.17 rimfires

[bladeracer]

Probably the primary reason I have avoided getting a .17 rimfire is having to clean the bore regularly to maintain accuracy. Cost of the ammo is also ridiculous, but as it's not something I would use much, it's not really a deciding factor. I'd likely grab one box of everything I can find for testing, then a couple bricks of whatever shoots most accurately. I don't see any useful variation in loads for it, like you do with WMR, so one round does the same job as any other. All offerings I've seen are similar bullet weight, design and velocities, so it's only a matter of determining the most accurate in the rifle.

Wind around here is horrendous so it would likely never been taken out after live game. Anything I might want to take with it I can do better with reduced .204 loads with better ballistics.

So, I thought I'd see if I can get some feedback on how many rounds owners find they can put down the tube before accuracy starts deteriorating. As the barrel plays a large role in fouling it'd be useful to know that also. I haven't looked at any rifles, but would likely lean toward the RPR or the CZ457 for the multiple barrels, useful for experimenting with. The RPR has an easily-removed barrel so swapping between HMR and WMR is an easy barrel swap, similar to the 457.

I think of the HMR as offering fairly easy half-minute accuracy at 100m, but is that only within 20-30rds of cleaning, or can you get through a couple boxes with no measurable deterioration?

[Faedy]

I've got a RPR and a Cz.455 in .17hmr
I treat them like a..22.
Mine are for hunting.
I usually throw 100 or more rounds through them between cleans.
They still shoot .5moa piece of piss.
Wind actually affects them less than a .22 mag

[deye243]

I think you will find half Moa a very tall order there a not many HMR rifles capable of it I'm lucky my second one a Lithgow is far superior to the anschutz 1517 dhb that I had

I found ommo that works well and bought 5 bricks with this ammo it will shoot the occasional half inch group at 100 typically three quarter moa which makes hits out further a lot easier .

Screenshot_20211110-234734_Gallery.jpg (651.48 KiB) Viewed 2599 times

As you can see this rifle has dials on the scope 17 is a very good cartridge if you have a good rangefinder and a ballistics program works wonders

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Now the game points are fairly abysmal this projectile was shot in to 6 3 L milk cartons at 50 m and as you can see very little expansion

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And in contrast this is a hornady Vmax shot in ti 6 2l milk jugs at 100 yards

Screenshot_20211111-002149_Gallery.jpg (261.25 KiB) Viewed 2599 times

Accuracy at 50 is quite good this group style over rounds which makes it about 3/4 to an inch at 100y with the testing I have done

Screenshot_20211110-234841_Gallery.jpg (509.86 KiB) Viewed 2599 times

and incidentally this is the speeds that this rifle gets with the Honady v-max with a Magneto speed very surprising to say the least this rifle is a very capable 200 yard plus rabbit rifle

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I have not done any more than around 70 rounds before a clean no difference between start to finish best thing about the 17 is you can use cotton buds no mucking around with pain in the arse patches

[bigpete]

Very different result compared to the 20gn game points I've used

[bladeracer]

I've got a RPR and a Cz.455 in .17hmr
I treat them like a..22.
Mine are for hunting.
I usually throw 100 or more rounds through them between cleans.
They still shoot .5moa piece of piss.
Wind actually affects them less than a .22 mag

Thanks Faedy
My .22's go over 1000rds without cleaning, I have three that need cleaning around 300rds, which is damned annoying.

Is that 5rd groups?

Wind effect will depend on the bullet. Some .17HMR loads will have less wind drift than some .22WMR loads, some will have more.

[bladeracer]

Thanks deye
I guess when I'm not there seeing the shooting I only get to see the best group of the day that gets posted online

I haven't even looked to see how many HMR ammo types are available, but it can't be many to choose from.

I don't place much value on expansion testing unless it's done on actual live flesh and bone, but some mediums can give an indication.

