22 Mag vs 17 HMR....does anyone choose a 22 Mag anymore?

[Dioni A]

It was lots of bricks on a pallet!

 

[Goatboy22]

Shoot coyotes with the old 5mm Rem rimfire and the other 2 pale in comparison.......

 

[Pilarczyk85]

I use the .17hmr for chucks around me. Does the job for me. At longer distances I've had a few try to wander back but not often. I use the A17 ammo. It's cooking pretty good for that little thing. My brother uses the WSM and it wallops chucks. I kinda wish I had went with the WSM. But I found a cheap savage for 150 and couldn't pass it up.

 

[Coldtrail]

My go-to for the entire predator season is a .22mag, I hunt thick county so my shots are all within 100yrds & the 40gr is enough for anything within that range and doesnt wreck fur. I have a pistol and rifle both equipped with firesights and they take a beating getting carried around all winter and also strapped on snowmobile and do the job fine.

 

[TheGDog]

The .17 HMR is great for making Rabbits do Backflips! Makes Rabbit hunting fun, if you have the right terrain type for it. Sit back like 80yds from places where you know they like to show up at, then snipe 'em. Flat to 125yd so just put he crosshairs on 'em and good to go. Unless 25yds and under.

But it's not good to body shoot them, makes a mess with their nasty smelling large intestine contents. One I hit? It quite literally instantly gutted him and split apart his pelvis at 60yds. Was a standing freehand shot so to be cautious I allowed myself to aim more into the meat of the body, rather than a headshot or shoulder shot. Everything below the Diaphragm inside the body was GONE! Poor guy proceeded to attempt to crawl away with just fronts so had to run over there and finish it.

Furthest Ground Squirrel to date has been 104yds LRF'd off sticks.

I'd be very surprised if in a calling situation where it's like 80yds and under if it wouldn't work everytime, as long as it's placed right. And you try to avoid purposefully gunning for the larger bones to ensure proper penetration. You have to remember this amount of grains is in the weight range of what a typical .22 Cal AirRifle shoots. Just 2.5x faster.

In my testing of the round one time, I found some mild steel tubing maybe 1/4" or 3/8" thickness and approx 2in diameter. The Hornady NTX 15.5gr were piercing thru the first wall of the tubing, were stopped by the second wall, at 100yds. Also there was a Mule Deer scapula, so I also placed that at 100yds and after hitting it several times, I tried to aim for the thicker parts of it. And it went thru it each time no problem.

In this pic you can see the piece of tubing, and how it's dented up, most likely I'm guessing from soft-lead rounds I'd guess. Some look like 38/357 sized, other hits looked possibly larger like .44/.45 The projectile recovered from the tubing shot is there beside for reference.

For something like yotes, it perhaps might be more wise to opt for the heavier 17gr and even 20gr offerings there are. But here in CA has to be lead-free so those 20gr offerings, which I recall were FMJs are out.

 

[Te Hopo]

I use the .17HMR for anything I'd use a .22lr on, where I want flatter shooting with less chance of ricochet.

If I'm looking for more oomph when hunting the likes of goats and small hogs, I never hesitate to grab the .22WMR

 

[Mike D Texas]

I still prefer the 22 mag over the 17HMR. Has much more punch but admittedly not as flat shooting.


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[mcseal2]

I also like the 22 mag. I have not owned a 17 but have shot a few. Usually when I grab the 22 mag I'm after raccoons, and I like the heavier bullet. I really didn't even like the faster 30gr bullets for them, the 40gr JSP CCI ammo has become my favorite. It penetrates decent if shot angle isn't perfect on called coons. It's also a little less explosive on small game.

I have a Ruger American compact that is very accurate. I had a couple semi-autos that were less accurate in the past. I had a Ruger stainless bolt action with the boat paddle stock for years that I loved. A high school buddy needed that gun to complete the collection of all the boat paddle stainless Rugers he inherited from his Dad. I was good friends with his Dad also so I sold it to him, but I miss it. It was a great shooting gun with a TImney trigger in it. The American is just as accurate but not as smooth or stainless.

 

[Dented]

I'm converting a CZ to 22mag. For most of the things I'll use it for is perfect. As I move towards longer shots in more open terrain I'll move it over to 17.

