17HMR accuracy

[6.5shooter]

My 1717 is easily more consistent than my previous 1517. Currently cleaning at 100 rounds or thereabouts. No boresnake, bronze brush, rods and M Pro 7.

 

Noticeable barrel differences between the 1517 and 1717 are a tighter chamber and much better rifling in the 1717.

 

For bunny bashing, in calm weather, out to about 200

yards I use the 1717. Any further or in breezy conditions it's the 17FB -but it's a PITA catching cases and subsequent reloading.

 

Hi there,

Whar type of fireball do yoi shoot? Is it a standard rem fireball or a custom rifle? Have been thinking of getting one myself.

Had been enquiring into an anschutz 1717 but i think they have stopped making them.

 

Garey

[Bad Wolf]

17FB in Remington Model 7 CDL, bog standard factory,but now discontinued, as is the 1717.

[22-250jock]

6.5 shooter,

shoot my mates 17 furball, great little rifle, flat as my 22-250. its a rem sps but had it rebarreled with a pac nor match barrel in heavy varmint contour ( fitted by rhino rifles).

shoots sub .5''@100yrds. doesn't seem to be affected by the wind as much as the hmr.

on his ticket for vermin and fox, no trouble from sussex police.

good splat value on bunnies and we've had plenty of foxes with it too

 

cheers jock

[Guest Scotland_Rifles]

been very happy with all 3 hmrs i have had. first the cz 22" American accuracy was second to none if i done my part.

 

then went for the 16" cz varmint again top accuracy and very point-able from the truck,

 

now got the sako quad and its really nice to use, only shot 500 rounds in it but its a cracking unit.

 

i have found this wind issue with the 17 hmr to be a bit iffy to say the least, i shoot with 2 regular mates and we all use them in all sorts of conditions, the windiest night was with Nico 243 and with 40mph winds we never had any problems at all, in fact i think its still the highest bunny count yet,

 

the wee calibre did suffer from all the hype (me included) when it was being commented on in the past, we all rushed out to get one (i have had 3) and loved them all, but now the ammo is getting close to the same price i pay to reload my .20 tac, being a jock it hurts my pocket when i can shoot 100 to 200 17hmr rounds a night so i am selling my wee 17 hmr to move to a 17 fireball, i do seem to slow down on the trigger when I'm using the 20 tac,so lets hope its the same when i get the 17 fireball.

 

selling my HMR ? there are a few reasons for doing so but i can tell you NONE of it is 17 hmr accuracy related at all.

 

bob.

[Brummy Mark]

I purchased a brand new CZ455 thumb hole 16" varmint barreled HMR a few weeks back. Stcuk some paper up at 100m and got 1" groups on a a slightly windy day.

Groups did open a little to 1.5" after 60 rounds.

 

A clean with a boresnake and moved out to 150m and groups were at sub 2" with gentle but gusting winds.

Since the first outing I reduced the trigger weight to its factory minimum and gun groups easy at sub 1.5" at 150m if I do my bit.

 

Love it to bits, a great little calibre.

[223magic]

Upgraded my CZ to a Sako Quad .17HMR barrel and I am very impressed with this rifle, very accurate top quality and a pleasure to use after a tempremental CZ.

[achosenman]

6.5 I’m with you on this. I hate to be contrary but I tried the 17HMR when it first came out and ditched it after 6 months.

 

I suppose I was lucky in that a mate had a gun shop. I got to play with many makes including Anschutz. I found the accuracy a bit erratic due to the wind with the tiny bullet. IMHO it does too much damage to rabbits if you can’t head shoot them so unless it’s flat calm why bother.

 

I might be lazy but I figured if you're making noise, you may as well use HV 22lr for less damage and less drift.

 

FWIW I found that the subsonic 22lr is ok at 100yds with a bit of practice and a TDS reticule or similar. The one thing I do hate with the 22lr is the tendency to ricochet at any opportunity. That alone usually ensures I pick up a center-fire on the way out the door.

 

Cheers all

[kent]

well on a aparant nil wind call you sometimes get it wrong, especially as 2-3mph makes so much difference- dont effect things too badly at 100yds but when you use the hmr to its fuller potential it matter a lot. I had come to terms with the windage thing though and was happy to go for the neck at longer range giving me a head or chest if the call was out. i only found meat damage bad on the little bunnies or sub 60yds chest shots, which i sometimes take on movers just not good enough to head shoot like this i supose. Shots at over about 160+ or so often failed to expand at all using 17grn v max and shorter range the xtp 20's did likewise. Terminal effects on crows became unpredictable though either getting wizz thro or over fragmentation and failure to penetrate. As a longer range (than the .22) bunny and hare gatherer though it was neat, but was forced to get rid by firearms when i got my hornet.

