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i been romancing a .17 hornady for quite a while. some day i may get one for christmas. (hope i dont shoot my eye out!!) what i liked about the gun was the ballistic bullet. has a good accuracy to about 100 yards. if the bullet strikes anything it fragments out and doesnt riccochett, so you wont knock the hat off the neighbor farming!!. best thing i found for groundhogs are the bridger body grip traps. 220 and 330's. set em, lay em over the hole and stake em down. when they peek out.....thats all she wrote.
 
The .17 is a pretty nice package, but for versaltility, my pick would be the .22. Could I interest you in a .223? I have one in a single shot break action. Far better shooter than it ought to be. Wonderful long distance woodchuck medicine!
 
To me both are way to light. I would go with a plain Jane 22 or step up and get a 223 or a 22-250 mag and have something with some kill power for those things you need to have some extra hitting power. I remember way back when shooting a plain Jane 22 well over 500 yards and hitting what we wanted to just takes a little practice to do it
 
I'm no ballistics expert, but isn't a plane jane 22 lighter than a 22 mag? I prefer 12 gauges myself. Shot a groundhog with one once as it was chewing on the end of the barrel. Horrible mess and I had to put a tube in the lawnmower tire.
AaronSEIA
 
I would go for the 22 mag given your choices, the 17 seems too light to me, though the only one I ever shot would drive tacks all day long (marlin bolt action), and you can get light, fast rounds for the 22 mag for varmints, or heavier, slower rounds for pot meat, the 17 tends to chew up meat fast.
 
Here"s the actual specs. Personally I would go with the .22 mag. Larger cross section on the bullet. Not much but the 22 is bigger, and does pack a touch more muzzle energy. Also 17 is around $10 box and 22mag is around $7.

Again, you are just going after woodchucks either will work if hit them.

.17 HMR Winchester Rimfire
17-Grain V-Max Bullet.
Muzzle velocity: 2550 fps.
Muzzle energy: 245 ft/lbs.

.22WMR
40 Grain Jacketed Hollow Point Bullet
Muzzle velocity: 1775 fps.
Muzzle energy: 280 ft/lbs.
Maximum Point Blank Range is 123 yards with zero set at 105 yards.
 
I would get the .22 cause I am used to it. I dont have a .17. I have a video that Barnes bullets puts out and it shows a rapid fragmentation round for prarie dogs and varmints. This rapid frag round will literally blow a varmint to bits and there is almost no carcass to dispose of. I dont remember the caliber of the round though. This Barnes video also showed off their expando bullet, it mushrooms out after impact with an animal. Large game just drops after being hit, I specifically remember a full grown elephant falling over dead after being shot with a Barnes bullet.
I would be concerned about which round gives the most riccochet.
 
I'm with you. Or maybe a .44 mag.

Seriously, I've shot ground hogs, and I don't think a .22 or .17 will do the job, unless you hit them just right. I shot one with a .357 mag once, and that took two shots.

Maybe I'm getting soft in my old age, but when I shoot something, I want it dead as quick as possible.
 
Ray,If it wasnt close to Christmas I would talk to you.I bought a 204 that should be a good shooter,Ive got a 6x24 scope on it,I carry a Marlin 22 with me now and I had a 22 mag that I sold and one day Id like to replace it

jimmy
never sell a gun
 
Go with the 22 mag., I have a 22mag Henery repeater with a cheap 3 x 9 scope, also carry a 22 mag. Ruger single action, love both of them, pistol up close, rifle far off.
 
Step right up from the .22 rim fire to the .223 . The .22Mag and .17 rimfire are not enough gain for the bother an investment.
.223 is cheap to shoot.
 
Acording to JBM Small Arms Ballistics , a 40 gr Wolf Match 1050fps 22 Long Rifle zeroed @50yds;
Drops 6 feet @225yds and 8 feet @250yds so think it safe to say at 500yds drop would be at least 30 or 40 feet and carry impact equal to a falling oak leaf.
Wind drift for 10mph @250yds is 14 inches.
Therfore,I believe that instead of "shooting a Plain Jane",you would be smoking"Mary Jane"shooting at anything 500yds away with 22rf.
 
