.17 Rimfire...A Flash in the Pan?

WAYNO · Jul 27, 2009

Let me start by saying, my .17 HMR was an incredibly easy-to-shoot, and incredibly accurate combination. As a varmint shooter, I hoped these little .17's would be the ticket. Sometimes they are, and these .17's were extremely explosive. Other times, they did not expand at all, and put a tiny little .17 caliber hole in both sides of the ground squirrels I was shooting. So, I got rid of my .17, and went back to the .22 magnum, when this kind of cartridge is in order.

Now, to my observation. When the ammo shortage was at its worst, and there was almost no ammo to be found, the one cartridge I could always see on the dealer shelf, unsold, was the .17 rimfire. So, does that mean I'm not the only one who's backed off interest for the .17 ?

And, Bi-Mart, for example. A rack full of .17 rimfire rifles, and a shelf full of .17 rimfire ammo, unsold. They don't stock a single .22 magnum rifle, but their .22 magnum ammo has remained sold out.

This is not a bash-fest of this cartridge. Just wondering how others have accepted this cartridge, now that it's been in production, for quite a while.

WAYNO.

nwo · Jul 27, 2009

I am not a .17 shooter, but I have noticed the 'surplus' of .17 ammo on the shelves as well, along with the .17 caliber rifles.

One rifle I have NOT seen is the MARLIN 717 hm2. Try as I might, I cannot find this rifle anywhere. It's not even on MARLINS website. It came out just a short few years ago, and now it seems to not even be made anymore. I wonder why.

It was kind of a neat design, based on the (looks wise anyway) the long discontinued CAMP Carbines.

I guess this little autoloader did not make the cut for one reason, or another.

Brandon44647 · Jul 27, 2009

I've got a Savage .17hmr and I absolutely love it ! Fun to shoot and EXTREMELY accurate , the squirrels hate it ! lol My boy's prefer shooting that over their .22's (Ruger10/22 & Rem597)...... Definetly one gun I will hold onto. :s0155:

shlo812 · Jul 27, 2009

I just bought a Savage 17HMR today and I'm really excited. Where I am, I always see 17 HMR, .223 and .40 cal on the shelf (along with shotshells). Anyway, I'm looking forward to the Savage 93R17. I'll give you my report next week.

moremo · Jul 27, 2009

I have a Savage .17hmr, with a bull barrel and a 3x9 glass. It's very accurate and fun to shoot. Try using some 2" dish type fishing weights as a target and see what it does to them. 2550 fps, you can't beat speed. It is an amazing round for the size and price.

Grizzly_A · Jul 27, 2009

I think that the 17HMR has a better chance of making it than the HM2.

That being said, they did have more 17 on the shelf than just about any other caliber. I think that is an indication of it's adoption and demand. The 17 is a new caliber and isn't as widely adopted as .22LR, or .223 for example.

Though my own theory doesn't hold up when you consider the .204. I still have problems finding it on the shelf in any quantity.

I think the 17HMR is cute and a sweet little varmint laser.

deadeye · Jul 27, 2009

I have one in blue and one in stainless both are pre-accutrigger with rifle basix sear's one has 13oz and the other 14oz trigger pull. These are a fun way to spend a day in the woods or back yard. I like what they do to golphers.

uscsoldier · Jul 27, 2009

Grizzly_A said:
I think that the 17HMR has a better chance of making it than the HM2.

timbernet · Jul 27, 2009

Grizzly_A said:
I think that the 17HMR has a better chance of making it than the HM2.

I have both HMR and HM2 -- both are fun little guns... The HM2 is good for use on tiny critters (birds/squirrels eating strawberries/blueberries)

The HMR is really fun and I hope to take it varmint hunting sometime....

roguebowhunter · Jul 29, 2009

i also have a savage 17hmr W/ the accutrigger .. never have shot any critters w/ it (haven't had the chance to get out w/ it ) but great paper puncher . as far as the ammo is concerned there was a couple months where there was NO rimfire of any kind on the shelf in any store for more than 1 hr... so you musta been in the right place for it .. Don

jeddedia · Jul 29, 2009

deadeye said:
I have one in blue and one in stainless both are pre-accutrigger with rifle basix sear's one has 13oz and the other 14oz trigger pull. These are a fun way to spend a day in the woods or back yard. I like what they do to golphers.

So you live on a "golph" course then? I can just imagine someone on the back porch yelling across the green to the 7th hole, "You'd better sink that put or else!" :gun09:

Well I have a 10/22 converted barrel to a .17HM2, and it's a fun accurate gun! I don't get much call for the HMR or HM2 in the shop though, and am sure it's just cause the initial buy craze for the 'hot new round' is over.

I also heard from Magnum Research they sent out a letter saying they would replace or repair any 17HMR parts or rifles they sold. This was their answer to a lot of the HMR case rupturing problems we've been hearing more of lately. I had a customer come in with his 17HMR that a round had exploded and blown out the magazine well and magazine. The mag looked like it had a hammer taken to it...
I hope this isn't a continuing problem with this caliber, but last week shooting the 10/17 one of the bullets from a Hornady box actually compressed into the casing and didn't feed all the way. I was surprised as this was the first time the 17HM2 hadn't fed through the gun. Oh well, Maybe I'll switch back to the 22LR but for accuracy the semi-auto 17 can't be beat!

lucky guy · Jul 29, 2009

jeddedia said:
I also heard from Magnum Research they sent out a letter saying they would replace or repair any 17HMR parts or rifles they sold. This was their answer to a lot of the HMR case rupturing problems we've been hearing more of lately. I had a customer come in with his 17HMR that a round had exploded and blown out the magazine well and magazine. The mag looked like it had a hammer taken to it...
I hope this isn't a continuing problem with this caliber, but last week shooting the 10/17 one of the bullets from a Hornady box actually compressed into the casing and didn't feed all the way. I was surprised as this was the first time the 17HM2 hadn't fed through the gun. Oh well, Maybe I'll switch back to the 22LR but for accuracy the semi-auto 17 can't be beat!

I think the 17 rimfires have had limited success because there are no autoloaders for them.

The pressure curve of the hmr and m2 to a lesser degree makes it very tricky to design an autoloader that is dead nuts safe and sure to never fire a round out of battery - as the bolt is closing but before its seated all the way (usually the cause of the kind of damage you're talking about.) Early on some people tried putting weight into the bolt thinking that would be enough but it's more complicated than that. Word is that is why a couple mfr's (ruger included) gave up on the hmr and m2 in an autoloader. Don't know of any that were really very successful with either in an autoloader - cz is the only one I know of (the 611) but I don't know if they still make them or not. That marlin you mentioned was (is) a great rifle but I think marlin stopped making it a couple years ago. I had a 10/m2 conversion that I put together with an EA Brown kit, worked just fine. Gotta keep 'em clean though - especially the chambers.

I have the 917m2 and it is a great rifle. I go back and forth on whether to get another hmr, but I keep coming back to this. With rats and pd's I can get out to 125 with my 22, 160 or a little more with the m2, then it's 223 time. No real cost advantage to the hmr over the 223 if you reload and less wind sensitivity in the heavier 223 round. What I usually end up doing is taking the 223 and either the 22 or the m2 but not both. More often than not it's the 22 just to save on ammo.

Flip side is more and more landowners are saying rimfire only, and the hmr is the best bet out past 150 or so.

HMR is a fun round though, and that's enough reason eh?!