.17 hmr guys...your input

[cosmiccowboy]

OK...

I've been putting this off but finally am putting a 1/2 moa .17 together...

Gonna break it in Memorial Day weekend on prairie dogs north of Marathon.

Realistically...what is a long shot? Ballistically it looks like 200 yards is stretching doable considering that I will be in an area that the wind always blows...20 mph winds at tricky angles are pretty normal, but that can be compensated for just like bullet drop...say...10" drop and 15" windage at 200 in the afternoon...

Anyone pushing their .17 to 300 yards? I will probably be trying some on this trip just to see what it will do...

I will always have the 22-250 in reserve that I push to 500+ out there but at almost $1.00 a round it's not nearly as much fun to shoot as it was a few years ago LOL.

[Cajun Blake]

cosmic

i've killed jackrabbits out to 246 yds with my custom built 17 HMR

wind was not a factor and barely blowing early one a.m. in Ozona

in a steady 10-20+ mph breeze, you'll need some Kentucky windage with an HMR




re: your 22-250 , at $1.00 per round, you better start rolling your own

[texag93]

I have hit pdogs at 300+ with my 17. I had to walk it to him. My elevation was right but the wind was tough. 10-15mph cross wind.

[cosmiccowboy]

Thanks guys..keep it coming...

"walking it in" with the wind is nothing new for me...it's pretty rare to just throw down and guess right the first time...I vividly remember a pdog kill with the 22-250 at about 575 that I was holding 7' to the right.

[texag93]

200 with no wind isn't to tough....much past that is a guesstimate with those slow little 20gr. pills.

[NechesBobcat]

Just curious, is the place you are hunting just someone you know or one of those package deals. I was talking to a guy in Marathon but it was just way too expensive. I have hunted in Hobbs, NM and Stratford, TX. Both were great hunts and were very cheap. I would love to find a place out that way to hunt them.

[Zen Archery]

swapped mine for a kayak 2 years ago... was a good trade since i have no where to shoot a rifle but if given some property to tag varmints it will be my very first purchase again...

[Artos]

gonna be the fly in the ointment.....have fun with your 17 CC

I had (still I wish) a 700bdl 17rem that would just make things esploded big time....I just got tired of the extra cleaning rod and decided a .22 can cover all my needs and to k.i.s.s.


I still think the 17mach IV based off the fireball is the best balance of that bore but decided to stay away from 17's and 20's. Man, my Dad LOVES his 204 but wanted to keep my cleaning station simple.

My .22 line up consists of 22lr, 22mag, 221 fireball, .223 & a swift.

[Cajun Blake]

paul,

over the past , i have owned a rifle ( and then sold) in most every caliber below

i still have about 10 custom rifles chambered in a 17 of some kind

i truly love the seventeen as the Mach IV is hard to beat



my favorite quarry - haven't shot jackrabbits since I lost my lease in Ozona several yrs ago

[Solocam00]

i know a guy that has a confirmed kill with a 17 hmr at 437 yards. took three shots but he got em, and this guy isnt the best shooter. they were shooting CZ 17 hmr's topped with Nightforce optics, one day I will own a Nightforce scope.

[NechesBobcat]

The NightForce's are nice. I got 2 on Cooper .22-250's, one on a Cooper .223 and one on a Cooper .17 HMR. My last Scope to purchase was a Burris Extreme Tactical 3-12x50 in olive drab with lighted reticle. Not as nice as a NF but definately nice.

[brushsniper]

Cajun your bringing back some memories with those 17's. I forgot about a couple and never heard of a couple too.

[texag2010]

I have to get one of these soon.

[wilded]

Very doable to 250 yards but you will not get the red mist. Most of the time they will just fall over and kick a few times.

[cosmiccowboy]

Just curious, is the place you are hunting just someone you know or one of those package deals. I was talking to a guy in Marathon but it was just way too expensive. I have hunted in Hobbs, NM and Stratford, TX. Both were great hunts and were very cheap. I would love to find a place out that way to hunt them.

It's both. This place was a close friends "family" ranch when we were growing up...25,000 acres about 6 miles north of Marathon. About 1/2 pdog and antelope country, 1/2 mountains with elk, mule deer, aoudad, etc. We have had some GREAT times there over the years...among other things we would do an annual prairie dog hunt every Memorial weekend.

It got split up in the generational change and one of my friends cousins owns about 12,000 acres now.

He does guided package hunts that are crazy expensive and he actually sells them...2 day, 3 night varmint hunts are 2K+

We are basically hunting for free (he's just charging us $20 each per night for the lodge)