22 WMR vs, .17 HMR Ruger American Rimfure

lesterg3

Hey guys and gals. I feel a need to buy a Ruger American Rimfire rifle, bolt action of course.

What I am going back and forth about is which to get the 22 WMR or the 17 HMR.

Seems to me the 17 has a marginal advantage in accuracy, but the 22 has more mass and power.

So, has anyone purchased this Ruger, and what are your thoughts on which caliber to get. This will be used for small game and mostly varmints including the small coyotes we have.

Aloysius

Lester, just 1 advice: look at the price of ammo and chose a .22 Hornet!

lesterg3

Thanks Aloysius, but it's really the rifle I'm interested in and it is not available in hornet. Only the 17 HMR and 22 WMR.

Pumpkinslinger

Les, I've been looking at those too and lean toward the .22 Mag. More oomph for 'yotes and such. It would be nice to be able to compare them side by side. There are several articles online comparing the two but the IT nazis have them blocked here.

slimjim

More oomph at the muzzle or down range. I know the .204 will out perform the .223 at range. What is your intended max range and what are the associated energy states, wind drift, etc. Do they even make a bullet with enough mass to take on a coyote with a .17?

MacD

I use a 22 mag for hares. My shots are never over 100 yards and usually within 50. I sold my .17 (savage) because it is not legal for hunting here. It was very accurate, about twice that of my 22 mag (also a Savage). I also sold my 22 mag to buy a combination gun 20 gauge/22 mag. IMHO distance and the size of critter you expect to shoot are the deciding factors.

Here is a decent comparison. www.chuckhawks.com/com..._22WMR.htm

Vince

I would opt for the .22WMR over the .17HMR.

Lester...would suggest the diminutive .17 HMR, although very accurate and flat shooting, lacks the oomph to deliver the goods on coyotes. My shooting buddy tapped a yote sized dog at around 100m-125m with his Savage .17HMR shooting Hornady 17gr rounds. He hit it square in the chest front on and the dog dropped like a stone, but immediately jumped back up again and took off at a million miles and hour never to be seen again. This dog ran at least 300m before it disappeared into the scrub.

The .22 WMR, although having a reputation for not being the most accurate rimfire around, certainly has more terminal performance, on yote sized critters, than the .17HMR can supply. You will need to test the different brands of ammo out there to find the brand that your Ruger likes, but that is the case with all rimfires.

I know you are keen on the Ruger mate, but why not consider the CZ 455, cz-usa.com/product-cat...s/rimfire/ , or the Savage 93R17 www.savagearms.com/fir...el/93R17TR . Both have an easy barrel interchangeability option and both are inherently accurate rifle. Best of both worlds mate.

slimjim

lesterg3, after reading that article, to me its not really a contest - get the .17 HMR (my 2 cents).

The number one reason is accuracy. I've seen this in many other articles also. The group size for the .17 will likely be 1/2 the size of the .22 or smaller.

#2 Energy down range. The .17 retains is energy better and out runs the .22 WMR.

#3 flatter trajectory

Thus, it's easier to hit your target down range because of better accuracy and flatter trajectory (improved shot placement) and you have more energy when it gets there (beyond 100 yards).

The discussion on sectional density is not viable. From all my bullet testing I've learned that sectional density has no bearing on penetration because its the diameter that the bullet expands to and how much energy it has to drive it - those are the factors that determine penetration. The .17 should out-penetrate the .22.

slimjim

Vince wrote:

My shooting buddy tapped a yote sized dog at around 100m-125m with his Savage .17HMR shooting Hornady 17gr rounds. He hit it square in the chest front on and the dog dropped like a stone, but immediately jumped back up again and took off at a million miles and hour never to be seen again.

Wrong bullet for the job. You need a bullet that doesn't fragment, retains weight, and penetrates which would be the 20gr bullet.

Vince

Slim...that article is very informative and interesting mate, but at the end of the day it is actual observed performance on a target medium that matters mate.

My experience is that , as good, accurate and flat shooting as the .17HMR is, it really does lack the terminal performance to humanely put a coyote sized critter down. To be fair though, the ammo we were using was the Hornady 17gr load...maybe the 20gr would have been a different story.

I would still opt for the .22WMR out to around 125m. A much better option is as Aloys suggested, the .22 Hornet or one of the other small centrefires...and they can be reloaded which is a bonus.

slimjim wrote:

Vince wrote:

My shooting buddy tapped a yote sized dog at around 100m-125m with his Savage .17HMR shooting Hornady 17gr rounds. He hit it square in the chest front on and the dog dropped like a stone, but immediately jumped back up again and took off at a million miles and hour never to be seen again.

Wrong bullet for the job. You need a bullet that doesn't fragment, retains weight, and penetrates which would be the 20gr bullet.

I just saw your post mate...we crossed over...I tend to agree, although we are yet to try the 20gr offering.

slimjim

I guess it does take some time to get those electrons back and forth across the Pacific!

Elvis

another thing .22mag ammo has come a long way in last few years.
it gets my vote.

lesterg3

Hey guys,

Thanks for all your input and recommendations. Not really sure what I am going to do. 22 hornet seems like a great load and more than adequate for the task, as does the 223. Not so sure about the 22 WMR.

I guess I just have trouble killing an animal without using it, and since I have no intention of eating coyotes I was hoping that a smaller caliber would leave the hide intact enough to sell, but even skinning and prepping the hides seems an insurmountable task. I guess for now I will just stick with the 270 and not worry about utilization.

Vince

Not sure what sort of prep you have to do with the hides Lester, but if you don't have to tan it to sell it, all you would need to do, once you have skinned the critter, is salt it down with what I know as 'fatty salt' ensuring that the entire inside of the hide is well coated.

If you plan on keeping the hide, then you would have to tan it...that is a bit of work, but not overly difficult.

Elvis

Ive killed goats, a couple of wallabies and even a red stag with the .22 magnum, and that was using std loads of 20 yrs ago. how to define it???? think .22lr times 1 1/2 eg half again range 100 vs 150 yrds and bullet weight is 50 grn vs 36ish if you are a reloader the hornet is an awesome wee round once you get load fine tuned as they are said to be very fussy.
the .223 is to hunting what the uzi is to conflicts world wide. no fuss get the job done within range.