Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Around the Campfire => Topic started by: JW_Halverson on November 26, 2017, 03:27:17 pm
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A young woman I know has decided she wants to thin down the prairie dogs in her horse pasture. She tried another friend's .223, but decided she didn't want that much gun for that little a problem. I think the little .17 rimfire HMR would be perfect, so I got her to read up on the caliber. She likes it.
What are your recommendations for inexpensive guns in this caliber that would be reliable and effective? I would lean toward the H&R/New England break action single shot, but I think she might want a bolt action.
Because she is a "horse person", she is perpetually broke. Horse people will understand this. I am thinking of chipping in a few bucks and a few boxes of lead free ammo in exchange for her saving some of those Buddha rats, a hawk's gotta eat ya know. LOL
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A 17HMR is a pretty good caliber for such a job. You might consider the good ole 22 magnum as well. You can get a little bigger bullet weight and its a little more forgiving on longer range than the 17. You could probably find either of the guns used. I personally would compare the price of the ammo and the cost of the gun then go from there. Remember that a good scope will be a bigger key to her success with prairy dogs than the caliber she is shooting.
Patrick
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I have a Mossberg .17 HMR that I've had since they first came out. They are cheap and with BSA's also cheap, Sweet.17 scope, very accurate. It will blow a squirrel to heck and back with those ballistic tips they sell so I went to the 20 grain solid bullet and now it just punches a small hole. You have the dial the scope to 200 yards instead of 100 yards because of the extra 3 grains, though.
I've dropped everything from tree rats to Hogs with mine, no deer, but gators included. I have night vision on it now using the same scope.
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Hey Eddie, I use to have one just about like that. Your right about the balistic tips they can do some damage! I used mine mainly for coyotes but I sold it and bought the center fire 17 remington fireball. Man its flat shooting and it will absolutely distroy a yote at 400 yards.
Patrick
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CZ 452 Varmint is a good one. I know you asked about 17 hmr but I have a Ruger #3, 22 hornet center fire that is a nail driver.
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The savage with the accu trigger, u cant get better for the buck
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X2 ! On the savage!!!,,,,,,,I like to think of it as ammo friendly,,,,,,more Bulls-eyes than misses!,,,can not praise it enough! Jeffw
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JW the H&R single shot is a good gun I have one with a bull barrel in a 204.
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I have the Savage model 93. It is awesome in .17hmr. There are enough different bullets available for just about any small game. It will do a job on beavers too. I later purchased an Axis in .223, another awesome gun. I don't think you can beat these guns for the money. I agree a good scope is vital. The accu trigger is another great feature for sure.
Steve
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Not familiar with the.17 rim fire, but I am in favor of center Fire - reload recycle the brass. .223 is pretty good for most smaller game. Them prairie rats just laugh at my .58 ball, whistle "Incoming" and duck >:D! I would go with something in the .22 cal family.
Hawkdancer
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Another vote for the Savage bolt action, I've had one for years. Came with a BSA Sweet .17 scope - thought I'll replace it when it took a crap (Heard bad things about BSA). Use it quite a bit and the scope still going strong. Shoot mostly Ground Hogs, but makes a GREAT Tree Rat piece also - easy Head shots out to 100 Yds. Very accurate and Fun to shoot ! Bob
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Friend has the savage.. It's a nice gun to shoot.. I'm a 22 hornet guy but I reload.. H&R hasn't been made for a few years finding one might be tough.. Also the prices have skyrocketed..
Hawkdancer - 58 no 32 yes... Like a 22mag
Thanks Leroy
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Marlin xt17 or the savage. Both are great guns. I prefer the marlin adjustable (profire?) trigger over the savage accutrigger personally but they are both really good triggers. I have a friend that owns both of the 17’s and both seem to shoot equally well. I own the same rifles only in 22LR and the marlin shoots more accurately with a wider range of ammo than the savage, but again both shoot great. Won’t go wrong with either of those.
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I'm a big Marlin fan for any rim fire caliber. I have had my .22 mag bolt for 20 years and wouldn't trade it for any other plinker caliber. The bullets are almost twice the weight as a .17 and I prefer that for wind drift and power.
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She and I were discussing the .22 mag vs .17 HMR question last nite late, so I called a friend that works at Cabelas. He said he gave the advantage to the .17 strictly on two points. 1) .22 mag is more expensive these days 2) .17's do not have the availability issues like the .22.
I appreciate that people are saying good things about the Savage with the Accu-Trigger. A budy has a .223 with that and I LOVE the setup. A new shooter has a lot of things to overcome that can be controlled by things like sandbags/rests/good optics...but trigger control is something that has to be learned simply through shot after shot practice. A better trigger can save you a lot of $$$ in spent ammo. And besides, who wants a crappy trigger?
I have a Mossberg .17 HMR that I've had since they first came out. They are cheap and with BSA's also cheap, Sweet.17 scope, very accurate.
Read up on that scope, sounds a little too good to be true when you consider the price. But I am ok with that!
JW the H&R single shot is a good gun I have one with a bull barrel in a 204.
I had the .223 in a bull barrel set up for varmints with some strange brand 8x18 power scope. I added a Harris bi-pod that ScottS/stringman now has. I took 17 antelope with 18 shots with that gun! (One needed a follow-up to the head when she showed signs of trying to stand up). Other than the stupid amount of weight it accumulated with the heavy barrel, monster scope, and long legged bipod, a heck of a meat maker!
Marlin xt17 or the savage. Both are great guns. I prefer the marlin adjustable (profire?) trigger over the savage accutrigger personally but they are both really good triggers.
I'm a big Marlin fan for any rim fire caliber. I have had my .22 mag bolt for 20 years and wouldn't trade it for any other plinker caliber.
