Some time ago, a member was curious as to the accuracy potential of the 17HMR. Here is a 5 shot group I shot yesterday out at Spruce Grove. The load was the CCI 17gr JHP. The conditions were sunny and with a slight breeze from 11.00 o'clock. Mirage wasn't too bad but my eyesight has definitely deteriorated after two retina tears and one detachment; it was difficult to NOT see a double crosshair in the scope picture. The rest was two sandbags fashioned from blue jean legs which proved adequate but certainly not optimum. I'm sure many of you could have tightened the groups.
Good group notheless. i to have had some fantastic groups out of my .17. i love it. i shoot a Marlin 917VS heavy barell, though it gets ****y if i shoot anything but Hornady 17gr. v-max out of it.
The distance was 100 yds. That groups is about the best my rifle and I can shoot. So far, I've shot around 100 or so gophers with this load and am somewhat disappointed as to the terminal performance. Based on what I'd heard from others, I was expecting a far more impressive effect. In my experience, there's nothing like a 70 gr. BT at 4000 fps to really 'explode' a gopher. From my limited observations, the 17hmr messes up gophers to the same effect as a .22 Stinger.
I've considered selling off my .17hmr and purchasing a .17 centerfire of some description, maybe a Fireball, but the fact I can buy bricks of ready to shoot ammo for the hmr is the main reason to keep it.
Those are all very good groups with a .17 HMR. My Savage 93R17FV which is the heavy barell, cheap syntho-stock version shoots about in the same league as you are showing (cept the 200 yarders, wow). I've yet to take any gophers with mine, but shooting into water bottles at 200 yards is causing complete and total disintegration of the 17gr vmax rounds. I found the copper jacket, peices of lead, and the poly tip inside a bottle I shot at 200. For the OP who is dissapointed in the performance of the HMR, was that the vmax round or the JHP which did not perform to expectation?