Late to the whole 17HMR FAD

[chappo555]

Yep, I'll be keeping mine. I bought a SAKO quad 17HMR for my 9yr old son for christmas. Now obviously he doenst use it as he is legally too young however if he was using it he would have observed the following:

1. cheaper to shoot than even a 22H with ballistic tips. My HMR costs 24 a box. Cant load a 22H with BT for that price.
2. No recoil (good for him when hes old enough)
3. Doesnt have to worry about picking up shells. Given as a young bloke he would theoretically let a few go in quick succession not worrying about empty cases is a good thing.
4. Easy hold over. Flat shooting little bugger of a round. Easier for a kid to hit his target without accurate range estimation.
5. Bugger all noise. No need for earmuffs.
6. Smacks bunnies very well. He has "observed" me hit bunnies out past 175 metres.
7. He couldve even theoretically shot his first fox with it on Friday as well!
8. Plus when hes old enough Ill jam a 22LR barrel into it and he can shoot smallbore and rimfire BR at the range with the same gun.

Love the 17HMR. Fills a nice little niche in the calibre line up

just my 0.02c

cheers
chappo555

[220]

Yep, I'll be keeping mine. I bought a SAKO quad 17HMR for my 9yr old son for christmas.
Love the 17HMR. Fills a nice little niche in the calibre line up

just my 0.02c

cheers
chappo555

There is a 17HMR quad currently listed on abussed guns for $1150, a mob in WA has prefitted match chamber lija 22lr barrels in in stock for the quad at $650. Only need to add a 22lr/17M2 magazine and would have a very nice and useful outfit.

[Curtley78]

Personally, I think the 17 HMR is the preference of someone that would drive a Volvo whilst wearing ultra white deck shoes and sporting a panama hat. I think that the 17 HMR along with the .204 are simply mere fads and give it time people will revert back to the 222 Magnum, the 223 Rem and in regards to rimfire either the 22lr or the 22 Magnum.

The 22lr is the 'deadliest and most accurate' caliber in the world and it has the statistics to substantiate the statement, like someone said in regard to the Alfa Romeo syndrome, you may pay more but it doesn't make them better.

There are numerous 17 HMR's and 204's on Used Guns. Whilst at Silverdale on the weekend and having a look within the brass bin (I live in hope that I will find a few 6.5 X 47L cases) I found at least half a dozen split 17 HMR Federal cases (I also found a .204 case....woo hoo).

I am also adamant that had I have emptied the bin that I could have found 100's of 17 HMR Federal cases that had split (I actually brought half a dozen home with intent to post a few photos for the forum). I will get around to this.

Loads that are splitting cases are not good for any rifle.

Having struck up a conversation with a 17 HMR shooter I heard that he himself had recently returned a CZ in 17 HMR to the LGS for same such issue. He also advised me that there seems to be a problem with Federal ammunition as the cases are not as thick and that in the United States the Ruger 10/17's are experiencing problems....? I was also informed that all the ammunition was manufactured by CCI for the various Companies...?

Of all the 17 HMR shooters that I encounter, the majority have stated that they were going to sell the the rifle due to be being unimpressed with the caliber (these may be the ones on Used Guns) the others simply stated that in comparison to the 22lr that the 1 HMR has nothing to offer.

For what they are worth, I think I will stick with the 22lr and the .223 AI build-although, in regard to the latter, I probably should have opted the 6mm X 47 (on the 222 Magnum case).

Regards

Sean

[MISSED]

I wish you bastards would stop bagging them out i am trying to sell one

[andrewk]

sean, this is a 17hmr dumping thread. back off with the naughty talk about 204's buddy!

[Knackers]

Hey Sean there's 8 x 204"s for sale on UG's but there's 15 of those old faithfull .222's and there's 40 of those ever popular .223's to be had, I cant work out whats in demand or whats not wanted.
There's also more Wume'rs than Humer's for sale

[Knackers]

sean, this is a 17hmr dumping thread. back off with the naughty talk about 204's buddy!

[andrewk]

Hey Sean there's 8 x 204"s for sale on UG's but there's 15 of those old faithfull .222's and there's 40 of those ever popular .223's to be had, I cant work out whats in demand or whats not wanted.
There's also more Wume'rs than Humer's for sale

bah hahaha is that statistically speaking knackers???

how many of those are piece of shit 22lr's?

