I just returned late last night from a 4 day Varmint Safari here in the high plains of the Rocky Mountains. Other than the wind at times it was a wonderful Safari with my old friend from the Puget Sound area of Washington.
The highlight of the Safari was taking about 12 Rock Chucks off of a ranch that I had never seen them on before. I took two with the 17 HMR at 120 and 100 yards respectively.
Perhaps I set a new record number of species of Varmints taken in one day with the 17 HMR caliber?
The day in question was last Wednesday and we were up at 0530 hours and motoring to a ranch that I knew had both Prairie Dogs and Ground Squirrels on it. Sure enough they were out and I was intent on trying my new Ruger 77/17V on the Prairie Dogs for the first time! I killed several out to 150 yards with it and the Varmints were humanely put down at that range! From virtually the same spot that first full day of our Safari I took 5 species of Varmints including the Prairie Dogs, a Jack Rabbit, a Cottontailed Rabbit, Ground Squirrels and a couple of flying Varmints that made the mistake of landing to close! All with the Remington 17 HMR and Remington ammo. On the way back to camp that evening as we were crossing a small river near an alfalfa field I spotted three Rock Chucks waddling in the freshly cut and rowed alfalfa! I pulled the VarmintMobile off the ranch track and quickly put a Dog-Gone-Good large window bag onto the window. The first Chuck was at 100 yards and a head on throat shot tumbled him over and onto his back dead. My friend took another exiting Chuck before he got to the den with his custom 221 Fireball. I waited with hopes of another Chuck returning to feed or coming out of the den. 10 minutes went by and nothing had shown when all of a sudden out of a den in the middle of the alfalfa field up pops another Chuck. I let him feed to about 15 feet from the den and shot him broadside in the chest with the 17 HMR. He made several waddles towards the den and I was just squeezing off on a follow up shot when it stopped and his tail "flagged"! He was down for the count with just the one shot!
I only took 6 Rifles on this last minute Safari - besides the Ruger 17 HMR I took my 17 MachIV custom, a custom 223 Remington, a Remington Classic in 222 and one of my all time favorite Varmint Rifles a Remington 700V in 222 Remington and last but not least a Remington Sendero in 220 Swift! The Swift came in handy when the wind began "picking up" around noon each day!
All in all a really great trip seeings it was hastily planned and we knew the weather would be blustery. The intermittent rains only caused a few problems and only kept us out of a couple of remote towns.
No - I take it back - the highlight of the trip was getting into a new to me and never been shot recently Dog Town! Great sport this!
My friends new swiveling, takedown and light weight shooting bench worked perfectly.
I did run into one small problem with my new Remington 220 Swift Sendero. I had worked up a load for the Rifle with the Speer 52 grain Hollowpoint Flatbase bullet. I had originally used my Sinclair bullet seating depth measuring tool to get my test loads to .003" off the beginning of the rifling. Well that depth (.003" off the leades of the rifling) would not allow loaded rounds to be stacked in the magazine box! Soooo..... I seated the 52's just deep enough to fit in the magazine well! I was surprised at the range on my first trip there with the Sendero how well they shot! And I am sure the bullet jump to the Rifling is .100"! I wanted to use these bullets to Hunt Coyotes with as they had been highly recommended to me. So at home in my loading room the loaded round fit and fed from the magazine well! And they worked at the range!Now I find myself out on the Prairie and I load up the magazine with several of my Swift rounds and go to shove one in the chamber and guess what! The extra large hollowpoint of the loaded round comes to a dead stop on the lip of the magazine well! The hollowpoint is so big and flat it jams against the lip and will not ride up over the magazine well. I am perplexed and start fiddling around. It turns out my Remington 220 Swift Sendero will function with one round in the chamber and will followup load with only one round in the magazine! With just the one round in the magazine it rides on the right side of the magazine well and will feed from there. But anymore than one round in the magazine and no feeding will occur whatsoever! Hmmm.... back to the drawing board on that one. I could live with the two shooter I guess as it is deadly accurate with the Leupold 8.5X25X40mm scope on it! My furthest succesful shot with this was Rifle was also my furthest of the trip at 416 yards. My friend took after a big Prairie Dog with his custom 221 Fireball and finally killed it at 503 yards! I lasered it for him and called his shots for effect and I was amazed also! He was using the 50 gr. Sierra Blitz bullet in his Fireball! That was by far his longest shot of the trip. He thinks he was holding about 3 feet over the PD!
Antelope were absolutely everywhere and the fawns were just into their frolicking and playing Antelope tag mode. Running constantly!
The 17 HMR though has a permanent place in both our Varmint arsenals! I was really impressed with its lethality at modest ranges on the Praire Dogs. I did use my Leica 800 laser ranger to verify the range for my friend at 202 yards and he killed a PD with a head shot there using the 17 HMR. He uses the Hornady ammo in his Ruger 77/17V along with a Weaver V16 scope. In two different places out on the prairie I saw the distinctive little 17 HMR empty brass from other Varminters! I think this round is gonna have a long Varminting life myself! Yes I know you can reload a centerfire for cheaper than these pipsqueaks costs but there are people that can look past that and I guess I am one of them now!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

