After having used my Ruger 77/17V in caliber 17 HMR for most of this year my overall impression of it can be summed up in one word - FANTASTIC!
Not only has the Ruger stainless heavy barreled Rifle performed way better than I expected but the 17 HMR cartridge has been superb in its performance on all manner of Varmints and small game as well as at the range.
Let me start my report with the range results with my 17 HMR. My Ruger 77/17V (correct nomenclature is K77/17-VMBBZ) was superbly accurate right out of the box! I mounted a now discontinued Weaver Model KT-15 (straight 15X) scope on it and went to the range! I tried all three brands of 17 HMR ammo in it and tried to shoot only on dead calm days to ascertain which ammo was the best for my Rifle. It turned out they all shot wonderfully but the Remington was slightly better. The amazing part of my tests was I never fired a five shot 100 yard group with any ammunition that was over 1.000"! Anyone that has done much rimfire shooting will appreciate the amazingness of that performance! My best 5 shot 100 yard group to date with it has been a .502" nice round cluster!
On a whim I decided to try the Volquartsen trigger sear and spring kit in it. The factory trigger was not that bad at 3 pounds 14 ounces and very very little creep! The new kit gave me a 2 pound even trigger pull and no creep! A well spent $30.00 from Mid-Way I thought! The best group by the way was shot with the original factory trigger set up! The Rifle is well constructed and finished and the 24" heavy barrel is very pleasing to me both at the range and in the field. I think it is an exceptionally handsome Rifle! My Rifle is one of the few "shiney" stainless steel versions. Most are the dull gray stainless finish which is not quite as handsome in my eyes.
During this year I have used the Ruger 17 HMR to take all manner of Varmints! I started out with Ground Squirrels and was amazed at how well it does in the wind and at extended ranges! Then I took it on a couple of Prairie Dog Safaris along with my regular bunch of centerfires! The 17 HMR took Prairie Dogs to just in excess of 200 yards for me! It killed them cleanly and the barrel was very slow to warm up! There are lots of situations I Hunt PD's in that the 17 HMR was handy and better to use than a centerfire on various Varmints!
This spring and summer I have taken about 20 Rock Chucks with the 17 HMR and all were one shot kills! I attribute this lethality to the excellent accuracy of the Rifle/cartridge combo and the speed and explosiveness of the V-Max style bullet!
I killed a large male Badger at a Leica lasered 172 yards with the 17 HMR! Again a one shot kill and the bullet struck the Badger in the Adams Apple area of the throat and it was killed instantly there at the mouth of its den!
I have also killed 2 large Porcupines, 2 Skunks, several types of flying Varmints with it and this past weekend I took an excellent Tom Turkey with it! The one shot kill struck the Tom in the base of the neck at 110 yards and virtually no meat was lost or bloodied with the 17 HMR!
The good news for folks interested in the 17 HMR is that the ammo is coming down in price and stabilizing in its availability! I already have about a half years supply of Remington ammo in stock and I got most all of it on various sales and in various states and stores.
I have made it a point of inquiring of all the Varminters and plinkers I run across how they feel about the 17 HMR and the arms that are chambered in that caliber. The reports have been virtually unanimous in favor of the 17 HMR!
Anyone considering buying one I highly recommend it and think it would make a grand Christmas gift for the youngsters or for oneself!
I have yet to take either Fox or Coyote with the 17 HMR but people I have talked to that have used it on them are pleasantly surprised and impressed. I am waiting for the fur to get a little more thick and pleasing til I give the 17 HMR a shot at them. It will be what I use when the Bobcat season opens here in Montana.
Long live the 17 HMR!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Excellent update. I just picked one up in the 9417. It completes (so far) my 94xx collection. I shot it this past weekend...I stalked several jackrabbits, but never got a shot. I did whack a Dr Pepper can full of water, and it literally seperated into it's original 3 pieces--top, botton, and cylinder--with just an entry hole in the cylinder. I've never seen this on an alum can!

Also shot a big, ripe, purple Cactus Pear, which was vaporized and painted about 10 ft/sq of grass and cactus a bright purple!

Can't wait to get a bunny in it's sights.

VG, See I didn't lie to you about a year ago when I extolled the virtues of this miniscule round to you!!!! After testing(I made it a personalgoal) a great many of these rifles by various manufacturers I am still amazed at the accuracy exhibited by this cartridge!!! From someone who shot BR back in the days of the 6x47 before the advent of the PPC's and continues to do a lot of centerfire shooting to this day, I have never seen anything that can come remotely close to the fun of this one!!! My best 100 yard group using Hornady ammo and a 17VS is .446 but that's not the high point! That same gun will stay at or under 1" @ 200 yards!!! It's best is .807!!! How many of the centerfires in your cabinet do this? Long live the 17HMR!!!! GHD

I'd concur heartily and sing the 17's praises with my fellow Montanan! With one exception - I'm not going to point it at a coyote no matter what someone else's experiences have been. I just believe it's too light for anything bigger'n skunks (killed some of those too!) or badgers with the right shots.

