I won't be much help since the only 17's I have are pellet guns. When rimfire 17's were brought out, several friends got them. They all praised them, but for some unexplained reason they all are back to the 22 now.

From what I read the 17 is the cats meow. I don't have one & I'm more that happy with the 22LR.

I am a big fan of the l.r. and it is more than enough for bunnies. There are also plenty of opportunities to compete with it in several different games. The 17 looks interesting, prices are not too bad and there seems to be good ammo availability so far, but if I could only have one, it would be the l.r., hands down.

Just have been reading about the HMR, and have seen a couple of shows where they were taking bunnies at over a hundred yards, and they were some impressive head shots. I will ruminate on this for a while, can't afford anything right now anyhoo. Will try and shoot an HMR, have shot plenty of bolt action 22s. Thank you for your inputs gents, looks like the 17 ammo is at least 50% more expensive than the 22.

Dave

I have a number of .22 handguns and rifles and one .17HMR rifle (a Cooper). Other than both being rimfires, they are distinctly different cartridges. The .17 is a legitimate 175 yard woodchuck or prairie dog cartridge. I wouldn’t go over 75 yards with a .22 even under the most optimal of conditions. The ammo is about twice as expensive. I treat the .17 as almost a .22 Hornet or.218 Bee understudy rather than as a .22 on steroids

It is boringly accurate (actually a good thing) but accuracy falls off noticeably after 50 or so rounds. A quick wipe with a Bore-Snake and we're good to go. Haven't shot beyond maybe 50 yards or so and haven't shot any game.

As others have mentioned, two very different cartridges. It your shots are 75 yards or closer, the 22 lr will suit you just fine. The 17 HRM extends the range out to 150 - 175 yards, and tends to be pretty destructive on the bodies of small mammals..... Those little 17 grain bullets just plain come apart when they hit something.

The 17 typically shows better accuracy than most 22 lr's and it's not unusual to get 5 shot groups that run an inch or under at 100 yards. Of course ammo for the 17 runs about twice the cost of the 22 lr.

The 17 HRM is my favorite cartridge for shooting ground squirrels in Montana. Even though I take 22's and centerfires, I always end up just shooting the 17 rimfire...

For all of the inputs, I am looking at a CZ that comes with a 22lr barrel and a 17 HMR barrel, guess I could buy a 22 WRM barrel as well.

Dave