[ 06-29-2003, 05:00: Message edited by: VarmintGuy ]

VG, Just got my anniversary present today from my wife of 25 years...a Savage Striker in 17HMR!! I now have the Marlin VS, the Savage 93/17 stailess HB and the Striker! I put a V-16 on the Savage 93/17 but haven't got to shoot it in or the Striker but hopefully tomorrow or Monday! You are right!! It's here to stay! It is a legitimate 200 yard small varmint gun! The accuracy of this cartridge is simply amazing to someone who has shot BR and had many ridicoulosly accurate varmint rifles! And I don't have to mess with finding brass and reloading it! It's fun to load all the others but sometimes it's just fun to shoot!!!!!!! Congrats on the multi species varmint hunt!! GHD

Al:

sound like you gentlemen had an excellent time!

Do you subscribe to Varmint Hunter magazine?

That would make a great " reader article"

My next PDog trip to Billings at the end of July, will have me bringing my Ruger 17/77VT.
Don't know if you have a NEF 17, but I bought one for $109.00 and with a 6 x Cabelas scope with a Stoney Point target turrent on it, it sure is a real tack driver. Makes a real handy truck gun, ideal for what you described about coming across a field of rockchuckers.

Good luck next time also.

This past coyote season I shot and killed 22 coyotes,17 fox and 12 badger all with my 17HMR all at 80 yards or under and that one at 80, I had to track for over 400 yards. after that I limited my shots to 60 yards and under. The rest of the coyotes traveled less than 1 and 1/2 feet and it was all down.

sly

Well I thought I'd make this thread my first post on this forum. I've been lurking for a while though. That's pretty cool you took 6 species with your 17hmr. I just got a Marlin 17vs a week ago and love the thing already. Ammo isn't hard to find here, but it's not cheap either. At least Walmart carries the CCI hp now, but it's still $9.72. So far I have taken a couple troublesome chipmunks and 2 crows.(crow season just opened today) You wouldn't think that little 17gr bullet would do that much but it sure does!! Just thought I'd say "good job!" Regards,

Matt

Groundhog devastation,

I have been thinking about getting one of those Strikers in a 17. Please let us know how it works out. I don't currently own a 17 and would really like to own one, thought a pistol would be different. Thought it might be fun for a little squirrel hunting here in the South and for a gun to keep in the truck for the occasional coyote. I have never owned a striker, so I am interested in the accuracy. I have heard about sub MOA groups at 100yds with a 17 rifle, just curious how the stiker compares.

Justin, Finally got out of the tractors long enough to shoot the Striker this PM!!! If you go to gunbroker.com you can see the results of the first "field test". Look for "Posting pics for GHD" thread. I shot it about 20 times so far. The 50 yard goups are miniscule and the 100 yard groups are somewhere around 1.5-2 inches. Not bad for the 10 inch barrel and 2x7 NcStar scope! Not quite like the Marlin VS or the Savage 93/17 but sufficient! More testing to come with the hectic season about to wind down! Will post data on velocity and group sizes using all three brands of available ammo soon! In my other tests with the Marlin ans Savage rifles, Hornady and Remington ammo is nip and tuck for accuracy and velocity with the CCI lagging behind in both depatments! Did pick up some more CCI for further testing though! Maybe the short barreled Striker will love it! Will let ya'll know!! GHD

VarmintGuy: A great read but I'm going to have to stop clicking on your varmint hunting threads as I always end up feeling jealous

