HOW MANY

[Tommy Kelly]

I looked through the post and don't see the single six 17 hmr being discussed. I bought one just to have it and it's a nice shooting gun. The ammo cost is high but fun for a change to shoot. I have a couple of the single sixes in 22/22mag also but enjoy the different little 17 every once in a while. I owned a 17hmr 77/17 but couldnt get used to the midrange of it so I got rid of it and got a 22 mag in its place. The mag doesnt vary as much in the midrange as the 17. I hear ruger offered the convertable 17 for a while but dropped it because of the smaller 17 splitting hulls. I never tried the small 17 machII in anything. I think the ammo for it is about 1/2 the price of hmr's. I enjot shooting my handguns and the 17 has a place in my mind in a handgun.

 

[Old Judge Creek]

I looked through the post and don't see the single six 17 hmr being discussed... I enjot shooting my handguns and the 17 has a place in my mind in a handgun.

As long as it has a place in your milieu you're good to go. Frankly, I'm one of those old timers who couldn't find a use for anything chambered in .17; but if you like it, and have a use for it, then I applaud your use of it.

My guess though, is that any 17 rimfire is going to become more and more difficult (and expensive) to find ammo for, as years go by.

I remember all the furor over the Remington 5mm Magnum that was introduced ~1970. Five years later it was obsolete and ammo for it was off the shelves. The same thing seems to be happening with the 17 family. Guns and ammo are getting fewer and further between sightings.

My advice would be to stash away as much ammo as you can for that shooter, so you'll be good to go 10 years and more down the road.

 

[22-rimfire]

I don't see the 17HMR petering out anytime soon. I wish somebody like CZ, Savage, or Remington would start making a 5mm rimfire again.

 

[Snake45]

I looked through the post and don't see the single six 17 hmr being discussed... I enjot shooting my handguns and the 17 has a place in my mind in a handgun.

As long as it has a place in your milieu you're good to go. Frankly, I'm one of those old timers who couldn't find a use for anything chambered in .17; but if you like it, and have a use for it, then I applaud your use of it.

My guess though, is that any 17 rimfire is going to become more and more difficult (and expensive) to find ammo for, as years go by.

I remember all the furor over the Remington 5mm Magnum that was introduced ~1970. Five years later it was obsolete and ammo for it was off the shelves. The same thing seems to be happening with the 17 family. Guns and ammo are getting fewer and further between sightings.

My advice would be to stash away as much ammo as you can for that shooter, so you'll be good to go 10 years and more down the road.

The .17s seem to have gotten a much firmer grasp on the market than the Rem 5mm ever did--I think it was just a couple decades ahead of its time. I don't think the .17 is going away.

But I'm with you, I have no need for a .17 firearm of any kind. At least not until they start making .17 BULK ammo, selling for prices competitive with .22LR bulk ammo, and I just don't see that happening.

 

[Rocdoc]

17hmr here to stay IMO (HM2 is another story sadly), see lots of them bought/sold on a local forum, wish the ammo price would come down, have seen some mail order for $10/box recently. Everybody I know that has one loves the round.

 

[Tommy Kelly]

The 17hmr is a awesome little round. It is like a mini 22-250. The first time I shot a armadillo with mine I was impressed. The shot was about 50 yds and the armidillo had a small hole about the size of a golf ball where the bullet hit. The hole looked like you had taken a icecream scoup and dipped out a chunk of the shell and dipped out a chunk of meat. Birds just disenegrate when shot with one. I zeroed mine dead on at 25 yds and at 200 yds a kildee would just puff up and explode when shot. The only trouble was that between 25 yds and 200 yds the bullet would be about 8"high and hard to guess where to hold for midrange shots. The 22 mag would stay within a couple of inches and is a lot easier to shoot and hit with at those ranges. I shot a 22 mag for years with great success and really enjoy this round. In my younger days I went through a outlaw stage and did a lot of deer hunting at night and used a 22 mag for that. I killed 85 deer with a 22 mag winchester model 9422m in 2 years hunting only during deer season but only at night. I only lost 1 deer and only shot that deer more than one shot. When I quit night hunting I sold that rifle so I wouldn't be tempted to go back to night hunting again. I just bought another 22 mag a couple of years ago after about 20 years away from the night hunting. I will never night hunt again but the 22 mag is a great little rifle to have.

 

[contender]

I have a few 17's myself. I have the Ruger rifle,, and a NRA 17 HMR SA revolver. Plus,, I was able to get a 17 convertable hunter variation. I happen to enjoy the little round. The crows around here do not care for it much,,,,! I also keep my 17 HMR rifle with me for work a lot.
I happen to enjoy mine,,,!

 

[Highstandardguy]

All I can say is that when ammo was in short supply, every WalMart I walked into had plenty of .40 and .17 ammo. I guess no one wanted it.

BTW someone was producing 5mm ammo a few months back. I don't know if it's still available.

