Several different animals you're talking here WP. 17 hm2 is like 22 lr, only faster and flatter. 17 hmr like 22 mag, only faster and flatter. 17 hornet on a different planet, being centerfire and 3600 fps. Best thing to do is some research on each, and see what fits your needs/wants. Best of luck with it. P.s. gets progessively louder from hm2 to hmr to hornet

 

It will depend on what your needs are. Both will shot flat out to 110 yards. Flat, I mean won't rise more that .85" for the 17hm2. Less for the 17hmr. The 17hmr will go out to 120yrds and be at .90" rise. This is based on both being sighted in at 100 yrds.

The 17hm2 runs around .12 cents a round currently while the 17hmr runs .15-16 cents a round. Both are based on a 17 grn. round.

It's much easier to find 17hmr currently but 17hm2 is becoming more and more available. The 17hm2 can use the same magazines as a .22lr unless your talking a curved magazine over 10 rounds. I could not get my gun to work well with anything over 10 rounds on a curved magazine. The 17hmr can use the 22 mag. magazines. This lends itself for someone to get extra barrels for bolt actions that allow you to replace barrels. I have a .22lr barrel and 17hm2 barrel for a Ruger Precision Rim. and a CZ455.

Both seem to be inherently accurate.

 

The m2 is my preference. I wouldn’t even have an hmr, except I hit a deal on a VQ Custom 50% off in hmr. Never pass on a VQ at that price. I have a CZ 527 in .17 HH and really enjoy it too. It takes over where the m2 leaves off for me.

 

I don’t have a legit “need” for anything. But ive gotten back into rimfires due to a couple of back surgeries, can’t take the recoil of my big boomers any more. I don’t get around well enough to hunt, so those days are probably behind me. I shoot purely for fun, and stress relief.

Also, the money isn’t a big factor, or I’d just stick with 22LR. Ideally I’d drop a 17 HM2 barrel on a 10/22, but I see more bad than good about that set up. A VQ summit in 17 HM2 looks interesting. And I could use some of my 10/22 parts.

I prefer autoloaders in rimfire calibers. I’m a hand loader, and prefer a bolt gun or revolver if I’m collecting the brass. Might as well have an auto loading rimfire since I don’t want the empties.

I could, and might, go with a Savage A17. But I really don’t know much about these rifles. I live in a fairly small town and have not been able to see an A17 in the flesh. I’ve also been looking for 17 cal rimfire ammo locally, and have found a few places that carry 17 HMR and none that carry 17 HM2. The gun shop that advertised “all the ammo you’ll want v r need” has exactly TWO varieties of 17HMR and no Mach 2. So either caliber would be a mail order proposition for ammo.

I have a Ruger RAR in 22LR and if it was as easy to rebarrel as a 10/22 I’d already have a Mach 2 barrel for it. But the RAR is available in 17 HMR and it seems like the only differences are noise, cost and range. I probably won’t do much shooting past 100 yards anyway, unless it’s ringing the gong. With my screwed up back, even walking to the 100 yard line and back is an ordeal sometimes.

 

The Summits are nice. One in m2 would be a dream to shoot I bet.

 

AFAIK, there aren't any semi-automatic rifles chambered for either the 17HM2 or the 17HMR that are reliable, safe, and/or priced within reason.

I have several bolt actions rifles chambered in both 17HM2 and 17HMR. Since I'm a pretty serious tree squirrel hunter, I really like the 17HM2 and buy most of my ammo for it from on-line sellers. The 17HM2 is really a niche cartridge and is unlikely to ever be nearly as popular as the 17HMR, but as long as ammo can regularly be found from on-line sellers for under $8 per box of 50, sometimes under $6 per box of 50, I'll be a happy 17HM2 shooter.

The 17HMR is bigger, faster, has a flatter trajectory farther downrange, and is usually more expensive to shoot than the 17HM2. If your 17HMR shoots good groups with the A17 ammo, your 17HMR is approaching 17WSM territory.

