17WSM: WILL IT BE AROUND 10 YEARS FROM NOW?

Originally Posted By: B23Originally Posted By: Rhett Steele
Federal and hornady are producing ammo for 17wsm.

The label on the box and the case headstamp is all that's different, Winchester makes all of the 17 WSM ammo, regardless of what the box says on it.

If they produce all if it then they must use different recipes as each product performs differently. Swapping bullets can't be all that is at work.

Greg
 
One of the unfortunate negatives of mass produced rimfire ammo is it sometimes, or even often, can have pretty significant variances on how it shoots, from Lot# to Lot#.

I suppose it's possible Federal, Hornady and Winchester have their very own proprietary blend of powder but I honestly doubt it. I've pulled the bullets on multiple 17 WSM cartridges of all three labels and of the ones I've pulled and weighed out all the components separately, I can tell you the bullets are all the same and the powder charge weight was the same in all of them that I pulled. The biggest variance with all of them that I pulled was in the priming compound, now that was alllllll over the map with no consistency in any of them at all. They clearly don't put a great deal of quality control in this stage of the loading process because not only was there no uniformity to how it was even put down in the cases, many looked like they had it just slopped in there, but the amount used had significant swings in how much was in each case and it was all over the place with all three brands.
 
Originally Posted By: B23One of the unfortunate negatives of mass produced rimfire ammo is it sometimes, or even often, can have pretty significant variances on how it shoots, from Lot# to Lot#.

I suppose it's possible Federal, Hornady and Winchester have their very own proprietary blend of powder but I honestly doubt it. I've pulled the bullets on multiple 17 WSM cartridges of all three labels and of the ones I've pulled and weighed out all the components separately, I can tell you the bullets are all the same and the powder charge weight was the same in all of them that I pulled. The biggest variance with all of them that I pulled was in the priming compound, now that was alllllll over the map with no consistency in any of them at all. They clearly don't put a great deal of quality control in this stage of the loading process because not only was there no uniformity to how it was even put down in the cases, many looked like they had it just slopped in there, but the amount used had significant swings in how much was in each case and it was all over the place with all three brands.

A lot of good info here. I would add that if you buy match rimfire ammo from certain suppliers they have all of the same ammo separated into lot numbers. And yes there can be big differences even with Eley and Lapua from lot to lot. My current lot of Lapua Center X has only a 13 fps difference in average from my first lot which is extremely good but my SK match had 30 fps difference which is also ok but I have ES numbers twice that with the latest lot. My 17HMR ammo has crazy lot to lot differences - as much as 150 fps.

According to Eric at 17wsm.com all of the 17WSM ammo is made by Winchester with American Eagle and Hornady re-branded Winchester. In his youtube VLOG he said there was no difference in recipe but that lots do vary so if you find a good shooting lot to buy all you can afford.

http://17wsm.com/setting-the-record-straight-about-the-17wsm-with-a-faq/

 
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I guess then buy the cheapest one with the bullet you want, run out and shoot for accuracy, and then run back and buy a ton of that lot just like we do on match 22 RF ammo.

I can't find a lot # on the Hornady. I can on the AE and the Winchester. The only issue will be Sportsman's not liking me opening up boxes to look for the lot number on the inside.
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Greg
 
Originally Posted By: Texas SwiftyWhat is the bullet of choice for most people, the 20 grainer?

The 20's are all I've shot in my Bmag but these new 15 grainers cooking along at 3300fps for shooting rats and such definitely has my interest and after watching a couple of Eric's videos where he is literally blowing up ground squirrels with the new 15gr 17 WSM ammo, I do indeed plan to give those a go, too.

Oh, and did I mention he shot a .5 group with those new 15 grainers out of his Bmag, which was a fair bit better group than any of his other 17 WSM's and he has just about one of everything chambered in the little WSM.
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I have hunted and killed a lot of coons (daytime over four seasons , 150 + coons ) and it does great. Just shot a young wood chuck that came on the yard a couple of days ago....no blood but lots of broken bones inside. The 20 grain rounds blow up inside an animal of that size and larger with devastation of epic proportions for a rimfire . Shoots good , functions well , I have the pensil barrel and it is light to carry and is now threaded for suppressor coming soon. Oh , I have a Savage Bmag. Going with a red dot this season for faster and better shots is fast situations .
 
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