Looking at a Henry lever action
in 17HMR caliber.
Anyone shoot this round ?
Opinion ??
in 17HMR caliber.
Anyone shoot this round ?
Opinion ??
17 HMR caliber....
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I don't own one, but have shot various rifles owned by others. The cartridge itself is accurate and suitable for small animals where legal.
IMHO, a Henry Lever does not achieve the full accuracy of the cartridge, at least not the one I shot. Now in a good bolt action..........
IMHO, a Henry Lever does not achieve the full accuracy of the cartridge, at least not the one I shot. Now in a good bolt action..........
Wee Hooker
Member
I've owned many. Still keep two. Mine were bolt actions /single shots though. In my experience, the 17 HMR is a great close quarter varmint round inside of 125 yds or so. Shoots as hard as a 22 mag ( which it has all but replaced these days) but with a VERY flat trajectory. Most of the Marlin and Savage guns I owned , would shoot the right bullet at 1 MOA when I did my part. The added benefit of the 17 is that potential for harmful ricochets / stray bullets is greatly reduced over bigger calibers because the light bullets loose energy fast if they hit even a blade of grass.
p.s. The only downsides to the round is that the small bore tends to foul faster than a 22 and that ammo is still 250% more than .22 lr.
p.s. The only downsides to the round is that the small bore tends to foul faster than a 22 and that ammo is still 250% more than .22 lr.
Great,accurate and fairly flat shooting round,but any breeze of 10mph or more will move it a lot!
I've really enjoyed mine (Ruger 77/17)
I've really enjoyed mine (Ruger 77/17)
I shoot a 17 HMR and really like the cartridge.
A lever gun wouldn't be my platform of choice though.
Mines been used on woodchucks raccoons and a boatload of nasty pigeons and a few other critters.
A lever gun wouldn't be my platform of choice though.
Mines been used on woodchucks raccoons and a boatload of nasty pigeons and a few other critters.
Ivan the Butcher
Member
I had a 17 HMR in a Anschutz MPR rifle very similar to Weatherby's one pictured above. The average box of ammo is 1 MOA. A 10 round group would have 7 or 8 rounds in a 1/4 MOA group and 2 or 3 fliers(also in a group) making the total group 1 MOA. I searched all the ammo stores with large amounts of the same group and test fired that box. I would find some lots did 1/2 MOA and bought 10-20 more boxes of the same lot. A friend found 2 lots that were honest 1/4 MOA groups and had 50 boxes from each lot. When I sold the rifle I included 5 boxes of ammo and a target for that lot of ammo, I almost got double my cost. I sold my remaining ammo in Lot groups with test targets, and always got double the retail I paid!
All my tests were done at 100 yards outdoors, with a Harris Bi-pod and rear bag. Using an old M-8 Leupold 10x scope in Champion Shooter Supply, 22 Rail type rings for European rifles!
Ivan
All my tests were done at 100 yards outdoors, with a Harris Bi-pod and rear bag. Using an old M-8 Leupold 10x scope in Champion Shooter Supply, 22 Rail type rings for European rifles!
Ivan
Fishinfool
Member
I was thinking of buying a rifle in 17 HMR a couple years ago, and so borrowed a friends CZ bolt action to see if I liked it (the caliber).
The rifle was very accurate, grouping under 1/2 inch at 50 yards, consistently with the Hornady loading.
But, I decided not to buy one. My use for this caliber would be small game hunting - rabbit and squirrel mostly, and I feel that light, fast bullet is too destructive on edible small game. I find the regular .22 LR more suitable for this use. I think the 17 HMR is more suited to small varmints. I didn't try it on bigger varmints like fox and coyote, but for that kind of use, I have more faith in a .22 magnum HP. Just my very limited experience though.
Larry
The rifle was very accurate, grouping under 1/2 inch at 50 yards, consistently with the Hornady loading.
But, I decided not to buy one. My use for this caliber would be small game hunting - rabbit and squirrel mostly, and I feel that light, fast bullet is too destructive on edible small game. I find the regular .22 LR more suitable for this use. I think the 17 HMR is more suited to small varmints. I didn't try it on bigger varmints like fox and coyote, but for that kind of use, I have more faith in a .22 magnum HP. Just my very limited experience though.
Larry
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Valmet
Member
Phenomenal cartridge. Excellent on small game out to 200ish yards, impressive for a rimfire and ammo is available and affordable.
Ivan the Butcher
Member
The first shot at game I had with the 17 HMR, was at A ground hog living under an old out building I had. I had been after it for 3 years. One afternoon in the fall, my wife calls me to the front door. Our driveway was a "U" shape, and at the road end of the far side was THE groundhog standing there with an apple in both hands, eating and watching traffic go by! I grabbed the 17 HMR and shot her in the shoulder at 55 yards. She must have had a nervous system twitch caused by the hydrostatic shock, she jumped straight up feet over head so the feet were about 5' in the air and was very dead when she hit the ground.