And you don't know crap. I watched a friend and my brother shoot jack rabbits at 400-500 yards and the rabbits lost. Ya it took a few shoots to zero them in but after that the rabbits fell. That was back in the late 60s when I was a lot younger and people who shoot had a clue as to how to do it. Oh by the way grow up pot is for kids
 
Just a funny related story: One of my neighbors walked over to his next door neighbors as the neighbor shot his .22 out into the pasture. The shooter claimed he hit a cotton tail rabbit at a quarter mile out there. A debate started and they ended up walking out there and found the dead rabbit. Years later the neighbor fessed up that he shot it in the yard an carried it clear out there before the 2nd guy got home and came over for a visit!
 
Just my opinion, but when I compare guns that are that similar to each other, I go for the one that has the more common ammo.

When the wheels come off the bus, it ain't gonna be the time to be looking for .17 rounds.

YMMV

Tim
 
Woodchucks are tough to kill. I know a lot of people love the rimfire rounds, but I think both 22 Mag and 17 HMR are a joke. For my woodchuck gun I went with 17 Fireball. I shot two 'chucks this year, both were one-shot kills. A 25 grain Berger bullet at around 3700 fps is deadly.

Now 17 Fireball factory ammo is absurdly expensive, but anyone who uses factory ammo in a varmint rifle isn't very serious about shooting.

Here's my woodchuck gun: Thompson-Center Contender G2 with a custom Shilen barrel from Match Grade Machine.

<a href="http://s804.photobucket.com/albums/yy327/mark_in_michigan/firearms/?action=view&amp;current=tc_contender.jpg" target="_blank">
tc_contender.jpg" border="0" alt="TC Contender Rifle
</a>
 
I dont know why people are saying ground hogs/ wood chucks are hard to kill, I have shot many with a regular 22, and I bought a 17 hmr right after they came out, a marlin bolt action, loved the gun, just didnt like the way the clip hung out the btm, traded it in for a savage model, went from 7 shot clip to a 5 shot clip, never had anything run from it, shot many woodchucks with it, countless cats, and many skunks. Very accurate gun for such a light bullet, heck id trust it out to 200+ yards if i had to..Bob
 
Are you Canadian folks allowed to own/use firearms? What about home protection?

Do they have to be registered?

Does a Government cop come to your door to do a firearm inspection?
 
Either will kill a woodchuck. Depends how far you are shooting.
I had a .17HMR and gave it to my son. That light bullet could be blown off course by someone breathing hard.
.22 Mag ammo costs more than regular .22 ammo and kind of limits you if you want to target shoot or plink.

.223 ammo is more expensive or needs to be reloaded.

A regular .22 will work well as long as you stay within its range capabilities. Otherwise, I'd just go for the .223.
 
Definitely not your average guy's woodchuck rig abut a nice outfit.
How much was that Shilen barrel?

My forever-favorite is a 22/250; Rem 722 action with a heavy Douglas barrel.
 
I have a .17 Rem in a Contender. .17 caliber is absolutely destructive. However, the barrels tend to copper foul and the .17 is susceptible to wind.
 
What do you mean by "22/250 mag?" That's an Ackley wildcat, not commonly available and requires a custom barrel (lots of $$$).

To each his own but a reular 22/250 will do the job just as well and give longer barrel life.
 
Check the archives of this site for several discussions of this exact subject, but I own both and to give you some idea of my experience, I've gave the .17 to my brother for the few times he has to shoot a 'chuck in the garden, and even with a free gun and free ammo, he usually grabs his .270 instead. The .17, while adequate a close range, has too much wind drift for long-range (anything much over 50 yards in my experience) to be a good choice, and I have been far less than impressed with its killing power. I've lost several woodchucks to center-mass hits at short range with it and won't use it if I have any other choice in guns. Add that to the cost and (relatively low) availability of ammo, and it's fine if you just want another gun but is not a serious choice if it's going to be a primary arm. My .22 magnum, on the other hand, has killed countless woodchucks and is a favorite for coyote hunting as well. Woodchucks are very tough and difficult to kill--I've seen many run 20 yards to their hole with their entire stomach cavity trailing behind them--and you owe it to both the animal and yourself to make sure you've anchored them where they set, which a .17 will NOT do reliably and consistently.
 
Come on , old. Not saying you are telling a "stretcher" and things like what you describe do happen. But anyone using a .22 at that distance has some sort of affliction. And, a lot of people throw out long distances in "yards" without knowing how many "yards" the shot really was.
 
a .223 is too loud in comparison to the .22
I have a .223 AR, real nice but....I cant shoot that in the back yard and keep the neighbors happy.
And the .223 is about $7 per box and I can get 10 times the .22 ammo for $7.
 
