.17 HMR vs. good ol' .22 LR

[LampLighter]

My good friend said he is interested in a small cal. rifle rimfire mainly because he does not have one. He asked me what I thought between the above two calibers. I showed him my Marlin 60ss . I told him the .22 was more useful and better for squirrel. He did mention that the squirrels reak havoc on his pecan trees in Sept. and that all he had was a .177 cal Benjamin air rifle, and that it did not kill with one shot, and he hated to see the squirrel in that condition. He went to a gun shop around here and they told him the same thing. He is looking at the Marlin 60ss too. I told him a bolt action is good if you want to shoot .22 shorts because you have to hand feed them one at a time.

What might one use a .17 HMR for ?

[Gil Martin]

Ammo for a .22 l.r. or .22 magnum is cheaper than for a .17 HMR. If you intend to do some plinking, a .22 l.r. is hard to beat. All the best...
Gil

[Ol` Joe]

17HMR will make a mess of tree rats, the 22lr is a better choice if you plan on eating any of them. The 17mag also will reach out another 50+ yd on them with much better accuracy, although at 3Xs the $$.
It boils down to do want a rifle for pest control or putting meat in the pot and enjoyment.

[dave-t.]

If the goal was squirrel reduction with no care for the carcass then the .17hmr or .17 machII would be ideal. You can use the softer bullets and get virtually no ricochet or passthroughs that might cause danger behind the target. The .17's are the tool if you want to shoot to 100yds or more with no holdover/under.

For all round use, .22 is the one for me. It may not knock ground hogs dead on the spot every time, or have the reach of the newer rounds, but I feel the .22lr is more versitile than the .17's when it comes right down to it. Also, cheap ammo, quieter, and classic.

A pump action, lever action, and any crf bolts will cycle .22 shorts.

For all round use, I shoot Aquila standard velocity (subsonic) in either soft point or hollow point. Of all the ammo options for a .22, I prefer to be more quiet and accurate, than fast and flatter shooting.

[Bushman]

I even used .22 shorts out of my 10/22 shooting sparrows as a kid by loading them one at a time directly into the chamber. .22 CB caps are even quieter than a pellet gun and would be hard on urban squirrels.

[Smokey]

It really is hard to beat the all around 22 caliber rifles. Nothing offers the selection of rifles and actions as the 22 caliber units. Plus, as stated the ammo is much cheaper.

[Larry_in_SD]

If you are going to be strictly hunting with this rifle / cartridge I'd give consideration to one of the .17 Rimfires. Ammo availability would have a bearing on my decision, as in my neck of the woods .17's are hard to come by locally.

With that said just this past winter I built a Custom Ruger 77/22. I started with a Ruger KM77/22RP Stainless-Synthetic in .22 LR.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v112/LarryinSD/Ruger7722.jpg

I basically just used the Ruger Action and went from there. I installed a Clark Custom Guns 20" Stainless-Steel Bull Barrel in .22 LR. I added a Volquartsen Custom Laminated Wood Stock (that I reshaped to better suit my needs). I totally reworked the factory trigger until I breaks like a glass rod at 1 1/4 pounds and added an overtravel adjustment screw. I also had to buy the bottom metal (Trigger Guard, Magazine Well Liner and action screws) from a Ruger K77/22VBZ to be able to convert my Ruger from the Synthetic Stock to the Laminated Wood Stock.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v112/LarryinSD/CustomRugerK7722.jpg

Above is how everything turned out (prior to reshaping the stock).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v112/LarryinSD/CustomRuger7722-1.jpg

Above is the finished product. Yes I have way too much $$$ invested in this Rifle but I have always loved the Ruger 77/22, and always wanted a Custom Ruger 77/22. I won our Indoor Bench Rest Competition last winter with this Rifle shooting SK Jagd Standard Plus ammo. Recently I was doing some practicing for an upcoming Egg Shoot at 100 yards. Believe it or not but this Custom Ruger 77/22 shooting the same SK Jagd Standard Plus Ammo was printing 5 shot groups slightly under 1/2" at 100 yards.

My point is as far as I am concerned the little .22 LR Cartridge can be capable of some amazing accuracy that will rival the .17 Rimfires.

Larry

[Bill Gunn]

Larry,
Really Nice rifle building job !!
I have 2 Anschutz's that won't shoot that well !

Welcome to HA ...

[Larry_in_SD]

Thanks Bill

I am super pleased with the way things turned out, and the way it shoots. This coming Sunday I am fixin to find out if it can hit eggs at 100 yards.

Larry

[Bill Gunn]

Unless their Quail Eggs, and it's windy, I think your going to do just fine :)

[Larry_in_SD]

Thanks

Nope regular ole chicken eggs from what I have been able to find out. The wind is the part that has me concerned as I am in South Dakota and the wind always blows here.

Larry

[Bill Gunn]

I Prairie Dog hunted on the Rosebud, and just West of White River a few times.
I can't remember EVER a day without wind!

[LampLighter]

This coming Sunday I am fixin to find out if it can hit eggs at 100 yards.


I am sure you can do that. I regulary hit skoal cans at a measured 140 yards with a stock Marlin 60ss. That is from a rest, no wind, and me behind it. When I "get in my bubble" as it's been said , utter concentration, get that respiratory up & down thing going, and squeeze off the round in a 3 second breathing pause, it works.

[Joe Boleo]

It depends what you prefer and how you intend to use the rifle. My preference is for the .22 l.r.; ammo is cheaper and I get to do a lot more shooting. Take care...
Joe

[Larry_in_SD]

The .22 LR is capable of fine accuracy at 100 yards even though it wasn't in my hands. My nephew used my Custom Ruger 77/22 .22 LR in our Egg Shoot yesterday to win first place. Jon managed to shoot 4 out of 5 Eggs at 100 yards with a .22 LR Rifle. The eggs we were using measured roughly 2" tall x 1 1/2" wide. Not sure what I was doing wrong yesterday but at least when my nephew shot my rifle I knew once again that the rifle was capable of the task at hand.

Larry