.17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire

H

hammie

New member
Christmas and a birthday are arriving, which means new guns. I'm considering jumping in to the .17 HMR arena. So, any shared experiences or opinions on that cartridge and bolt rifle, will be appreciated.

First of all, many sub calibers tend to foul quickly. Is this true of the .17 HMR? Is the .17 easy to clean, i.e. will the small cleaning rod bend? Is it better to use a bore snake?

As for rifles, the ones which seem to be available right now, are the CZ 457, Savage 93, Bergara, and Ruger American. The CZ checks all the boxes, but somehow it doesn't excite me. I've been disappointed by the recent savages entering the family. The workmanship could have been better, and the accuracy wasn't any better than other rifles. Plus, one of the accu-triggers kept locking up. I like the Bergara, but extra magazines seem unobtainable right now. I also like the ruger standard version because of the iron sights, and the rotary magazine. However, the ruger seems to be known for spotty accuracy. I would consider a Tikka, but none seem to be available right now.

All advice is welcomed.
 
I have a cheapo marlin in 17 hmr and it shoots pretty well for a rifle I got for under $200--but I did put a boyd's wood stock on it. Rimfire ammo that burns clean? I don't know of any in any rimfire cartridge. If I were in your shoes I'd take a look at the 17 WSM--I probably would have gotten it instead of the HMR if I wasn't "caught on a whim."
 
I've got a Savage in a Boyd's stock. Its not a pretty rifle but it is very accurate, sub MOA 10 shot groups at 100 yards (off bipod and sandbag under absolutely perfect conditions, no wind. The groups open up FAST in the wind). For my particular rifle CCI 17 grain Vmax shoots the best. Hornady and Winchester were disappointing, even though they are allegedly all made by CCI.

I recently picked up a Christesen Ranger .22, and just noticed they started making it in 17 HMR as well. Its not cheap but it'll take Ruger magazines and a Remington 700 trigger.
 
I’ve got the Marlin bolt action with a laminated stock. Will shoot sub MOA. Can’t tell you which brand of ammo works best (poor memory), I’ve tried them all, but my recent experiences with any Winchester ammo lately would make them last place with me.
 
While I don't have a problem with the .17 cal bore (only a lack of interest) what I do have issues with is high performance specialty (essentially niche) rimfire rounds that when dropped by the ammo makers due to slow sales, leave you with nothing you can shoot from that rifle.

Nothing you can make ammo from, nothing you can reload.

Is today's popular .17 HMR going to go the way of the 5mm Remington? Popular for a while, then decades in limbo with no ammo available?

I see Aquila is listing 5mm Rem ammo again but Midway says its out of stock...no backorder...

being the reloader I am, I would seriously look at a reloadable centerfire round over any rimfire round as my next choice for a new gun.

Admittedly, components (primers in particular) are hard to come by these days, but hard to come by is different from unavailable

if you want it, buy it, and enjoy it while you can. I wouldn't pick it, but that's just me, don't let my opinions stop you from enjoying something I don't.
 
I always liked the CZs, they are well made and shoot well. A friend of mine has one that he put a set trigger in. Anything from Ruger will be rock solid as well. Savages and Marlins are cheap and disappointing, never see me with one of those pos.

So, sure, I'm a gunsmith, so I built my own. Had a couple of old Remington 580 actions, so I barreled one up with a Green Mountain blank a few years back. Shoots 1/2"-5/8" at 100 yds, probably won't shoot any better due to the ammo.

I really like how you can reach out with the 17HMR. I've always really enjoyed shooting my 22s at longish range, but the 17HMR puts them to shame. 200 yds is a chip shot. The only concern I have is whether that little bullet has enough bite out beyong 200 yds.

Cleaning it is a breeze, but mine's not a rough and sloppy factory barrel. Buy a one-piece coated rod. I got mine from Midway, but you can find them a lot of places.

My rifle likes the 25 gr bullets, 20s and 15s shoot well but not as well as heavier bullets (just blows my mind to call a 25 gr bullet heavy).

I have a lifetime supply of 17HMR ammo thanks to a friend's death, but prior to that I shot my 17HMR very little due to the price of the ammo. Throw in a couple of ammo shortages and it's been left alone for a long time. I think I'll take it out for a spin now that you brought this up.
 
I ignored the 17HMR for years due to the cost of ammo. Then I shot one, popping gophers at 150+yds was Childs play and so much fun. Not wanting to invest a ton of money I picked up a cheap Savage with a heavy barrel, put a Hawke scope on it and it’s a sub MOA shooter. This thing is addictive and I have a couple thousand rounds stashed for it now.
 
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@44AMP: Those are all valid points. However, I'm 75, and hopefully the 17 HMR should be around as long as I will be. I'm not so sure about the .17 mach II or the 17 WSM. I have no particular use or need for a 17 HMR. I just wanted something different. Since I'm allowed two firearms, I'm also considering a bolt action 300 blackout, or an officer's size, 1911 chambered for .45 ACP.

@ Scorch: I'm glad to hear of your positive experience with the 17 HMR. I know you've forgotten more about the mechanics of firearms, than I can ever learn, but I am puzzled by some of the remarks about the older Marlin bolt action .22's. I have a 1977, .22WMR Marlin 783, which shoots as well or better than my new Steyr, .22WMR, zephyr II. I did refit the Marlin with a basix trigger. I don't think it made the marlin more accurate, but it did lighten the trigger pull, and got rid of the over-travel.

I am leaning toward the plain old ruger american rimfire. I'll probably re-stock it and replace the "blade" trigger with a Timney, which will up the cost. I discovered that the Bergara comes with a 30 MOA scope base. Why would you need that elevation for a rimfire rifle which will likely be used at less than 150 yards? Maybe someone can enlighten me. I could not find an after market, zero MOA scope base for the Bergara. I did look at the Christensen Ranger rimfire. I was concerned how the bolt locks up in an aluminum receiver.
 
