.22 LR vs. .17 HMR - choosing a varmint rifle.

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Sherab86
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.22 LR vs. .17 HMR - choosing a varmint rifle.

Post by Sherab86 »

hi guys

I'm pretty sure, that this was debated more than once, however I didn't found anything like "side-by-side" comparison using the searching function. Maybe I've used wrong key words.

Anyway, as some of you may already know, I'm rather a "sniper-type" hunter in this game. So I like distance as my friend. I was hunting for rabbits with my 12ga pump-action shotgun with some success, and I enjoy it. Of course one have to be close with a shotgun, but in case of rabbits (mostly cottontails) this feels natural, and allright.

But recently, I tried to hunt turkeys without any turkey's speciffic equipment. And surpriesingly I discovered it is perfectly doable. Still... Turkeys are relatively wary, and they get spooked easy (however still not as easy, as they should I think - even in the game conditions, but that's different story). Hunting them is more similar to stalking big game animals. One can of course use the decoys and callers, and things starts to get much easier I guess. But I belong to those with are low on budget. So turkeys made me to think about buying a varmint rifle. I guess it can be most useful also for european rabbits - would allow for broader selection of observation/shooting positions on burrows locations. Occasionaly, I think it would be nice alternate for a shotgun for cottontails as well. Since I don't have also ducks, and geese speciffic equipment, and I hunt for occasions, so to speak, I think rifle could be a big help here either.

Btw. - additional question - are birdies (practicaly) shootable in the air with rifles?

I admitt, that I love the look and feel of AR-15 style rifles (and AK style too, but there's no such in the game). But in game it would allow me to hunt only for turkeys (among small game), and aside of this, it has too big overlap of permitted species with .243 and even to some point with my Stambecco.

So I've figured out this would have to be a choice between .22 LR or .17 HMR.

So - I'm curious of your opinions, and suggestions - not only about rifles themselve, but about small game hunting in general too. :)
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Granti
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Re: .22 LR vs. .17 HMR - choosing a varmint rifle.

Post by Granti »

.17hmr
pros: shoots straight over long distance/drops rabbits more easier than the .22
cons: spooking radius is bigger

.22
pros: better spooking radius (ca 100m, depends on male/female/score); better for follow up shots (long distance waterfowling)
cons: bullet drop after 100m (but with little practice shots over 200m absolutly doable); rabbits often need a 2nd hit

i like the .22 better for turkeys and waterfowl and the .17 for hares
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Generalkommendant
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Re: .22 LR vs. .17 HMR - choosing a varmint rifle.

Post by Generalkommendant »

Here's my thoughts:

The .22 is semi-automatic and have a high rate of fire. 10 round mag. Considerable bullet drop over 100m but a quick learning curve to compensate. It doesn't spook long (around 80m?).
The two rifles share the same scopes.
The .17 is lever action and shoots a lot straighter. And it is also permitted to take down bobcats and foxes although people don't recommend it in general because of having long tracking sessions with body shots.

If you miss the first shot the .22 is easier with follow ups. If that's not an issue I would probably go with the more "snipish" .17.
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Re: .22 LR vs. .17 HMR - choosing a varmint rifle.

Post by ronMctube »

most people will use the gun which knocks down their pray easiest with the least amount of effort used.also the best all rounder.that is why many wont rate use the .17
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Sherab86
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Re: .22 LR vs. .17 HMR - choosing a varmint rifle.

Post by Sherab86 »

Thank you, for your thoughts, friends. :)
Generalkommendant wrote: The .17 is lever action and shoots a lot straighter. And it is also permitted to take down bobcats and foxes although people don't recommend it in general because of having long tracking sessions with body shots.
ronMctube wrote:most people will use the gun which knocks down their pray easiest with the least amount of effort used.also the best all rounder.that is why many wont rate use the .17
For foxes and bobcats I use .243 and I'm happy with the results. :) So I restrict species list to small game only (understood as birds and rabbits).

As far as I understood, it seems that .22 LR advantages are mostly the fire rate, spooking radius, and the look (but this is a matter of personal taste). And while .17 HMR is louder (in terms of spooking radius), it seems to be modeled to have better penetration and also the damage (not sure why - maybe due to assumed expansions characteristics). So I don't know why many wouldn't rate for the use of .17 HMR. I guess because of those bobcats and foxes. But as I said, I'm looking for a rifle for small game only. :)

I'll wait with the decision till maybe some more players express their experiences and feelings about both of them. :) But thanks to being more "snipish", .17 HMR wins for me, for now. ;)

Thanks again! :)
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Re: .22 LR vs. .17 HMR - choosing a varmint rifle.

Post by SoftShoe »

I have both & find I rarely use either but would have to give the nod to the 17 if I had to choose one. The 17 shoots very flat & is poison on rabbits. Shooting bobcats with it is an exercise in frustration.

