The future of 17 Mach2, is it a dying round?

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casio02478

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I am looking to purchase a 17 mach2 bolt-action for range and small-game hunting but I am getting the jitters about the future viability of this round. With CZ dropping the chambering from their line up, my only affordable choices are now down to Savage and Marlin. Even these two companies have scale back their offerings in 17 Mach2. It also seem to me companies have scaled back their production of the 17 mach2 ammo. Some of the other big boys are already out of the game e.g. Rugers and Remington. So is the 17 mach2 going in the same direction as the 5mm rimfire, a great idea that did not catch-on? I actually like this cartridge a lot but since it cannot be hand loaded I aworry about the future availability of ammo. Storing large amounts is out of the question since my job keeps me constantly on the move. So should I make the purchase, are my fears real or imagined :scrutiny:?
 
I wouldn't buy it not so much because of ammo availability but because the round is too slow. I bought an HMR on a whim, and it never seems to amaze me. I have stock piled ammo for it, although I think it's going to be around for a long time.
Can't think of a reason to want one.
 
I never understood the 17 Mach2.

The 17HMR is, I think, here to stay. The Mach 2 is one I could see going away.
 
I dont think the 17 Mach 2 will stick around, the way I see it if you want something more than the 22lr you get a 17hmr. If you're going to eat whatever you shoot the 22 is perfect. If you dont care about meat damage the mach 2 and the HMR fit the same role so why not go all out.
 
Just guessing, over the long haul the Mach II will likely succumb to the American notion that, "If some's good, more's better." That's probably more likely for the rifle market than the ammo market, however.

Again, just guessing, the cartridge sales will justify continued production. It's a great little round for DRT kills on prairie dogs to 150 and 200 yards, from what I've seen Justin do quite regularly.

Art
 
all of you guys , and don't take this the hard way , are wrong. As a matter of fact, it is the core shooters, that have kept this alive almost totally by word of mouth, and ammo and rifle sales are getting stronger, as the 17hmr rounds are now 15 dollars a box. go over to rimfirecentral, and do a search for the exact same name to a thread, in the mach 2 area. You will see that dudes there are buying the rounds by the cases, and a friend of mine, who owns ammotogo, sells it very cheaply , the Eley that is. Which is also remmington ammo by the way.
the problem was , this round was actually designed to come out first, but then the hmr round jumped up with all the marketing and hoopla. It sold a ton, and deservedly so, especailly when rounds were 7 dollars a box. The mach 2 came out, and they made a ton of rifles and ammo for it, but most dudes had the hmr, and thought, why do I need a mach 2? Weellll, since ammo is about 1/3 the cost of the hmr, and dead on shots can be held out to 150 yards, with a 100 yd zero, a lot of guys have dumped all but one of their hmr rifles, and have 2 or 3 mach 2 rifles now. They do everything a hmr can do , minus about 60 yards, and cerainly smoke a 22lr or 22 mag. Plus the added fact you can fire 17Aguila/pmc rounds through it. that is a 20 grain fmjbt round , at about 1900 fps, for those who like to keep fur, and not explode the animal. it may or may not be pinhole accurate in your mach 2 rifle, you just have to test and find out.
So then, the mach 2 isnt going anywhere, I have 2 of them right now, and am about to get number 3 (a cz) and like I said , eley isn't going to stop making ammo, which means remmy isn't. Neither is cci or Horny.
remember, if you cant find it, or any ammo for that matter , just email my Homies over at http://ammunitiontogo.com/
, and ask them what they have , as their pages are very cursory at best.
Also , if you tell them you are getting their eley ammo, and you are a member of Rimfirecentral.com, and get at least a brick of ammo, you get our special price deal on the mach2 ammo, from eley only though. I believe it is 35. bucks a brick, which will have included taxes and shipping!!!! that comes to only 3.50 a box. awesome.
 
you can get the nef's from Carters, Academy, or gander mtn or bass pro, for about 129 bucks. I used to have one of these as well, and I had the trigger tuned on it, down to a 13 oz pull, however, since I shoot a lot, the break open got really to be a pisser for me, so I sold it, to go for bolt actions, and a semi auto , all from marlin so far, no , I 've got a Savage m2 as well, and the cz is coming.
If you do decide to go with it, and you get a semi auto, make sure you dump the receiver/action/chamber full of jb bore paste, sit in front of the tv, and work the action and trigger, and push down a cleaning rod through the muzzle end, into a empty m2 case that is in the chamber, all for about 10 zillion times.
trust me, this is a high pressure round, and you don't want to break in that chamber on the range, without cleaning it after about ever 25 shots, for about 500 shots. Nor do you want to just go out , shoot away, and have a dirty chamber, not let one close all the way, and that baby fire out of battery!!!
 
