I'm looking into buying a .17 HM2 or a .17 HMR for squirrel & rabbit control at my ranch. My question is how loud are these? Have distant neighbors that might not appreciate the noise. Is the .17 HM2 significantly quieter than the HMR? Accuracy and power out to 100 yards, 150 occasionally would be preferred.
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.17 HM2 versus .17 HMR
- Thread starter blindr
- Start date
I've been shooting a friend's .17HMR quite a bit, but I have zero experience with the Mach II. The .17 HMR is scary accurate and tends to turn varmints inside out. We've taken furbearers including foxes with impressive results.
As far as loudness, it's not much different than any other rimfire out of a long barrel and in my experience with a little distance and obstacles, it's doubtful the neighbors will hear it or even notice unless they're listening for it.
I also think that the Mach II will likely be going away in the future. There just doesn't seem to be the demand for it, nor does it have the popularity of the HMR.
Do yourself a favor though. Regardless of the rifle you choose, you have to get the BSA Sweet 17 scope to mount on top of it.
As far as loudness, it's not much different than any other rimfire out of a long barrel and in my experience with a little distance and obstacles, it's doubtful the neighbors will hear it or even notice unless they're listening for it.
I also think that the Mach II will likely be going away in the future. There just doesn't seem to be the demand for it, nor does it have the popularity of the HMR.
Do yourself a favor though. Regardless of the rifle you choose, you have to get the BSA Sweet 17 scope to mount on top of it.
silicon wolverine
New member
.17 mach 2 is a necked down 22LR. .17HMR is a necked down .22WMR. the mach 2 will be quieter than the HMR but both break the sound barrier so you get that supersonic "crack". Id take a standard subsonic .22LR over either one any day.
SW
SW
dragonfire
New member
I have a marlin917v in 17hmr and its good up to 150 yards with about quarter size groups.As for the mach 2 its a little quieter than 17 hmr but the 17 hmr has a better range and flatter shooting past 100 yards.
I took a couple of guys out on Saturday to hunt P-dogs. One of the guys had a .223 and .220 Swift, the other had a .223 and .17 HM2. I was impressed by the little .17 HM2 round. I was spotting the dogs and calling out the range for him and if there wasn't a cross wind he didn't have much problems hitting targets at 200 yards with the rifle. I was pleasantly surprised at the performance of this round at that range. The only downfall of this cartridge is it doesn't take much wind to blow it off course.
The really nice thing I noticed about the round is it didn't produce much noise and didn't bother the dogs much when the shooter missed. Thus he was able to dope the wind with most of his second shots and get the kill. I don't think I'll be trading my .22's in for .17's but if a good deal comes along I wouldn't be afraid to add this one to my P-dog rifle collection.
As a side note while it killed the P-dogs well, I'd say that I wouldn't shoot anything larger than a P-dog or Jack rabbit with the .17 HM2.
This was another post that I ran on a different forum. I've no personal experience with either rifles. But I think that the will definitely do the trick.
The really nice thing I noticed about the round is it didn't produce much noise and didn't bother the dogs much when the shooter missed. Thus he was able to dope the wind with most of his second shots and get the kill. I don't think I'll be trading my .22's in for .17's but if a good deal comes along I wouldn't be afraid to add this one to my P-dog rifle collection.
As a side note while it killed the P-dogs well, I'd say that I wouldn't shoot anything larger than a P-dog or Jack rabbit with the .17 HM2.
This was another post that I ran on a different forum. I've no personal experience with either rifles. But I think that the will definitely do the trick.
FirstFreedom
Moderator
It's a good question, and primarily one of range, as a tradeoff against noise.
First, range. For squirrel & rabbits, either one will be deadly on such small critters at any range at which you could make a hit under field conditions, so power / retained energy is a wash (non-issue). But, if you're not planning on practicing your holdover, then you have to look at your likely ranges. If we're talking close-in & wooded, that favors the 17 mach 2, which will shoot flat to around 125 yards. But if wide open, then the HMR gets you pretty flat shooting out to about 175 yards.
As for how MUCH quieter is mach 2 over the hmr, I dunno because I don't have a mach 2, but if it's significant at all, that's what I'd run with if the neighbors are your major concern. Surely it will be appreciably quieter I would think. Accuracy will be a wash. FWIW, I like the .17 hmr, but where I shoot, noise is not an issue.
First, range. For squirrel & rabbits, either one will be deadly on such small critters at any range at which you could make a hit under field conditions, so power / retained energy is a wash (non-issue). But, if you're not planning on practicing your holdover, then you have to look at your likely ranges. If we're talking close-in & wooded, that favors the 17 mach 2, which will shoot flat to around 125 yards. But if wide open, then the HMR gets you pretty flat shooting out to about 175 yards.
As for how MUCH quieter is mach 2 over the hmr, I dunno because I don't have a mach 2, but if it's significant at all, that's what I'd run with if the neighbors are your major concern. Surely it will be appreciably quieter I would think. Accuracy will be a wash. FWIW, I like the .17 hmr, but where I shoot, noise is not an issue.
Thanks for the Feedback
Thanks to all for the feedback - very helpful. I think I'll go for the .17 HMR, probably in the Ruger 77/17 with higher-end optics; maybe a Leopold 6-18. What's that they say about one-shot; one-kill? The occasional noise should not upset the neighbors too much.
Thanks to all for the feedback - very helpful. I think I'll go for the .17 HMR, probably in the Ruger 77/17 with higher-end optics; maybe a Leopold 6-18. What's that they say about one-shot; one-kill? The occasional noise should not upset the neighbors too much.