The marlin 17's, almost allways, need to have the bbl channel sanded out some.
Oh sure, testing the freefloat with a dollar bill, inside your nice cold house, it prly won't touch anything. but get it on an outdoor range, in about 90 degree temps, and run about 25 rounds down through it fast; and watch that freefloat change, baby!!! so sand it out some, whether you think it needs it or not.
17's are an amazing little cartridge; some dudes get near 2700 fps from the muzzle; this is 30.06 speeds. With a 100 yd zero, it only rises .5 to 1 inch at 50 yds, depending on your scope setup; it only drops 3 inches at 150, and 7 inches at 200. Wind does start to have a bigger effect, once you get to 150 though; and by 200 yds, a 10 mph crosswind will move it 15 inches. Most dudes who primarily hunt with it, like a 125 yd zero, it gives them pretty much a dead on hold or top of head hold, all the way out to 170 yds.
it comes in a variety of makers, and 20 grainers also. the 20 grain solid points can have some amazing penetration; I've seen them enter a hog, smash a rib bone, penetrate the organs, and rest under the far side skin.
Accuracy wise, this has to be a top 5 most accurate cartridge ever made; very few rifles cannot do moa with them, at 100 yds. And that is right out of the box, no tweeks to the rifle.
Also, with the Marlin, you will want to either cut a coil of the trigger return spring, or replace it with either a bic pen spring clicky spring, or a harddrive door spring.
If hunting with it, a 3x9 or a 14 x power, max, should be fine. if paperpunching or wanting to make tiny little groups, I suggest the higher the better power. to see the holes on paper at 100 yds, you need at least an
18 x. I use 24's, and a lot of dudes will use a 32 or 36x fixed power.
test all ammos' that you can possibly buy, include some 20 grainers. but the 17's are better in trajectory, and when all else fails, try the winchesters; they seem to be a saving grace for a lot of folks.
Also I would def do a bbl break in; since the bullets are all copper washed, MAKE SURE BEFORE YOU EVEN FIRE IT, TO CLEAN OUT THE BBL!!!!!
this should be done for all rifles, of course, but it is very necessary for the 17's. Fast copper plated bullets, in a hi heat, tiny space, under lots of pressure; you are just asking for copper streaking inside your bbl.
I would clean after each round fired, for 5 rounds.
then shoot 5 rounds in a row, then clean, do this for 5 groups.
That should be enough.
this round, with the vmax tip, will absolutely BLOW UP small game, out to 100 yds, and take fox down no probs. So will the hollow points. Remember, this bullet is going faster at 100 yds, than a 22 mag is , at the muzzle!!!! Some folks say, you cannot shoot coyotes with it, the bullet is too small. I say, if you are confident in your shooting abilities, out to 100 yds, it is no probs, if hit in the boiler room.
I use it on all small varmints out to 150 , with ease, including fox. I won't do a coyote unless it is within 100 yds though, just my personal preference.
One more thing I have noticed on 17 hmrs; some take some time to come around. If it does not shoot moa right away, even after the above mentioned tweeks, don't fret yet. I know some dudes , that suddenly at 300 or 400 rounds fired through the tube, all the sudden their groups would start shrinking, sometimes as much as half the size.
Okay, last thing; get an hmr specifice cleaning kit,and don't mix the parts with your 22 kit.
best thing for cleaning, ALLWAYS PUSH THROUGH THE BRASS BRUSH, THEN TAKE IT OFF THE
CLEANING ROD!!! don't pull the brass brush back through. use a pushing jag for patches,
and allways push them through as well; don't get those little eyelet jags, and push/pull patches
through. just push them out the end. Also, your cleaning rod, make it a 1 piece carbon fiber, or coated rod only!!!! do not get a put together rod.
And finally; DO NOT USE 22 PATCHES, GET 17 cal SPECIFIC PATCHES!!! a 22 patch pushed into the bbl, will only cause you some severe problems.
