Does anyone have any experence hunting with the .17 HMRs I think that i am going to get one, but I am worried about them tearing up too much meat they seem to have very explosieve expantion. I am talking about hunting rabits/racoons at ranges from thiry to a hundred yards. Oh and has enyone trid them on turkey? Are they really as flat shooting and accurate as I have heard? +.3in at 50yards with a 100yard zero and .49in moa! Those are some unbelieveable numbers for a rimfire!

I recently shot a cat at about 50 yards with mine using CCI ammo, and was startled to see that i missed. Checked for hair, blood, etc, and nothing. Wife told me the next morning that i didn't miss, it was piled-up dead near our mailbox, having run about 30 yards. I couldn't find any entrance wound, exit wound, or blood on its fur. I finally stretched its fur enough that i found an entrance wound on its left ribcage, and the bullet destroyed its heart. But, it still didn't exit, nor leave any sort of blood trail.
I imagine it depends on what kind of ammo one uses (mine was given to me as a Christmas gift), but i doubt i'll use the CCI on much of anything else except for crows. By the way, it groups right at .75" at 100 yards for five shots from my 597.

Does anyone have any experence hunting with the .17 HMRs I think that i am going to get one, but I am worried about them tearing up too much meat they seem to have very explosieve expantion. I am talking about hunting rabits/racoons at ranges from thiry to a hundred yards. Oh and has enyone trid them on turkey? Are they really as flat shooting and accurate as I have heard? +.3in at 50yards with a 100yard zero and .49in moa! Those are some unbelieveable numbers for a rimfire!

i've taken groundhogs out to over 230 yards with one shot, they dropped on the spot, some as close as 75 yards with minimal damage. They are what they say, flat shooters. A friend of mine wanted one when they first came, I have a good friend who is a gun dealer and he got me one of the first ones out. Well after my friend saw what they were capable of, he bugged me almost every day for over 6 months until I gave in and sold him my setup. Regreted it!
You'll have a blast, get one and don't be afraid of long distance shots. My setup was a Handirifle by New England arms, it carried a simmons 3x9 scope and used a harris bipod. Great truck gun, small compact and quick handling.

Hey guys I got my .17 today it is GREAT I bought a savage 93 and it is the coolet gun that I have ever owned I imedeatly brought it to the range, and shot the thighest groups that I have ever personaly seen! At 50 yards (the longest we can shoot at my range) I put my three shot group into ONE HOLE without a bench rest! This thing is ammazing! If you mesure from center to center my group was about an eighth of an inch! Mind you this is after fifty rounds of frustration with Fedral ammo apparently my gun does not like it, I got about 2 1/2 inch groups with Fedral, but as soon as I started using the CCI that I bought my three shot groups were between 1/2 inch and one slightly uneven hole. I cannot wait to get to a 100-200 yard range. I bought my 93, a huge Bushnell 3*9 power scope, rings, and two boxes of ammo for just over $200 at wal-mart. This is the first time I have ever shot a savage, and I am extreamly impressed. My next move is to sell my Winchester model 70 and buy a savage 111 for my dear gun! I hate to sound like an advertisment for savage but I cannot get over what a great gun this is. I think that I am going to post a thread about it.

When the 17 HMR is sited in at 125 Yds a 17 GR V-MAX bullet at a MV of 2550 ft/sec the bullet path will be about -.3 at 25 Yds, +.5 at 50 Yds, +.9at 75 Yds ,+.7 at 100 Yds, zero at 125 Yds ,- 1.4 at 150 Yds, - 3.7 at 175 and -7.0 inches at 200 Yds. I have shot a lot of prairie dogs with a 17 HM2 and 17 HMR rounds the past two years .I keep most of my shots with the 17 HM2 rifle within 80 Yds and the 17 HMR rifle within 150 Yds. I have hit prairie dogs at longer ranges but they can get back into their holes with a poor hit. If you plan on eating a squirrel or cotton tail rabbit aim for the head with a 17 HMR rifle. www.rimfirecentral.com has a lot of detail about the 17 rimfires.