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My comments about the Marlin bolt action rimfires is because they are just pinned together. Cocking piece is pinned to the striker/firing pin, the barrel is pinned to the receiver, the trigger is pinned to the tab on the receiver, the safety is just a piece of stamped sheet metal pinned to the receiver. It's like they were just discovering threads or something. I know, if it shoots well it's not ugly, but those Marlins shoot ugly.

Savages just have too many plastic parts and stamped sheet metal parts and seem designed to work for a couple hundred rounds then fail.

When I took the Remington 580 apart to rebarrel it, the trigger group was pinned to the receiver with the safety attached. Very nice trigger. The bolt was held into the receiver by a spring plunger. The cocking piece and firing pin are held in the bolt by a tenon and mortise in the bolt body. The barrel was pinned into the receiver, but I solved that by threading the receiver to accept a threaded barrel shank. I even made a cute little recoil lug for it!
 
@Scorch: Your comments about a barrel pinned to the receiver reminded me that I have a Remington, nylon model 12. It was remington's "nylon" bolt action and based on the 500 series rimfire actions. To remove the action from the stock, you have to punch out a pin on the top front of the receiver, then then slide the barrel forward and off, and then lift the action from the nylon stock. Kind of unusual, and not something you want to do very often.
 
Have the .17 Savage 93R17.

Mostly used for racoon and opossum problems.

Much more effective than .22 RF.

Approx. 300 rounds. Never have cleaned the barrel.

Once shot a 3 round group @ 100 yds in the same hole.

(hard to believe, I know, but true)

Around 250 kills. Nothing walks after the .17.
 
My buddy and i both use Ruger Americans in 17hmr as our go to prairie dog rifles. We could not be happier with their performance. They shoot like much more expensive rifles.

One note… the American stocks are not great. But a simple fix is to use a Dremel with the sanding wheel and open the barrel channel to free float the barrel. The fore-end has quite a bit of flex, so give it a good amount of clearance. After we did that groups tightened up and no more issues. Never needed to restock them, just hog out the channel..15 minutes and DONE.
 
My comments about the Marlin bolt action rimfires is because they are just pinned together. Cocking piece is pinned to the striker/firing pin, the barrel is pinned to the receiver, the trigger is pinned to the tab on the receiver, the safety is just a piece of stamped sheet metal pinned to the receiver. It's like they were just discovering threads or something. I know, if it shoots well it's not ugly, but those Marlins shoot ugly.

Savages just have too many plastic parts and stamped sheet metal parts and seem designed to work for a couple hundred rounds then fail.

When I took the Remington 580 apart to rebarrel it, the trigger group was pinned to the receiver with the safety attached. Very nice trigger. The bolt was held into the receiver by a spring plunger. The cocking piece and firing pin are held in the bolt by a tenon and mortise in the bolt body. The barrel was pinned into the receiver, but I solved that by threading the receiver to accept a threaded barrel shank. I even made a cute little recoil lug for it!
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I've been eying the savage B-mag--resembles a real rifle, have you ever taken one of them apart?
 
Got a Savage 93 here. Great little gun. Fun to shoot 100 yd groups on quiet days. Now, if it just threw a pill that weighed more than a sparrow feather............
 
A few words about the B mag. I bought one some years ago and put a Boyds on it with a Nikon scope. Fun, accurate rifle. Buddy bought one on my recommendation and wanting a .17 WSM.

Ended up sending it back to Savage 3 times to get a functioning rifle. It failed to extract 4/5 times. Swapped my bolt into his rifle and the problem went away., obviously his bolt was substandard. Only when he sent my bolt along with his rifle did Savage get it right. They also cleaned up his trigger/action the last go around and now shoots better than mine. The way it should have been from the beginning.
 
I've been eying the savage B-mag--resembles a real rifle, have you ever taken one of them apart?
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I've got one in the shop right now. Same problem as all the other B-Mags, light strikes and failure to extract.
 
2wheelwander said:
A few words about the B mag. I bought one some years ago and put a Boyds on it with a Nikon scope. Fun, accurate rifle. Buddy bought one on my recommendation and wanting a .17 WSM.

Ended up sending it back to Savage 3 times to get a functioning rifle. It failed to extract 4/5 times. Swapped my bolt into his rifle and the problem went away., obviously his bolt was substandard. Only when he sent my bolt along with his rifle did Savage get it right. They also cleaned up his trigger/action the last go around and now shoots better than mine. The way it should have been from the beginning.
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I had FTE’s on both of my Savage RF’s. I contacted Savage and they sent me two new extractors and new spring thingy’s. The replacement extractors had nice crisp clean edges compared to the punched out sheet metal ones that came on both rifles. I’ve put a few hundred rounds through both rifles since changing the extractors and they’ve been 100% reliable. Now if only Savage could figure out how to make a decent rotary mag like Ruger it would be perfect.
 
:D:D:rolleyes:

Yeah, their rotary mag does suck.

They sent my buddys back the first time with new spring and extractor. Made no difference. If they know what the problem is, FIX IT!:o
 
After reading posts on other forums, extractor issues with the Savage rimfires, seem to be a common problem. I wondered if anyone made an upgraded extractor and spring but couldn't find any on the internet.

Anyway, to put a final touch to this thread, the wife contacted the local gun shop and had them order a CZ 457 varmint model, chambered for .17 HMR. It has a walnut stock and a heavy 20.5 inch barrel. Their distributor had one in stock, and the rifle is expected to arrive in a few days. I kind of wanted a ruger american rimfire, but after totaling the cost of planned upgrades, the CZ made much more sense. Now to figure out a scope for it.
 
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