The next spring I had a shot at one of her older offspring, but he was on all fours sitting on my truck's front bumper. I opened the front door and basically dove to a kneeling position, he jumped off of the bumper and started running under the out building, but stopped and looked over his shoulder to see if I was coming at him. I got the shot off at that point square into his butt. He was froze right there for about 2 minutes with his tail spinning like a propeller! That was about 35 or 40 yards. I sold that gun shortly thereafter, and went back to 22 Hornet for around the house.
I bought a Savage in 17 Mock IV, but got rid of it quickly! I shot a groundhog at 10 yards in the shoulder and it ran 20 feet into the hole! No wonder that cartridge is discounted! It was very good on squirrels and chipmunks, but my problem was groundhogs and raccoons!
Ivan
The next spring I had a shot at one of her older offspring, but he was on all fours sitting on my truck's front bumper. I opened the front door and basically dove to a kneeling position, he jumped off of the bumper and started running under the out building, but stopped and looked over his shoulder to see if I was coming at him. I got the shot off at that point square into his butt. He was froze right there for about 2 minutes with his tail spinning like a propeller! That was about 35 or 40 yards. I sold that gun shortly thereafter, and went back to 22 Hornet for around the house.
I bought a Savage in 17 Mock IV, but got rid of it quickly! I shot a groundhog at 10 yards in the shoulder and it ran 20 feet into the hole! No wonder that cartridge is discounted! It was very good on squirrels and chipmunks, but my problem was groundhogs and raccoons!
Ivan
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On the other hand, I have fired many thousands of rounds of 17HMR into Montana prairie dogs, skunks and gophers with STUNNING results in my CZ 452 Trainer.
A good scope is mandatory, reading the wind is also mandatory, but when you CAN do that I have taken varmints out past 300 yards...(measured with my Nikon rangefinder) quite consistently.
GREAT cartridge for what it is intended!!
Randy
A good scope is mandatory, reading the wind is also mandatory, but when you CAN do that I have taken varmints out past 300 yards...(measured with my Nikon rangefinder) quite consistently.
GREAT cartridge for what it is intended!!
Randy
I have used one for a couple of years now in a CZ455 American and have shot many, many prairie dogs with it along with quite a few smaller varmints. It’s very useful out to 200 yds or so, maybe even as fas as 300, if the shooter knows his business, but I would be very reluctant to use that lightweight, fragile bullet on anything that weighs more than 5 pounds or so. When you’re talking coyotes, fox, etc., I really think you’re much better off with a 40 gr. 22 Mag or even something like the .223. Still, it’s a fun little cartridge if used within reasonable limits.
Marshal Tom
Member
I have been shooting Richardson Ground Squirrels off of my back terrace wall for several years. They dig holes all over the place and are just a general nuisance. I had been killing then with a .22LR with great success until I purchased a CZ 452 bolt action in .17. Wow! The first time I shot one with it, it evaporated off of the wall. The next one looked like a canoe after I shot him. I love the .17HMR so far but still use a lot of .22 and .22Mag as well.
Shooter6br
Member
Have a Marlin VSS with a HB and a after market trigger. (2 lbs) Very accurate and good out to 120 yrs, REASON in my county of Bucks Pa. can only use RF for small game (Chucks) Slug for deer. 17 HRM qualifies
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The .17 HMR is a neat little round that fits a niche between the .22 RF and the smaller centerfire varmint offerings. All the circumstances already related should give you an idea of its utility, but I must add that I don't think it's a consistent 300 yard PD gun.
My three man hunting party started out with the first Rugers but were dissatisfied with the accuracy and triggers. Two of us went with Anschutz 1717 HBs when they came out and the third had a 40XR built with a Lilja barrel.
We shoot them mostly at gophers in the hay meadows at ranges over a 100 (Mach 2 under 100)before the grass gets too high and too wet from irrigating. Also, occasionally we'll find a PD town where the ranges are 200 or so and the HMR works fine at the shorter range.
Accuracy is better than the other rimfires, so I'd say give the Henry a try if you're so inclined.
My three man hunting party started out with the first Rugers but were dissatisfied with the accuracy and triggers. Two of us went with Anschutz 1717 HBs when they came out and the third had a 40XR built with a Lilja barrel.
We shoot them mostly at gophers in the hay meadows at ranges over a 100 (Mach 2 under 100)before the grass gets too high and too wet from irrigating. Also, occasionally we'll find a PD town where the ranges are 200 or so and the HMR works fine at the shorter range.
Accuracy is better than the other rimfires, so I'd say give the Henry a try if you're so inclined.
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