Has anyone gotten into .17?

[joefrank64k]

17 is cool.

I’ve got .17 HMR & .17 Mach 2 in a Sako Quad and my newest addition, .17 WSM in a Savage B.Mag.

 

[AR15barrels]

yeah that's a better price for sure, still seems like a bit of a novelty compared to 223 since it has 250 ft lbs vs 1250 ft lbs of energy but who am I to say whats fun or not fun for anyone.

Less muzzle blast and lower cost makes shooting more fun.
I give you the popularity of 22LR as evidence.

You don't need 1250ft-lbs to make holes in paper or kill varmints.

 

[RustVendor]

Less muzzle blast and lower cost makes shooting more fun.
I give you the popularity of 22LR as evidence.

You don't need 1250ft-lbs to make holes in paper or kill varmi

You do need 1250 ft lbs when you want to kill varmints over 100 yards, if those varmints are raccoons, coyotes, or even just ground squirrels over 150 yards or even shoot steel and actually move it. 17 hrm is already down to 137 ftlbs at 100 yards, and 73 at 200 yards. The ballistics are objectively terrible. Anyway, I personally find it extremely boring when my rifle doesn't have some amount of blast though and 223 is the minimum I feel like I'm actually shooting a rifle and not just an air rifle, but again I'm not here to rain on anyone's parade and I'm happy that other people like whatever they like. So, rock and roll.

 

[DrewN]

About how many reloads can you get out of a cart?

They are a little finicky due to the size, but not an abnormally low amount. 5 or 6 easily usually.

 

[AR15barrels]

I'm not here to rain on anyone's parade

Keep telling yourself that.

 

[RustVendor]

Keep telling yourself that.

sir, I have seen your comments and you are about as autistic and pedantic as they come so pot, meet kettle.

 

[AR15barrels]

You do need 1250 ft lbs when you want to kill varmints over 100 yards, if those varmints are raccoons, coyotes, or even just ground squirrels over 150 yards or even shoot steel and actually move it. 17 hrm is already down to 137 ftlbs at 100 yards, and 73 at 200 yards. The ballistics are objectively terrible.

Then there's this data point:

Chart showing minimum fpe to kill various animals
Chart assumes headshots.

1) Gray squirrel/Fox Squirrel - 4.5fpe
2) Eastern Cottontail/Swamp Rabbit - 4fpe
3) Jack Rabbit White, Black, and Jack O' lope - 4.5fpe
4) Raccoon/ Bandit - 9fpe.. if it's a big one, 10fpe.
5) Virginia Opossum/ County Rat - 10fpe
6) Ground Hog/ Wood Chuck - 7-8fpe (depending on size)
7) Gray Fox - 8.5fpe
8. Red Fox - 9.5-10fpe
9) Bobcat - 9fpe
10) Bullfrog - I have no clue, but 2fpe should do the job.
11) Snapping Turtle - no clue again but I would think at least the same as bird or squirrel.
12) Crow - 3.5 fpe head, 6fpe body/vitals
13) Pigeon - 3 fpe head, 5fpe body/vitals
14) Sparrow - 2.5fpe, it doesn't matter where you hit them.

 

[PlinkyDinky]

They are a little finicky due to the size, but not an abnormally low amount. 5 or 6 easily usually.

Does annealing help extend their life?

 

[DrewN]

Does annealing help extend their life?

I suck at annealing, so maybe? I mean, I started with 2.5K factory rounds, so I'm still on my first batch of brass. I'm assuming the necks will fail just because of the size, but I can't give you an authoritative number. I've definitely screwed up a couple with careless handling more than anything.

 

[RustVendor]

Then there's this data point:

if you are just going to google stuff you can google all the animals that people haven't ethically killed over 100 yards with 17 hmr. Like I said, if you like it go shoot it but I hate hunting undergunned, I don't care if it's varmints they still deserve clean kills. Like if you are shooting prairie dogs and all of a sudden you have coyotes but you can't take that shot because you are undergunned. There's a lot of limitations if you try to do the bare minimum and if you are actually killing things it matters more. Even watching a ground squirrel pull itself back into it's hole hobbled is not that fun to watch.

 

[2muchsoysauce4allthisrice]

if you are just going to google stuff you can google all the animals that people haven't ethically killed over 100 yards with 17 hmr. Like I said, if you like it go shoot it but I hate hunting undergunned, I don't care if it's varmints they still deserve clean kills. Like if you are shooting prairie dogs and all of a sudden you have coyotes but you can't take that shot because you are undergunned. There's a lot of limitations if you try to do the bare minimum and if you are actually killing things it matters more. Even watching a ground squirrel pull itself back into it's hole hobbled is not that fun to watch.

Another reason why I switched to .17hmr besides the testing the current .22lr lead free ammo I bought being a 50 yard load at the range; was because I wanted to switch away from .223 lead free which I have tried in the field. I still havnt taken the lead free .22lr out in the field yet.

