My first 17 HMR

A friend of a friend was thinning his herd. He made me what I think was a nice deal on a Savage 93 in 17HMR. Blued steel, heavy barrel, accu-trigger, and a plastic stock. Couple small dings, look more like safe marks than anything else, which is believable since the seller was culling some guns he hasn't shot in a while. End result, I handed him $120 and he handed me a rifle.

So... being this is my first 17HMR, what things should I make sure I do with it, and what do I want to make sure I don't do with it? The seller told me to get a boresnake for cleaning it, and that he never had a problem with CCI ammo. What else do I need to know? I've got a scope coming for it, is there anything else I need?

Thank you,

Rick

Nice rifle and smoken deal.

I prefer the Tipton carbon rods for the 17's. For ammo if you look you should be able to find 17 grain Ballistic Tip ammo for around $10.00 a box of 50. The ballistic tip 17 grain bullets are the most explosive. The some guns have a decided preference for 17 or 20 grain bullets and like all rimrifes they tend to be lot to lot sensitive.

I am cheap and normally I cut my own patches but for the 17 cal its way easier to purchase the proper is.

17s are fun, find an ammo that works once accuracy drops off it is time to clean the copper out of the barrel. I made my rod from an old mattress frame and a high end pellet gun brush.

Thanks for the info, much appreciated. Leebuilder, never thought about checking into airgun stuff, thank you!

Yep if you do get a rod Tipton works for me. I have only had problems with Winchester ammo, always having to double hit a bunch to get em to fire. I stick with CCI or Hornady ammo. Weak point on the Savage is their magazine. There are a couple of decent You Tube videos if you have issues with them. The Savage is my wife's, laminated thumbhole stock, heavy bull barrel, all stainless. She loves it, she can shoot the center out of dimes at 100 yds all day long. She likes to point that out to me quite often

I recently picked up a 17 hmr as well. I heard a bunch of horror stories about wind drift at long distances, so I set up an experiment the last big wind storm we had.

We had 35-55 mph sustained winds. I set up golf balls at 100 yards and situated myself in a complete cross wind. I already had my gun zeroed for bull shooting, so I put the crosshairs dead center of the golf ball and let one rip.

A golf ball is about a 1.7 inch diameter. I hit every ball so the drift had to be less than 1 inch at 100 yards. I know for some people an inch would be intolerable, but I think a rabbit would be in a bunch of trouble no matter the conditions out to 150 yards with the 17 and head shots.

Welcome to the .172 fraternity. While mine is a centerfire, the hmr also has impressive ballistics. It is cool watching your projectile impact it's target, without the scope ever being blurred.

My Marlin 17VS is a great varmint gun out to 120 yrds. Shooting from a rest.I have a Basix trigger 2 lbs :-)

I currently don't have one but I've been a fan since I sighted a first year Marlin in for a neighbor. 5 shots in 5/8" with none touching. Neat. I had a Savage for a while and it got more Crows than J. Johnson. My nephew has two varmint thumbhole Savages in my safe but they're too pretty and heavy for me to play with.

The wife and I ventured out to the range this past weekend. She has laid claim to the 17HMR. Yep... it is now her favorite rifle. Not real noisy, no recoil, and no concern over losing brass. Her one gripe is the low grade Tupperware stock.

We just ordered a replacement from Richards Microfit. A sharpshooter thumbhole stock in their purple saffire laminate. Purple, blue, and grey... I'll have to post pics when I get it done. Gonna be a long eight weeks waiting for that stock...