^Matter of perspective, it kills them really well. I can't remember wounding one with the .17 HMR and it ever getting away, Dead on impact. We hunt them as varmint because they burrow into the house and they make a significant impact on eating as much of the pecan crop as they can. We have a couple outdoor cats that have developed a taste for squirrel, they seem to like the giant holes that it makes.
I do agree with you that the .17 HM2 moves out at a much better velocity if your hunting them for meat, we just want them dead and the HMR does a good job of thinning them out around the house.