The 0.17 hmr's energy is 70 ft lbs at 230yds (same as .22 at 100yds) compared to the .22 Win Mag's 90.

So I think 70 is still deadly, but ....here it comes, both are past there 100% ethical hit diameter at that range, unless you think 3-5 inches at best is good enough.

Smooth

 

250 is a tough range, a lot of fields where i shoot are similar in that they don't warrant centerfire but are just long enough to be a pain.

Hifs are possible no doubt, but the hmr runs outta poop at 250, the numbers are above from the previous poster. All I can say is it is noticeable. 17 wsm is the initial answer, just a smidge above both the wmr and hmr.

 

Just my experience, 17hmr knocks down ground hogs with authority out to 100 yards when you put it anywhere on his body. Used to shoot a lot of ground hogs at my dad's place. Got bored of head shots, so tried body shots to see what would happen. Takes them down with authority out to about 100 yards.

Past 100 and less than 150 which is really pushing it, not really unless you can make some really well placed head shots. You need to be confident in your ability to put the round exactly where you want it past 100 for a humane kill.

Getting a 22mag or 17wsm accurate at 200 yards is a gamble. Good luck. They're out there, but you won't get one that's accurate without a lot of d**king with the rifle. Just look at the 17wsm forum or 22mag forum and see how many people will post more than a couple lucky 5 shot groups past 100 yards.

If you want to stretch it out to 200 yards, you'll need a centerfire. Get some variation of a 17 caliber centerfire and put a suppressor on it.

 

I wouldn’t even shoot a jackrabbit or prairie dog at that distance with a 17 HMR. I have only seen a few groundhogs and they are large enough to require a more humane round.

 

If safe to shoot a high powered rifle, you may want to look at a 223 but if not, you may want to look at the 17 hornet and 17 Winchester Super Magnum. Wind drift is going to be a problem at those ranges and the little rounds don't have a lot of energy but the WSM may have just enough more to be humane at those distances.

 

The 17HMR is really good out to 125 yds and OK at 150 on prairie dogs. I shoot lots of them. But, beyond 125 yrads I rarely even attempt a shot. At best you have to lob one in and hope to hit them in the right spot. Most of your power is gone by then. Will it kill them? Probably, if it hits them just right, but a big IF for sure. More likely is a poorly placed shot and a long painful death. Given the behavior of your 200 yd ground hogs, it will be best to be well concealed and take them out with a .204 or .223. My .204 with 39gr bullets at 3700fps shoots very flat at 200yds and drops about 2 inches at 300. My 223 is just a bit slower, 50gr Sierra BKs at 3300 fps about a 4 in drop at 300. I've killed prairie dogs out to 300 yds with both rifles. My longest shot with my 17HMR was about 140 yds, but it is rare for me to shoot that far with it. Let us know what you do.

 

Good at 125 yards and OK at 150 has been my experience with the 17 HMR also and that's why I won't go for longer shots.

 

Go with the time proven 222. just my thoughts

 

Forget rimfires at that range, go with the .204 or .223.

 

Lots of people deal with prairie dogs using rimfire's out to 250 yards without a problem. I personally know of a couple people that bag a lot of them using 17HMR and 22WMR rifles without any issues. I don't know if I would try and push it past 250 yards but I think out to there they'll drop like stones.

 

X2, I don't shoot prairie dogs past 250 in dead calm conditions. Based on the weaker pop of a PD at that distance, it may not drop the groundhog. A 17 Hornet would be great for that and be quieter than the 223Rem.

 

I suppose craw-offs don't bother them then. Personally I prefer to have a very good chance of a clean and quick kill even if it is just pest shooting.

 

In my experience, the .17 HMR is good to 125 yards with head shots on NY woodchucks/groundhogs. I like the 17 gr TNT best so far in 3 years of using the .17 HMR. Body hits are unpredictable even at lesser distances. Wind drift is also an issue as mentioned above.

 

Keep in mind that ground hogs are fairly large critters and a body shot with the 17HMR at 200 is not likely to put them down cleanly. Even at a 100 yds a well placed shot is necessary to assure a humane kill.

 

All, 22 rimfire bullets have the ballistic coefficient equal to about that of a bowling ball so they start shedding velocity and energy very rapidly. The 17 HMR doesn't shed energy quite as fast, but it starts out with a fair bit less too. The HMR drops considerably less than does the WMR and is a little less affected by wind.

I don't think, EITHER, is a good choice for groundhogs at those distances.

The 17 WSM delivers substantially more energy at all distances when compared to the HMR and WMR but I still don't think it would be a "good" choice.

Certainly doesn't mean any of the above won't kill a groundhog at those distances but none of them would be my first choice.

At those distances, the least I'd want would be a 17 Hornet.

I've shot sage rats at those distances with my HMR's, out to 350 with my 17 WSM, and they just kind of fall over dead with very little splat factor but a sage rat is substantially smaller than a groundhog. Out here on the west coast we have rock chucks, similar to groundhogs but not nearly as big, and even our smaller rock chucks can sometimes absorb a pretty good hit and still crawl off.

 

If you can shoot a "substantially smaller" sage rat @350 yards with a 17 HMR then headshots on a groundhog @200-250 yards should be a breeze.