.223 55 grain federal meat eater lead free with the black polymer tip and sig elite copper LT 60 grain tears at jackrabbit meat. Load-x 36 grain VG (varmint grenade) lead free pops inside but does still have some meat damage; even with neck shots it was a mess. Seems like with .223 Remington, head and neck shots were the only way to minimize meat damage/loss. It was a mess when taking shoulder shots.

12 gauge steel was an option but sometimes realized I needed a caliber that was able to reach farther such as 90 yards. Squirrels I would only use 12 gauge but would need to deal with steel pellets; also didn’t want to deal with pellets for jackrabbit with 12 gauge.

Would love to try out coyote hunting. Only have had two times I seen coyote on public land instead of just hearing them bark and howl during the day time or waking me up in the middle of the night. One time at 56 yards, but didn’t take the shot since it wasn’t worth it since I already bagged a buck on public land and needed to walk back to car. Another time, it was during a quail hunt, spotted at 70 yards, but had a modified choke with #6 steel shot; didnt take the shot since I didn’t want to be the a-hole that peppered it and wounded it. I actually want to try eating wild public land coyote meat (I hear it’s tough meat); even though we can technically just leave them there since they are considered non-game.

 

[PoorRichRichard]

OP- I’ve got a Savage bolt gun in .17hmr, and it’s the best long-range quail hunting gun I own!

…..J/K

 

[RustVendor]

Another reason why I switched to .17hmr besides the testing the current .22lr lead free ammo I bought being a 50 yard load at the range; was because I wanted to switch away from .223 lead free which I have tried in the field. I still havnt taken the lead free .22lr out in the field yet.

.223 55 grain federal meat eater lead free with the black polymer tip and sig elite copper LT 60 grain tears at jackrabbit meat. Load-x 36 grain VG (varmint grenade) lead free pops inside but does still have some meat damage; even with neck shots it was a mess. Seems like with .223 Remington, head and neck shots were the only way to minimize meat damage/loss. It was a mess when taking shoulder shots.

12 gauge steel was an option but sometimes realized I needed a caliber that was able to reach farther such as 90 yards. Squirrels I would only use 12 gauge but would need to deal with steel pellets; also didn’t want to deal with pellets for jackrabbit with 12 gauge.

Would love to try out coyote hunting. Only have had two times I seen coyote on public land instead of just hearing them bark and howl during the day time or waking me up in the middle of the night. One time at 56 yards, but didn’t take the shot since it wasn’t worth it since I already bagged a buck on public land and needed to walk back to car. Another time, it was during a quail hunt, spotted at 70 yards, but had a modified choke with #6 steel shot; didnt take the shot since I didn’t want to be the a-hole that peppered it and wounded it. I actually want to try eating wild public land coyote meat (I hear it’s tough meat); even though we can technically just leave them there since they are considered non-game.

Hevi shot makes a coyote round that will let you take long shots because it's, well, hevi. Theyre kinda expensive but if you just carry a few when you have a shotgun you can just throw them in while quail hunting.

 

[PlinkyDinky]

17 is cool.

I’ve got .17 HMR & .17 Mach 2 in a Sako Quad and my newest addition, .17 WSM in a Savage B.Mag.

I'd only just heard of Mach 2, as well; so many choices!!

 

[DrewN]

You do need 1250 ft lbs when you want to kill varmints over 100 yards, if those varmints are raccoons, coyotes, or even just ground squirrels over 150 yards or even shoot steel and actually move it. 17 hrm is already down to 137 ftlbs at 100 yards, and 73 at 200 yards. The ballistics are objectively terrible. Anyway, I personally find it extremely boring when my rifle doesn't have some amount of blast though and 223 is the minimum I feel like I'm actually shooting a rifle and not just an air rifle, but again I'm not here to rain on anyone's parade and I'm happy that other people like whatever they like. So, rock and roll.

Hornet is 411 at 100 and 287 at 200. The .17 part isn't the issue.

 

[Jimi Jah]

That ammo is too expensive. I still have plenty of 25 cent .223 and 16 cent 7.62 commie.

 

[PlinkyDinky]

16 cent 7.62 commie.

Boy, did I ever miss that boat!

 

[AR15barrels]

That ammo is too expensive. I still have plenty of 25 cent .223 and 16 cent 7.62 commie.

If you had been stockpiling reloading components when you were buying that 16 cent 7.62x39, you could be loading 5 cent 38 special or 9mm, 12 cent 223 or 25 cent 17 hornet today.

 

[Jimi Jah]

Reloading takes time. Too much time at my age. I have too much ammo to start reloading again. I will probably sell off my brass collection.

 

[PlinkyDinky]

Reloading takes time. Too much time at my age. I have too much ammo to start reloading again. I will probably sell off my brass collection.

I do enjoy decapping under the table during virtual meetings.