My entry into the .17hmr world...

A couple of weeks ago I was out at the range with my neighbor and he had brought out a couple of CZ 455 rifles in .17hmr and .17MACH-II. I had never shot a .17 before and, needless to say, I was impressed.

After the range session, I did a little research and found that Bud's Gun shop had a Savage Model 93 available in .17hmr. This one is their "Plain Jane" wood stocked version with a heavy barrel and left handed bolt. The price was pretty decent, so I figured this would be a great way to "Test the waters" so to speak and I ordered one.

I just picked up the rifle yesterday from my local gun shop and while it is their basic model, the fit and finish is excellent and the Accu-Trigger sure is sweet! I had a spare BSA 6x24x40 AO Mil Dot scope laying around, so I threw that on just to get me ready for the range. Eventually I will get a Mueller scope to replace the BSA. I also threw on a Harris bipod.

I did some horse trading with my neighbor and came away with three boxes of .17hmr ammo. One box is the Hornady 17grain V-Max ballistic tips (Red), a box of Federal Premium V-Shock 17 grain ballistic tips (Black) and a box of Hornady 20 grain XTP hollow points.

I can't wait to head out to the range to get this baby sighted in....

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y71...ge17hmr011.jpg

Looks good, I picked up a Savage 17 hmr a little over a month ago and just love how accurate the rifle is. Have fun shooting and let us know what you think.

My little 93R17-GLV is probably my favorite gun to take to the range and shoot. It's amazingly accurate, there's no recoil to tire of, and it's cheap to shoot. What more could you ask for?

BTW, looks like your stock has quite a bit of vertical striping hiding under the factory finish. Might be worth taking some stain remover to it to see just what's under there. Never know, you might find something akin to this...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...f/93R17-02.jpg

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Originally Posted by J. Baker

My little 93R17-GLV is probably my favorite gun to take to the range and shoot. It's amazingly accurate, there's no recoil to tire of, and it's cheap to shoot. What more could you ask for?

BTW, looks like your stock has quite a bit of vertical striping hiding under the factory finish. Might be worth taking some stain remover to it to see just what's under there. Never know, you might find something akin to this...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...f/93R17-02.jpg

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Wow, that is beautiful!

I was able to get out to the range yesterday afternoon to put a few rounds through the Savage. I was shooting the 17 grain Hornady "V-Max" ballistic tip ammo. At 50 yards, it started off about three inches low and three inches to the right.

I walked the rounds into the center bull and ended up with a five shot group that measured around 1-3/16" wide by 1/2" tall. My second group started out awesome and was at 1/4" wide by 3/8" tall until the wind kicked up on the last shot and threw it out to 9/16" wide.... :'( The wind got so bad, that I ended up having to weigh my target stand down with some large rocks.

I moved out to 100 yards and was amazed that my point of aim was the same as it was for 50 yards, testament to the flat trajectory of this cartridge. Unfortunately the wind was playing hell with the light bullet and my group was 1-3/4" wide by 15/16" tall. I decided to call it quits as, in addition to the wind, it was getting a bit chilly out (Winter is definitely coming!).

As for the rifle itself, the bolt function was a little rough (This is expected being brand new out of the box). I really like the Savage "Accu-Trigger", which measured out to around three pounds. The length of pull for me felt a little short even though it measured out to around 13-1/2". I felt a little cramped on the stock. I ended up putting on a stock pack with a cheek pad to raise my head up a bit to better see the scope, and this helped a lot.

The 6x24 BSA scope is a bit overkill for this rifle, but it was all I had laying around, so I threw it on to get me shooting for now. The 24x setting is nice to use to check out the hits at 100 yards. Eventually I want to pick up a Mueller 4.5x14 AO scope and swap out the BSA for it.

At my next range outing, I will try the 20 grain Hornady XTP hollow points to see how they perform. All in all, I am pretty happy with this rifle so far.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y71...sightin001.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y71...sightin002.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y71...sightin003.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y71...sightin004.jpg

Yeah, the wind wreaks havoc on these tiny little 17cal bullets. I basically had the same trouble when I took mine out last week for a scope review. Got it sighted in at 50 and shot a couple groups there. Was doing decent but I had a 15-20mph crosswind that kept tormenting me. Did manage to shoot one tiny group in an extended lull though (#3).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...MR_Target1.jpg

Group 1 = 0.490"
Group 2 = 0.653"
Group 3 = 0.116"
Group 4 = 1.301"

I really screwed the pooch on the fourth group. I knew it was over after the second shot went way left so I basically rushed through the last 3 to get it over with.

I was just thinking about picking a 17hmr up down the road a bit. After I saw a post about reloading with only 9grs of powder with some loads!

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I jumped on the 17hmr bad wagon this summer. It almost always comes with to the range when I'm testing loads with centerfires or muzzleloaders to shoot while the barrel cools on the big guns. Its just plain fun. I can routinely bust eggs at 100 yards.

Was thinking of one of these down the road:

http://www.savagearms.com/firearms/model/93R17TRRSR

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Originally Posted by LoneWolf

I was just thinking about picking a 17hmr up down the road a bit. After I saw a post about reloading with only 9grs of powder with some loads!

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HOw does one reload a rimfire cartridge? Sure you're not thinking of the 17 Hornet?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LoneWolf

Was thinking of one of these down the road:

http://www.savagearms.com/firearms/model/93R17TRRSR

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Do yourself a favor and save yourself some money by just getting the 93R17-TR. That big honkin bolt-on aluminum rail thing is not only ugly, but it's not very functional either as it makes off-hand shooting nearly impossible since it overhangs where your support hand would be on the forend. Found that out when I reviewed the Mark II-TTR in .22LR.

The TR is basically the exact same gun without that rail and threaded barrel, and if you want a threaded barrel any local gunsmith (or a machinist friend) can do that for you for under $100.

You're right he was reloading 17 hornet!

I kinda like the way it looks and would provide more options for scope installment

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you can load 17s you just need a center fire version like my old 700 rem.
essentially a 223 necked down.
i have a 93 in 22 mag and like that also. it has a 3x9 redfield revolution on it which fits the gun well astheticly.