.17 HMR as first rifle

lordarpad

Hi guys

could one get a rifle in .17 HMR as first gun or does it have to be .22 LR?

jwshooter

no problem getting a 17 wmr as your first firearm ,
the 17 is by far a safer cal than the .22 especially when using subs in the.22.

lordarpad

subs?

jwshooter

subsonic ammunition,

lordarpad

cheers.

Does anybody have a recommendation of a 17 HMR rfile for a leftie? Maybe a varminter?

It wasn't me!

lordarpad wrote: »

cheers.

Does anybody have a recommendation of a 17 HMR rfile for a leftie? Maybe a varminter?

CZ 452 American
Savage seem to do their thumbhole-stocked varmint rifle in a lefty now, which is great news. I've fired a righty one and it was beautiful, nice sub MOA gun.
Anschutz 1517 if you can get a decent price for one, about as nice as anything out there.

meathstevie

There's no such thing as limitations on what you can buy as a first gun. The real limitations for any gun are the fact that you have to make your point with the local Super as in your need to have the gun and your suitability as a person to have a gun. Whether you're acceptable as a gun owner is an easy one, the Gardai should know if there's any dodgy events in your CV. Up to you to provide the justification as for why the Super should sign of on you having a particular gun.

lordarpad

meathstevie wrote: »

There's no such thing as limitations on what you can buy as a first gun. The real limitations for any gun are the fact that you have to make your point with the local Super as in your need to have the gun and your suitability as a person to have a gun. Whether you're acceptable as a gun owner is an easy one, the Gardai should know if there's any dodgy events in your CV. Up to you to provide the justification as for why the Super should sign of on you having a particular gun.

I was more thinking in terms of what one actually can convince the local Super of. Yeah, I'd like a rifle in 8.5x64, but I am having a weird feeling that my vague plans of hunting in Africa won't be sufficient to convince a gard that that should be my first firearm

snelltrading

lordarpad wrote: »

Hi guys

could one get a rifle in .17 HMR as first gun or does it have to be .22 LR?

yes its fine to get that as a first cal gun i have a .17all depends on what yer shootin the .17 bullets are round 16-22euro a box, compared to only 5.50 for 50 rounds of .22lr ammo if ye only bursting bullets round for the crack, on the first gun its cheaper to get .22lr but if ur lookin for .17 hmr just look up "duffys of galway" on google. theyre doing a great deal on that at the moment. and theyll send it out. u dont even have to visit the shop. i got a beretta semi auto shotgun for 900 yesterday off him. great shop to deal with.

Sparks

As everyone's said (correctly), there's no rule saying what your first firearm has to be. But if I might, I would say don't get a .17 if you're just starting off. You're going to have to learn to shoot for a start, which means a lot of rounds downrange, and .22lr is the cheapest cartridge out there; you'll have a far wider range of firearms to choose from, and second-hand deals, and probably at lower prices too; and while it doesn't matter if you only ever want to whack bunnies, if you pick a .17 you really don't have any target shooting competitions you could try your hand at, but with .22lr, you're spoiled for choice.

I might also suggest that if you've not done it yet, join your local target shooting club, learn to shoot on a club gun, and then make your decision.

snelltrading

spaks is right you should go for the . 22 it was my first gun and the best all round if your only target shooting or small game eg.rabbits fox i have a .17 and it brake your hart setting the scope half box of ammo there a great gun but only if your out hitting rabbits and foxes and not wasteing ammo playing round wit your first gun cos after the novelty has wore off and you starting paying 22euro a box ammo then its no fun:(

ivanthehunter

The lads here are right the ammo for the 22lr is dirt cheap! and its fairly crap in term of accuracy unless you spend big money of match grade ammo.

A rifle is a precision piece of kit and if you want to hit a target each time every time at 100-150 then take the 17hmr.

Remember that the 22lr has a massive curve in its ballistic trajectory when compare to the nearly flat 17hmr..

The only cons mentioned here are restrictions to enter 22lr target shooting events and the cost.
In relation to cost, IMO-the 17hmr will work out as cheap (if not cheaper) when you take into account your one shot one kill ratio which is a lot higher for this caliber than any 22lr..But the down side this will be damaged meat on small game if not taken with a head shoot!

The 22lr seems to be inherently inaccurate and this seems to be caused by their barrel interaction between soft lead and sharp rifling groves. The HMR has a metal jacketed bullet(not soft lead) which seems to glide along rifling better than the oldie style lead bullets..

There is still a middle caliber to consider if you like flat trajectories but dont like high ammo costs and that is possible the 17HM2, at half the price(AFAIK) and as flat out to 100-125yards(as the HMR) with the same metal jacketed bullets (as the HMR) but the parent cartridge being a 22lr as opposed to the HMR having a parent cartridge of the 22WMR (mag)

Remember that these light bullets (17-20 grain) dont have the same down range energy as the heaver 22's (32-40 grain) but TBH the wind will play havoc at longer ranges but the little 17 seem to be immune to the wind for the first 50 yards (IMO) and thereafter their reduced velocity allows us to see the real effects of wind on such a light cartridge.

Conclusion,
The 22lr is a plinking round thats cheap and it shows, the price allows you to fire of hundreds with out worrying about cash, It has good stopping power and a large range of ammo to choose from but t will never compare to the HMR's

The HMR ammo is expensive but it does what it claims to do on the tin.
Its so flat that its sometimes is referred to as a simply a point and shoot gun
If you want good feed back from shooting go with a 17 as you easily be able to see any human errors that you make on the paper. If you were playing around with the 22lr you'd be there for years trying to figure out what went wrong.

