.17 caliber guns

K

kuca_2004

New member
I have really started liking going prairie dog hunting (I live in South Dakota) and I usually go out with a group of guys. We have all different calibers that we go out with, ranging from 17 hmr to 243. I am thinking about buying a quieter gun so we can get more shots without scaring them away so fast. I am liking the 17 hmr but I would prefer a caliber I can reload. So I see they make a 17 mach IV--17 fireball--and 17 remington.

What are some of your opinions on these 17 caliber guns?? how hard is it to find these rifles?? etc....
 
I'm know expert But had a blast in Colorado with the 17hmr.Got about 4 boxes shot before they moved to the back of the town out of range of the 17hmr. Swaped to the 223 & it was on again.But had pretty good luck the 17 did its job out to 170yds then the wind got bad.
 
17hmr is a on a different level to the centre fire cartridges you listed, the 17 rem fireball fires a 20gr bullet at 4000fps opposed to the 17hmr firing a 17gr bullet at 2500fps.

The .17 calibres are not as common as the likes of .223 and .204 Ruger, but they are out there.

I'm not sure about noise levels but unless you were getting a 17hmr then I'd rather go for 204 Ruger, they seem to have very similar ballistics but the 204 has a heavier bullet with higher BC's.
I think you'd find that reloading 204 Ruger would be cheaper too (don't quote me on that though), and I believe its much more common.
Someone will probably argue that a 22-250 will do the same again but with a even heavier bullet, but then your jumping up quite a few steps.

If you think 17hmr will do the job you want it to do, then get it, its a great round, but I'm not convinced on the .17 centre fires.
 
I think the 17rem and 17fireball may be louder than the 17hmr, but I say get a .17hmr. My experience is very limited, but they are a great round, when used correctly.
 
I love my 17HMR, it is very accurate and fairly cheep to shoot (compared to every thing except 22lr)

My brother has a 17 Remington (he makes brass out of 223 brass) It is noticeably louder than a 17HMR but all so noticeably flatter shooting. I think he said he has a 24 inch barrel on it so it is a pretty long barrel. My chronograph says his hot loads do about 4150-4300FPS.

If I had to pick one I would still pick the HMR but I can see the draw to the fast bullets like the 17 Remington. He has used it on animals up to Coyotes. It does extremely well on all of them. Ground rats simply just explode.
 
I have the Savage 17 HMR. It is exclusively used to clear Prairie Dogs off the ranch. The rifle is so good that my wife took it from me and she likes to use it instead of her AR.
 
Hornady

What do you guys think of the new 17 hornady Hornet? 20 grns and 3600 fps. I think the savage 25 is the only rifle in the chambering. I've yet to see anything but buzz about it.
 
I was thinking about getting the HMR but I kind of want something I can reload so its cheaper shooting.

Can someone who has a HMR and a 17 centerfire or 204 ruger tell me the noise level difference. Is it pretty noticeable between them???
 
I am thinking about buying a quieter gun so we can get more shots without scaring them away so fast.
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A suppressor will cost about what a new gun would, but it won't require buying bullets (and cleaning rods/brushes) of an oddball diameter.....
 
Those .17 centerfires are going to be just as loud as the .223. Not anywhere close to .17 HMR level.

I've shot a .17 HMR and been next to a .204 when it went off. .204 is much louder.
 
I was thinking about getting the HMR but I kind of want something I can reload so its cheaper shooting.

Can someone who has a HMR and a 17 centerfire or 204 ruger tell me the noise level difference. Is it pretty noticeable between them???
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I think I said it in the above post but ill say it and go in more detail this time. The 17 Remington is louder than the 17HMR (these are the only 17s I have shot) I would say the 17 Remington seems slightly louder than a 223. It may only be because the pitch is higher... It is hard to describe.

The 17 Remington is one of the fastest bullets you can get. It is all so easier to reload (budget wise) because it is made from 223 brass.

a bullet moving 4300 FPS has little muzzle drop.

Down side is you have to reload if you shoot the 17 Remington because I don't think any one makes these rounds any more.
 
I have experience with something similar. I inherited a custom rifle, chambered in .17/.357mag. Its ballistics are similar to the .17 Hoarndy Hornet. I get 3,300fps with a 25gr. bullet.

It is much quieter than a .223 from either a 20" barrel or a 24" barrel (I have one of each of those.) Still requires hearing protection. Don't get me wrong. Much louder than a .22lr.

Very accurate out to 150 yards, depending on wind conditions. I make hits on whistle pigs (1/4scale prairie dogs) out to that distance. For bigger critters, it'll go farther.

Uses much less powder than a .223, if that matters to you.
 
I have over 20 rifles and I absolutely love and use my .17HMRs the most by far!!
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I use a Savage 93 R 17 for "property duty" here on the farm, topped with a simple Bushnell 3 x 9.

Some say I am having too much fun, instead I say I am doing serious property duty business.

Ground-hawgs, raccoons, skunks, opossum, feral cats and even coyotes have been felled.

Where were these things forty years ago? Me to Lee Lapin.

*grin*
 
I went prairie dogging with a guy who had a .17 Mach II. It was excellent to 100 yards. Once he figured out about windage and holdover, he was getting clean kills to 200 yards. (Laser measured.) New rifle and he was rather a novice with rifles.

Definitely a rather quiet cartridge, particularly when compared to my .223...
 
I live in prairie dog country. Prairie dogs get muzzle blast smart so I start out in the spring with 17 HM2 and 17 HMR rimfire rifles. Later in the summer switch to a 17 Fireball and 204 Ruger rifles. I stoped using the 17 Rem and 223 rifles since getting the 204 Ruger rifle. After a prairie dog town has ben shot over a lot or during the winter I use a 220 Swift and 243 Win rifles. I reload all of my center fire rifles . Because of the cost of brass cases the 223 Rem cost less to reload but I still like the 17 Fireball and 204 more than the 223 rifles. I plan on getting a 17 Hornady Hornet when a rifle brand comes out that I like. The 17 Fireball has less muzzle blast than the 204 Ruger but for your first p dog rifle get a 204 Ruger.
 
FIL shot alot of 17 Remington... it definately has a sharper crack than the 22's... I'm putting together a 17 Fireball right now, & have a Contender barrel in 17 K Hornet, so the new 17 Hornet looks very interesting, in that it will save me a forming step for my K Hornet... my favorite 17 though is a 17 Mach 2 I built on an old Marlin 22 Bolt action... I use it regularly for killing those pesky little red squirrels... & just for bragging rights I had it in my shed the other day, while I was doing some carpentry work, when I noticed some Pidgons on my silo... my 1st shot ( standing, unsupported, & about 100 yards from the silo ), resulted in a miss, but the report was quiet enough, that they settled right back down... I proceaded to move to the corner of the building, for a more steady rest, & got a head shot at that 100 yards, standing against the corner of the building... I have the rifle scope remarked to distances out to 250 yards, though I'd suspect it would lack the explosive results on a varmint at 200 plus yards, that it gets in 100 yards...
 
No experience, but I have had a Savage 93R17 in .17 HMR on order for a while. Should have had it a couple of weeks ago. Have a bunch of ammo just sitting here. Ammo cost is about par with some mid cost 9mm. Much cheaper than .223.

What I’ve heard is that most of the other .17 caliber ammo is becoming harder to find due to the .17 HMR becoming so popular. Over on RimfireCentral, they have a forum dedicated to the .17 HMR, and a lot of people there are knowledgeable on all of the small caliber rimfire and centerfire cartridges.
 
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