17 HMR

I have heard many good things about the 917VS. Marlins are great shooters, as is the Savage 93R17GV that I have. Wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. Shoots sub-MOA groups all day with most and ammo I put through it. I have taken rabbits, racoons, opossums, and several pest birds. The birds turn in to a puff of feathers, its pretty neat. Put the coon and possum down with one shot, same with the rabbit. All were good sized for their species.
 
i shoot the savage model hmr and it is so accurate that i hit a tweety bird out of a tree from 25 yards and running rabbits at 75 yards i also suggest the hornady ammo it seems to have a little more knockdown power than the others
 
I went to the range today to shoot my 17. It was shooting really good at 200yds; but a storm blew in and once the wind gusts got up to 30 mph we had trouble finding the bullet holes. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
No surprise there!!

17wind.gif

http://www.varmintal.com/17hmr.htm
 
Quote:
I went to the range today to shoot my 17. It was shooting really good at 200yds; but a storm blew in and once the wind gusts got up to 30 mph we had trouble finding the bullet holes. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif



At 30 Mph I doubt there are many guns that would group on paper well at 200yds. Much less the small 17hmr. Grouping at 200 yards is great for any gun. Especially the 17hmr round. I can't think of any other rimfires that will group well at that distance without a serious holdover and some luck.

Lots of people laugh at the 17hmr in the wind. But like any shooter worth his salt. If you know the wind, you compensate. No different than a mountain goat hunt at 300-400 yards in cliffs with a .270

Arguing about the 22mag vs the 17hmr is really kind of funny. I have 2 boys that got different remote control cars for christmas. One has a monster truck that is large and slow but will go just about anywhere and my other boy got a race car that goes really fast on pavement. But can't go over grass very well. But yet neither of them are arguing over which one is best. They both have what they wanted and are having success with both of them. The greatest part is that they are sharing and playing with each others toys and saying how cool they both are.

I sure wish us grown-ups could do that over the 17hmr and the 22mag.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-006.gif
 
I don't get over here as much as I would like anymore but welcome to all the new guys on the board!

The .17 HMR is an accurate round to say the least. However, would have to agree with Dogbegone on its ability to kill. I have shot hundreds of PD's with a 17 HMR and have yet to see it anchor them consistently without getting back in the hole at 100 or so. Even the new 20gr bullets are not 100%.

Most any of the rifles chambered for the HMR shoot well, it is in the round. I think you are on the right track to see what is in the used pile the most and say away from them. There is a reason they are setting there used.
 
bzzrdfeedr,
You may want to check back with your dealer on availability. I just recieved a call from my dealer and my new 93R17 F with Accu-trigger will be in his shop tomorrow. I talked to his distributor yesterday and they said they are starting to trickle in.
 
Melvin Thanks Yes I've heard they are trickling in and talked to him and they are trying to find one but no luck yet. I've got several 17's so I guess I'll be patient. Dale
 
I have the Marlin 917VS, and it has performed flawlessly for me. I did I upgrade that I haven't seen mentioned here, I took the little red flat thingy that the bullets sit on in the clip, and cut it shorter. So I have about 3 more bullet capacity.
 
I sold my Marlin VS17 after my first time out with the .204 on Prairie Dogs due to the wind drift problem. I still use a HM2 in a converted Ruger 10/22 for close shots. The last place I went in SE Colorado was pretty windy and I wasted a lot of ammo on the long distance dogs and the knockdown power wasn't great either. Otherwise, I had no problem with the Marlin.
 
Thanks for the welcome...

Howard/Miami, still call Kokomo "Town", although Peru is almost closer... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif

Alan
 
Quote:
I did I upgrade that I haven't seen mentioned here, I took the little red flat thingy that the bullets sit on in the clip, and cut it shorter. So I have about 3 more bullet capacity.



Whoa there buddy! Now you've got our undevided attention! Tell us more...
 
The 17HMR might be a little on the weak side for real prarie dogs and rock chucks unless you only shoot short range.

Out here in the west we don't have PDs, we have smaller ground squirrels and the 17HMR kills them just dandy about as far as you can shoot 'em. Our ground squirrels don't get bigger than a regular tree squirrel, and many of them are smaller. They don't go flying into the air when hit like with a 22 centerfire, but the 17HMR splits them open pretty good and drops them on the spot with any decent hit.

You PD shooters may not be terribly impressed with the 17HMR, but it works real fine out here in CA on our varmints.
 
I'll try to show a picture of what exactly I did... If I can't get it to work i'll post a link.

Alan

This is little red thingy that I cut shorter...
DSCN2674_2.jpg


This is of all the shells it will hold PLUS one in the chamber, so technically the clip will now hold 8 shells
DSCN2671_2.jpg
 
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My bad, I guess I was thinking it held 5 or so before I started... It's not that hard to do, and if I would shave another eight of an inch off I could get the 8th shell in there too. Makes me wonder if I could make an extended magazine for it w/ some thick sheetmetal... Hmmmmmm...... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
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