 

The Savage A17 is a wonderful 17hmr autoloader! I've never had any safety issues or accuracy problems. Also, the Marlin 70pps is said to be very good with an aftermarket 17cal barrel. Just putting it out there.

 

I own a garrow firearms development ar17hmr upper i use it for plinking its fun and exempt from black rifle laws in ca. It is semi auto gas operated and has a roller locked bolt.

 

For purely shooting go 17 hmr, the off the shelf quality options are the best. With that far more variance in ammo selection as well.

The 17hm2 is superb in small game harvesting, but with the diminished manufacturers is mostly still a hyper niche cartridge.

If I intend to eat it, it's shot with a 17hm2, everything else gets the 17hmr.

 

For purely shooting go 17 hmr, the off the shelf quality options are the best. With that far more variance in ammo selection as well.

The 17hm2 is superb in small game harvesting, but with the diminished manufacturers is mostly still a hyper niche cartridge.

If I intend to eat it, it's shot with a 17hm2, everything else gets the 17hmr.

I 100% agree with this, especially the M2 being a hyper niche round.

You can buy HMR just about everywhere and you pretty much need to order M2 online. It can be found from time to yime in various places, but by and far, it is easier to order it online.

I use my M2 as my late season squirrel gun and it is an outstanding round for what it is.

 

From 917M2Sfan.
"AFAIK, there aren't any semi-automatic rifles chambered for either the 17HM2 or the 17HMR that are reliable, safe, and/or priced within reason."

Well that's just not true, except perhaps the cost portion of that quote.

My Volquartsen Fusion has been 100% reliable with over 10,000 rounds down the pipe.

I have no first had experience with the new Savage A17, but I've seen
about a 1/2 dozen at my range with nobody complaining about them.

Smooth

 

Which is why I inserted the "and/or priced within reason." comment. I've not heard a lot of people shouting their love for the Savage A17s from the roof tops.

Nothing that I've seen with the name "Volquartsen" on it would fall into the "priced within reason" bucket. That said, "priced within reason" really depends on what you discretionary funds budget looks like.

If I could buy a stainless Anschutz 1502 with a decent synthetic stock for under $1,200, I'd probably let most of the current gang of 12 17HM2s go off to new homes.

I hardly ever shoot any of the current lot of 10 17HMRs, so if they all went away I probably wouldn't miss any of them except maybe the 917VS or the 917VSSF.

 

17hmr in an AR Platform by Alexander Arms

Alexander Arms makes an AR platform in 17hmr. Upper is approximately $677. Also here is a video review.

http://www.alexanderarms.com/products/the-17-hmr

 

The 17 HM2 and HMR are very similar but the HMR is much more common while the 17 HM2 is cheaper to shoot when you can find ammo. The difference originally was 2150fps and 2550fps so about 400 fps at the muzzle. Current HM2 ammo is loaded to about 2050fps. What that translates to is a flatter trajectory for the HMR and maybe 25 to 50 yards of added effective range. On ground squirrel I find little difference in the two rounds out to 100 yards. The HMR is a bit better out to 130 to 150 yards but then the wind pretty much takes over and you are not likely to hit reliably with any kind of variable wind.


The 17 grain projectiles are not really designed for edible game. They can be useful around rocks and heavy equipment if you anticipate hitting steel as they will fragment on contact with hard surfaces including the ground. Some guys use them on edible game with careful shot placement. The 17s by their nature offer limited penetration due to their fragmenting qualities. I would not pick either over 22 magnum as an all purpose round but I like them best as dedicated small game shooters.


If there were a greater choice in rifles and better availability of ammo I would lean towards the quieter 17 hm2 for small game hunting. But since ammo availability is spotty with the less popular round I would suggest you go with the HMR. While these two rounds are based on 22 cases, they are really animals of their own in terms of performance. One of the common traits of the 17s is excellent accuracy compared with their 22 siblings and they are really more like each other than either 22 in terms of performance. rc

 

I have a converted Ruger 10/17m2 with ER Shaw barrel and a heavy bolt. Had one bulged case and it was old ammo. No other issues at all with new ammo.
Also have a VQ Custom in .17 hmr that I got cheap. On sale 50% off, can’t remember the price but it was cheap. No issues st all!
I do try to clean chambers with a tool I got from Gunsmither. But, that is it. Zero issues basically.

