Re: is 17HMR worth the extra ammo cost?
I would say yes, but that might be swayed by the fact that I have two 93r17's in my safe along with the other toys.
They are truly a nice little gun, not that expensive, and when setup and shot, they can be a great training exercise as well. Most guys like .22lr for training because its cheap, but when you compare .17HMR to .22lr match ammo, there isn't as big of a cost difference.
.17HMR for groups at 200yds is fun.
Ringing steel gongs at 200 yds with .22lr is fun.
Neither will ever replace the feeling of banging steel at 1000+ with bigger bores.