I think it's life will be short lived. The .17hmr is another story. The mach II's ammo is expensive. I've heard they are very accurate, but like I said the ammo is not cheap.
 
I think it's life will be short lived. The .17hmr is another story. The mach II's ammo is expensive. I've heard they are very accurate, but like I said the ammo is not cheap.
Click to expand...

At $4 a box of 50 for Eley it is cheaper than most .22LR match ammo and just as accurate if not more so. The Mach II has strong following, I don't think it's going anywhere soon, at least ammo availability.
 
351; you got your costs/ammo switched, 17hmr ammo is now about 15. bucks per box. mach 2 ammo is about 4 to 7 dollars a box, depending on where you get it.
 
I agree with the previous two posters.
.17 Mach2 is half the price of HMR and the cartridge is just as accurate and has an equal amount of wind bucking capability.

Where these two cartridges are really beginning to shine is in the target shooting arena.
The Mach2 is popular to 100 meters and the HMR really shines out to 200 meters.
 
I say it will become a cartridge with a small yet extremely devout following; such as the 10mm, .44 special, and .357 sig.
 
I haven't seen any ammo shortage in .17m2 around the St Louis Area. Everyplace I go to always has it in stock and also sells a lot of it. Definitely go read the threads on this subject at Rimfire Central. I don't believe that it is a dying caliber.
 
You want to make .17 Mach 2 popular? Start chambering some .22 Autos for it such as the Browning Buckmark and the Ruger Mk III. And a few revolvers like the Single Six... and I'd love a Bearcat.
 
I guess I'm odd man out cuz I really like the 17m2. I've taken and eaten a lot of rabbit and squirrels and usually the meat damage isn't too bad (but sometimes it is).

What I really like is the accuracy and flat trajectory. I can shoot farther than I'm really capable of and not have to worry about bullit drop. My T/C G2 rifle with high power scope can pluck squirrels out of trees at distances a 22 just can't match.

It's cheaper than the 17hmr and if I want to reach out further, I just put my .223 barrel on my T/C and keep on trucking. I can reload .223's cheaper than I can buy 17hmrs.

BTW, I have a 17hmr barrel also, but it's usually the 17m2 or the .223 barrels that get most the use.
 
I think it is the perfect tree squirrel round. Flatter than a .22 ,quieter and less destructive than a HMR.
 
Fear is always imagined but is real to the person imagining it. I don't think you would be disapointed if you purchased a HM2. The start-up investment in an HM2 is pretty small, it is comparable to any good 22lr. A ruger 10-22 can be converted pretty cheap (under $200.00, not counting the 10-22) and if the round does eventually die out you can convert it back to 22lr. Savage bolt guns under 200.00 and NEFs under 150. I have a NEF HM2 and love it for target shooting. It is a blast to shoot out from 100-150 yards. I squirrel hunted with it this year, while I like the extended range, most of my shots are from 15-25 yards and are wing shots so if the shot is not well placed on the head it can really tear up a squirrel, had to toss 2 that just were utterly destroyed. I am back to using my remington 572 22lr for squirrels. The ammunition can be expensive if you buy it by the box, 5-7 dollars for 50 but if you buy it by the case it is pretty cheap, under 4 dollars a box. I have 2000 rounds stored in the basement and it doesn't take up any space, about shoe box size. Rangerruck is right on the deals at ammunitiontogo and head over to rimfirecentral.com, lots of info on the HM2 over there.
 
Ever since the .17m2 was announced, I've wanted a "swap-able" barrel for my Buckmark 10" Silhouette (with 4x LER Leupold). No luck yet and probably will never see it happen. Too bad. I had this dream about the perfect gopher gun...
 
I agree with Mr. Hill. Actually , I was looking for a Mach 2 pistol/revolver a couple days ago . .. was surprised there weren't any....
 
'http://www.berettausa.com/product/spotlight/spot_sako_quad.htm'

kind of interesting.... Have to re - zero scope every time you change barrels? meh.

The rifle looks pretty sweet though.
 
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