.17 HMR's worth buying?

[Unit74]

I have a built 10/22 right now as a varmint gun and go to my dads place once or twice a year to exercise it.


My dad mentioned he was looking at the 17 HMR's and thought about getting one. I was thinking about getting him one for Christmas. What's a good gun that won't break the bank. He's a 70 y/o man who just wants to shoot at all the damn squirrels eating his veggies and fruits.

[5150Marcelo]

17HMRs are kick arse!
I also love the 10/22s. GEt him what he wants. He'll love it.

[Gunaria]

The upsides to a 17hmr are they're perfect for killing squirrels and you can always find ammo for them any any Walmart.

[caldude]

Yes, .17HMRs are worth buying. Personnally, I like the Savage .17HMRs. If you go no frills, you can pick one up for well under $300, and fancy ones for about $400.

[slik556]

Yes they are a fun and accurate round, but be ware, although the ammo is available at most walmarts it is a little pricey. If I recall the winchestrer that they carry is like $13.00 or so for a box of 50rnds.

Didn't know if you knew but I thought I would bring it up just in case.

[scootergmc]

Savage. I would've bought one a few years ago if they had the accutrigger available back then. So I bought the Marlin instead and dropped in a Rifle Basix trigger... Still happy:

[Trapper]

I have a CZ 452 American in 17hm2 and love it!

[Kiba]

Love my Marlin 917VSF. Revivial thumbhole stock, Rifle Basix trigger at 1lb, and a 6-24 Elite 4200 scope. Very accurate gun (5/8 MOA 10 shot 100 yard groups) and is has eliminated many a ground squirrel. I use it at orchards and ranches where "sensitive" types complain about the noise of a .223 or .22-250 or where there just isn't enough safe space for the centerfires. Keep in mind the .17hmr is quite a bit louder than your standard .22LR; it's a little noisier than the hyper-velocity .22LR stuff like Stingers but MUCH noisier than standard or HV .22LR. .17hmr doesn't have the same "red mist" effect on the target as the centerfires do but still does the job... and I still have fun. It's also cheap to shoot. An all around great caliber for smaller varmints at reasonable ranges.

My experience has been that with the .22LR especially at >75y I'd hit a ground squirrel and maybe 30-35% would manage to crawl back into their hole. With the .17 it's a rare occasion when a squirrel doesn't drop where it stands at up to 125 yards or so. At under 50 yards the .17 makes a pretty good mess out of them.

[dfletcher]

I have the CZ 452 Varmint model - very, very accurate rifle.

[fw10ring]

+1 on the CZ!

[happy_gunner]

Good round for varmints. Very accurate, ammo is always available. Ammo cost less than .223 but more than .22lr and worth every penny. I would get another one if I shoot more.

[1siktkt]

I've had two Savages and both were great (Ikept the one with the Accutrigger) Big % has sales on them and you can get them for a good price, downside is the cost of ammo. Man they will explode a squirrel though

[Btango05]

My next rifle will probably be the .17HMR and I keep coming across 2 models that ppl love....the CZ-452 and the Savage BTV or BTVS.....anyone who may have shot both these care to share which one they would prefer? CZ is slightly more expensive but not by much. Sorry not trying to thread jack but I believe this question is in context with the thread topic.

[sevensix2x51]

i shot this group yesterday with my savage 93r17. its a great rifle. ps- 5rd@50yds, cuz thats the only lane i could get.

[Rukus]

I had a Savage 93r17 and loved it. With the scope dialed in, it was a tack driver. I traded it off for something I had really been looking for, but still regret losing the rifle. My only qualm with it was that the magazines were a little hard to seat, you really had to slam it in. Turners had them on sale not too long ago, and it was hard to keep the credit card inside the wallet.