17 hmr vs. 17 rem

T

txdiamond17

New member
Hey guys, yall have a great site. I am new to this predator hunting. I have always hunted deer, birds, etc. but just finally tried hunting coyotes and am hooked. I have a 250, 223, and 243 but have an itch for another gun. I have searched but really can't make heads or tails between the hmr and rem. All I ever see around here are the hmrs. I have shot one a few times and am impressed with it. I normally carry the 223, would the HMR do for yotes and cats?
 
There is no comparison. The 17 HMR is a good squirrel gun with proper shot placement, The 17 Rem is probably the premier fur gun for shooting coyotes.
 
My 17 hmr has made one shot kills on 2 yotes and 3 fox,numerous coons,rabbits,jacks,porkies,ect ect.Within 100 yards the HMR is a great,fur friendly round.Its my goto spotlighting rig where i very rarley get a shot outside of its effective range.Saying its only good for squirrels proves you have very little field experience with the round,if you havnt used it dont knock it.The 22 rem allows greater shot distance and much more delivered energy,but yotes and fox dont need much when properly shot.All 5 of the dogs I have killed with my hmr were killed with a front shoulder/boiler room shot,one fox ran about 100 yards,the rest dropped within 50.
 
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Yes Nonya, I can believe that. You are a pretty good hunter, evidenced by the post you have made here. But the question was to examine the 17 HMR vs the 17 Rem, asked by a new member of the coyote hunting world. There is no comparison in the two. The 17 Rem will flat out stomp the 17 HMR in all departments except for taking small edible game at close ranges.

I have both and have used both extensively in its respective departments.
 
My hmr isnt fur friendly on squirrels it flat opens them up, it would be a good gun for fox though. 17 rem is faster and has the nock down power needed for consistant killing of coyotes, not to many runners.
 
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one fox ran about 100 yards,the rest dropped within 50.




And I will be willing to bet all would have dropped on the spot if the 17 Rem was used with the same shot placement. I do not base my answer on collective internet readings. My answer is based on what I have seen the 17 rem do to several hundred coyotes and what I see the 17 HMR do to Jackrabbits, PD's, coons, skunks and opposums. Personnally I will never use one of my17 HMR's on coyotes. Long before the 17 HMR was invented, I got past the point of seeing just how insufficient of a round I could use to take animals with.
 
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So ballistically the rem is better. Why? is it bullet weight, speed, etc.? I guess I need to go to Rems website and investigate. I had never heard of the 17rem before. Thanks for the quick responses guys.
 
The 17 rem is a center fire round. It will spit out a 25 grain bullet at excessive speed of 4000 FPS. It will drop coyotes out to the 300 yard barrier with monotonous regularity. Unless you get a raking shot, you will be hard pressed to find blood on the fur when you go to pick him up at the spot he was standing when you touched the trigger.

Has the 17 ever failed me? Sure on occassion I have a runner or worse a splash. these are rare and will account for less than 2-3% fo the coyotes I have shot with this round. I have tried them all (except the HMR) on coyotes. Round for round, I have had better DRT with the 17 than any round I have ever shot at coyotes.
 
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Comparing the 17HMR to a 17 Remington is sort of like comparing the 22 Magnum to a 220 Swift. Really, besides the diameter of the bullets they are night and day.

The 17 Hummer with a 20 grain bullet is managing less than 100 ft lbs of energy at 200 yards. About the same power as a 22lr out the barrel. Now then- the 17 Remington with its 25 grain bullet is kicking some serious azz here! At 450 yards is has TWICE the power that the 17 Hummer does at 200 yards! I have personaly killed prairie dogs with my 17 HMR and my 17 Rem. And yes, the 17 HRM kills a pasture poodle stone dead at 200 yard no problem. But so did my 17 Remington at 400 yards- albeit they are harded to hit at this range.

Anyway, I think everyone should own both, but they both certainly dont have the same uses for everything. If I was to get rid of one it would be that Hummer. It is fun, but dang! ammo aint getting no cheaper! $10 on sale these days!
 
