If there are two coyotes or pigs? The advantages of an AR are hard to beat.

My double on coyotes was with a bolt action.

I was just gigging you. Different strokes for different folks.

Around the house I use my .17HMR for coyotes, stray dogs, feral cats, and skunks, and it is dropped a bunch of each. Inside 200 yards it freaking rocks unless it is windy. The .17 flat out sux in the wind. It seemed a good choice since I have relatively small acreage and want to minimize the risk of having to purchase a neighbors cow or horse, and needed a bit more reach than the .22lr & 12 gauge I previously used. Anyways, the .17 has been great, and my savage is crazy accurate. I also use it as a 100 yard squirrel & rabbit gun as well as small property hog gun - head shots all the way around. Way more useful than I imagined when I picked it up.

The 22-250 is a completely different beast, and while I enjoy shooting my buddies, I really don't have a use for one - not that that has ever stopped me from buying a gun..

-ww

22-250 rounds cost me $0.74 each (not reloads)
17HMR rounds cost me $0.26 each

Still more expensive but not 5 times. If you reload than the gap narrows even further.

Where are you picking up your 22-250 so cheap? Around here they are $1 or more per round.

Yeah I know!

Just at my local gun shop. 40 round box of Winchester 45 grain jacketed hollow point is $28 plus tax. It's strange how some ammo is cheaper here in Canada and other ammo will be 30-40% more. Also no problem getting 22 LR or 22 WMR - can have 5000 rounds delivered to my door in 48 hours. If I try to find factory ammo for my .260 rem or 35 Whelen it is whole different story. I'll get gouged $50+ for a box of 20 if I can even find it.

That's almost half price of what 22-250 costs here. Still, 17HMR is literally a fraction of the price. My only point was that if 17HMR fills your needs (small varmints inside 150 yards), then it's a huge money saver versus 22-250. Gun is cheaper, scope is cheaper, ammo is cheaper.

My 17 is crazy accurate. I hit the same hole @ 100yds nearly every shot. My 250 is almost as accurate. 3 shot group less than 1/2" with Remmy Core Lok's. That being said, varmints...250 gets the nod over the 17 but in reality I use my 243 most of the time.

I am in the market for a 300 Blackout and a 17 Hornet. The hornet may be my new go to varmint gun if it performs close to how I think it will.

I've heard that about 17s. Mine just wouldn't cut the mustard. I was doing good to get 2" groups with it at 100 yards with Hornady 17 grain ammo. Ended up selling it. I've heard they could be finicky with 17 gr vs 20 gr ammo, but I never could find any 20 gr ammo locally and figured if that was the only thing it would shoot well, I'd be better off selling it anyway.

There was no reason it wouldn't shoot well. It was a Savage bull barrel with the accutrigger and floated thumbhole laminate stock. It was confirmed with multiple shooters who are above my skill level, so it wasn't just me.

As much as I love Savage, I have always thought their consistency in QAQC is not exactly the best. I've seen some factory freaks that shoot like world class champs and I've seen a few that you're better off using as a boat paddle.

Glad to hear I'm not the only one. I just didn't get it.

Please do not let the SPCA find out the stray dogs and cats.................

I use the 17hmr for pests. I hunt many things deer size down with 22-250. I have probably killed more animals with a 22-250 than all other calibers combined. (It was the only bolt action or center fire I ever owned up till about 15 years ago). If I had to pick a compromise to either it's 223. I always have a 223 handy now and I keep a suppressed 17 hmr in the house for pests that the dog finds around.

Gonna have to go with the small group here....243win is a pretty darn versatile round...and my personal fave...but i do love my .17hmr!!

started shooting Savage in early 60's, never had one that wasn't an absolute shooter, when I hear neg's, is it the shooter, scope, rings ect.

Or law enforcement. When that story came out last week about the woman who shot the stray cat with a bow, I did a little reading. Based on what I found, its illegal to kill any domestic animal without their owners consent, strays don't have owners, therefore its impossible to get consent. Not sure about how it works if they are damaging property though.

I would've said the same thing before owning this one. Believe it or not, the gun was the issue here. Any manufacturer can put out a bad one, and I don't think Savage is any exception to that rule.

If you call it feral is it still domesticated? Feral hogs, feral cats, feral dogs...

That's a good question.

It depends what your looking for. My dad has a .17 and its a heavy barrel savage and its heavier than my .308. One gun I highly recommend is a Marlin .22 mag. I killed a pig from 120 yards with it and its as light as a feather.

Here in the high Chihuahuan desert mountains, the problem is the packs of feral chihuahuas. - You may laugh, but if they ever get you down on the ground, it's all over. We find that the hard plastic shin-guards intended to save you from rattlesnake strikes are the best protection for your ankles.

Further south, the feral chollas are a real danger, especially for unwary gringos with more money than good sense...

I have an uncle who was a Dallas cop, back in the 70's. He shot a domesticated dog with his service pistol, while off-duty... Soon after that, he was a cop on the Irving police force, brought low by the act of shooting a domesticated animal.

I don't care if it is an AKC Grand Champion, service dog to an elderly MOH recipient, and mascot to my kids favorite team; if it bothers my kids, calves, hogs, goats, chickens, dogs, cats, or garden - it dies! The .17HMR does a pretty good job at this task.

I hate it when I lose an animal to coyotes, but nothing pisses me off more than to find several dead animals that dogs have killed and not eaten!

-ww