Walnut stock and put a Zeiss Conquest on it.
Using it without the aid of the set trigger I hated it and felt like ditching it.
But,,,,,,, WITH the set trigger it transformed and became one of my favoured go to rifle for small stuff.
Overall, its a lovely little rifle to carry and shoot with consistent accuracy.
At the height of the drought I used it every afternoon to dispatch roos and wallabies that were at deaths door and could hardly get up under the weight of
massive ticks the size of marbles.
Brain shots never failed an instant death for these poor creatures

It prefers a diet of Hornady 17gr V Max over other offerings including the HP variety.

Since then I also purchased a Ruger 77 .17 WSM Stainless/Walnut and put a Zeiss illuminated Duralyt on it.
Havnt used it all that much,,,,, but it performs like an HMR on steroids.
If you look at the reviews on this cartridge they mention 3 or 5 shot groups that have an occasional flier.
My findings are the same, and it's rather annoying,, but not bad enough to cause a complete miss.

i've read some great things about the 17WSM , ammo supply a concern ? now a interesting idea would be a 22WSM ! probably fills a hole that doesn't need filling . i'd like to think of a 22wsm as a rimfire 22hornet that you don't have to load for . just a idea .....

[bigpete]

I purchased a CZ 453 17HMR with the factory set trigger about 10 years ago.
Walnut stock and put a Zeiss Conquest on it.
Using it without the aid of the set trigger I hated it and felt like ditching it.
But,,,,,,, WITH the set trigger it transformed and became one of my favoured go to rifle for small stuff.
Overall, its a lovely little rifle to carry and shoot with consistent accuracy.
At the height of the drought I used it every afternoon to dispatch roos and wallabies that were at deaths door and could hardly get up under the weight of
massive ticks the size of marbles.
Brain shots never failed an instant death for these poor creatures

It prefers a diet of Hornady 17gr V Max over other offerings including the HP variety.

Since then I also purchased a Ruger 77 .17 WSM Stainless/Walnut and put a Zeiss illuminated Duralyt on it.
Havnt used it all that much,,,,, but it performs like an HMR on steroids.
If you look at the reviews on this cartridge they mention 3 or 5 shot groups that have an occasional flier.
My findings are the same, and it's rather annoying,, but not bad enough to cause a complete miss.

So you can shoot roos in qld with a hmr ...... I wish . in Vic. 204r min with a 40g pill .
What a joke .

Not according to the rules

[bladeracer]

Not according to the rules

Schedule 1, Part C allows use of even .22LR for euthanising kangaroos.

[Die Judicii]

i've read some great things about the 17WSM , ammo supply a concern ? now a interesting idea would be a 22WSM ! probably fills a hole that doesn't need filling . i'd like to think of a 22wsm as a rimfire 22hornet that you don't have to load for . just a idea .....

Not as far as I'm concerned Mate,,,,,, I bought up big when it was first released.
I doubt I'll ever use it all,, and after I drop off my perch I couldn't care less

[Die Judicii]

Not according to the rules

Schedule 1, Part C allows use of even .22LR for euthanising kangaroos.

Thanks for that Blade

[Wapiti]

My two 17HMR's. One is a 77/17 SS Varmint, the other is a Ruger American SS. I'm extremely happy with how both perform, although I haven't bothered to chrony the difference between the short and long barrels, because at all ranges I use a 17, there doesn't ever seem to be a practical difference.

how do you find the ruger rifles ? i've read a lot of negative stuff about the 77 series to do with head spacing because of the two piece bolt . i've heard lots of good stuff about the ruger american however . what game and circumstance are you using your 17hmr in ?

cheers

Hi BR,
Yeah I heard that also, which I thought was strange because I'm a 77/22-22mag-17HMR rimfire fan, and have 2 paddles, 2 timber/blued, and that 17 varmint in the previous pic. And I'm always looking for more. I can say that I have experimented with shims, and it's all bullsh*t.
I purchased a full shim kit from "shimaway" and played with all of them. The shims install between the front non rotating bolt face and the rear body. From the factory, the rifle is headspaced with nothing there.
Nothing I did made any difference, you can decrease the headspace with shims, in thousandth of an inch.

The issue in a rimfires' inconsistency is either a particular like/dislike for a certain brand of ammo, and/or the variations in rim thickness within a box of the same batch... in measuring this also with a rim gauge I found that is very inconsistent and causes flyers.
Shimming a bolt to be looser/tighter cannot fix this. It can squash thicker rims down, but this doesn't fix the flyers.

Like I said, it's bullsh*t and I fell for the internet BS the minute I believed it, and the time I spent listening to rubbish.

These rifles shoot so well, I even sold off a original as-new Brno Mod2 and a CZ 542, both did not compare with the 77 series. And these were the last of the proper Czech rimfires before they went all cheap with the one bolt handle as the locking lug. I can't stand the newer models.

I have two Americans in stainless as farm hacks, one 17 and one in 22mag. You can see from the earlier pic how good these things can shoot, and although they don't compare with the 77's in build quality, shoot just as good for 1/3 of the new price. I put that down to their stainless power-bedding block system that's in their solid moulded stocks. I believe they are the BEST budget rimfires on the market, bar none.

I only use the 17HMR for small pest birds, out to probably 100m. I've pulled off some arsey shots on crows that were trying to peck at new-born fawns at 150m, but that's just luck, the tiny projectiles just about buggered out that far. The wind really needs to be considered.

[bigpete]

Not according to the rules

Schedule 1, Part C allows use of even .22LR for euthanising kangaroos.

Yeah as usual didn't read the post properly. I took is as meaning for harvest or culling.

[deye243]

Not according to the rules

Schedule 1, Part C allows use of even .22LR for euthanising kangaroos.

