Which one? .17 HMR or .17 WSM?

Boy, there's 3 folks who posted, yea I'll be shooting mine and giving a report. Eh, me for 1, am itching to see those reports. The nay sayers seem to speak out readily enough, yet the happy hunters must have gone hunting rather than posting.

What I've noticed is that GunBroker has 5,000 rounds WSM available for $40 a box at any time. So, the demands there. This summer Savage should have a stainless heavy barrel and Boyd's has a selection of beautiful stocks. Franklin announced at the 2014 shot show they plan to produce an AR version in WSM, kinda big. Winchester has a warehouse full of overstock .27 cal brass and should be happy to turn that into $$. In spite of the negativity, a smattering of WSM owners are making brief quips that their guns are shooters, rather than ranting on forums, they're out there hunting -n shooting. I'm almost convinced the WSM round is gonna succeed.

The HMR bullet is niffy and takes critters up to coons, foxes, and ground hogs handily. Accurate enough for head shots on small game. I like the idea of shooting a 15.5gr bullet skyward, crows and squirrels, and not worrying about the bullet doing any damage upon decent. Since you already have the .223 'yote dropper, much of your decision is to be based on 'what varmits do you want to harvest?' The WSM winddrifts noticeably less than the HMR, even less than the 22mag. +1 The 25gr has a BC of .23 which is often overlooked. Translation, it'll do at 200yd what the HMR will do at 150yd. I'd venture you could add Bobcat to your varmit list for the WSM as well. Maybe a marginal close up round for coyote as a handful humane kills have been documented.

There's a bit of risk with the WSM yet, but thinking the round will gain acceptance has a basis. The initial rifle can be upgraded to be a great looking light weight walking stalking rifle.

I can't get together with my .17WSM until late this March. So I'll be reporting later on, if I don't get tied up hunting
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I just don't know if the 17WSM will be as devastating on Cape Buffalo as my 17HMR is. Afraid it will not
Leave much meat if I miss the head shot. Just saying
 
Originally Posted By: FurhunterOriginally Posted By: Jeff MockWHere does the .17 Hornet fall into all of this?

The rest fail in comparison.
In a good day we ,2-3 shooters , will empty 15-20 rnds coon calling . We are hunting in woods with lots of leaves and then in the snow. Finding all that brass like from a .17 hornet would be impossible and restrictive in the moment to get the coons on the ground. So reloading for it would be buying brass and almost total loss while hunting. It is run and gun , fast , shooting and you have to be ready to run to get on runners on the ground or others escaping to den holes. Rimfires rule. Jim
 
Originally Posted By: spidermanOriginally Posted By: FurhunterOriginally Posted By: Jeff MockWHere does the .17 Hornet fall into all of this?

The rest fail in comparison.
In a good day we ,2-3 shooters , will empty 15-20 rnds coon calling . We are hunting in woods with lots of leaves and then in the snow. Finding all that brass like from a .17 hornet would be impossible and restrictive in the moment to get the coons on the ground. So reloading for it would be buying brass and almost total loss while hunting. It is run and gun , fast , shooting and you have to be ready to run to get on runners on the ground or others escaping to den holes. Rimfires rule. Jim


Thats the best you got for a comparison, finding the brass? Not all of us are as worried about it as you.

Nothing on the Hornet shooting the same bullet 6-700 FPS faster? Having around the same velocity at 100 yards as the WSM has at the muzzle?

Sounds like a shotgun would work well for you under those conditions also.
 
Originally Posted By: FurhunterOriginally Posted By: spidermanOriginally Posted By: FurhunterOriginally Posted By: Jeff MockWHere does the .17 Hornet fall into all of this?

The rest fail in comparison.
In a good day we ,2-3 shooters , will empty 15-20 rnds coon calling . We are hunting in woods with lots of leaves and then in the snow. Finding all that brass like from a .17 hornet would be impossible and restrictive in the moment to get the coons on the ground. So reloading for it would be buying brass and almost total loss while hunting. It is run and gun , fast , shooting and you have to be ready to run to get on runners on the ground or others escaping to den holes. Rimfires rule. Jim


Thats the best you got for a comparison, finding the brass? Not all of us are as worried about it as you.