Go for a medium to heavy sporter barrel.. a heavy barrel helps to keep better accuracy and resists heat build up better than a light barrel.
Some heavy barrels are fluted but i'm not sure if this is to reduce weight and still retain rigidity and with increased surface are they better at dissipating heat build up???
what ever caliber you choose make sure to buy a quality barrel!!!

Hope this was some help

Sparks

ivanthehunter wrote: »

The lads here are right the ammo for the 22lr is dirt cheap! and its fairly crap in term of accuracy unless you spend big money of match grade ammo.

No, it's really not. And even match grade is about 14 cents per round at most.

IRLConor

Sparks wrote: »

And even match grade is about 14 cents per round at most.

Shows how long it's been since you bought good .22 ammo! :pac: If you said 25c you'd be closer to the truth.

There's plenty of ammunition suitable for beginners/training nearer the 10c mark though.

deerhunter1

you can get a .17HMR no problem there is no criteria set down as too which calibe you have to have as your first rifle. i have on super calibre ery accurate Good Luck

lordarpad wrote: »

Hi guys

could one get a rifle in .17 HMR as first gun or does it have to be .22 LR?

dwighet

Personnally I started with a .22 then traded it on a cz .17hmr..The 17 is a great round for shooting rabbits and vermin and I shot this rifle for around a year and a half until recently became bored of it..In my opinion the 17hmr took all the fun out of rabbit shooting..(its too easy with this cal) so Ive now traded the 17 in for a .22 and am going back to basics and anticipating enjoying the stalk for bunnies up close this spring and summer using subs..

I would recommend a .22 for your first rifle as it will teach you stealth(Getting close to your prey without getting busted) and give you a good understanding of bullet trajactory and limitations of what a rifle is capable of.

Any one can shoot a bunny at 150yds with a .17hmr....
With a 22 you have to hunt that bunny and get to around 60-70 yds of him.

Great craic;)

lordarpad

What kind of scope you using?

deerhunter1

lordarpad wrote: »

What kind of scope you using?

At the moment I have a Leupold 3x9x40 it does the job but I will go for something better (for the want of a better word) at the moment it is on a Tikka 22.250. I will go for something that lets in a bit more light and has a bit more magnification for thr grey crows and magpies. I have a Burris 4.5x14x50 on my Steyr .308 which is fantastic but I will go for something with a finer recticle not so much more magnification.

bunny shooter

dwighet wrote: »

.......................

Any one can shoot a bunny at 150yds with a .17hmr....
With a 22 you have to hunt that bunny and get to around 60-70 yds of him.

Great craic;)

+1

dwighet

bunny shooter wrote: »

+1

Not long now B.S
Im sitting here eating chicken stew thinking it wound be a lot nicer with a few bunnies in it..not that there is anything wrong with my Mrs`s chicken stew:rolleyes::rolleyes:

bunny shooter

Ya .22lr is ready to go as am I bunny burgers here I come

Going to use Eley Subs this year, €8 per box, but they are extremely accurate, great for head shots so no meat wasted :)

Sparks

Using Tenex EPS to whack bunnies.
There's a wonderful decadence to that idea

bunny shooter

Eley Subs are hollow point, anything else is a waste of time in my experience although I did use 2-3 Lapua Master M once. They hit bunnies in the head and they ran away lead was too soft I reckon?

Winchester Subs are €5.50 a box and no way near as accurate. I'd rather pay extra and have reliable accuracy which is what Eley provide. No wounding then. The quarry deserves to die a painfree death.

Decent hunting ammo is on a par price wise with decent target ammo I find.

Sparks

bunny shooter wrote: »

Eley Subs are hollow point, anything else is a waste of time in my experience

I thought so - but the image was too funny to pass over

although I did use 2-3 Lapua Master M once. They hit bunnies in the head and they ran away lead was too soft I reckon?

Too hard more likely - went in one side and out the other without deforming enough to transfer much in the way of kinetic energy to the bunny.

Decent hunting ammo is on a par price wise with decent target ammo I find.

How many rounds in a box of Eley Subs? IRLConor's pricing was putting decent target ammo at about 23 cents per round, but the top-end stuff could run you to 30 cents or more depending on where you buy, whether you're getting batch tested or not, and so on.

bunny shooter

Eley sub's 50 rds per box at €8 = .16 cents per round.

I can get Lapua Master for €8.50 per box at moment, old stock I reckon.

Think I paid €8 ish for Eley Match EPS (black label) last time I bought it, which was approx 18 months ago.

Mellor

What would average .17HMR rounds cost?

riflehunter77

Mellor wrote: »

What would average .17HMR rounds cost?

Last time i got some I think I paid 14.50 for a box of Federal v max 17g. Iv heard of lads paying up to 22 euro a box for remmy :eek: glad mine does not like them.

It wasn't me!

bunny shooter wrote: »

Eley sub's 50 rds per box at €8 = .16 cents per round.

I can get Lapua Master for €8.50 per box at moment, old stock I reckon.

Think I paid €8 ish for Eley Match EPS (black label) last time I bought it, which was approx 18 months ago.

€8 for Match EPS?! Jaysus that's a brilliant price! Want to buy me a load of Master M and Match EPS? Sounds like you've a nice dealer!

bunny shooter

It wasn't me! wrote: »

€8 for Match EPS?! Jaysus that's a brilliant price! Want to buy me a load of Master M and Match EPS? Sounds like you've a nice dealer!

Stakelums Urlingford not many target shooter down here reckon it's old stock prices