I've never had a problem with the.17 not killing them; the issue has been wind drift. To me, the .17 HMR is really a close range cartridge to be used on a still day.
 
True, but if one lives in a place where noise and neighbors isn't an issue, then the .223 is the way to go.

I love my .22's:
Rem. 512 bolt
Henry Lever
Marlin 795 semi-auto
T/C Contender

Use any of them to take care of the "garden dwellers" but noise not really a concern where I live. Well- that's only partially true. I live way out in the country but there is a farm that was turned into a golf course 1/2 mile up the road. The "pasture pool" guys seem to be highly sensitive to the noise of gun shots. They called the Sheriff one day when I was way back up on the hill at my shooting range. Deputy drove right up in the new Tahoe we taxpayers bought for him, looked over the situation, sat down and had a soda with me and said he wished he had a set-up like this. As he was leaving, he said you aren't doing a single thing illegal (which I knew) and said he would go tell the golfers to "chill out!"
 
doubleN, that is exactly what leans me toward the .17 hornady. the close range and the low riccochette ballistic rounds. i have 3 or 4 different.22"s, but they do carry quite a ways and like to ricochette. granted, a .223 has more oomph to it, but the extended range also. for that matter, i can grab my winchester 30/30 and toss a round to the next county, but its not necessary in my opinion for a close range varmint gun. kind of like shooting blackbirds with a 600 nitro express.
 
That is a fanciful tale, old.

Few rifles will shoot under a minute of angle, even with match grade ammo. At 500 yards, one MOA is 5 inches. Those jackrabbits must have been the size of buffalo. Were any of them named Harvey?
 
I have used a .22 LR and .22 MAG but by far like the 22 HORNET far better. Not as loud as say a .223 but kills them quick even with a less then perfect shot.

Dad bought an H&R handi rifle in 22 hornet and is doing far better then with the .22 mag he used before.
 
I've used both and own a 17hmr. It out performs the 22mag. I've killed many woodchucks with it. None of them thought the 17hmr was a joke.
 
(quoted from post at 23:21:10 10/27/11) Step right up from the .22 rim fire to the .223 . The .22Mag and .17 rimfire are not enough gain for the bother an investment.
.223 is cheap to shoot.
Click to expand...

BIG +1 to that.

223 isn't much more expensive than either the 17 or 22M, if you shop around. The cartridges abilities are night and day.

I am happy with the 22LR out to 100 yards. Dead right there kills 95% of the time.

I have shot Mini-Palma with a 22lr at 200, that takes serious skill. I have messed around at 300 and 400 on a calm day, the elevation adjustment required is beyond what any scope or irons I know of are capable.

The Poster that claims hits at 500 yards??? Maybe on a Barn sized target where you can see your impacts and walk them in like artillery.
 
(quoted from post at 08:13:46 10/28/11)

Few shooters can shoot under a minute of angle, even with match grade ammo.
Click to expand...

Fixed it for you.

If a quality rifle won't shoot MOA there is something wrong with it.
 
Well ya I am just guessing how many yard but again that was 40 years ago if not longer so I have slept a few times since and had a few beers since but they where long shorts across a hill and they where hitting the rabbits. Filed was one that had been plowed and disked so you could see the dust fly up when they missed a rabbit
 
Good topic, been considering a 22WMR myself. Take a look at CZ-USA guns. I own a 22lr and it is very well made and accurate. it will completely flatten a bullet hitting a 7" steel target at 150 yards. It will hit it consistently too with iron sights. One of my property lines is 150 yards long per county surveyor.
 
double-N, that MGM barrel was $350 plus shipping. MGM uses Shilen blanks for all their barrels.

I also have a .22-250 I inherited from my dad, but it's a bit too loud for where we live.
 
There is legislation in progress right to now to drop the registration of long guns.
Restricted firearms ( handguns ) will still be registered.
No idea if the .25 .32 and military looking firearms will be removed from prohibited list.
 
Another option is about to become available. Hornady is introducing a new factory centerfire cartridge, the .17 Hornady Hornet, which looks very similar to a popular wildcat, the 17 Ackley Hornet. Supposedly it will push a 20 grain bullet to over 3600 fps.
 
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