# Which caliber



## Elkoholic8 (Jan 15, 2008)

I am looking at buying a little claiber gun for plinking and shooting small critters, like squirrels. What is the better way to go, a .17, a .22 Mag, or a .204 Ruger? What are the ammo prices, and availability like?

Thanks.


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## Loke (Sep 7, 2007)

A 204 is going to be the most expensive, followed by the 17HMR, then 22 Magnum. You can find some very economical rimfires, and some that rival the finest centerfires. Typicaly the 204 will be the most accurate with the most range. The 17 HMR is extremely accurate, and effective on small vermin (like ground squirrels and prairie dogs) out to 200 yards or so. The 204 doubles (or more) that range. Think of the 204 as being in the same class as the 22-250. There are other choices to muddy the waters even more. If you reload, the 22 Hornet would fit what you are looking for. If you want a wildcat, there are a bunch of 17, 20, and 22 calibers based on the Hornet case. Then there are some obsolete calibers like the 218 Bee, 25-20, and 32-20 Winchester. Oh, the fun that is to be had exploring the old calibers.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

17HMR is super fun to shoot. I love mine.


-DallanC


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## gwailow (Jan 20, 2008)

+1 on the 17 HMR. I love the heck outta this cartrisge. For small critters it's an excellent choice. I normally load up on the ammo when it goes on sale for around $7.99 per/50 at Cabela's or Sportsmans. In good conditions and with the right optics, that little guy can pack a punch on the cotton tails even at 200+.

If you're looking for something to chase after the doggies with as well....then .22-250 or the ole' 223 would be probably be my choice.....that or just buy both.  

Let us know what you end up with.


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## sawsman (Sep 13, 2007)

+2 on the HMR for squirrel sized game. A 22 mag would be another fine choice and the ammo would probably be a little easier to find.


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## Al Hansen (Sep 7, 2007)

For the three you give , if you don't reload I would go with the 17HMR. If you reload then go with the .204.


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## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

.17hmr is normally about $14/50 rounds, which is crazy for a rimfire. For plinking, nothing beats the 22lr especially with kids around to shoot all day and never even think about the cost of ammo. I have the .17 and it is fun, but expensive and is a lot more work to load compared to the ease of loading my 10/22. I wouldn't really use it for shooting anything other than ground squirrels <50 yards away.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Huge29 said:


> .17hmr is normally about $14/50 rounds, which is crazy for a rimfire. For plinking, nothing beats the 22lr especially with kids around to shoot all day and never even think about the cost of ammo. I have the .17 and it is fun, but expensive and is a lot more work to load compared to the ease of loading my 10/22. I wouldn't really use it for shooting anything other than ground squirrels <50 yards away.


Wow... I dont think I've ever paid more than $10 for a box of HMR. The cheapest i got them for was $6.99, and I bought a ton of them 

-DallanC


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

Wow DallanC thats a steal of a price!

I am going to jump outside the box here and make some other suggestions.

#1- I love my .22 WMR and tend to shoot it more than any other rimfire. I honestly dont know the last time I pulled my .17HMR out for a shoot. The .22WMR hits hard and is pretty cheap to shoot

#2- How about a .223 Rem? If you arent reloading the .223 is a pretty affordable round to shoot compared to the .204 and it carries a punch a lot farther than the .17HMR (you can buy a cheap 20 round box of .223 for about $7)

#3- I love my .204 and agree that it is flat shooting and lots of fun. It is expensive to shoot if you dont reload, but HSM makes some affordable ammo for about $20 per 50. 

#4- Hornady is releasing a .17 Hornet next year and Savage will be offering the Model 25 chambered for it. This would be my next choice for a .17 caliber rifle since it shoots pretty fast. I am hoping accuracy will be good. But the .17 AH has a pretty good reputation so hopefully this one will be comparable


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## Loke (Sep 7, 2007)

You also over looked Remington's 17 Fireball.


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

I wonder how the brass will be priced compared to the fireball? The fireball brass is pretty expensive imo. Last I looked, it was $44 per 100


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## Nambaster (Nov 15, 2007)

If you want to kill squirrels my .22LR has killed more animals than anything. It has killed everything from a grasshopper all the way up to our own cows. 

I would go .22 WMR over .17 HMR just because I have hit rock chucks with a .17 HMR and they just acted like they were a little under the weather and scurried on down to their holes. The .22WMR packed enough punch to put them to sleep on the rock that they were standing on. Surprisingly the .22LR does better on those suckers than a .17 HMR as well. 

As for the .204 Ruger... Unless you are spotting ground squirrels from a long ways away the other cartridges will suffice, but.... 
When you hit squirrels and rockchucks and prarrie dogs with it, it is explosive. From what I have seen from my .204 the result is the equivalent of injecting the animals with a grenade. It produces wild acrobatics and arial movements that I never thought possible. Parts of these poor critters will spread in every direction. Even a Jackrabbit will split in half and parts will spin off like flying saucers. So if your purpose is sheer entertainment and a humane and super fast kill. There is nothing like producing a jack rabbit helicopter from 200 yards out. My first day out with my .204 Ruger I went through a box of 20 rounds in half an hour. I also soiled myself from laughing so hard at the rapid demise of so many varmints.


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## Nambaster (Nov 15, 2007)

Here is a little demonstration of the .204 Ruger


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## James (Oct 7, 2007)

If you reload, the 222 Remington is a great choice for varmints. It will shoot a 55 gr bullet up to 3000 FPS. Plenty of punch for critters as large as coyotes too.

If you are looking for an inexpensive round for plinking, a 22 LR is hard to beat. It also has plenty of punch for critters up to rock chucks. The real beauty of this one is that you can do lots of shooting on a budget.


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## Springville Shooter (Oct 15, 2010)

223 is the hands down choice for an economical/effective varmint rig.........it is also extremely un-original. You can load or buy ammo for the 223 very cheaply and it will bang squirrels out to pretty respectable ranges. 204 is a great perfomer, 17 is fun too, heck you can't lose.----------SS


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## Elkoholic8 (Jan 15, 2008)

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I have a couple .22lr's and a .243. I don't reload, so I am kind of leaning toward the .223 because of the ammo availability. The biggest problem is I don't NEED a different gun, so I will have to move it down the priority list...... for now.

Thanks though!!


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