 

I'm a fan of the 17wsm. Tipped over 4 sage rats at 260yards and 3 at 240yards last week. Tricked out SS HB BMag, It's more than capable. You would do good by upgrade to the Ruger with the threaded barrel on your 1st purchase. I use a SWR Spectre2 22lr can on mine. Hushes it up just fine. Good luck and keep tippin over.I've tipped over 500 so far this season.

 

Might be a stretch...

I killed several rock chucks in Oregon last year with my A17. One shot for each with no crawl offs at 150-200 yards. Beyond that I'd say it's a bit light for ethical kills.

With regard to the suppressor, it might depend on which one you have but mine works beautifully on my 17HMR! In fact that's it's primary residence. I have put several thousand rounds through it without any issues. I just have to clean it after 1-2 bricks of ammo ran through it.

 

Keep it Simple

If 225 to 250 yards is the likely range, it is time to leave the rim fires at home. And to keep it simple and inexpensive, settle on .223 Remington. Free empty cases litter every club shooting range these days. There is an endless variation of bullet types and weights available, but all you need are standard military style solid pointers of about 55 to 60 grains. I swage my own 60 grain open point bullets, using empty .22 LR cases for jackets. The thin annealed jackets make very destructive bullets up to 3000 fps. I have actually gone higher, without jackets coming apart after leaving the muzzle...even close to 4000 fps. And stay with non-exotic powders available everywhere. I use 4198 and 4895. Getting fancier just spends more money and makes everything more difficult.

To the fellow posting about .222 Remington, I agree. It has a very slight accuracy advantage, mostly theoretical. But .223 is much easier to deal with and acquire equipment.

I have a number of .223 rifles, but my Ruger Number 1 heavy barrel varmint rifle is a good one. I recall the first time I shot a chuck at about 100 yards. Through the scope, it looked like he dropped down into his hole when hit. But when I walked the soybean field to see what happened, he had not been in a hole, just chewing soy beans in the row. That fast exploding bullet (thin jacket), hitting in mid-section, created an upper and lower half of Mr. Chuck. Imagine his surprise.
The top half simply dropped down a bit, to meet the bottom half, still connected by a slim strand of internal organ. Call him "Shorty".

The .223, in a good rifle, is accurate in the extreme. And if you hit a woodchuck, the issue is not in doubt. I learned that with one shot.

 

Shot prairie dogs at 300 with a 204, it's flat and fast. The 223 would be good too.

 

Obviously not saying there is anything wrong whatsoever with reloading. But is it really worth it to handload a .223 (if your not doing it for better accuracy) given the relatively low price of bulk .223 ammo? I don't reload so I'm unaware of the cost and the time involved to reload a .223 round.

 

Ground Hogs at 200+ yards

At that distance, a 22 anything is out of it's league.
A 17WSM is my go-to gun for that kind of thing. Relative inexpensive ammo, and a flat trajectory out to 200 yards, and then some.

The ultimate is the 17 Rem Center-fire. at 4400 fps, it's a no brainier If it hits anything other than what you are shooting at, it turns to power and all you see if a puff.

 

Or get closer. Set-up day before - get in your blind before sun-up - kill stuff. I use this setup for squirrels in the Pecan trees, where I can't get close. Mostly with the CZ .17 HM2, but this day with the Browning 22. Or buy another rifle. Nothing wrong with that. A CZ .17 Hornet makes a fine varmint rifle, without the loud boom of a .223.

 

5mm Magnum?

Just a thought: nobody has yet mentioned the 5mm Remington Rimfire Magnum. That was gone, or at least costing $2 per shot, for decades, but it's back, and there are still a fair number of the nice little Remington 591 and 592 rifles out there. The ammunition Aguila was putting out under the Centurion label had a 30gr. bullet and supposedly had 127 ft/lbs of energy at 200 yards. Bigger cross-section than the .17s, so it might do a better job of anchoring a groundhog. Aguila is selling the ammunition with a JHP 30gr. under their own name now. Their published data shows a muzzle velocity of 2300fps, down from the 2450 of the Centurion. Haven't shot one in years, but accuracy was considered phenomenal back when it was introduced 1969, and it's still faster than the 22WMR or 17HMR. Street price is a shade under fifty cents per round, so more than double 17HMR or 22WMR prices.

 

As the OP stated, he doesn't want to go to centerfire, and if he's like many of us, he has no interest in reloading. As I read thru this thread I kept wanting to yell "get closer, and use camo." member mmpsteve has saved me from using all caps and annoying the rest of you. When ground hog hunting, I use a set up much as mmpsteve does. I've planted a few such things, and getting out before sunrise is a tremendous help. I make sure to remove them before the farmer cuts his alfalfa or plows his field. A friend of mine uses a shovel to dig a hole to sit in, minimizing his profile. Good luck.

 

:yeahthat:

50 yards away in a blind with a suppressed .22LR and match-grade subsonic ammunition. Put some Center-X in the center of their little groundhog head.

 

I would take te .2 Mag over any .17 rimfire, any day, all day.

I have hit pests out to those distances with a .2 Mag, and I have seen the .17 Mag bullets deflected at closer than those distances.

 

I would take te .2 Mag over any .17 rimfire, any day, all day.

I have hit pests out to those distances with a .2 Mag, and I have seen the .17 Mag bullets deflected at closer than those distances.

I'd ake my 17wsm 24/7 over any over rimfire at any distance. Main reason for a miss with it is shooting too high or over compensating for wind. It just out shoots them all.
That is just my real world experience opinion.