17hmr noise difference to 22lr

The 17 HMR does make a lot more noise than a 22LR. I am no scientist I can't tell you why. I can tell you the 17 HMR is effected by the wind more than any other caliber other than a 22 cal pellet rifle. You would be much better served from a practical viewpoint by a 22 WMR. The 17 HMR is a 22 wmr necked down to 17 cal. The 17hmr is hard to clean. Cleaning rods are so tiny they snap right off. I don't know anyone that owns a 17 hmr that hasn't had a moment of panic because a cleaning rod snapped and left a brush in the barrel.

The biggest practical use of a 17 HMR is shooting tiny targets when it's windy. If you use targets that are small enough to emulate 600 yard shots with a centerfire rifle you will be way ahead of the game if that is your end goal.

 

I have a 17 hmr and it has a louder sharper crack than the 22lr. As far as the wind goes it isn't as bad as most people think. The faster a bullet travels the less time wind and gravity have to affect it. Accuracy wise it will make a 22 mag look real bad at 100 yards. I have had more fun with my 17 hmr than any other gun I own.

 

I have many .22's and a .17 HMR. It is a very accurate caliber and I use it often on the 200 yard range. Mostly it is for critter control. Groundhog head shots are easy at 100+ yards.
.17's are much louder and I need ear protection or they will be ringing.
I have a suppressor rated for .17 HMR in BATF limbo but I am curious to see what it will do.

 

When you do find out about your suppressor please let us know! We don't want to get into serious trouble over something that appears to be a toy. One thing the suppressor will do is rob the 17 hmr of much needed velocity. The question is how much velocity.

 

The 22wmr is flat shooting but it's biggest advantage is to deliver a larger payload. I shoot the 25 foot airgun targets at 100 yards with a 22LR. I am not a gifted shooter. With COPD I have very little control over my breathing or heart rate. I take 3 deep breaths and I have about 10 seconds to get the shot off before my heart starts racing. Prone shooting off a tripod is out of the question. I can use a shooting stick while kneeling.

 

My wife has a 17HM2 and it is louder than the 22lr. The 17HMR will be even louder.

 

my 17HMR is much louder than my 22lr by a huge margin. it has a very distinctive crack to it when fired.

personal opinion, i would choose the 17HMr for target shooting and the 22 WMR for hunting.

 

You can shoot aspirins at 100 yards with the 17hmr.

 

The 22wmr is much better for fox and coyote sized game. When I had my health I bagged a lot of squirrels with a 22 wmr over 100 yards away. My cousin insists on deer hunting with my 22 wmr when he visits, despite the fact he can use a 30/06 or a shotgun with a rifled slug barrel. He manages to bag a deer on almost every visit. The 22 wmr is a very capable round for hunting. On paper the 17 appears to have more range than a 22 wmr. But that is not true. Once the 17 hmr starts dropping it has very little energy. The 22 wmr has enough power to kill a fox two dots above center using a mil-dot scope.

 

Your right the less time it will be affected since it is going so fast... However lighter bullets are going to drift more in the wind than heavier ones.. This is why comp ar15 shooters use 69 or even 77 gr bullets for long distance... ( I'm happy I just bought a 1/7 twist barrel)

What u think is easier? Bullet that goes up as down during its flight path or one that goes up Dow and side to side?

I have a savage 17hmr with accutrigger... Thing is sick... Both me and my gf can have 1/4" groups at 30 yrds no problem... Gotta get to my Long range one day and try it out..

 

No dispute the 22wmr has more energy, but it isn't near as accurate as the 17hmr. I don't understand why 22 owners seem so threatened by the 17 hmr. Enjoy them both for what they are.

 

My SAK one doesn’t take any velocity away from the .17 HMR, average MV with the 17gr V-max is just over 2500FPS, from a 19" CZ 452 Varmint barrel.

As for effectiveness of the moderator, its just the same muzzle report as a moderated .22LR, just a "Pffff", but with all the downrange 'crack' from the high velocity HMR round.

In the wind, check out the ballistics data as it may surprise some of you, the little boat tail 17grain V-max has quite a high ballistic coefficient, that combined with its high speed makes it superior to practically any other Rimfire round in the wind, including the .22WMR. Competitions center fire shooters may also use heavy bullets because they are longer which allows them to have higher ballistic coefficients than the short, light weight bullets.

Edit, also regarding noise unsuppressed, the HMR is like a 12guage shotgun for noise. Certainly makes your ears ring the same without protection!.

 

Of all of the guns I have ever purchased, (lots of them), not once have I ever considered noise as a factor. I wear ear protection ALWAYS, PERIOD. Even with 22LR. If a gun was ever too loud, (hasn't happened yet), I'd just double up plugs with muffs. But good quality muffs have a DB rating of about 30. Plenty for most everything. Plugs can be had that have an even higher rating than the muffs.

I just bought a Savage 22 MAG. Very nice gun, way more capable than I am, I think. If I ever start crapping $100 bills, I'd certainly buy a 17 HMR. Also cool.

 

We both are right and there is no threat. If you can't kill the animal what is the point in hitting it? The OP clearly stated he wants to hunt fox. The 17 HMR is the superior paper puncher. The 22 wmr is the superior hunter.

 

In my mind

In my mind the .17 HMR has just about obseleted (sp?) the .22 WMR. In fact my out of the box Savage is at least as accurate as any .22 rimfile target rifle I have ever shot including an expensive Anschutz. Other than the noise differential I think it is better in general than any of the older rimfire calibers and no he isn't joking, you can literally shoot aspirins at 100 yds. Just my $.02.

 

OP, I can't imagine that the diff. in MAG VS HMR noise would scare off the field, or not. Don't kid yourself, the mag is loud.