Hi guys,

Although I dont realy have a need for a small bore rifle in AK, I have always wanted a varmit rifle and before today I thought the 17 HMR was the only factory available .17, I am thinking about getting a 17 rem now, could you tell me somthing about the round and its uses? mainly for busting water jugs although it may get a wolf or yote if they are dumb enough....

Paladin:

Another forum called CoyoteGods.com is a haven for 17 users. There are a lot of posts about the round. In fact they are real snobs to anyone who uses bigger than that.

However it would provide the prospective you are looking for on the 17 Remington.

Owing a couple of 17 HRMs I can tell you, the 17 bore is a pain in the a.. to clean.

I have a .17Rem in a Remington 700BDL. It's quite accurate, five shot groups averaging about .5". It's a fouling little bugger though requiring a good bit of cleaning. My groups vary a good bit, rarely do I get two good groups in a row. The rifle has a lot of little quirks which most of us accept as the nature of the beast. It's a fun rifle to own, but can come close to driving you around the bend at times. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

Ditto Cal. You definitely have to give it allot of attention. I've got the same gun as Cal, and after a long and rocky road, I have found the load for the .5" group. It's absolutely amazing how the slightest changes in loads effect this rifle. If you like challenges and really enjoy reloading, go for it. I've been ready to pull my hair out several times with this gun, but wouldn't give it up for the world. It's just really fun to shoot.

When you find a standing gopher at 100 - 200 yards and you aim at the bottom of the chest you will see the critter explode into three pieces - the head, upper chest and lower body cavity with the entire spine attached. Quite an impressive demonstration for such a tiny bullet.