I get only about 2" penetration in most resilient media (mammals) which is not enough to gain my confidence on 'yotes. YMMV, of course. If you're successful and happy with it, I won't give you any noise about it but it ain't for me. Too many 50 grain V-Max's ready and waiting in my garage for just such an application!

Yes, you NEED a 17HMR! GHD's right - this is the most fun I've had with a rifle in eons.

Redial

[ 10-18-2003, 05:11: Message edited by: redial ]

I have a CZ Varmint and 100 yard 5 shot groups average in the .6's I absolutely love it. You fellow Montanans know what a serious day gopher smucking is all about and the .17 is as near to perfect as any rimfire can be, 150 to 180 yards is no problem except for big wind. My Mid South order got here quite a while back and I've got about 6,000 rounds of Hornady waiting for spring. Picked up 2 boxes of Fed Premium V-Shock over in Ennis at Shed Horn Sports Thurs. I also got an Anschutz Exemplar .22 Hornet pistol with a 2X6 Redfield, but thats another story. He's got 3 or 4 Cooper mod "57 Light Varmints" that I'd swap my exwifes left leg for, most beautiful .17's I've ever seen, he's ready for spring--great store. Back to the Federal Premium, I wish I wasn't totally convinced it was nothin but a CCI TNT, but I am . CCI's makin all of em and we have 2 rounds with 4 different names on em. Oh well, they sure pop a gopher, I like the Hornadys on gophers and prairie dogs, and CCI's on chucks.---Shoot Safe---montdoug

How does the round do in wind? A couple of people that have them have told me they don't do well.

Redial: Yep the 17 HMR will be iffy on Coyotes under most conditions that I Hunt in but if one were within 100 yards of me I would take the shot!!
I have NO doubt what so ever the 17 HMR would do well on Fox and again I would not hesitate using it on the lungs of a Bobcat! You are exactly right the gun is just fun to shoot!

Paladin45: Your friends are kind of right nothing "conquers the wind"! You always have to deal with it! But the 17 HMR has half the wind drift of the most all 22 Magnum rounds at similar ranges! Please check any published source for a comaprison with other rimfires. Believe me the 17 HMR does better in the wind than any other rimfire cartridge I have ever shot!
Most folks are chronographing 2,600 FPS and some 2,650 FPS with their 17 HMR's by the way! This is even slightly better than published factory ballistics!
I have not chronoed my 17 HMR as yet but will come end of Big Game season here in Montana.

Ground Hog Devastation: That truly is an amazing feat your 17 HMR shooting under 1.000" at 200 yards! Good for you! Again those of us that have shot 22 rimfires for decades now have a rimfire that is impressively accurate and lethal way out there (175 yards+)!
One of these dead calm winter days here in SW Montana I am going to have to try my 17 HMR at my 200 yard range!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

CAUTION ALL 17HMR FANS!!!

If you keep telling the truth about how good the 17HMR is,all of the .22mag loving trolls from Rimfire central and Marlin talk will invade this forum and have us thrown out for telling the truth!!

We can't have that now,can we????????

Great Report Varmint Guy and, a great little caliber too!
So far, both my 17 hmr's have performed beyond expectations, having owned many a 22 mag I can tell ya, I had my concerns. The little Cooper really puts them in there. This summer it accounted for at least 1500 gophers, several jacks, one huge Porky with a head shot, to many crows to count, 150 or so Rock Chucks that had to be the biggest I'd ever seen too, found them out in a open area with some rock out-croppings 40 or so miles sounth of Great Falls. The Chucks were not spectacular kills due to there big size and shooting distance of 150-175 yards or so however, they were found on a very tall rocky bluff and most of the time fell off about 150 feet! Perhaps the fall helped out here.

A few weeks back, I bought another 17 hmr in a CZ heavy barrel 452 American, it just looked like a shooter and the price of these rifles is a deal IMO. After some minor glass-bedding work and trigger job, it shoots right with the Cooper..

Ric N

Sharpsman: My only intention in sharing my experiences with the 17 HMR is to help push those "on the fence" over the edge and get them going on a 17 HMR Firearm! I am also amazed at how well the 17 HMR pistols are selling! Which ammo does your 17 HMR prefer? Yes it seems about once every 6 months I find myself telling the modererators/owners of some web site chat room/bulletin board that I have had it with them! No biggie! Lots of good sites out there!

RicN: Thanks for your input and experiences with the 17 HMR! Wow thats a lot of Varminting with your 17 HMR already! I wish I had kept track better here recently but I know I have used at least 14 to 18 boxes of 17 HMR ammo exclusively so far on Varmints! Which ammo does your 17 HMR prefer?

