Question for the gun guru's

[Tail_Gunner]

I'm thinking about getting back into shooting as a hobby after dabbling in it about 30 years back. While in the Air Force, I got some shooting with .38 Special, M-16 and for obvious reasons, .50 CAL IN A QUAD TURRET and 20MM CANNON.

Right now I'm thinking about a Mini-14 or maybe a .17 HMR. I see there is also a .17 HM2 round available. I am wondering if there is any difference between the .17 HMR and .17 HM2 as far the weapon is concerned? Are they two different guns or one of the same.

I'm leaning to the Mini-14 with future improvements/mods like a Bull barrel and such. The .223 round appeals to me for its affordabilty. Even though it's cheap, I don't want something as lame as a .22 either.

Lay some enlightenment on me guys.

 

[hugeredford]

two different guns for .17 hmr and hmr2 hm2 is a pus' compared to the .17 hmr and costs the same i've got a marlin bull barrel 17 hmr with a 12-20x scope and you can kill any bird within 150 yards easy

 

[Tx_Atty]

I have a DPMS (panther arms) AR-15 with bull barrel and flat top with a red dot style sight. It is the sweetest rifle I have ever shot and highly recommend any rifle from DPMS. They are high quality without the ridiculous prices. They can get expensive but you can get one reasonable too. To add to the benefit, my wife bought me 1000 rounds of surplus ammo for 100 bucks. Like you said, the ammo is cheap so shooting doesnt kill the wallet.

 

[jvencius]

IMO, if you're wanting a smallbore rimfire, get a .22LR since (1) you can find ammo EVERYWHERE whereas the .17's can be hard to come by if you go out camping or just messing around in the woods and forget ammo ( Yes, I've forgotten ammo), (2) since rimfires can be kind of finicky regarding ammo selection, there are soooooooooo many different kinds of .22LR out there that trying a couple dozen different types won't destroy your budget, and (3) the .22LR is a proven, do-everything-a-rimfire-is-appropriate-for cartridge. The .17's are zippy, for sure, but I've made first-shot hits on gophers out to a little past 200 yds on calm days when I had the shooting mojo going and a hit with the .22 sure beats a miss with the new, gee-whiz, fast out of the muzzle .17's.

Depending on what your budget is, you can also find .22's to fit your price range from cheap-o junk to OHMYLORD lovely. In the midrange, Ruger, CZ, and Tikka make fine rifles for ~$250-$500 and if you want to go hog-wild, Kimber and Cooper Arms make .22's that are the cat's azz but will cost you somewhere north of $1000 sans scope. Surely though, for that kind of money you'll get a rifle that will hold inside of 0.5" groups at 50 yds and that's more than acceptable in my book.

 

[bling821]

I'd have to say that the sweetest gun I've ever shot was the Thompson Center Omega 50 cal black powder rifle. The way the trigger system is set up make it super easy to clean which is really important with black powder rifles. A little bit more work to shoot but I love it.

If a .22 doesn't have enough bang for the buck, you can go with a .22-250. The projectile itself is .22 cal but it has about the same amount of powder behind it as a 30-30. Only .22 I've seen that you can use on deer.

And finally, if you want to just be rediculous you can go with a Remington 300 ultra mag. My uncle has one and it took him a week to sight it in. He could only shoot it about four time before his shoulder was begging him to stop. About the same size bullet as a 30-06 with a huge casing. Don't know the specs but it will kick like a wild horse. Put a muzzle break on it and you make get run off of the rifle range. Don't think its as good a recreational rifle as it is for big game.

 

[dpantazis]

by all means, take it up! it can be addictive. not as bad a fishing rod making. you usually can;t stop at one. i am no guru but i will throw in some info.

22LR is fun. cheap and lots of guns and options. check out http://rimfirecentral.com/

rumors about 17hm/hmr2 is that one will die off due to popularity like the rem-17. rumors, who knows.

no rimfire is good out of the box. they all need tweaking. i do like the accutrigger, but too bad its mated up to a savage. tons of parts for 10/22. CZ trainer is a NICE bolt action gun. marlin and henry levers are fun.

22-250 is a great round. good for coyotes too. bigger rounds- i would go with a rem700 action. i am not fond of the newer ultra-mags in these actions. too short a cartridge. don;t discount the 30-06 cartridge either!

dennis

 

[RenoF250]

The .17 hmr is more expensive than a .223 or 22-250 so I do not see the point in it. Less power for more money. For price and availablility the .223 is hard to beat but I do not think it has enough juice. An SKS in 7.62X39 can be had for cheap. What do you want to do with it?

 

[Tail_Gunner]

I'm looking at just doing target shooting and plinking for the most part and the occasional friendly weekend competition. But I do want something that has a little more stopping power to it than a .22. After all, we all desire something that will stop who knows what or who, should the need arise. Otherwise, everybodies gun collections would consist of nothing but pellet guns. After a bit more thought, I think I've discounted the .17 HMR as an option.

I don't think a black powder rifle is is the type of shooting that I'm looking for. Shoot, reload, shoot, reload, shoot, reload, etc, that doesn't sound real appealing to me. I definately want a semi-auto, full auto would be real cool but there are legality issues there. Also I don't want something that'll leave my shoulder bruised and sore either, that will kind of take the fun out of it. I was thinking about an AR-15 since it is so much like the M-16 I used to shoot in the military. But I know there are some reliabilty in the field issues with that type of weapon. From comparisons I've read, the Mini-14 is more reliable since it is based mechanically on the tried & true M-14. But the Mini-14 is out of the box, less accurate than the AR-15.

Ammo affordability is another factor. Due to the surplus availablity, .223 ammo can be had more affordibly than just about any other center fire cartridge except the 7.62 x 39 AK-47 type ammo. Plus I've found that surplus tracer rounds are available too, that would be a cool way of ending the day as it's getting dark.

At any rate, it's something I won't be able to pursue until I get back to work. I'm just a thinkin' and a dreamin' at this point.

 

[RenoF250]

If you are looking for semi-auto with decent power and accuracy you should look into an M1 Garand. It is my favorite gun. Lots of power and it does not hurt your shoulder. It is fun to take to out at the range after someone has been shooting an AR-15. I have gotten quite a few "what is that?" questions. Ammo is a bit more expensive but certainly not hard to find. You can get a nice Service grade here for $550.

http://www.odcmp.com/Services/Rifles/m1garand.htm

 

[acjjkamp]

I used to have one of those M1's.
Nice rifle and accurate. After checking out RF's link, I cant believe I sold it for $80...(20 years ago)