70rds is tolerable I guess, for the limited shooting I'd likely do with it

I think you will find half Moa a very tall order there a not many HMR rifles capable of it I'm lucky my second one a Lithgow is far superior to the anschutz 1517 dhb that I had

I found ommo that works well and bought 5 bricks with this ammo it will shoot the occasional half inch group at 100 typically three quarter moa which makes hits out further a lot easier .

Screenshot_20211110-234734_Gallery.jpg

As you can see this rifle has dials on the scope 17 is a very good cartridge if you have a good rangefinder and a ballistics program works wonders

Screenshot_20211111-000752_Gallery_copy_800x450.jpg

Now the game points are fairly abysmal this projectile was shot in to 6 3 L milk cartons at 50 m and as you can see very little expansion

Screenshot_20211110-235031_Gallery.jpg

And in contrast this is a hornady Vmax shot in ti 6 2l milk jugs at 100 yards

Screenshot_20211111-002149_Gallery.jpg

Accuracy at 50 is quite good this group style over rounds which makes it about 3/4 to an inch at 100y with the testing I have done

Screenshot_20211110-234841_Gallery.jpg

and incidentally this is the speeds that this rifle gets with the Honady v-max with a Magneto speed very surprising to say the least this rifle is a very capable 200 yard plus rabbit rifle

Screenshot_20211110-234356_Gallery.jpg

I have not done any more than around 70 rounds before a clean no difference between start to finish best thing about the 17 is you can use cotton buds no mucking around with pain in the arse patches

[Wyliecoyote]

I had a 17 HMR, 17 Hornady Hornet, 17/222 and 17/223 all at the same time. Ultimately it came down to a question of accuracy, cost and availability of components. With the ability to load down to HMR speeds or up to 4K with 20 grain bullets, the choice was easy. I sold or rebarreled the other rifles and kept the 17/222. Shilen select match barrel on a Rem 700 action and HS stock. No issues with accuracy or batch lots to deal with.
It matters little what 17 one opts for, they need cleaning regularly, even the little HMR, to maintain their accuracy and they all drift considerably in strong wind. Which is exactly why i built a 20/222 and 20 BR.

[bladeracer]

I had a 17 HMR, 17 Hornady Hornet, 17/222 and 17/223 all at the same time. Ultimately it came down to a question of accuracy, cost and availability of components. With the ability to load down to HMR speeds or up to 4K with 20 grain bullets, the choice was easy. I sold or rebarreled the other rifles and kept the 17/222. Shilen select match barrel on a Rem 700 action and HS stock. No issues with accuracy or batch lots to deal with.
It matters little what 17 one opts for, they need cleaning regularly, even the little HMR, to maintain their accuracy and they all drift considerably in strong wind. Which is exactly why i built a 20/222 and 20 BR.

That's a lot of one-sevens
You essentially reiterated everything I've always felt about them, if you want to throw tiny little bullets around, get a centrefire .17 to give it at least some versatility. And also why the .204 is so versatile in comparison. The .204 is in a very narrow niche also, but reloading opens it up massively, to 24gn bullets from subsonic to 4400fps+, or the incredibly flat-shooting 40gn VMax to replicate anything from WMR/HMR to the Hornets, and .222 with the 45gn soft-point.

But I must get asked my opinion on the HMR at least weekly, so it'd be good to have one to actually let somebody try it for themselves.

[deye243]

Thanks deye
I guess when I'm not there seeing the shooting I only get to see the best group of the day that gets posted online

[/quote]

Here are the other groups of the day .

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Screenshot_20211111-211123_Gallery.jpg (479.36 KiB) Viewed 2528 times

Screenshot_20211111-211119_Gallery.jpg (458.65 KiB) Viewed 2528 times

And these two groups were shot later in the day when the wind completely dropped at 100 yards previous groups were shot at 50

Screenshot_20211111-211058_Gallery.jpg (451.92 KiB) Viewed 2528 times

Screenshot_20211111-211049_Gallery.jpg (530.34 KiB) Viewed 2528 times

[Cooper]

I bought a 17 HMR back in 2013 before I thought I was going to reload. I have a CZ 455 with three barrels (22lr,22mag and 17hmr)

I reload now for for various calibres including 223,222 and 204. My 204 is currently running a dedicated night vision setup and a have Trailboss load and full power load worked up for it.

