for me its 22, i have not tried a 17 but i assume its a really neat fun gun to shoot. but for the price of ammo and i like to go out and blow a brick a day when im gopher hunting. $17 per 500 Winchester Super X is unbeatable... if i want to see a gopher really rip a part id use my 7mm rem mag. which coincidently one just popped his head up infront of my target at my private range a week ago and my rifle was spot on so needless to say it made 2 half gophers.
Fun yes but gophers are only worth 4 cents a gopher to me
I liek to go through a few thousand a year though so it depends on how much you shoot.