mossyshooter
Member
Hello. Its been awhile and thought i'd post the analysis of my new rifle. I was in the market for a new 17 for hunting coyote for fur. I was really looking for a 17 hornet however none were to be found and ammo was non existent. The local wallyworld had a stockpile of 17 wsm ammo and with it being a rimfire is legal to use at night. Dicks had one rifle left so despite the negative reviews, I picked it up and 250 rounds of 25 gr ammo. Surprisingly, at $14 per 50 ammo was less than my 17 hmr used to be. I added a centerpoint 3-9x32 scope to top it off.
First of all the rifle is very light. Im guessing around 5 lbs with the scope so it should be a joy to walk with. It shoulders well and comes with the accu-trigger. More on that later. The bolt cocks on closing and is a bit stiffer than most are used to but its not at all unreasonable. it opperates very much like an old enfield bolt. The rotory magazine holds 8 rounds and fits flush with the bottom of the stock. Now for the negative. The stock appears to be made out of melted down rubbermaid containers. I've never seen a more flexable stock. It wouldnt be a huge issue however, the stock is warped and the barrel channel is off center. There is tons of clearance on the right side of the barrel and hardly any on the left. One must be careful on how to grip the rifle otherwise barrel harmonics will be affected and POI will shift. The accutrigger is not the same unit that comes on other savage rifles. It has a spring and a thumb wheel to adjust the pull weight. Even with it backed off all the way, the pull weight was still around 3.5 lbs. There was also some creep detectable in the pull as well. A little polishing and some use will clean that up just fine. Normally it wouldnt be such a huge issue but with a riflle this light the slightest variation will cause you to pull a shot. With Boyd's now making laminate stocks, the tuppaware stock will be the first to go. Also if you plan on mounting a scope bigger than a 3-9x32 you will need high rings for the bolt handle to clear the magnification adjustment ring on the scope.
On to shooting. I fired 10 shots, cleaning between each shot then shot 3 shots and cleaned for the first 20 rounds then every 10 rounds after that for the first box of ammo. After the first 20 rounds I shot some groups. The ammo I was using was the Winchester 25 gr vmax rated at 2600 fps. That was the only ammo I could find. The rotory magazine while cycled flawlessly, was a bit tricky to load. I suspect once it wears in a bit it will get easier. At 100 yards groups were hovering around a consistent 3/4 of an inch. Despite the 10-15 mph wind, I decided to try to stretch the distance to 200 yards. At that range the ammo dropped around 4 inches which was about an inch flatter than my ballistics calculator predicted. I didnt have my chronny with me so im not sure what the mv was. Group size with wind was about 2.5 inches with less than an inch of vertical spread. I wasnt trying to compensate for wind. I was curious to see how the little pill would get blown around. The guns light weight made trigger control absolutely critical. I imagine once I get a decient wood stock, glass bed it, and touch up the trigger a bit, it will turn into a nice walking varmint rifle. I think its a good concept that just needs a bit of refinement. Its a $300 rifle and it definately shows. Ive handled bb guns more hefty than this. Savage take note. Put the origional accu-trigger back, stiffen up the stock and have a wood stock option, and make a variant with a heavier barrel.
Now for the ammo. Winchester needs to up their quality control. While I didnt have my chronograph I could audibly tell the difference between some rounds which backs up what others have said. Hopefully other major manufacturers jump on the bandwagon and make start churning out some higher grade ammo and force winchester to up their game. Again great concept, just needs a bit more refinement. I did bag a couple critters with it while I was out. I shot a nice big fox squirrel at 75 yards and a cottontail at about 25 yards. The squirrel was a body shot and the rabbit was a headshot. Both dropped without a twitch. Meat damage wasnt as bad as the old 17 grain hmr rounds. I suspect the 25 grain bullets used here are the same ones loaded for the larger 17 centerfires. Still both had quarter to half dollar sized exit holes. I can remember the 17 grain hmr rounds tearing squirrels and rabbits in half at close range. Im sure the 20 grain rounds are much more dramatic on small game. That being said, with the less dramatic expansion and greater penetration of the 25 grainers, I wouldnt hesitate to shoot a coyote inside of 150 yards with it. I'll post some ballistics gel test results once I get around to remolding all my scrap gel blocks.