Generally speaking I like to get close to my game, however I am not one to pass on long shots either. In the limited long range shooting I did with the 22 I didnt care for it. Sure its possible to hit a long range but practical? I dont think so.
The 17 seems like the spook radius is 150m. If you gonna shot long range with a 22 why not use the 17, flatter trajectory, one shot kill & you not spooking at that distance anyway.

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Re: .22 LR vs. .17 HMR - choosing a varmint rifle.

Post by L3M182 »

id say 22lr. onething i like 2 do from time to time is sit on the edge of a field containing my goose setup and shoot geese as they land with the 22lr. somthing ive tried with little success with the 17hmr the spook radious is shorter than standard but its still not short to a practical point like the 22lr. the 17hmr tried to cover too many bases and in doing so failed to be good at any of them. the plinkington will cover the small game and at the range the 17hmr is useful at on fox and box you may aswell just use a bow or buckshot
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Re: .22 LR vs. .17 HMR - choosing a varmint rifle.

Post by Sherab86 »

SoftShoe wrote:I have both & find I rarely use either but would have to give the nod to the 17 if I had to choose one. The 17 shoots very flat & is poison on rabbits. Shooting bobcats with it is an exercise in frustration.

Generally speaking I like to get close to my game, however I am not one to pass on long shots either. In the limited long range shooting I did with the 22 I didnt care for it. Sure its possible to hit a long range but practical? I dont think so.
The 17 seems like the spook radius is 150m. If you gonna shot long range with a 22 why not use the 17, flatter trajectory, one shot kill & you not spooking at that distance anyway.
Thanks for you thoughts. :)

Well, what is considered "sniping distance" in the game, probably wouldn't be IRL, right? :) We have very limited render distance in TH:classic. If for some reason I would like to hunt IRL, I would probably try to shorten the distance as possible - to reduce influence of wind factor, for example, and leesen the need of bullet's drop compensation. In short - to make my shot more reliable. But in the game, within those 220 meters, I find this factors barely noticable (however for .22LR they are more "visible" for sure, so to speak). And of course staying farrer away reduce the chance we will get spoted by the animals. So this is why I prefer to stay in distance in the game. :)

Returning to .22 LR vs. .17 HMR topic - I think that subject would be more interesting, if trophy integrity would influence somehow the score. ;) I even just started a thread about it in "Thoughts and Suggestions". :D

And since I do not participate in competitions too much (in with harvest value plays some role from time to time), for now, .17 HMR seems to be better performer. ;) But still I'm not 100% sure about the choice. :)

Btw. I won't use this rifle (one of them) that often either, I suppose. Main use would be for turkeys, and also for european rabbits. But I would take it for other trips, like for cottontails, as secondary weapon for the shotgun (for situations in with rabbit is far enough to grass not being rendered even within scope). And obviously for occasional geese and ducks, with are rather hard to approach close. :)
L3M182 wrote:id say 22lr. onething i like 2 do from time to time is sit on the edge of a field containing my goose setup and shoot geese as they land with the 22lr. somthing ive tried with little success with the 17hmr the spook radious is shorter than standard but its still not short to a practical point like the 22lr. the 17hmr tried to cover too many bases and in doing so failed to be good at any of them. the plinkington will cover the small game and at the range the 17hmr is useful at on fox and box you may aswell just use a bow or buckshot
Those are the reasons why I still wondering about. While .17 HMR seems to be better performer, in most cases (aside of Turkeys perhaps) I will be within 100 meters anyway - I suppose. Relatively rarely maps topography allows for unobstructed view through entire render distance. And in this light, fire rate and low spooking radius of .22 LR starts to be very tempting (not to mention it is more beatiful to me too ;) ).

So yeah... I still haven't decided. :)
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Re: .22 LR vs. .17 HMR - choosing a varmint rifle.

Post by L3M182 »

if you have a range finder youve already negated the main advantage of the 17 hmr. just becasue the 22lr has more drop its nothing to worry about if you know the range and have the mildot info to hand
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Re: .22 LR vs. .17 HMR - choosing a varmint rifle.

Post by Ringolf »

I was presented with the same choice a while ago.

Since I like Lever Action Rifles, I went with the .17HMR in the end, so I can't say anything about the .22.

But what I can say is that I really like the .17 so far. It is great for Turkey on those long meadows on Whitehart Island or for picking off Pheasants from a Hunting Tower when nothing else is around.
It shoots where the crosshair is, no need to measure the distance.

Repeating is very quick, though not as quick as semi-auto ofcourse .

Now I don't know about the spooking radius, but I have managed several times to lie at the edge of a field in Hirschfelden and pick off several Geese sitting on the field without them spooking. Don't know what the distance was - because I didn't need to :)

Never shot a Fox or Bobcat with it, but since you say you only want to use it for small game, I can only recommend this rifle. Perhaps see whats coming up on sales this week?

P.S.: The iron sights on the .17HMR are quite useable as well.
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