.17 rifle shooting competitions

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.17 rifle shooting competitions

Post by Gaznazdiak » 04 Nov 2016, 9:11 am

Like many owners of .17 rimfires I am very enamored of my .17 WSM and would love to be able to compete against others with similar rifles.
We seem however, to be in a no mans land, with the jacketed ammo being far too powerful for small bore ranges but far too underpowered to compete realistically beyond 300m.
Does anyone know of any club or group that cater for this niche calibre?
Would any other .17 owners even be interested?
I would appreciate any feedback or opinions on this.
Regards to all.

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Re: .17 rifle shooting competitions

Post by brett1868 » 04 Nov 2016, 9:45 am

Is St Mary's 50m indoor range an option for you? I think there may be a few of us on here that have 17's and we can organise a little informal comp. Something like $5 into the kitty for each person and winner chooses the charity it gets donated to. Cheap to run, fun and helps out a good cause such as fox rescue Australia :)
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Re: .17 rifle shooting competitions

Post by bladeracer » 04 Nov 2016, 1:38 pm

Gaznazdiak wrote:Like many owners of .17 rimfires I am very enamored of my .17 WSM and would love to be able to compete against others with similar rifles.
We seem however, to be in a no mans land, with the jacketed ammo being far too powerful for small bore ranges but far too underpowered to compete realistically beyond 300m.
Does anyone know of any club or group that cater for this niche calibre?
Would any other .17 owners even be interested?
I would appreciate any feedback or opinions on this.
Regards to all.

Gun control is hitting your aim point.



I was given some .17WSM ammo and it looks awesome.
I don't think I'd invest in a rifle chambered in it though, for the same reason I don't own .17HMR - cost of feeding them. If I do decide I want a .17 it'll be the Hornet.
What does good .17WSM ammo cost currently?
Do you save your brass by chance - it happens to be the perfect size for making Carcano bullets :-)
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Re: .17 rifle shooting competitions

Post by Gaznazdiak » 04 Nov 2016, 7:52 pm

Thanks for getting back to me.
Brett, that sounds like a great idea, although it's about 250km drive for me. I'm not familiar with indoor ranges but one look at the included pic of 2 layers of 3mm W-strap steel sheepyard fence I accidently clipped the other day and you can see why the .17WSM is not welcome at the local small bore range. The hit on the fence was from 65m.

Bladeracer, awesome pretty much covers the performance of this round. The almost comically small 20gr projectile is still carrying 198fp at 200m compared to the .17HMRs 90fp. As with any 17, any more than 11 or 12kph of wind and you can forget hitting anything past 250m. Having said that, when it is calm like it is here tonight you can pull off shots that will have you giggling to yourself for days.
A case in point, I have some sheds 450m from my house that Tony Rabbit has moved into. Over the past 2 weeks I've lobbed 19 rounds at him in the constant wind we have here with no hits. Tonight, with no wind I head shot him first shot.
As to price, I buy mine at the only gun shop in Goulburn which is the nearest town to me, and the Winchester come out at 64c per shot, slightly cheaper than the Federal because Winchester make the brass. Things may have changed, but if I remember correctly last time I looked .17 Hornet was dearer than .223.
As to brass, yes I always collect mine, even .22s as it helps me keep track of barrel state etc.
I have a bit over 350 empty WSM cases.
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Re: .17 rifle shooting competitions

Post by bladeracer » 04 Nov 2016, 8:17 pm

Gaznazdiak wrote:Thanks for getting back to me.
Brett, that sounds like a great idea, although it's about 250km drive for me. I'm not familiar with indoor ranges but one look at the included pic of 2 layers of 3mm W-strap steel sheepyard fence I accidently clipped the other day and you can see why the .17WSM is not welcome at the local small bore range. The hit on the fence was from 65m.

Bladeracer, awesome pretty much covers the performance of this round. The almost comically small 20gr projectile is still carrying 198fp at 200m compared to the .17HMRs 90fp. As with any 17, any more than 11 or 12kph of wind and you can forget hitting anything past 250m. Having said that, when it is calm like it is here tonight you can pull off shots that will have you giggling to yourself for days.
A case in point, I have some sheds 450m from my house that Tony Rabbit has moved into. Over the past 2 weeks I've lobbed 19 rounds at him in the constant wind we have here with no hits. Tonight, with no wind I head shot him first shot.
As to price, I buy mine at the only gun shop in Goulburn which is the nearest town to me, and the Winchester come out at 64c per shot, slightly cheaper than the Federal because Winchester make the brass. Things may have changed, but if I remember correctly last time I looked .17 Hornet was dearer than .223.
As to brass, yes I always collect mine, even .22s as it helps me keep track of barrel state etc.
I have a bit over 350 empty WSM cases.



