I love my 17 Remington. It shoots like a laser out to 200 yards. My longest shot on a gopher (size of a 1/2 litre water bottle) was 320 yards, shooting off a stump. I held only 3 inches above it's head and it hit him in the chest. At that range the 20 gr Vmax acted like a heavier bullit and passed through and blew out the back of the gopher. At 200 the bullit will not pass through but will shear the front of the chest and ribs off leaving the guts laying on the ground next the the obviously dead varmit. Inside 100 there is a good chance the head will pop off and fly 15 feet.
If it is safety you desire, I think this is the safest round there is. I feel there is no chance of a ricochet. My muzzle velocity is just over 4300fps. The bullit is so light and fast that it will not pass through a 1/2 litre water bottle, full of water, at 100 yards. The front of the bottle just goes away. I shot a dead doe's head with it. The bullit blew up on impact and did not penatrate far. I tried some harder bullits on a frozen head and they went in nicely. Tiny entry hole, no exit.
Google "17 rem." There is some good writing about this round by people who own them. The only bad stuff is from the people who don't own one. Guys kill coyotes all the time and prefer the 17 rem over the fast 22's. I have not killed a coyote with it yet but I have no doubt it would slap it down easily. Coyotes are pretty light skinned, but quick. The 17 Rem is traveling almost 3.5 times fast than the rim fires. It is so fast that you get to see the action through your scope because you won't have time to blink and the coyote won't have time to move.
At men's retreat, my friends had their .17 HMRs. They were fun and relatively cheap to shoot. But when I was hitting the top of a steel fence post (1 1/4 inches wide by 4 inches tall) repeatedly at 200 yards, they put their guns down and shot my 17 Rem.
I hope you don't think I am bragging on myself.....Just the round. You can have the same results. One note is that I use reloads. The factory loads fly all over with my Remington 700.
Sorry for the novel but I think a lot of my 17 Rem! God bless and good hunting....<><