 

I had 3 Ruger 10/22 to 17HM2 conversions and a 10/22 Magnum to 17HMR conversion. I never had any trouble with the 17HM2 conversions, 2 with reworked 96/17 barrels from GM and a lined carbine barrel that was on a laminated mannlicher. I never had any trouble, but I was always nervous about shooting them, as I was expecting a "KABOOM" every time I sent a round down range. I had them for over a decade, but recently converted them back to .22 LR and threw away the parts from the 17HM2 conversion.

I had trouble getting the 17HMR to work, it had several "KABOOMs" and destroyed a couple hundred dollars in parts before my 'smith got it to work. When 10/22 Magnums were selling for $1K, i converted it back to .22 MAGNUM, sold it, and threw away the parts from the 17HMR conversion.

I threw the conversion parts away in order to avoid any sort of liability issue that might have resulted from their further use.

 

Hunting buddy has an RAR in 17hmr and its pretty sweet, lots of fun to 100. Probably be hard pressed to go wrong with that one.

 

Never had a problem with function on my A17, no blow outs etc. Accuracy was not consistent in the factory "rubbermaid" stock but after installing it in a Boyd's laminate its settled into a good reliable shooter.

 

In answer to your central question, let me offer the following: I have an Anschutz 1517 MPR, which is wicked accurate and an equally accurate Sako FinnFire II 17HMR. The Sako is lighter and better for field use as in squirrel hunting, the Annie better for bench rest shooting and for prairie dogs since I shoot off sand bags. It's about 2 lbs heavier than the Sako. That said though, last time out with the Sako shooting prairie dogs, I killed 18 p-dogs with the first 19 or 20 shots. I also have an Anschutz 1502 17Mach2, that is my primary squirrel rifle when I'm not using my .22. The reason being, it is very accurate (not quite as accurate as my two 17HMRs, but close) and it kills them very effectively; no crawl-offs. With it, I have set my personal best on squirrels at 125 yds, as measured by a laser range finder. I've killed several others around 80-90 yds. These are shots I never would have attempted with any of my .22s. Also the Mach2 doesn't damage thje meat as much as the HMR. The 17HMR as others have indicated is much easier to find ammo for. I love both the HMR and Mach2, but overall have to give the edge to the HMR.

 

Buy the 17 hornet and load it to whatever level of performance you want. I have all 3 but the hmr hasn't been used since I bought the hornet. I can reload it cheaper than buying hmr.

 

like someone said above it really comes down to what you want to use it for.....i have multiple rifles in hm2 and hmr. ive had success with the hm2 in an autoloader, i do run a brush thru it every 50 rounds though and always check my ammo for cracked cases etc. Also have a bolt in the hm2 and a bolt in the hmr.

Due to price I dont plink with mine, they are strictly for hunting.....the hm2 is imo the best squirrel round ever made. Minimal damage and flat, its a laser and will take squirrels out to as far as im going to see them in the woods i hunt.

The hmr will work but you need to stick to headshots or use the fmj rounds.

there is more hm2 ammo on the market for sale that ive seen since the round came out, so i wouldnt shy away from it for lack of ammo

 

This morning, I brought four tree squirrels home with four shots, victims of my CZ 452 Varmint .17 Mach2, my first CZ rifle purchased in 2011. While I always try for head shots, I hit one of the gray squirrels through the heart/lung area. When I cleaned the squirrel, the internals in that area were like jelly. In my experience, the .17 Mach2 is a great squirrel rifle...but needs to be restricted to head shots if at all possible. I also have a CZ 452 in .17 HMR which I'm reluctant to take squirrel hunting since the Mach2 is more than enough if head shots are taken and too much otherwise. Having said that, a shot to the squirrel's head with a .17 Mach2 or .17 HMR would have the same effect and either would suffice.