Might also consider scratching that itch with a .204. A lighter faster bullet than your 223. But the 39 and 40gr bullets have great B.C.'s and retain downrange energy very well.(500+ ftlbs past 350yds) Very flat shooting; drops less than 3" in 300yds. I love mine for coyotes.
Savage makes a great one called the Predator Hunter. Already camo'ed, sports a mid weight barrel to give great accuracy without being so heavy as a bull barrel. Here's a pic'.

savage_predator_hunter.jpg

I've seen they offer it with a mounted/camo'ed scope also, Simmons I think. As you can see it has the accutrigger. I hear they shoot sub MOA with the right load.
Good luck with that itch!
GAJoe
 
I don't own a .204 but a friend of mine who is a depredation hunter does and he's DRTing 'otes all the time with it.

I do own a .17 HMR and it's pretty amazing on squirrels.

If you had a special need for a quieter 'ote combo at close range you might have a case for HMR ......

.... but if you are interested in regular 'ote ranges then the .17 Rem or .204 would be needed without a doubt.

Three 44s
 
No doubt the 17 rem is a better yote round but it doesnt make the HMR useless.I carry a 25-06 or 7mmrm on a dedicated yote hunt but at night when shots are close and noise can be a factor(some of the spreads we spotlight dont want us blasting away with big centerfires at 2 am) the HMR is perfect for me.I would love to own a CZ 550 in 17 rem,that would be a great dog gun.
 
Check out the CZ's they make it both in 17 Remington and 204 and the single set trigger adjusted to ounces on the set side is really nice.

http://www.cz-usa.com/

The Varmint model like mine weighs 7.2 pounds which makes it a dandy calling rifle and makes nice dime sized groups with light recoil allowing you to watch your hits thru the scope.

CZ527-204-2.jpg


Mine is in 204 and here's my last five shot group off the bipod.

targetstoday-20.jpg


I've never had any of the 17 rimfires, but like was said above there's no comparison between the centerfires for killing power and range. My 204 is very consistant on coyotes out to 400 yards.
 
I along with Cajn wouldnt recommend shooting anything with the 17 HMR bigger than prairie dogs. It may kill a coyote or fox but I feel the animal will suffer a lot before it does kick over. I'm sure you can kill a whitetail deer with a 22 Mag but its not a good idea. Hell... you couldnt probably throw a big enough rock and kill a coyote if you hit him right but thats not real smart you need atleast a centerfire rifle In my opinion you need something thats reliable on dropping the game and the HMR will be far from that on coyotes. If you did have to use a rimfire I'd go with the 22 WMR before the 17 HMR.
 
I have killed many critters larger than a PD with the HMR and none of them suffered any more than they do when you hit em with my 25-06,they run till they expire,usually less than 50 yards,i that short amount of time pain isnt a factor with a gunshot.Once again kill some critters with it then tell people how well it works,dont just repeat what you have read online.
 
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Not trying to sound blunt but the 17hmr is not and never will be an adequate caliber for yotes fox or cats, the remmy however will get the job done. Just to clarify this can o worms
 
Living in a Yupik village in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska has opened my eyes to what can be done with the 17 HMR. Though I personally have never used one on anything larger than a 50lb beaver I have watched many villagers use this as their sole meat and fur gun of choice. With a good hunter any caliber makes a great DRT gun. I have watched a spring caribou meat hunt where several Yupik hunters took 80-125yrd shots with .17HMR on Caribou all but one were behind the ear and one was a heart shot. All of them but the heart shot dropped on the spot and the heart shot one only went about 45yrds and done.
So as I said any caliber can do the trick it is really more about your ability as a hunter. For those of you who think the .17HMR is only a small critter gun I ask have you ever tried it on anything els? Personally if you plan on taking 175-400yrd shots I would not use one. If you are interested in the fur use the smallest you can and still feel completely confident. As many others have said here the .204 and 17 rem. are probably the best fur and long range shooters. But if you have a little less practical shoot experience go for a 223 or 243 with the smallest bullet you can shoot accurately with under adverse conditions and you wont go wrong.
 
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