I'll take whatever round works best for the task at hand.

 

[Reddish]

I used a .22 Mag when I was younger and killed a lot of possums, raccoons, a few coyotes. It was an old Marlin that went with me on most walks around the farm.

Switched to a 17 when they came out bc I had to have the new round and didn’t take too long before I went back to the .22 Mag. 17 worked great on squirrels, but didn’t anchor coons or coyotes.

 

[Dented]

I'll eventually be trying 17 on rabbits, jack rabbits, squirrels etc. At 100 yard ranges. This season, it seems that I'm constricted to hunting more close quarters environments.

 

[TheGDog]

I used a .22 Mag when I was younger and killed a lot of possums, raccoons, a few coyotes. It was an old Marlin that went with me on most walks around the farm.

Switched to a 17 when they came out bc I had to have the new round and didn’t take too long before I went back to the .22 Mag. 17 worked great on squirrels, but didn’t anchor coons or coyotes.

Quick question, just because I was curious to try my .17 HMR for coyotes. At what distances were you having problem with the shots not "anchoring" the coyotes? Just asking because I'll likely be taking shots at very close distances of 25-35yds only.

 

[Reddish]

Quick question, just because I was curious to try my .17 HMR for coyotes. At what distances were you having problem with the shots not "anchoring" the coyotes? Just asking because I'll likely be taking shots at very close distances of 25-35yds only.

Shot three different coyotes with the 17gr V-Max. First one was 50yds, the second two were 20yds. Never recovered two of them.

 

[Blockcaver]

For coyotes with the .17HMR use the 20 gr hollow-points....(or even the 17 gr hollow-points). The V-max (plastic tipped) bullets are way to explosive to reliably anchor bigger game than adult prairie dogs (or rabbits). That said the HMR is not an optimum round for coyotes.

The 17 gr V-max is great for small varmints in that it is not prone to ricochets like the hollow-point ammo, or especially the .22 LR is.

Haven't looked recently with some updated ammo for the .17HMR and .22 Magnum, but 20 years ago, the HMR had less wind drift with available ammo than the .22 Magnum. But on windy days, the rimfires were best put away and the .223 or .204's brought out for prairie dogs.

 

[Dented]

Valuable insight into the 17 capabilities. Thank you!

 

[TheGDog]

Well... for sure the 4000fps Hornady NTX 35gr .223 Rem rounds will do it! He lost a LOT of blood!

He was amazing in that he lept over a burnt log with like 2.0-2.5ft branches sticking straight up from it. Then sprints like 10yds, crashes thru a tall spindly bush.. hooks a left to follow back the wash he came in on earlier... only made it like... 25-30yds. And he was painting the pebbles as he went. Double-lung thru and thru. Had like somewhere tween a 25-50 cent piece exit wound cause it clipped his elbow on the way out. I was shocked at how nicely it worked (and of course how amazingly athletic coyotes are). With that 35gr NTX projectile the already low recoil of .223 Rem was even lower too.

 

[Rusty Green]

I’ve had a .17hmr in a marlin since 2011 I love the gun I’ve hit golf balls at 250+ but not consistently a beer can however is a different story my only issue with it is that squirrels (my main target) with it will blow them almost in half if not a headshot inside 75+ yds, I did kill a squirrel at 127ish and couldn’t find an entry or exit hole until cleaning it… the external damage was catastrophic and the spine was just barely intact. I love the gun but I think it is a specialty cartridge for headshots on varmints out to 125 depending on what your varmint is definitely wouldn’t use it for squirrels you want to eat unless you’re a killer on headshots.

 

[Stubborn_bowhunter]

My buddy tried to talk me into a 17 HMR when I was looking for a predator rifle a few years ago.

Then he called me one morning really excited that he just shot a bobcat.
It was pretty close and did a back flip. He never found it after looking all day.

I didn't buy one after I heard that.

 

[Chuckybmd]

I may be one of the few that prefer the 17 HMR. I think it shoots better. Shot placement as always. I’m comfortable being the minority in that opinion

 

[Dented]

I'm thinking 17 HMR as a desert small game jack rabbit round to 100-125 yards. Lethal without massive meat damage. Does this sound correct?