Price of ammo is a growing issue as is the fact you have to put up with the factory produced stuff, now if i was distibuting the stuff i might think twice about that as the HMR must have near doubled rimfire sales with so many now owning two rather than one. Doing the maths i recon its just a tiny bit cheaper re-loading for the hornet (depending on case life) than buying factory HMR ammo and if i don't like performance i can change it. Also the Hornet realy is a 200yds rifle with capabilities to streach a bit further. Thing is after having sat up last night pouring tiny amounts of Lil'Gun into those mini cases you do wander onto thoughts of how long its just taken you to load a box of 50!

[achosenman]

Kent you make some very good points. 1-2 mph is very hard to detect sometimes. Not only that but with light winds its easy to be in the lee, say a hedge but the target is sitting in a steady 2mph left drift. IMHO all this talk of accuracy is very subjective anyway. A system, (that’s rifle ammunition shooter) has to be capable of doing the required job and that’s a moveable feast.

 

For me, the problem with anything other than head shots was that the rabbit was refused at point of sale. Not withstanding that, it was far more effective to rock up on a quad with a SYSC semi and knock 5-6 over from the same group before they knew things weren’t right. I instantly doubled my count using this method and was the only reason I sold the Anschutz.

 

I take your point regarding range and loading the tiny little case for the Hornet. However I believe some folk get caught up in the velocity craze these days. A bigger case (read easier to load) 222/223 etc does not have to be run flat out. If the need is there, accuracy for head shots with less destructive power for up to 200m harvesting is easy to get with the right powders and bullet…fun too. Beyond that all bets are off. It’s full steam ahead red mist time. Larder value tends to be a bit poor though.

 

Cheers.

[CliveWard]

Hi,

 

I bought my 1517DHB 2nd hand as a well worn tool that had become inconsistent.

 

I got it home and then proceeded to clean it...and I mean clean it...finally resorting to cutting compound

 

Took it over the fields and it printed better than the factory target. It's not been cleaned since and that was a few years and a few thousand rounds ago.

 

Last year I did notice it becoming a bit 'inconsistent' when zeroing but good enough for bunnies and made a mental note to clean it again when i could be arsed. In the mean time I noticed that the moderator had fallen to bits internally so I bought an LEI, bit noisier but the rifle then became predictable again, and dare I say it but more accurate than it has ever been.

 

 

Cheers

 

 

 

 

 

Clive

[treetop]

hi,

just thought I would share a view..

 

not sure if you all know this.... but it is fact

All .17hmr Ammo is made in the CCI factory

the only difference being case stamping... and head..

which leads me on to my next point...

 

I have a cz...452 16" with a sirocco mod..

it will group extreamly well with:

CCI TNT HP

Winchester Supream

 

doesnt like any Hornady ammo... both blue or red tip ( blue tip was ment for Mach2 ammo, but was never used)

 

the main reason I love this calibre is its flatt trajectory, I zero to 1" above at 100m ( the same as most of the assu's & yanks do)

this give you a 1 1/4" inch rise and fall between 60m - 150m...

also... I only use 17 grn bullets.... alot of rifles dont seam to like 20grn utill they have done alot of work..

scope hight above barrel is very important on theas rifles...

oh... and dont think it will not take a masive deviation if it hits a blade of grass... cos it will .. lol

also wind does have a massive effect....

 

I love tacking mine on the ETR ranges 100 200 300, just to read the wind... its great fun

 

a couple of links that may be usefull

 

http://www.varmintal.com/17hmr.htm

http://17hmr.net/

 

cheers

al.

[paddy]

i just shot a crow at 375 yards with my 1517hb anschutz longest shot so far with it im happy with that. still like my 223 more tho

[tackb]

i just shot a crow at 375 yards with my 1517hb anschutz longest shot so far with it im happy with that. still like my 223 more tho

 

crikey that's over 5 foot of drop never mind the wind at that range ! probably less than 30ft/lbs of energy left as well !

 

hell of a shot sir , I take my hat off to you.

[Bad Wolf]

i just shot a crow at 375 yards with my 1517hb anschutz longest shot so far with it im happy with that. still like my 223 more tho

My very, very best shot with a 1717 was at 245 yards.

 

375 yards would be stretching my 17 Fireball.

 

So, with a HMR, 375 yards is truly incredible.

[jeffo223]

Hmmmmmmm

[gbal]

Yes well....with almost any cartridge one off long range hits are possible...but arguably unethical on any sentient target.

Walking in shots helps,of course.....

No-one pulls off these first shot hits regularly beyond the cartridge's normal performance envelope,and even then,not if there is wind.Many shooters could hit an egg at 1000y,given enough shots....essentially at that sort of range,the shots are random within the precision parameters of even the best rifle/shooter ie even a 3" group won't guarantee every shot hits the egg....and not too many 3" at 1000y groups are shot......

Usually such claimed long shots are closer to luck than real skill....."Play it again,Sam" is the test..

.....but we all know that,don't we? :-)

Gbal

[paddy]

i will say it was a lucky shot as it was a guess . it was a one shot deal . i know a few fellas who have shot things further than that on a few occassions with the 17hmr . ive only shot my 223 to 400 lol