# Savage 17 HMR vs Do-All Resetable Target Pictures



## zztopsail

Ok guys, you asked for them, here they are.

In a previous thread, I mentioned going head to head with my Savage 17 HMR and the new .22 cal Do-All Re-settable target I got for Christmas. 

The target was placed approx 25-30 yards away and two types of 17 HMR rounds were used

A. Hornady 17 HMR 17-grain V-Max round with the red polymer tip.

B. Hornady 17 HMR 20-Grain XTP round with a full metal jacket

The D0-All Target is made from 1/4 steel

Here are the pictures, front and rear.


From the front view you can see on the craters left by the 17 Grain V-Max round just outside the target bulls eye. They did a good bit of damage to the steel. But if you look at the Bulls Eye, there is a hole clean through the target and that is the 20 Grain XTP Round









From the rear view you can see that the 17 Grain V-Max round did it's best to penetrate the 1/4 steel target as evidenced by the serious bulges. And of course you can see where the 20 Grain Full Metal Jacket XTP Round just blew right through the steel.

Another interesting thing I see is the obvious melting of the steel on the back side where the 20 grain XTP round went through. Reminds me of an anti-tank armour piercing Sabot Round and how it blows through the armour of a tank and then spews hot steel on the inside of the tank and this ignites the ammo inside.










Bottom line here is that I believe this shows what a 17 HMR round can do to 1/4 steel plate and you can extrapulate what it would do to a deer, moose, pig or bear skull


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## Finger_Mullet

I am interested to see what the bullet looks like after penetrating 1/4 inch steel. Next time you shoot please place a milk jug full of water behind the target. You can recover what is left of the bullet. It should never make it thru the milk jug.

That target is not designed to take abuse from a 17 HMR. It is designed for a 22. It would be even more worse for wear if you shot it with a 22 magnum fmj. Since it is ruined already shoot it with a high powered rifle with soft points. I am curious to see what it would do to it.

I am positive that the 17 HMR will destroy the skull of a deer. But you better have perfect shot placement or you will have a deer run off missing part of his/her jaw and starve to death. 

I am also positive that I would not take a 17HMR hunting moose, pigs or bear. 

I have one and love it. It has ended the life of many animals that needed killing. But I know its place and shooting large game is not it. The largest thing I would feel comfortable shooting with it would be a coyote. 

I am impressed with the steel target. I would have never guessed it would have penetrated a 1/4 inch steel plate. 

Darin


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## zztopsail

Finger_Mullet said:


> I am interested to see what the bullet looks like after penetrating 1/4 inch steel. Next time you shoot please place a milk jug full of water behind the target. You can recover what is left of the bullet. It should never make it thru the milk jug.
> 
> That target is not designed to take abuse from a 17 HMR. It is designed for a 22. It would be even more worse for wear if you shot it with a 22 magnum fmj. Since it is ruined already shoot it with a high powered rifle with soft points. I am curious to see what it would do to it.
> 
> I am positive that the 17 HMR will destroy the skull of a deer. But you better have perfect shot placement or you will have a deer run off missing part of his/her jaw and starve to death.
> 
> I am also positive that I would not take a 17HMR hunting moose, pigs or bear.
> 
> I have one and love it. It has ended the life of many animals that needed killing. But I know its place and shooting large game is not it. The largest thing I would feel comfortable shooting with it would be a coyote.
> 
> I am impressed with the steel target. I would have never guessed it would have penetrated a 1/4 inch steel plate.
> 
> Darin


I am with you about not hunting pigs, moose or bear with a 17 HMR as I would not want to risk my live on stopping something that big with the ability make mince meat of me; I was just making a point. Tell you what though, they make 17 hmr pistols now that might make a good light weight side arm for dispatching down but not dead animals or at least as a last defense against a charging pig, moose or bear. 

And your right, I was totally amazed at the 20 grains metal piercing ability, I mean I totally dropped my jaw when saw that.