I was given the ammo to make some drop tubes for loading the .204 as I didn't have a funnel smaller than .22 at the time :-)
The .204 Ruger is similar to the .17's in the same respects, just heavier bullets at higher velocities.
The reason I would choose the Hornet over the rimfire .17's is so I can load my own, much cheaper and greater versatility.
I'm the same, I keep shot logs for every firearm and I save the rimfire brass. Besides, we don't want the cattle getting a gut full of brass.
I just bought a 6.5mm Carcano and getting the .268" bullets is a pain in the arse. I did some research and found that .17WSM brass is .269" so I'd like to get some, pour lead into them and see how well they work as bullets :-)
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Re: .17 rifle shooting competitions

Post by Gaznazdiak » 04 Nov 2016, 8:54 pm

Well, reloading changes the whole price structure, so yes I would opt for the hornet as well. I have never had the time to learn, but I just put a deposit on a new Howa 1500 in .223 today so I'll be l'll be looking into changing that.
You're welcome to these empty WSMs of mine if you want them
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Re: .17 rifle shooting competitions

Post by bladeracer » 04 Nov 2016, 9:07 pm

Gaznazdiak wrote:Well, reloading changes the whole price structure, so yes I would opt for the hornet as well. I have never had the time to learn, but I just put a deposit on a new Howa 1500 in .223 today so I'll be l'll be looking into changing that.
You're welcome to these empty WSMs of mine if you want them


The .223 shoots much flatter than the WSM so you'll love it I reckon :-)
I'll PM you regarding the brass.
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Re: .17 rifle shooting competitions

Post by brett1868 » 04 Nov 2016, 11:44 pm

To make life easier for all involved, we all shoot a 5 shot group at 50m and post the picture here. We can ask one of the mods to adjudicate for best grouping, the winner nominates the charity and donations then made by the others.

Suggested rules for the inaugural "EG17 Cup Challenge" (Simple and easy)
Acceptable rounds - 17WSM, 17HMR, 17Hornet, 17Rem, 17Mk2 (Any others?)
Distance - 50m
Scored on - Smallest Group
Acceptable targets - Since it's group size being judged then any paper or card board with a 1" dot drawn or stuck next to the group. Dot will be used to judge scale based on differing levels of zoom on individual cameras.
Photos of targets posted by 20/11
Winner announced 21/11
Donations to be made within 7-14 Days.

I will nominate the RFS as my charity as the bushfire season in upon us and they deserve support.
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Re: .17 rifle shooting competitions

Post by bladeracer » 04 Nov 2016, 11:55 pm

Hmmm...two weeks to get myself a .17 then, these games could get expensive ;-)
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Re: .17 rifle shooting competitions

Post by brett1868 » 05 Nov 2016, 12:01 am

bladeracer wrote:Hmmm...two weeks to get myself a .17 then, these games could get expensive ;-)


Pity you're not up here or I'd be happy to lend you one of mine. There's an idea, if there's anyone in Sydney that can get to St Mary's I'm more then happy to give you the use of either my Savage 17HMR or Ruger 17Hornet in order to enter. I shoot 2-3 times a week so can meet up almost anytime suitable to you.
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Re: .17 rifle shooting competitions

Post by brett1868 » 05 Nov 2016, 12:12 am

@Gaznazdiak
That's a pretty impressive hole for a 17, I understand why they don't like them. Show them this pic and see what they say :D

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Re: .17 rifle shooting competitions

Post by bladeracer » 05 Nov 2016, 12:26 am

brett1868 wrote:Pity you're not up here or I'd be happy to lend you one of mine. There's an idea, if there's anyone in Sydney that can get to St Mary's I'm more then happy to give you the use of either my Savage 17HMR or Ruger 17Hornet in order to enter. I shoot 2-3 times a week so can meet up almost anytime suitable to you.