First of all the rifle is very light. Im guessing around 5 lbs with the scope so it should be a joy to walk with. It shoulders well and comes with the accu-trigger. More on that later. The bolt cocks on closing and is a bit stiffer than most are used to but its not at all unreasonable. it opperates very much like an old enfield bolt. The rotory magazine holds 8 rounds and fits flush with the bottom of the stock. Now for the negative. The stock appears to be made out of melted down rubbermaid containers. I've never seen a more flexable stock. It wouldnt be a huge issue however, the stock is warped and the barrel channel is off center. There is tons of clearance on the right side of the barrel and hardly any on the left. One must be careful on how to grip the rifle otherwise barrel harmonics will be affected and POI will shift. The accutrigger is not the same unit that comes on other savage rifles. It has a spring and a thumb wheel to adjust the pull weight. Even with it backed off all the way, the pull weight was still around 3.5 lbs. There was also some creep detectable in the pull as well. A little polishing and some use will clean that up just fine. Normally it wouldnt be such a huge issue but with a riflle this light the slightest variation will cause you to pull a shot. With Boyd's now making laminate stocks, the tuppaware stock will be the first to go. Also if you plan on mounting a scope bigger than a 3-9x32 you will need high rings for the bolt handle to clear the magnification adjustment ring on the scope.
On to shooting. I fired 10 shots, cleaning between each shot then shot 3 shots and cleaned for the first 20 rounds then every 10 rounds after that for the first box of ammo. After the first 20 rounds I shot some groups. The ammo I was using was the Winchester 25 gr vmax rated at 2600 fps. That was the only ammo I could find. The rotory magazine while cycled flawlessly, was a bit tricky to load. I suspect once it wears in a bit it will get easier. At 100 yards groups were hovering around a consistent 3/4 of an inch. Despite the 10-15 mph wind, I decided to try to stretch the distance to 200 yards. At that range the ammo dropped around 4 inches which was about an inch flatter than my ballistics calculator predicted. I didnt have my chronny with me so im not sure what the mv was. Group size with wind was about 2.5 inches with less than an inch of vertical spread. I wasnt trying to compensate for wind. I was curious to see how the little pill would get blown around. The guns light weight made trigger control absolutely critical. I imagine once I get a decient wood stock, glass bed it, and touch up the trigger a bit, it will turn into a nice walking varmint rifle. I think its a good concept that just needs a bit of refinement. Its a $300 rifle and it definately shows. Ive handled bb guns more hefty than this. Savage take note. Put the origional accu-trigger back, stiffen up the stock and have a wood stock option, and make a variant with a heavier barrel.
Now for the ammo. Winchester needs to up their quality control. While I didnt have my chronograph I could audibly tell the difference between some rounds which backs up what others have said. Hopefully other major manufacturers jump on the bandwagon and make start churning out some higher grade ammo and force winchester to up their game. Again great concept, just needs a bit more refinement. I did bag a couple critters with it while I was out. I shot a nice big fox squirrel at 75 yards and a cottontail at about 25 yards. The squirrel was a body shot and the rabbit was a headshot. Both dropped without a twitch. Meat damage wasnt as bad as the old 17 grain hmr rounds. I suspect the 25 grain bullets used here are the same ones loaded for the larger 17 centerfires. Still both had quarter to half dollar sized exit holes. I can remember the 17 grain hmr rounds tearing squirrels and rabbits in half at close range. Im sure the 20 grain rounds are much more dramatic on small game. That being said, with the less dramatic expansion and greater penetration of the 25 grainers, I wouldnt hesitate to shoot a coyote inside of 150 yards with it. I'll post some ballistics gel test results once I get around to remolding all my scrap gel blocks.
