Thinking about a .17 HMR

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Best bet is to go to Rimfire Central and read each maker section to get a good idea on current brands and models.
 
My Savage 17 is a laser beam at 100yds. The 9yr old shoots empty shotgun shell hulls with it at 100yds and it is almost too easy.
 
I would head over to Rimfire Central and check out some of the reviews on the Ruger American. I would pick the Ruger for great accuracy and most importantly the magazine. The Ruger magazine is far superior to the Savage. It is much stronger, doesn't protrude and holds more ammo. I am sure you will be satisfied with whichever you choose though; they are both solid guns..
 
ECVMatt said:
I would head over to Rimfire Central and check out some of the reviews on the Ruger American. I would pick the Ruger for great accuracy and most importantly the magazine. The Ruger magazine is far superior to the Savage. It is much stronger, doesn't protrude and holds more ammo. I am sure you will be satisfied with whichever you choose though; they are both solid guns..
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As much as I like the Savage 93, I will have to agree that the magazine is terrible. It's not entirely flush and it's a pain to insert and remove. My son has gotten better at it (it's his rifle), but I always struggle lining up the guide plate and it's never been smooth going in or out (teed that up for a Michael Scott joke, I know... :) ).
 
I'd second the folks who say check out a CZ, I have a 455 and love it. I have been interested in checking out one of the RAR's though, reports are good. As for the round itself, for me it's probably one of the most fun rounds to shoot, low muzzle blast, zero recoil, fairly flat trajectory, and pinpoint accuracy from factory ammo that cost about as much as practice 9mm. Also, 17 HMR is my preferred round for setting off tanerite.... slip that little .172 bullet in exactly where you want and watch the show through your scope.
 
Biggest reason I don't have one yet is cost and availability of ammo.

I reload rounds that can do anything it can do, all while not having to have loaded ammo on a shelf somewhere.
 
I have two of the Savages a 93R17-FV and a BTVSS both shoot great.
I shot this group a couple of years ago with the FV 100 YDS 25 rounds back to back.
When Savage brings out the new semi-auto I'll own another Savage.
BTW I have yet to check ammo at my local Wally World and not see 17HMR on the shelf. Can't say the same for 22LR.

357570616.jpg
 
I reload rounds that can do anything it can do, all while not having to have loaded ammo on a shelf somewhere.
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I would bet most of us do as well, but sometimes it's nice to be able to just grab a box of rounds and head to the range without having put in all the time reloading.
 
I do not believe that bullet drift chat is right. There is a tree behind my house that is right at 225 yards away from my back porch where I rest my rifle. I hit at least 7 out of 10 crows in that tree. I seldom hold more than the width of the crow for wind drift. I realize I am allowing more for wind drift than I am seeing. I use Remington 40gr PSP ammo to shoot the crows. Unfortunately Remington does not supply ballistic data for their 22 mag ammo and no one else makes a PSP that is comparable.
 
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I would bet most of us do as well, but sometimes it's nice to be able to just grab a box of rounds and head to the range without having put in all the time reloading.
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I understand and figure I will own one some day just because you can't have one of everything without one but I was waiting on the price of the ammunition to go below factory .223 ammo at least. Then the run on everything and folks still unable to get rimfire ammo has me waiting on better days.

I walked past .22lr a year ago at $19/500 because I had plenty and thought it cost too much. If the .17 fit a niche for me though, I would already have one.
 
IN general I look at my rimfire rifles like this. The 22 LR is a 50 yard gun, the 22 mag is a 100 yard gun and the 17 HMR is a 150 yard gun. Squirrels in my yard, 22 LR. Crows, 22 Mag. Prairie dogs, 17 HMR.

I can, and do, shoot dogs with all three but the 17 HMR has more range for me. Mine is a Savage bolt but I don't recall which one. I have flipped dogs at over 200 yards with it. I may get one of the A17's when I see one locally.
 
A CZ will shoot better than Savage, Ruger and Marlin and it's in the same price class. An Anschutz will outshoot a CZ.
 
I recommend a CZ, but for the money the R.A.R. Is good I have both and they are very accurate and reliable. I avoided the Savage, the are known to be accurate but have feeding and magazine problems, and a poor stock depending on model.
 
That new Savage A17 looks pretty interesting, don't know if I will get one, the CZ 455 I use now is just such a shooter. Still, I remember when they pulled all the HMR semi's from the market, it's interesting that they seem to have whipped the problem.

Also, I thought I read that they were introducing a new load with the A17 that hits 2650 fps... I'll definitely have to give that a try.
 
mboylan said:
A CZ will shoot better than Savage, Ruger and Marlin and it's in the same price class. An Anschutz will outshoot a CZ.
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I can't speak about the Anschutz but when I was playing with the 17 hmr the CZ 452 could shoot circles around my bull barrel savage 93. Never could get that savage to bring it like that little CZ.

First I gave up on the savage. Latter on I gave up on the 17 hmr. But, for a completely arbitrary reason, I would give The RA a try if only for the magazine.
 
I have both the Savage 93R17-BV and the CZ452 Varmint .17HMR -
Both are incredibly accurate tho it took me a while to figure out which bullet weight the Savage preferred. The Savage likes the 20gn HP's, the CZ likes the 17gn V-Max bullets.
Get the CZ.

The CZ is by far a better quality rifle out of the box.
CZ452 Varmint w/ Warne 7.3 rings & Nikon Buckmaster 6-18x40SF
DSC_0499-1-2.jpg

The Savage needed a few adjustments to be consistent - Sanded the barrel groove & replaced the Accutrigger with Rifle Basix trigger.
Savage 93R17-BV w/ DedNutz mount/rings & Tasco Varmint 6-24x42AO
dednutz019.jpg
 
My CZ 455 17 HMR was my 1st .17 calber. It's very accurate and a lot of fun to shoot. I've heard good things about the RAR too. I've enjoyed the 17 HMR enough that I recently purchased a .17 cal CF, CZ 527 17 Hornet.......and it's MORE fun!!
 
My Son bought the Sav. 93, it's a hoot to shoot and as accurate as can be really. I think he stuck a Leupold 6x on it if I remember correctly.

But my real love for .17 cartridges was inspired by the 17 Rem. CF. I have a friend who has a really nice BDL chambered in that little lightening round. We clocked 25 grainers at over 4000 fps, and the 20 gr. bullets were pushing up around 4400 fps. It pops, and flops a coyote real nicely. Reloading for it is challenging to some extent, it's such a tiny little cartridge and bullet, charging those little bitty cases is no fun. And finding a dropped bullet in shag carpet, it's almost as bad as trying to find a needle.

GS
 
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