Give up this lovely Gippsland weather just to do some warm, dry shooting?
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Re: .17 rifle shooting competitions

Post by bigfellascott » 05 Nov 2016, 5:53 am

My mates got one of the 17Mk2 I think it's called, bloody useless on anything but rabbits going by his experience using it on foxes - they all ran off after being hit in the chest! :thumbsdown:
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Re: .17 rifle shooting competitions

Post by sandgroperbill » 05 Nov 2016, 3:17 pm

I bought a .17hmr yesterday to fill a gap, but not sure it will be licensed in time...
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Re: .17 rifle shooting competitions

Post by bladeracer » 05 Nov 2016, 3:23 pm

sandgroperbill wrote:I bought a .17hmr yesterday to fill a gap, but not sure it will be licensed in time...



Maybe ring licencing and request a dispensation because you need it to represent the state in a national competition?
Send them a link to this page, that will help for sure ;-)
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Re: .17 rifle shooting competitions

Post by Gaznazdiak » 06 Nov 2016, 11:27 am

@Brett
It really is amazing the amount of energy that little 20gr pill carries.
A question about your Savage 17hmr; my 17wsm is a Savage B-mag and when I first bought it I thought I'd got a lemon. I zeroed it 1/2 inch high at 150 and got a group slightly over 1/2in, cleaned it, went out to give Mr Rabbit the good news and couldn't hit a thing.
I went back to the house, had another go at the target, and by the 7th shot post clean had a decent group again. Cleaned it, went out and couldn't hit the ground.
I finally worked out that it actually likes to be dirty, whereas my niece's boyfriend has a CZ 17hmr that hates fouling so much he has to carry a boresnake in the field and give it a pull through every 3 shots.
I was wondering if this might be an endemic Savage trait.
The captain of the Goulburn Rifle Club suggested it might be button "chatter" from the rifling process, where the rifling button leaves very small machining imperfections in the finish that fill with copper after a number of shots and allow for smoother passage of the projectiles.
Another telling pic below is 12mm aluminium chassis rail at 150m.
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Re: .17 rifle shooting competitions

Post by sandgroperbill » 06 Nov 2016, 12:15 pm

bladeracer wrote:
sandgroperbill wrote:I bought a .17hmr yesterday to fill a gap, but not sure it will be licensed in time...



Maybe ring licencing and request a dispensation because you need it to represent the state in a national competition?
Send them a link to this page, that will help for sure ;-)


Lol :) not quite sure how much it will "help"

But that's ok. I would still have to work out what it likes to eat, so would possibly be at a disadvantage, anyway
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Re: .17 rifle shooting competitions

Post by Monty » 07 Nov 2016, 9:25 am

Gaznazdiak wrote:It really is amazing the amount of energy that little 20gr pill carries.


A little extra velocity is a magical thing :D
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Re: .17 rifle shooting competitions

Post by brett1868 » 11 Nov 2016, 10:51 pm

Heading out in the morning to St Marys to get my entry done and to see if I can break the 460 3 times in a row...
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Re: .17 rifle shooting competitions

Post by bigfellascott » 12 Nov 2016, 5:40 am

Good Luck Brett - shoot straight! :D
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Re: .17 rifle shooting competitions

Post by Wylie27 » 12 Nov 2016, 6:36 am

lol wish i had a .17... good luck Brett.
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Re: .17 rifle shooting competitions

Post by brett1868 » 12 Nov 2016, 1:49 pm

Wylie, happy to lend you one of mine next time your heading out to St Mary's. As an FYI Ali Newbury can sign PTA's as can Andrew, I got a CF & HC PTA signed this morning :clap:

Todays effort and my entry...
I shot a total of 8 groups and wasn't happy with the first 6 as I was having difficulty seeing the dead centre of the target. I put a couple patches on and an immediate improvement was seen. I used a Savage 93 R17, unknown brand 9x scope shooting Hornady 17gr VMAX ammo. For a cheapish packaged rifle it shoots reasonably well.

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Re: .17 rifle shooting competitions

Post by pomemax » 12 Nov 2016, 5:51 pm

thought i would have a go at 50 m 5 shot group shot at st Marys 12/11/
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Re: .17 rifle shooting competitions

Post by sandgroperbill » 24 Dec 2016, 12:22 am

Now I've got my new 17 home in the safe I'll have to see if I can get out and put an entry together
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Re: .17 rifle shooting competitions

Post by sandgroperbill » 28 Dec 2016, 6:31 pm

No luck with this. Christmas day wasn't bad but boxing day onwards has been cold, drizzly and blowing hard
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