[Knackers]

Hey Sean there's 8 x 204"s for sale on UG's but there's 15 of those old faithfull .222's and there's 40 of those ever popular .223's to be had, I cant work out whats in demand or whats not wanted.
There's also more Wume'rs than Humer's for sale

bah hahaha is that statistically speaking knackers???

how many of those are piece of shit 22lr's?

about 54 but who's counting.

[fenring]

"The HMR has nothing to offer over the .22LR."

Only about twice the effective range.

Not one single split case from my Savage in the few years I've had it - just lots and lots of split vermin.

Bloke I shoot with has the same rifle - guess what? Same goes for him.

Four blokes I shoot with have HMR's and they love them.

They don't stay on the shelves of the LGS for too long at all - always in demand.

Then again, I suppose we could have missed the odd split case - we are humble hunters, not anal obsessive range princess types....

[Plowboy]

Wow this little round has some passionate opinions about it! Thank god the majority rounds don't carry the same feeling or this whole bloody forum would be a war!

I got mine hoping that it do the job of a centrefire and because of this I was dissapointed a little in performance. Not it's performance on rabbits....it tears them up! But I was after a fox gun. This, once over 120m it aint! Nothing wrong with the way it performs for what it was designed to do. And if I wasn't reloading the .223 I would most likley keep it. I have not seen the new prices for hummers but the price I got my last brick for was just too expensive for what it does. Most rabbits around here are only visible (at night) out to 50-80m because of the long grass and flat terrain. Therefor a .22lr would do (and does) the job well and cheap.

People can only choose what is best for them and there shooting circumstances. Some people will think they are the ducks guts and are perfect for the job. Others not. I am more concerned with ecomony and reliability. Some other here are more concerned with making red mist and most are probably a little bit of both. The fact that in order to maintain accuracy, I have to clean every 50 rounds or so where as my brothers old stirling was capable of shooting rabbits at 100m and has never been cleaned after thousands of rounds through it makes the old .22 hard to go past for a farm gun. Then again a lot of you blokes are shooters for a sport/hobby so taking time to clean and maintain equipment is part of the deal.

I think that maybe the early marketing hype was probably the thing that did a lot of damage to the image of the rifle.

[wifecallsmegrumpy]

Yep, I'll be keeping mine. I bought a SAKO quad 17HMR for my 9yr old son for christmas. Now obviously he doenst use it as he is legally too young however if he was using it he would have observed the following:

5. Bugger all noise. No need for earmuffs.
just my 0.02c

cheers
chappo555

Chappo, obviously it's up to you but I would recommend wearing hearing protection. The short sharp noise of gunfire, even a 17hmr can damage your hearing, although it might not be noticable until you are older.

[Knackers]

Well said Plowboy. I have two .22's and a .22WMR barrel that I can slip onto the Hummer. Economical it isn't, but if it was up to economics we would all be driving Charade's, but we like what we like and spend according to our budgets. I try not to waste HMR ammo, cause I have a very small budget atm. My HMR is my go to rifle for bunnies and cats, but I enjoy hunting with the 22 and plinking endlessly, because of its price, oh and comps.

[Curtley78]

Hey Sean there's 8 x 204"s for sale on UG's but there's 15 of those old faithfull .222's and there's 40 of those ever popular .223's to be had, I cant work out whats in demand or whats not wanted.

G'day Knackers,

It is worth considering that both the 222 and the 223 have been in production for alot longer then the 204. With-out reaching for Nick Harvey's reloading manual, I think that it would be fair to assert that the 222 has been commercially produced since the early 50s.

The 223 has been commercially available since the mid 60's.

It would also be fair to assume that the market has been well and truly saturated with 222's & 223's as opposed to the 204 which has only been commercially available since 2004.

In comparison and when taking into account the numerous 222's and 223's that have been produced the 204 with it's recent emergence is still in my opinion to be desired.

Regards

Sean

[MISSED]

I think that maybe the early marketing hype was probably the thing that did a lot of damage to the image of the rifle.

Well said plowboy