Thanks for that Blade

Euthanizing not culling there is a big difference

[Die Judicii]

Not according to the rules

Schedule 1, Part C allows use of even .22LR for euthanising kangaroos.

Yeah as usual didn't read the post properly. I took is as meaning for harvest or culling.

That's alright BP,,,,,, I reckon you'd have to be rabid and frothing at the gills if anyone was to have been "harvesting" the ones I was talking about.

They were skin and bone,,,, covered all over with massive ticks,,,, and didn't have the strength to get up and hop away when approached.
I'd just drive the fence lines every afternoon toward the end of the drought and see them laying in the shade of trees and bushes.

As for the greens saying the roos and wallabies are "threatened" I wish some of em were with me to witness just how many there are, because the very next day there were just as many again in the same situation needing euthanising. Day after day after day,,,,,,,

When the drought broke, and the grasses and bushes re emerged,,,,,,,,,,, there were and still are plenty of roos and wallabies.
The drought surely must have thinned them to a certain degree,,,,, but there numbers bounce back quickly.

[Jorlcrin]

Not according to the rules

Schedule 1, Part C allows use of even .22LR for euthanising kangaroos.

Yeah as usual didn't read the post properly. I took is as meaning for harvest or culling.

That's alright BP,,,,,, I reckon you'd have to be rabid and frothing at the gills if anyone was to have been "harvesting" the ones I was talking about.

They were skin and bone,,,, covered all over with massive ticks,,,, and didn't have the strength to get up and hop away when approached.
I'd just drive the fence lines every afternoon toward the end of the drought and see them laying in the shade of trees and bushes.

As for the greens saying the roos and wallabies are "threatened" I wish some of em were with me to witness just how many there are, because the very next day there were just as many again in the same situation needing euthanising. Day after day after day,,,,,,,

When the drought broke, and the grasses and bushes re emerged,,,,,,,,,,, there were and still are plenty of roos and wallabies.
The drought surely must have thinned them to a certain degree,,,,, but there numbers bounce back quickly.

Yep; We've got the same here; Roos are looking more and more gaunt, but they are still punching out more and more joeys.
Looking at some of the Roos(mainly Reds and Greys) when checking a dam late yesterday, and they have sod-all condition on them.
The Wallys look to be doing slightly better, but not by much.
One of the surveillance cameras back 10 years ago, took pics of a passing (Grey) roo, and it was a 6ft tall walking pile of ticks.
Makes me itch just thinking about it..

I have a theory that Roos have evolved to associate water availability with food, and therefore opportunity to breed.
Makes me wonder if the breeding during severe drought, might be a result of us making so much more water available, as they are 'programmed' to think they have the food to do so.
Ideal watering distances(for this country at least) for livestock are a max. of 2kms between.
I wonder if we've created our own monster, and yet we arent allowed to address it properly.

Also saw something new(for me at least) yesterday; a mob of 3 pigs chomping on a cattle lick-block.
Two of them wont be doing that again, but the third was a bit faster reaching the safety of the scrub.
Hadnt realised the Pigs would be into the lick blocks; they are pretty darned hard.

[Die Judicii]

Yeah Mate, I agree wholeheartedly with what you say (above)
It's documented that in times of drought they keep on breeding but instead throw predominantly male joeys.
And the "monster" you speak of regarding water availability is also spot on the knocker.
Years back now, the CSIRO came out saying that there are more macropods in Australia now than there were when Captain Cook turned up.

I used to watch the various wildlife coming and going from dams during the nights as the drought was starting to bite really hard.
I started timing how long each species used to spend drinking.
Apart from wallowing,, the pigs would only drink for 5 to 10 minutes and then be on their way.
Feral cats would only take a few minutes at best,,,, and very similar with foxes.

With dogs,, I could never find a real pattern.
Mainly bcos I very rarely saw any come in specifically to drink.
The few that did,, one of waded out, went for a swim and climbed out without apparently drinking,, those that drank only had a few licks.
I always presumed they had a "private" drinking source somewhere else.

And what you said about the pigs getting stuck into the salt lick blocks,,,,, although never having seen it myself, it doesnt surprise me one bit.
Sure the blocks are hard,,,,,, but the pigs are "harder"
And they would relish the salt.

Any living animal will only ever consume as much salt as its body can naturally tolerate.
Thats the main reason why these vitamin/supplement blocks are in salt. Due to the salt content, it regulates the amount of supplement taken by any given animal, therefore preventing overdose.

But the roos always blew my mind.
The big old bucks and Does alike would usually hop up to within 10 meters or so of the waters edge and then go down on all fours and tail,,,,, and walk their way to the water.
Once there,, on average they would be seemingly drinking non stop for 15 to 30 minutes each before heading off again in search of tucker.
When the dams got to just a small sheet of water I used to think that I may one night get to witness that last bit actually being consumed by an old Buck.

[Blr243]

Before bore drains and poly pipe fed troughs cattle and Roos only had access to food that was close enough to their water sources. Vast water infrastructure opened up vast new areas to graze so the graziers and their stock could take advantage of the grass previously inaccessible … and the Roos noticed , and they continue to prosper from the situation…. All the 223 ammo in the world won’t stop them. Exclusion fences pull em up a bit

[Wapiti]

how do you find the ruger rifles ? i've read a lot of negative stuff about the 77 series to do with head spacing because of the two piece bolt . i've heard lots of good stuff about the ruger american however . what game and circumstance are you using your 17hmr in ?
cheers

Found this target to show how the rimfire 77's can shoot and how much bullsh*t there is online...
This rifle is standard, the walnut stock is not floated or touched in any way and has a 2-7x33 VX Freedom scope on it. Not a big target scope.