I like mine too,
I bought mine for a couple of reasons.
1 My friend got the stainless steel one and that thing is a tack driver. OK Tacks are too big to shoot with it but brads work well
2 i read one of Col Coopers last rantings about how he saw no need for the 17 and I bought one to write an article.
3) we also found that in the open areas in So Cal where rocks abound and the 22 will zing off even with a hit the 17 will come apart and the small parts of the round really do not go far or through much.
I started to do tests to write the article and we shot at water bottles, potatos, and rocks with walls of butchers paper behind the targets to see how far rounds would go with 22LR, 22mag and the 17HMR. I was suprised at how safe the 17 was for semi populated areas and how the little 22 LR just plowed through sheet after sheet after going through potatos, water bottles and bouncing off rocks and angled steel.
Oh an they work well on small game. As long as you make either head shots or soft tissue hits it is not too bad but you hit boiler room and any bone and you have a mess.
