.17HMR pistol info?

I am interested in the S&W 17HMR pistol for target shooting/plinking, so carrying less energy than a regular 22WMR isn't a concern. What kind of velocities can I expect out the S&W's 8.5 barrel? All of the 17HMR tests online I found seemed to center on rifles. Also, are there any non-obvious drawbacks to this caliber? THe most obvious one is ammo availability, but that doesn't seem to be much of a problem in my area (IL/USA).

Can't help you on velocity information, but I just bought a Taurus revolver chambered for this cartidge. Way overbuilt for it, but lots of fun to shoot and quite accurate. Is it useful at all for other purposes? Tom Ivers President: Equine Racing Systems, Inc. http://www.equineracing.com

# I am interested in the S&W 17HMR pistol for target shooting/plinking, # so carrying less energy than a regular 22WMR isn't a concern. What # kind of velocities can I expect out the S&W's 8.5 barrel? All of the # 17HMR tests online I found seemed to center on rifles. Also, are there # any non-obvious drawbacks to this caliber? THe most obvious one is # ammo availability, but that doesn't seem to be much of a problem in my # area (IL/USA).

Ah! I have a URL that's actually useful!


http://www.cctrap.com/~varmint/17hmr.htm

1/3 the way down, there is a velocity versus barrel length graph. The lowest they go is 10 inches, so 8.5 should be roughly 2150-2170fps.

The fps spread also is high enough at those velocities to make it less tha target shooting friendly.

I'd stick with a good .22LR instead - accurate and dirt cheap to plink with.