“...I heard .17 is great for head shots.”
Well, I haven’t had to shoot any humans with it...at least not yet, but I did shoot a neighbor’s pit bull/terrier mix dog with a .17HMR last spring that weighed about 75 lbs or so. That dog came into my garden earlier and bit me. I beat it off with a hoe. I told the owner that if it came on my property again, I would kill it.
I had a nice clean head shot right between the eyes at about 50 yards....that little round just hulled out the entire inside of the skull leaving nothing inside. The back of the skull had a piece missing the size of a quarter leaving a hollow shell...but it might have been pretty empty before it was even shot...lol.
My FIL has a friend who uses that round to shoot cull deer off his place. Calls them quick and efficient. (cheaper also)