 

I have a Savage A17. One of my favorite rifles! I have a Bushnell dusk and dawn 6-24x40 scope on it. I can do a group of 5 about the size of a quarter from 200yds on a good day and I've hit the 6 inch gong from 350yds 4 or 5 times out of 10 on several occasions. The 17HMR is great for rodent extermination, but for small game hunting, it tends to be too much for anything but a head shot. It actually pops the body cavity like a balloon. I've heard using a FMJ is less devastating to the meat on a squirrel, but I just assume use a .22. At one point I was interested in the 17HMR mach 2, but here in NM, I've never even seen the ammo on the shelf, so that was a short-lived interest. Also, something OP didn't mention as an option is the 17WSM. That is an unbelievably fast round at about 3000 fps, but I have no experience hunting with it. I know some guys in MT who use it for their varmint gun. In my opinion, the 17hmr is FANTASTIC! You can pick up a bolt action Savage B-series for about $250 or one of those gorgeous rifles I saw on this thread for probably 10x more; and ammo is reasonably priced.

 

I don't currently have either one. Why would I want a 17 HM2 over a 17 HMR?

I have never even owned a 22 Magnum rifle but I interested on one of the 17s. Even interested in the 17Hornet.

I am not a fan of the .17-rimfires for a couple reasons:
I have seen the bullets marvolously deflected at 90~110 yards by blades of grass, clearly missing sitting Groundhogs. The faster it goes, the more easily deflected.

I shot .22 LR standard/match velocity rounds in competition out to 300 yards, and there are records set in the 1930s' that have not been broken.
I hunted pests and small game with a .22 Magnum out to a max of 180~200 yards with great effectiveness...
... or at least I did when I could see that far, and my nerves wasn't ruined!

But, if I was going to go with one, I would go with either the .17 Hornet, or rather the .17 Remington, since you can load them with slightly heavier bullets at slower velocities for greater accuracy.

 

This YT video really shows what you need to know.

17 MACH 2 VS 17 HMR STEEL PLATE TEST - YouTube

 

If you're hunting steel plates then the .17hmr is a clear winner, for small game the .17m2 does 90% of the job with less noise and less damage.

 

Way back when I bought my annie 1502 in 17m2 I was in the market for an HMR. But after thinking it over, the m2 was half the price, both used the same 17gr bullet and there was only 250fps difference in mv then... so I went with the m2. Fast forward a decade and 3/4 and the HMR is more readily available and the difference in price is reduced, the velocity gap increased, ( due to the case splitting issue: They reduced the charge as they couldnt anneal the primed case. Didnt fix the issue, but hey give it a try anyway, right??? Issue is fixed now, though they left the charge light.)
So I'd lean toward the HMR today.... but still wouldn't pass on a nice m2.... I really like my 1502.

 

Which begs the question.
With the newer cci vnt rounds the case is not brass I don’t think. Could speed be I increased witht his case use. The new bullet though might not hold up to the speed(jacket).
But I would not want speed increased a speed this would increase the noise factor. What I with 17 hmr. Rings my ears. I have not shot either hmr or hm2 suppressed.

17 hm2 is prize tree squirrel round in good shooting rifle. I know this much. In with hm2 out with 22 LR.
Some folks don’t realize the difficulty of shooting a 75- 80 yard squirrel with 22lr. From a time spent looking and calculating distance and making scope adjustment, etc.
I tried this one season leaves off using 22 lr for longer shots. Tough to do. Doable. But where I was doing was cleaner woods where’s laser use was neck of a lot easier. Headshots done? Naw. More just trying to bust rib cage. Unlike what is do with my trusty hm2.

 

They solved the case issue a few years back. They found a way to anneal without using heat... electromagnetics I would assume, but at any rate they left the lower powder charge as standard. It's ok though, they shoot great and are so flat out to 100yds you dont need to dope much...