17hmr alternatives?

[mrming]

I 'like the numbers on the 17hmr, except for the ammo cost. Its a cute little round, but I don't see it being worth more than surplus 223.

Any expectations that the price will ever drop below 22mag levels?

For me, the appeal is a short-ranged (under 150 yards) but reasonably accurate caliber. Cheap ammo would be prefered. I am sorta tinkering with the idea of a 40-something caliber revolver, so a carbine I handload for might windup a better option. Seems like bullet drop could be a bit of a problem..

Any other ready suggestions, besides intermidate calibers like 223 or 7.62x39?

 

[digex]

I'd say look at the 22mag. I use one and go out with my buddy who shoots a .17 to hunt varmints. We both do well with our respective rifles and my ammo is a bit cheaper. I also do some varmint hunting with an AR and an AK. The AK defnitely has cheap ammo.

 

[coldshot03/04]

Check out dogbegone.com New England 17HMR.

 

[Mike Irwin]

If you want to play with something small caliber, and don't mind forming your own brass and reloading, try the .22 Remington Jet (which was originally chambered in the S&W Model 53 and got a lot of bad press there), or the .221 Remington Fireball in a small action rifle.

One of these days I want to put together a .22 Jet on a Martini action...

 

[Sylvilagus Aquaticus]

The Martini Cadet action makes for a sweet little rifle. My gunsmith back home has been trying to convince me to break down and let him make me up one. .17 Ackley Bee is nice; anything small with a rimmed case would be perfect. .256 Win Mag could be a lot of fun; .219 Zipper, .221 Fireball, .218 Bee, or .22 Hornet would sure be a lot of fun, though. I'd considered a .357 Maximum for a turkey carbine because I could drop back as far as .38 Special if I wanted to.

P.O. Ackley was a genius of the first order. I love his little pill cartriges. Between him and Harvey you have all manner of choices as long as you want to reload. I'm not going to jump on the .17HMR bandwagon just because I don't want to be tied to a non-reloadable cartrige when there are more practical choices available. I remember 5mm Remington a little too well.

Regards,
Rabbit.

 

[dude]

a .17HMR will out shoot accuracy wise a .22mag out to 200+m as it shoots much flatter/faster. It has less than 1/2 the drop of the .22mag @ 100m and is still above supersonic @ 200 as opposed to the .22mag (making the 17's drop well less than 1/2) Bench shoot both side-by-side and you will see!

powerwise it will out perform at the longer ranges.
Shoot both side-by-side at water filled milk jugs @ 50 intervals and you will see!!

 

[0007]

Years ago somebody necked the .22Hornet down to a .17cal. It made a nice quiet little squirrel gun. "Course there was someone else who did a 44mag down to a .17 also. Used it for his golf course snake gun as I recall. Built it on a small frame Martini action. Needed five dies to get the neck down . Looked kind of like a .224Botz(?) on steroids.

 

[Jose_Wales]

Check out the .19 Calhoon Hornet - it's a great little cartridge!

www.jamescalhoon.com

 

[Sylvilagus Aquaticus]

I was just at Gunmaster on Ave. K in Plano, TX. On the shelf, consigned, was a beautiful Martini Cadet actioned rifle, with a Unertl 10x scope, in .17 Ackley Bee. Exceptional quality. Came with fireformed, annealed cases and dies for $1200. Probably cost twice that to build. I'd say it's a buy for somebody who wanted a fine smallbore.

Regards,
Rabbit.

 

[Dave R]

A departed friend willed me his Martini Cadet chambered in ????? Its a .357 Mag pistol brass necked down to .17. The Cadet makes a great, lightweight, compact rifle. I don't know who did my barrel, but it shoots sub MOA. I highly recommend a fast .17 for Prarie Dogs at 200M and under.

 

[MacPelto]

Why not .17 Swager/Myra Extruder? If I had the money to get a rimfire rebarrelled, it's what I'd go for. It has an elongated throat that swages a .22 LR down to .17. I just think they're neat...

 

[David4516]

For under 150 yards, go with the .22 WMR