Finally!! Got my 17HMR sorted!

[Four Fingers of Death]

Now I can see what the fuss is all about.

I had a bit of trouble getting it dialled in, but my final group was pretty awesome for a rimfire (with me operating it!). Four shots under an inch at 100Yrds and as I let the last shot off, the guy on the bench next to me, let rip with a 270 or somethign equally serious, causing me to jump a tad in surprise. That took the group to a shade over 1" Brilliant for me, with palpitations, blood pressure, blurry eyes, old age, bench too low, etc, etc.

I am impressed! The local fox population better look! I'm headed your way!

The rifle is an early production SAKO Quad by the way.

Now to get the other barrels dialled in. With the performance of the 17HMR, I think the magnum and 17Mach2 Bbls will not get much use and the 22 will be for plinking and practice.

[JeffinNZ]

Mick, you will love that wee rifle. My friend has a Savage and it is a laser on bunnies. Just amazing how a 17gr bullet can deliver the goods. Just make sure you keep it clean though.

[Four Fingers of Death]

Yeah, the though occured to me after I bought mine second hand, that they are firing jacketed bullets at 2000fps+ velocities and a lot of owners would treat them like 22LRs which I think would be a recipe for disaster.

I bought mine from a freind who is a very fastidious full bore/Palma style shooter. I am sure he would have been pedantic in his cleaning. teh Bbl seemed to be pretty dirty from powder fouling, but didn't show any blue with Sweets (which is what he would have used to clean it. I use Sweets and then follow that up with Hoppe's No9 or similar), so it seems that it has little or no copper fouling. I need to get a bristle brush today and give it a good scrub with Hoppe's before I shoot it at the range this afternoon.

I shot it in with a packet of CCIs and have some Hornadys which are more suitable for rabbits and foxes apparently. I normally really scrub out the barrel between different powders and will stick to that, but I think the three brands are all probably using the same powder (Lil' Gun I think it is) because i read that it was this powder that made the 17HMR possible. I alo believe that Hornady and Federal use the same polymer tipped bullet.

A lot of my friends who are regular small game hunters, use the 17HMR almost exclusively now and have given their varmit guns a rest.

[leadman]

I have a left hand Savage 17HMR that is absolutely amazing! The Hornady ammo is the most accurate in my gun.

They also make a 20gr bullet for a little larger game but it is not quite as accurate in my gun, but still amazing.

the 17gr in my gun goes a little over 2,600 fps.

[pistolman44]

I have the same Savage hvy brl left hand rifle. Devastating on ground hogs and rabbits.

[Longwood]

I have one of the fancy Savage rifles with the laminated thumbhole stock. I spent a couple of hours and got the trigger down to a little over a pound but I am not at all pleased with the accuracy yet.
I usually get scatters of around 3 inches and would like to see much better. My old Western Arms 22 mag does way better than that.
I have only shot the 17 gr Winchesters so far but I now have some CCI 17 grainers to try.
I need to give the Hiwall a break and play with the 17 some more.

[Fenring]

I love my HMR (mine's a Savage BTVS) and have shot a ton of rabbits with it, many foxes, feral cats and a few smallish pigs. I've had plenty of folks tell me the HMR sucks as a fox rifle -my own real world results tell me otherwise. Lots of fun on varmints and so easy to hit with.

[Four Fingers of Death]

They are a pretty amazing bit of kit! Awesome accuracy for a rimfire.

[roysha]

I am a fan of the CZ rifles. I wanted a 17HMR before CZ introduced them so I bought a 22 Mag. and rebarreled it with a Shilen barrel.

I, quite honestly, did not believe the accuracy hype that was coming from everyone in regard to this cartridge. However, being fond of the 17 caliber since the late 60s, I decided I should at least give one a try.

WOWEE!!! I could hardly believe the first group I shot! 4 shots inside 5/8" with the 5th shot opening the group to a hair under 7/8". I was shocked to say the least. After recovering a bit I shot another group of equal size and the little rifle does it consistently. This is at 100 yards from the bench using the Harris bipod and a Leupold 3x9 EFR scope shooting HOR ammo. I will say this rifle is quite ammo sensitive. It will not shoot CCI worth a darn and barely tolerates REM. Since I have such good luck with the HOR that is all I shoot.

The Grandson has a Savage left hand heavy barrel and it does very nicely with the CCI and sort of OK with the HOR. Oh well.

That tiny bullet is h**l on prairie dog pups out to 125 yards or so. Further than that and the least breeze starts to really affect it and here in NOCO there is always a breeze, sometimes a bit "breezier" than others.

Unlike my CF 17s, I have not found it to have much of a fouling problem. I ran a test to see how long it would go without cleaning and after 200 rounds quit and cleaned it. The groups had started to open up to a bit over an inch. Half dozen patches of SWEETS and it's good to go.

[fishnbob]

I have the Savage heavy barrel and my 17hmr doesn't like CCI either. I have found that Hornady & Winchester using the same VMax 17 gr. bullet will go in the same hole at 50 yds with Federal close to it. I think the common denominator is the Hornady V-Max bullet in my gun. I did not have the Savage Accutrigger in my rifle, so I took the 5 lb. one out and ordered an adjustable sear kit with screws & springs from Rifle Basix down in Charlotte, N.C. and ended up with a 1 lb- 8oz trigger that has blackbirds afraid to land on any of my feeders. I love to shoot it!

[Tom-ADC]

I have two of Savages a FV & BVTS this group is from the FV.

[Four Fingers of Death]

Mine loved the CCI 20Gn HPs, was not quiet as accurate with the Hornadys, but still good and spat the expensive Remingtons into a much bigger group. I haven't seen any Winchesters yet, but will get back to the bench to really evaluate it fairly. The Remingtons were shot over a rest on the bonnet of my 4wd, so to be fair I will return to the bench.

50cents a shot here, so that pretty much rules out major rabbit usage and confines it to fox shooting in my book. About $1.75 a round for centrefire factory ammo and 22 Hornet jacketed loads can be assembled for around 25-30cents (I don't know how much for those fancy dan bullets, but I don't use them as I have several thousand traditional style jacketed bullets in the shed and I'll run with those for the time being). 17 Ackley Hornets can be assembled here for around 42 cents using Hornady 25Gn jacketed bullets. Cast boolit loads in the Hornet are cheaper again.

The big advantage I see is convienence, not much noise and incredible non skin damaging performance on foxes and similar game. If I wasn't interested in skins I would just use the 22 Hornet or 222 or 223 with Cheap jacketed bullets or cast. (17Mach2, 17HMR, 17Ackley Hornet, 22LR, 22WM, 22 Hornet, 22K Hornet, 222/20Ga Combo, 222, 223, 22/250, 220Swift, massive decisions everytime I go out varmint shooting, lol!!!)

[fishnbob]

Four Fingers of Death, Midsouth Shooters Supply has Hornady HMR 17's on sale now for $9.99 a box of 50. You have to send them ID to prove you are of age.

[Four Fingers of Death]

Four Fingers of Death, Midsouth Shooters Supply has Hornady HMR 17's on sale now for $9.99 a box of 50. You have to send them ID to prove you are of age.

Thanks for that, but I'm in Australia, our customs wet themselves if we try and import brass, let alone ammo, lol.