GREAT post by rangerruck !
most of us will never own a $5000 - $10,000 custom built BR50 rig,
many (like me) will never pony up ~$2k for a nice Annie or Cooper
but for ~$400 (or less) us casual fun day weekend shooters can make believe we have a Cooper 22LR with a 17HMR...
"dimes at 50 yd, nickles at 100 yd"
50 yd 5-shot groups 3/8" center to center at 50 yards in calm wind is very doable for
anybody, with some 3-shot one ragged holes, and those are not "match grade" guns
doncha' just love it when you
know your 2nd shot didn't miss the whole 36x36 cardboard, and there still ain't but one 0.20" hole to look at in that 1" shoot-n-see ?
for that reason alone, the $12-$14 for 50 rounds buys a mighty lot of smiles per hour
I have only seen half a dozen hummers at local range, shot 'em all, ($250-$400 guns, and not a "bad" one in the bunch (mine is Savage bull barrel thumbhole Accu-trigger, cheapo 18X scope)
there are a lot of rounds that have come and gone that should'a could'a been really great, but were only real good,,, but every once in a while something subtle "just works right", and I do believe the rimfire HMR is one of them
Maybe not a whole lot of bang for your buck, but a whopping lot of fun
for those who have not yet been there-
every off-the-shelf 17HMR I have yet seen likes one flavor bullet better than all others (sometimes a specific brand as well, but it's mostly bullet type & weight) You cannot assume your buddie's gun, even if same make/model will best like the same as your's, either.
so.. when you get your first one, buy 50 rounds of every flavor you can find, and work thru 'em
once you find it, stick with it
mine likes hollowpoints best at 50 and 20 gr solid points at 100, don't like the V-max near as well.. and not even all brands will shoot to same POI, but do tend to shoot same bullet type tight
Cleaning - what rangerucker said... but even though I have a 17 specific Otis rod, I use it and brushes very sparingly; the 17s run pretty clean , if you clean every 50 rounds
what I use most of all is a yard of 200# test mono leader with doubled end w/ a snippet of heat shrink tubing for a patch puller loop, soak 'em and pull 'em thru from chamber to muzzle, until clean patch exits clean... cut your patches
safely undersize until you get right-sized, as with any flavor "snake", or you can be in big trouble if too tight.. it gets "right" when it "just squeaks" a little on the way thru... 200# test is 1.4mm or ~65% of 17 bore diameter when doubled... or just use 2 yds of 100# test doubled full length for <50% of bore
(on some forum or other, some guy pulled a commercial boresnake in two, leaving some length of it in his barrel, and I bet he never did get it out.. can't push a rope, you know, no need pull that stout, so if in doubt, stick to a rod)
I like the mono, because after you use it few times, you just throw it away and whack off another yard, 100 yards is pretty cheap
PS
how I came to using mono is about having a brand new 17HMR , but no 17 rod found local
long enough to push thru from rear...
yo, what would life be like without duct tape, cheap electrical tape, and plastic tie-wraps... or some
8 weight fly line
