Thread: 22 mag or 17hmr

For small game shooting its the 17HMR hands down. I have shot more HMR's and Magnums than I can remember and the HMR wins on Wind drift, its far less affected by wind than the 22 mag. At 150 yards in a 10 mph wind a 17 gn Vmax at 2550 drifts 7.7 inches at 150 a 33 gn Accu Tip at 2200 FPS drifts 13.4 inches, the 40 and 50 grain bullets drift even more. Absolutely no contest the 17 is better in the wind. I have only shot one 22 Mag that could get close to 1/2 MOA groups, I have shot at least 5 HMR's that will do that and better. The 22 mag goes transonic at 200 or less depending on the bullet and shooting groups at 200 shows much bigger groups than 100. Conversely the 17HMR (17 Vmax) doesn't go transonic until 250 ish yards and 200 yards groups in my Savage are often around the 1 inch mark or better depending on the wind. I have taken a lot of bunnies past 200 with my top shot being 282 on a hare. Cost is cheaper for cheap plated 22 mag rounds but don't expect superior accuracy. The 33 Grain rounds will shot sub MOA but they cost as much as 17 gn Vmax rounds so cost is essentially even. Cleaning is easy just get a 17 bore rod. My Savage gets cleaned every 200 od rounds.