After getting and using this Marlin 336 in the 30-30, I am kinda turning into a fan of this manufacturer. I looked at the XT-17 and read some reviews that say serious good things. There is a thumbhole stock/pistol grip option available, and though they are nothing but gawd-awful ugly, I suspect the ergonomics might be helpful to a new shooter.
Thanks for the recommendations, everyone. Keep 'em coming! I will continue to forward these to her since it appears she is getting serious about it now.
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This is interesting. I thought .22 was the smallest calibre there was. .17 was an air rifle as far as I knew. Learn something new every day. I haven't shot for 40 years so maybe they snuck it in recently.
PS I just read the Wikipedia article about .17. It was developed recently. Sounds like a calibre I would have liked.
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Centerfire 17's have been around a good long time. The advent of the rimfire version was a gamechanger for varminters.
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Those are some nice rifles you guys are talking about, but
she is perpetually broke.
22 LR seems about right, and easier to clean and cheaper to feed than a 17
or could it be that.....
she wants you to take her to the gun store (you missed black Friday >:()
or maybe she just wants you to come over and shoot them for her
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One of my friends has a bull barrel Ruger 10-22 in .17. He says a squirrel doesn't stand a chance at any distance.
I have bought several guns from the Kentucky Gun Company, they have the best prices I have found. I checked their site and they have plenty of .17HMRs starting at around $200 and up.
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JW'b, I've been shooting that BSA since it came on the market with no problems. I figure if it raps out after that long I got my money's worth. And I'm not dumping a ton of money on a scope for shooting tree rats, I can still see.
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I believe 22LR AND 17HMR ammo is back to normal pricing and availability. Last I knew 22 mag ammo was the high ticket item. I bought hundreds of rounds years ago and wont need any for another decade. Unless...............zombies and/or crackheads attack! Its one shot one kill with that gun in hand, better watch it zombies.
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Those are some nice rifles you guys are talking about, but
she is perpetually broke.
22 LR seems about right, and easier to clean and cheaper to feed than a 17
or could it be that.....
she wants you to take her to the gun store (you missed black Friday >:()
or maybe she just wants you to come over and shoot them for her
.22 LR is a lot slower and has poorer ballistics, so it is dropping more rapidly after 100 yds. With the .17 having superior speed and flatter trajectory she will have to spend less on ammo learning Kentucky windage and elevation.
And as for her having me come out and be her "shooting buddy"....let's say her mixed martial arts tournament rolling cauliflowered eared husband might have other expectations and the like. He's a really nice guy and all, but I learned the hard way to fist bump rather than shake his hand. After all, I have grown attached to my right hand and I like to be able to use it!
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This is interesting. I thought .22 was the smallest calibre there was. .17 was an air rifle as far as I knew. Learn something new every day. I haven't shot for 40 years so maybe they snuck it in recently.
DC, the HMR is a pellet on steroids. ;D
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This is interesting. I thought .22 was the smallest calibre there was. .17 was an air rifle as far as I knew. Learn something new every day. I haven't shot for 40 years so maybe they snuck it in recently.
DC, the HMR is a pellet on steroids. ;D
Pellet on steroids! HA! I would add it seems to be on 'speed', too.
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When I was a kid we used to double up on the powder in our .22 LR. Don't know how fast it went but it sounded fast to us.
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the .17hmr is a .22 magnum case necked down to the .17 diameter. It is the same as a 177 pellet I think. As best I can remember it took a while to make a.17 in hard steel barrels due to the fact that the tooling to cut rifling had to be developed to be strong enough that small. Pellet rifles are softer metal, some even brass, like the Sheridan's
Steve
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Again when we were kids we toyed with the idea of chambering a pellet rifle to take a .22 short cartridge. None of my friends was willing to sacrifice their rifle. Selfish SOB's ;D ;D
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They are still playing around to make a safe .17 semi-auto pistol. Man, it's .17 or .20 of lead at 2500 FPS. It is flat and fast.
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They are still playing around to make a safe .17 semi-auto pistol. Man, it's .17 or .20 of lead at 2500 FPS. It is flat and fast.
I think you mean 17 or 20 grains of lead, right?
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Not with a short barrel ;)
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Yea, John.
They've made a couple I've read about but were not reliable in Semi-Auto.
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Yea, John.
They've made a couple I've read about but were not reliable in Semi-Auto.
Imagine getting shot in the keister with one of these. What with the way they blow up and damage tissue, you'd never sit level again in your life!
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Ok, Dara has yet to pull the trigger on a .17 yet....but I did.
I kinda had a feeling as I researched guns with/for her that I'd end up with getting one myself. I got a Savage 93 with a little 3x9 Weaver scope for $269. Dang, but that trigger pull is crisp! I need to adjust out the millimeter of creep and it will be golden!
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Is that little puppy like shooting a bb at Mach 2 or 3? Haven't seen one for real. Is it center fire or. Rim fire? I prefer cartridges that are reloadable and able to put meat on the table! It all goes down to shot placement! And practice! Besides that, most of us can't afford the "gun of the month"(or year, in my case)! I do have a .223(5.56 mm). Prefer .308, though, seems as versatile as any other caliber, of course, everybody has their favorite!
Hawkdancer
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The 17HMR is a Rimfire - Bob.
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It's the same size as a pellet traveling at 2500 fps. I quit shooting the ballistic tips and started using the 20 grain solid bullet. It won't blow a squirrel in half.
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Been looking at the A-17, looks like my next buy. I have a Remington model five, damn nice bolt action with Leupold scope, very accurate prefer the 20 grain hollow point, FMJ drops coyotes with shoulder shots.
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I have a savage .22 magnum I love. Decent 150 / 200 yard varmit gun.. shot a buddy's .17 hornet the other day... 25 grain bullet traveling at 3650 fps is pretty amazing.