I still like the 17hmr. It is a great bunny gun and still capable of taking the odd Fox. I really like not having to worry about catching the brass. As I like to save my reloading brass.

My 17 hmr will usually shoot half an inch at 50 metres. I probably pull a bore snake through about every packet of 50. I prefer the 17gr Hornady Vmax load. It will shoot around a inch at 100 metres. But I wouldn’t say it would do it as reliably as my centrefires. But still more than accurate enough for hunting.

The Cz 457 are a good thing. You’d probably get a cz455 cheaper.

[bladeracer]

Nothing wrong with your averages there, Deye!

Thanks deye
I guess when I'm not there seeing the shooting I only get to see the best group of the day that gets posted online

Here are the other groups of the day .

Screenshot_20211111-211134_Gallery.jpg

Screenshot_20211111-211131_Gallery.jpg

Screenshot_20211111-211123_Gallery.jpg

Screenshot_20211111-211119_Gallery.jpg

And these two groups were shot later in the day when the wind completely dropped at 100 yards previous groups were shot at 50

Screenshot_20211111-211058_Gallery.jpg

Screenshot_20211111-211049_Gallery.jpg

[/quote]

[bladeracer]

I bought a 17 HMR back in 2013 before I thought I was going to reload. I have a CZ 455 with three barrels (22lr,22mag and 17hmr)

I reload now for for various calibres including 223,222 and 204. My 204 is currently running a dedicated night vision setup and a have Trailboss load and full power load worked up for it.

I still like the 17hmr. It is a great bunny gun and still capable of taking the odd Fox. I really like not having to worry about catching the brass. As I like to save my reloading brass.

My 17 hmr will usually shoot half an inch at 50 metres. I probably pull a bore snake through about every packet of 50. I prefer the 17gr Hornady Vmax load. It will shoot around a inch at 100 metres. But I wouldn’t say it would do it as reliably as my centrefires. But still more than accurate enough for hunting.

The Cz 457 are a good thing. You’d probably get a cz455 cheaper.

Thanks Cooper
I guess it's fairly safe to say that MoA at 100m or better is probably easy for most HMR's then, which is not my experience with WMR at all.
I collect all my brass rather than litter the countryside with it, so rimfire offers no advantage there, they're just harder to find in the grass if you drop them
I have a 20-litre drum of .22LR brass already, and working through a second.

With the three barrels how regularly do you use the other two? I warn people that it's more a sales gimmick than a useful system. Most are likely to enjoy the novelty when it's new, then decide on one cartridge and leave it like that. Better off buying three rifles, in my opinion, if you plan to actually use them.

[Cooper]

Hi Blade

I do try to collect all my .22 and 17 hmr cases. But spotlighting out the back of the Ute there is always a few that roll off the roof or end crushed on the tray. I guess I like the convenience of not reloading sometimes more than anything.

I do leave my CZ 455 set up as 17 hmr now. The 22 mag barrel didn’t impress much and did swap a bit between 22lr and 17hmr a bit early on. Usually it only needed 5 or 6 clicks on the scope to get it perfectly sighted back in.

I already had a cz452 in 22lr and now have added a Ruger Precision in 22lr and Cz457 MTR in 22lr(Target version) to the collection.

I sort of agree it is a bit of novelty having a switch barrel system. But also pretty handy. It let me confirm I didn’t really want a 22mag without buying a separate rifle. 22lr barrels can be a bit picky with what ammo they like. I bought take off (new) varmint 22lr from Cleavers and it shoots better than the factory sporter barrel. It also gives you options.