Long live the 17 HMR!

Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Ric, you're ahead of me - only 1400+ gophers on my end!

VarmintGuy, great report! The reference to applying a 17 to coyotes was anything but a slam on you, hope it wasn't read as such. I'm sure if a guaranteed-slam-dunk eyesocket shot presented itself, I'd reconsider. To answer your question about ammo, both my rifles shot Rem and Hornady interchangably (well!) but none I've seen have cared for the CCI hollowpoint.

Bottom line is as I said earlier - DAMN this is fun!!

Still giggling,

Redial

Redial: Mark I know its you! Turn off the heat for petes sake! 105 cities in the west set new all time records yesterday! Including 7 or 8 in Montana! Including Dillon, Havre, Choteau, Billings and Missoula!
My mother called and its cool, windy and rained 5" in one day in Seattle! Not a cloud in the sky here again today! Gee what is going on!
It was 78 here yesterday and they are predicting 81 to 84 today! Unbelievable! I hear rumors of cooling by Saturday.
Anyway turn down the thermostat over there in Missoula if at all possible!

When I get a chance I am going to retest the Hornady ammo as it only shot a tenth inch worse than the Remington ammo and they both shot close to same P.O.I.! It would be nice to have 2 brands of ammo that shoots well in my rig!
Good luck if you get out Big Gaming this weekend and do not forget the sunscreen! I torched myself on the Antelope opener last week! I am peeling and tending heat blisters on my feet now. You would think a mostly grown man would remember from one year to the next that high altitude and sun and being afoot from 0600 hours til 1800 hours will cause Caucasians pain! No! I forgot the sunscreen again this Antelope opener! I have a bottle in my day pack now though!
More later.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

varmint Guy,
Both my 17hmrs seem to prefer the Hornady best, have tried the CCI and Remington with limited results. All ammo types do about equal in my rifles at 50 yards but out to 100 and more, Hornady is king! Have noticed on game that the CCI stuff has minimal expansion while the Hornady V-max tears things up a bit, must be jacket thickness?

Good Shooting - RIC

TrademarkTexan: This will give you an idea how much time I spend in Sporting Goods stores and Gunshops. Over the last 6 months I have seen four different people in 3 states buying the nifty Winchester 94 style Rifles in 17 HMR caliber! 3 of the Rifles were the long barreled models with the pistol grip buttstocks. And the fourth was a straight gripped buttstock model! I really like the feel of the pistol gripped buttstock model. I may have to do some horsetrading and come up with some money to get one.

Also this I just got back from a 5 day venture to north central Monatana where I dispatched 2 Coyotes with my 17 HMR (Ruger 77/17V). One was a downhill headshot and that Coyote went down immediately at a guesstimated 100 yards. The other was also a 100 yardish shot and was into at least one lung. This big Coyote spun quite a bit and I was aiming for another shot when it went into some brush and upon getting to it it was dead. Mixed impressions here. Coyotes can be tough even with my centerfires at times to anchor immediately. I do say this for folks that want to quietly thin the Coyotes and are lucky enough to get one at 100 yards or within the 17 HMR will kill them just maybe not immediately with the normal chest shot!
Fox on the agenda next.
More later
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I'll have to bring this up to the top again. I am really happy with my Marlin 17vs 17hmr. Yesterday I took it out in the woods and had some fun with chipmunks and a squirrel. Since it's up in the mid 70's here all the little critters are in a frantic to get food for the upcoming cold in such nice weather. I say nice, but I'd rather it be 20 degrees and snowing. I have shot 3 squirrels(tree) with it and it is definately too much if you accidently body shoot one. Not pretty. Really pops those chipmunks too!! Eesh!

I was using the Remington load yesterday, but it shoots the Hornady just as well. The CCI is lacking, but not by much. I have yet to try it on a crow, but as soon as we get the corn field picked by the house I will have plenty of chances on feeding crows!! I plan on trying it out on red fox too.

I also found that the cheapest ammo for Hornady I could find on the internet was $8.99 at Grafs & Sons. I have found some cheaper in initial price, but since Grafs only charges a flat $3.75 shipping, no matter how much you order, Grafs is much cheaper. They're also nice to deal with. Glad to see everyone else having fun with their new toys as well!! Regards,

Matt

Boy, it must really suck when a coyote hangs up at 175 yards.

I also use a 17HMR. Mine is a savage and it shoots great (best group was just under 1/4" at 100yds). I have shot about 500 rounds though it and I need to have it re-crowned. I have killed eight groundhogs with it so far. Even though it can't replace a good centerfire rifle I think its a great gun for small varmints and the ammo is cheaper than centerfire too. The only disadvantage would have to be the limited range.