And your also right that 22 cal target is not up to the task against a 17 round. I also got a .38-44 cal Do-All for Christmas for use with my Black Powder 1858 Remington Pistol and now I plan on putting the 17 HMR against that as it is about 1/2 steel and even then, I will probably only use the 17 grain V-Max on it and not the 20 grain XTP.

I will keep you guys posted, but man this 17 HMR Rifle is one hell of a weapon.


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## Rockfish1

don't scrap the target... take it to the weld shop and have him bump the dents out and weld up the hole and use it for what it was built for, no need to throw out salvageable toys... it'll have a bit of character like no others...


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## Fisheadgib

zztopsail said:


> I am with you about not hunting pigs, moose or bear with a 17 HMR as I would not want to risk my live on stopping something that big with the ability make mince meat of me; I was just making a point. Tell you what though, they make 17 hmr pistols now that might make a good light weight side arm for dispatching down but not dead animals or at least as a last defense against a charging pig, moose or bear.
> 
> And your right, I was totally amazed at the 20 grains metal piercing ability, I mean I totally dropped my jaw when saw that.
> 
> And your also right that 22 cal target is not up to the task against a 17 round. I also got a .38-44 cal Do-All for Christmas for use with my Black Powder 1858 Remington Pistol and now I plan on putting the 17 HMR against that as it is about 1/2 steel and even then, I will probably only use the 17 grain V-Max on it and not the 20 grain XTP.
> 
> I will keep you guys posted, but man this 17 HMR Rifle is one hell of a weapon.



So you took your Christmas present and destroyed it just so you could post it on the internet? I have one also and I don't shoot at it that close with my .22lr's. Shooting at a 2" circle at that range is no challenge unless it was a handgun. I've never shot at it with my .17 HMR but I doubt it would do that kind of damage at 100 yds or so.

I've had several friends read crap on the internet about how devastating the .17 HMR is on deer with a head shot. They all lost wounded animals that likely died a lingering death after they ran off. The light fast bullets loose energy fast and usually make a wide superficial wound. the reason they look impressive on metal is that as the bullet starts to penetrate, the hard "tissue" around the wound doesn't push aside and the energy of the round is contained and penetrates deeper. In soft tissue, the bullet expands and the tissue around the entry does not contain the energy and allows it to expand outward. This creates a shallow but wide wound.


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## Finger_Mullet

*target*

That target is not destroyed. A little hammer work, spot weld and paint and it is good as new. 

Who hunts deer with a 17hmr? Would I shoot a deer with one? Maybe. But I would not be in a stand hunting deer with it. 

I have witnessed many many deer shot with high powered rifles run off and die a very ugly death because the person pulling the trigger could not shoot. 
There is some skill in hitting what you are aiming at even with the appropriate caliber.

All calibers were designed for a purpose. THe 17hmr was not designed to shoot deer. I am not exactly sure what they were designed for but I carry mine in my truck and have shot a broad range of animals. Mud turtles in the pond, a pack of wild dogs that were killing calves, squirrels, *****, opossum, groundhogs and even shot a dieing calf with it.

But is was cool to see that little gun blasting holes in plate steel.

Darin


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## Jackalopehunter

just my .02 MOST states wont allow you to hunt deer or any other big game animals (coyotes are considered by most states varmits) with anything other than a centerfire rifle and some take it a step further and dont allow .22 cal rounds (read no .223) but a .243 is ok. so read up on your local game laws before you go toting that around the woods next deer season, as some places dont have squirrel season along that timeframe so people arent tempted to shoot that 8 pnt buck with a .22LR

as far as a big game rifle on that 1/4 inch steel plate, it will look like a hole punch to a sheet of paper. it eats straight through it, took my .308 savage out to a class 3 vest that was no good anymore and it had a steel plate inside of it(non removable untill it was cut out) set it up 150yds out and shot the hell out of it, looked like a cheese grater when i was done, didnt expect it to go through either.


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