Nothing on the Hornet shooting the same bullet 6-700 FPS faster? Having around the same velocity at 100 yards as the WSM has at the muzzle?

Sounds like a shotgun would work well for you under those conditions also.
I would love to have a .17 hornet and I reload but I was making one point for rimfire=.17wsm but losing brass and always having to buy it makes it a deal breaker for me... Jim


I would love a .17 hornet and I reload but the wsm is just fine and works well for me. Finding brass is not the only reason I don't use and .17 hornet but a good one. Also I think the hornet might be just a little too much bang on our coons at the close ranges we routinely shoot...30 feet - 30 yards. I don't need any more performance and fur damage would be the result if I had it. That is why I shoot the 20 grainers instead of 25s as they were getting real close to exits at our close ranges. My fur buyer doesn't want shotgun coons. Jim
 
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Accuracy with my B-Mag with a Leupold 3x9 is about 2 inch groups, 5 shots, at 100 yards off the bench. Getting ready to put my new Redfield 4x12 on the rifle and see if I can do better today. Killed 5 coyotes with mine so far, majority of the shots have been straight on chest shots. A couple ran but didnt last long. The others, BANG-flop.
 
Here are a couple of mine from the 17 HMR. I'm new to all this uploading picture stuff, so we will see if it works. I usually don't take pictures of anything. Squares are 1"

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50 round group, just having some fun.
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i have a 17wsm and it shoots really good can't wait until coon and fox to really put it threw the test i am shooting 20 gr also lucked out and found a few boxes of ammo at Dicks Sporting Goods for 15 dollars
 
I own a Savage WSM and I really like the round itself for coon hunting over my HMR or 22 mag . All my kills have been instant drop and kick with no crawl offs . The down side is the rifle itself is a piece of sh$t . My first one shot fair at 100 yards at about 1.5''until the ejector broke off . I waited 4 1/2 months for my replacement and it struggles to shoot 1.5'' at 100 yards . The hunting I do with it is close up so I can live with the lousy accuracy down range . Would I recommend a Savage B Mag to anyone ? No , not unless you have a designated use where down range accuracy is not an issue . I would love to see someone else build a decent rifle in the WSM caliber . My neighbor down the road has shot a few foxes with his and likes the performance of the round with no fur damage or run offs . Its a very effective rimfire round with good terminal performance on smaller game animals .
 
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I have the .17hmr 917 varmint marlin. Its the most accurate gun I own. I only hunt small game with it, have shoot tree rats at 200yrds. And feel like I am under gunned with the .22lr. I also read about a rimfire shoot on this site,that people quite taking .22 target rifles cause they can't do what a 300$ dollar .17 can, and that's shoot flat from 50yrds to 100yrds. If the super mag does that I'd say make that your first .17 rimfire. If not and u want it for yotes not smallgame get the centerfire Remington fireball. Cause the hmr is not a fur keepers gun its a large hole maker. I have only used the 17gr not the 20gr solid ones.
 
I finally got mine sighted in and I can keep 1/2" groups at 100 yards really easy, I just got back from Montane and we were shooting prairie dogs from 30 to 120 yards with no run offs.
 
If there was a GOOD rifle on the market I would get the 17WSM,it can or should do everything a 17HMR will do and more.

I had three 17HMR sold the CZ, still have the two Savages. The two Savages are #1 the cheap syn. stock blued rifle, This one is for lending out to who ever goes shooting with me #2 is the SS thumb hole stock nice and accurate.

The only thing I have against the ones I have and have owned is that they are tough to get clean after you run 500 to 700 rounds through one with out a cleaning. Getting the carbon out is the hard part.
 
As I do enjoy shooting the .17hmr I will not take fur with it. It puts an un-sewable hole on impact. Coons are the biggest beast I have killed with it and they not worth skinning after. The .17 fireball at least will penetrate before blowing up. If u shoot a half full plastic water bottle above the water line with the HMR u will find a sandy cooper and plastic mix in the bottle and it won't tip over. If u hit below the water line it splits in 3 places and looks like a power house hit. That's because of hydroshok just like the fatty fleshy pelt of a live target. And I head shoot small game so I have good meat left, but no brains to put on the toast.
 
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