 

[CraigC]

The .17HMR is here to stay. There are far to many guns chambering it already in circulation and new ones coming out every year. It's extremely popular and shows no signs of ever going away. Every maker of rimfires has a .17HMR, usually several variations. By contrast, how many different rifles were available in 5mm?

The same thing seems to be happening with the 17 family. Guns and ammo are getting fewer and further between sightings.

Not only is this unfounded but do you really keep up with things that don't interest you so closely?

 

[DVRich]

The 17hmr is a awesome little round. It is like a mini 22-250. The first time I shot a armadillo with mine I was impressed. The shot was about 50 yds and the armidillo had a small hole about the size of a golf ball where the bullet hit. The hole looked like you had taken a icecream scoup and dipped out a chunk of the shell and dipped out a chunk of meat. Birds just disenegrate when shot with one. I zeroed mine dead on at 25 yds and at 200 yds a kildee would just puff up and explode when shot. The only trouble was that between 25 yds and 200 yds the bullet would be about 8"high and hard to guess where to hold for midrange shots. The 22 mag would stay within a couple of inches and is a lot easier to shoot and hit with at those ranges. I shot a 22 mag for years with great success and really enjoy this round. In my younger days I went through a outlaw stage and did a lot of deer hunting at night and used a 22 mag for that. I killed 85 deer with a 22 mag winchester model 9422m in 2 years hunting only during deer season but only at night. I only lost 1 deer and only shot that deer more than one shot. When I quit night hunting I sold that rifle so I wouldn't be tempted to go back to night hunting again. I just bought another 22 mag a couple of years ago after about 20 years away from the night hunting. I will never night hunt again but the 22 mag is a great little rifle to have.

Shame you have such a disdain for wildlife. Shooting at non game animals to just test your weapon is just wrong on so many levels. I can't believe you admit to illegal hunting....pretty stupid, most poachers like yourself actually try to conceal their crimes.
FYI I put poachers in the same category as child molesters. I hope you don't claim to be a christian. This country doesn't need any more Ted Nugents.

 

[Coop]

I think the .17 HMR & HM2 are both toast. Stupid cartridges, IMO.

Coop

PS: Good Riddance!

 

[Cholo]

"I put poachers in the same category as child molesters." DVRich

I don't much care for poachers either, but putting them in the same class as child molesters? :roll:

Do you belong to PETA?

 

[Tommy Kelly]

Yes it was not right but I did it any way. I think it was more beating the game wardens than killing the deer. Now I'm classed down with a child mollester for night hunting. But another point I would like to make in my defence is that I never left a peice of deer meat in the field everyone of the deer went to poor people to help feed their families during those 2 years. I don't believe in wasting meat and got every deer I shot and took it to someone who would use it. I see many deer shot and left in the woods. Where I hunt a deer is supposed to be 15" wide to be legal. All this did was waste a lot of small bucks. Hunters will shoot a buck then measure the spread if its not legal they just leave it. I would never do that. I would bring it out if I get caught I pay the fine. Everyone wants to blame the game wardens. They are just doing what we pay them to do their job.

 

[contender]

DVRich,
I believe the attack on Tommy was unwarranted.
First,, he's discussing the 17 caliber.
Next,, he has an armadillo he shot. MANY folks put them in the nuisance catagory due to the damages they cause to their homes & lawns. (I am an Animal Damage Control agent, I know about such things.) It was a testament of how the 17 performed. Not anything more.
Lastly,, he admitted to going through an outlaw stage IN HIS YOUTH!!!!! He fully knows and accepts his wrongdoing,, and from how I read things,, he does not do that anymore.
Can you honestly say you broke NO laws when you were younger? Do you always go the speed limit and no more right now?
"Let ye who is without sin cast the first stone."
And lastly,, I would like to see how much good you have done compared to Ted Nuggent. I have met him,, discussed his "Camp For Kids," and his constant fight for gun owners.
While we here at the Ruger forum fully respect everyones opinions,, we also do not appreciate undue attacks upon members where it's unwarranted.
PS: I most likely will not get a chance to reply to anything for a while as I'll be gone to the SHOT Show for a week.

 

[CraigC]

I think the .17 HMR & HM2 are both toast. Stupid cartridges, IMO.

Coop

PS: Good Riddance!

Ever used one??? Probably not. The bottom line is that for $300-$350 you can buy a .17HMR that will shoot half-MOA with boring regularity, shoot flat enough and hit hard enough to bust small varmints out to 250yds and premium grade ammo is only $13 a box. Hell, what's NOT to like???

And no, the HMR is not going away anytime soon. Way too many guns from way too manufacturers in way too many numbers already in circulation. Maybe you guys should educate yourselves on what's actually going on....outside your unfounded biases. :roll:

 

[Cracker-American]

I was going to comment on DVRich's post but in reading down I came on Contender's response.

Says it all. Well and truly.