Hello Boondox -
Please excuse the length of my message, kindof goes way beyond your basic question of how good a .17 is, but hopefully it will be useful.
<font color=blue> 25gr 17 cal has a limited range and a LOT of stopping power </font color=blue>
Depends on which .17 you're talking about. I'll assume your hunter buddy is referring to the .17 Remington and NOT the .17 HMR. The .17 Rem enjoys a very good reputation for being a great varmint round - even up to coyote size game, however, the .17 HMR is considered way to weak for coyotes although "great" for squirrel sized game. (I'll get in to why in a minute.)
First, let’s look at a little ballistic info on some various cartridges:
----.177 “magnum” pellet rifle---- 8 gr (projectile)
Muzzle: velocity - 1080 , energy 18 ft lbs
----.17 Rem— 25 gr
Muzzle: velocity - 3900 fps, energy: 844 ft lbs
50 Yrds: velocity - 3600 fps, energy: 719 ft lbs
1000 Yrds: velocity - 826 fps, 38 ft lbs
----.17 HMR---- 17 gr
Muzzle: velocity - 2550 fps, energy: 245 ft lbs
50 Yrds: velocity - 2212fps, energy: 185 ft lbs
1000 Yrds: velocity - 485fps, 9 ft lbs
----.22 Mag---- 40 gr
Muzzle: velocity - 1910 fps, energy: 324 ft lbs
50 Yrds: velocity - 1739 fps, energy: 269 ft lbs
1000 Yrds: velocity - 660 fps, 39 ft lbs
----.22 Hornet ---- 45 gr
Muzzle: velocity - 2700 fps, energy: 728 ft lbs
50 Yrds: velocity - 2489 fps, energy: 619 ft lbs
1000 Yrds: velocity - 745 fps, 55 ft lbs
----.357---- 110 gr (rifle)
Muzzle: velocity - 1700 fps, energy: 706 ft lbs
50 Yrds: velocity - 1464 fps, energy: 523 ft lbs
1000 Yrds: velocity - 460 fps, 52 ft lbs
(I calculated all @ 70 degrees & 500ft above sea level, just for reference)
Now that we have some numbers laid out, let's look at what sounds like your driving factors:
1) doesn't carry long distances
2) adequate for coyotes @ <75 yards
3) mild recoil
4) accurate (don’t wanna hit cows /w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif)
#1 - “carry” You can see that just about everything that was mentioned above has double the energy left over at 1000 yards (e.g. half a mile or so) than a “magnum” air-rifle has at the muzzle!!! (The .17 HMR is the exception, but it is still about 50% of the energy of an air rifle) So, regardless of what you choose, even at half a mile away, if your bullet hits something, it would be like pulling the trigger on an air rifle at point blank (or worse). /w3tcompact/icons/sad.gif
#2 - “adequate.” Well, you’ll get all sorts of feedback here, but for coyotes, I personally wouldn’t go below 400 ft lbs @ whatever range I was shooting for. Of course, energy isn’t everything, as it has to be effectively dispersed in your target (please folks, don’t get in to the ‘holy war’ about penetration vs. expansion here /w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif). Different bullets @ various energies have various reputations. However, as you probably have guessed, 3 of my personal recommendations for “adequate” based on your short yardage situation can be found in the ballistics tables above. (I’ll let you guess which ones they are. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif/w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif)
#3 - Mild recoil. Hmmm, well, I have no idea how sensitive your spouse is, but I don’t personally think any of the above have recoil that should be considered significant. Personally, I don’t have that much of an issue with recoil (i.e. I have put 75 rounds of 7mm mag down range in one sitting - yes, I was somewhat sore, but I didn’t cry or anything. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif), so my view may be skewed a bit. Honestly though, unless she is someone who is hyper-sensitive to recoil, I don’t think it would be much of an issue. If it turns out to be to much for her, you could always have a different recoil pad or recoil reducer installed.
#4 - Accurate. Since you are only talking 50-75 yards, I think any of the cartridges I listed would be plenty “accurate.” Shot placement would be far more critical with the .22 Mag or .17 HMR based on the size of the game because they lack the energy of the other rounds.
Personally, based on the things you’re looking for, I think the .22 Hornet, .17 Rem, or even a .357 based rifle wouldn’t be bad choices. You could always go for something with a bit more zip and energy (.223, .22-250, 6mm ppc /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif, etc.) but based on your situation, that sounds like something you are trying to avoid. You could go the other direction and go with the .22 mag or .17 HMR, but your skill with shot placement becomes far more critical and you are opening up the increasing probability of creating a wounded animal instead of a dead one.
Regardless of what rifle you choose, just remember you can’t get away from that “carrying” aspect as they will all carry longer than you want, so the whole “consider your target carefully” really comes in to play.
Hope this helps! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