GHD: What a great anniversary present! What a thoughtful and caring bride you must have! Good for you!
Seafire: Maybe you have me confused with the dynamic and multi-talented Varmint Al. I am Dale Gibbons from Dillon, Montana. And yes I am life member of the Varmint Hunters Association (#185). Thanks for the kudos and bring lots of ammo to Montana! No I do not have one of the NEF Rifles as yet!
Slydog: Yes I will be careful with the long range shots on Varmints with the 17 HMR. The 17 grain bullet will only remain lethal for a limited range. Its just the laws of physics - the low mass projectile is going to slow down relatively quickly. I made a posting on this board about 20 days ago regarding my friend and I killing two Badgers at 175 yards with the 17 HMR. I shot my Badger and killed it with one shot. The shot was head on and the badger was absolutely still and looking at me when I placed the shot right into its Adams Apple area!
Varmint101: Welcome to the world of cyberspace Varmnting. Hopefully we will all enjoy sharing and learning from each other. This board is a great source of information and experiences!
British: No need to be jealous just get out there and harvest some of the Fox that I hear are so plentiful over your way! By the way are the 17 HMR Rifles and ammunition available over there as yet?
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Dale,
Apologies in using Al as your name instead of Dale. We had sent a few emails as we are 260 Remington affectionatos.

I will be going to Billings again at the end of the month or at the first of August. I planned on swinging thru Dillon and giving you a call, to meet you. Maybe get together over coffee or a lunch or something. You author a lot of good posts in here.
I value your prospectives and enjoy your outing results and sharing with the rest of us.

Hey VG, Gotta agree with seafire's post about really enjoying the story of your hunt. Much better than ANYTHING I've read in the few Gun Rags I've seen in a few years now.

Look forward to more of them.

Seafire & Hotcore: Thanks for the kudos! I enjoy sharing what I have done and seen in my get arounds! 90% chance I will be home in late July Seafire so come on by. 100% chance of my being home first week in August.
I just had a visit with a great Varminter, Big Game Hunter, fly fisherman and retired college professor from Eugene, Oregon. He retired from Penn State and we met several years back on the computer. We fished Georgetown Lake here in SW Montana last week.
I have met many and taken to all the folks that have introduced themselves via computer to me. Looking forward to seeing you on the way out or the way back! Let me know.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Justin and everyone else, Shot the Striker over the chonograph yesterday! Averaged 2315 out of that 10 inch barrel with combined ammo, all three brands! Highest measured was 2366 (Hornady) and lowest registered 2267 also a Hornady round with almost all ammos doing about the same thing! The Striker seems to like the Remington ammo the best but Hornady is very close. That's the case with the rifles also...Hornady and Remington almost exactly alike! CCI...same as the rifles! Let someone else shoot it! I put a 2x7 NcStar scope from Paul Dustin (of this forum) on the striker for testing. Seems to be fine. If I can find a Weaver one piece base that will fit it, I'll try a 1st Generation Holosight on it see how that does! GHD

Varmint Guy:

Dale, You indicated that you have a Weaver V 16 on your Ruger 17 HRM didn't you?

Was interested in what reticle you are using on that?

I have a V16 with a Duplex and I wanted a dot when it was ordered. I saw from someone on here that Weaver would actually change the reticle on that for $55.00 or so. I called them, but the guy in customer service was confused. He seemed to think that they would put a Mil Dot reticle on for $55.00 ( What a bargain! Almost too good to be true!)

I have a 4 x16 BSA with a mil dot set up on mine now, but it is not going to be the permanent scope on this rifle.

Just interested in your inputs on yours.

Seafire: I have a Weaver straight 15 power scope on my Ruger 77/17V. I think it is called a KT15 and is now discontinued. My partner from the Seattle area has a Weaver V16 (4 to 16 power variable) on his Ruger 77/17V. He has the Du-Plex reticle in this Weaver on the Ruger 17 HMR. I also have the Du-Plex reticle in my Weaver 15X on my Ruger 77/17V. My friend brought along on this venture his custom Ruger 77 in caliber 221 Remington Fireball. This Rifle had the Weaver V16 with the fine cross hairs and dot reticle. He likes both reticles and has a couple more of each on other Rifles. I shot it several times on Prairie Dogs out to 260 yards or so.
I like the Du-Plex for Varminting myself and have been using the Du-Plex reticle as a crude hold over - hold into gauge for decades. The Du-Plex is much more usable for night Hunting of Varmints - of which I do a lot. So the Du-Plex is about automatically bought and used by me.
The Mil-Dot for $55.00 sounds like a bargain to me! I have been very pleased with the two Weavers I now have on Varmint Rifles. My other Weaver is a V16 with Du-Plex crosshairs and its on a 243. No complaints with either so far!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I recently aquired a Sendero that had a V-16 on it. During testing I was extemely impressed with the tracking of the scope! Ran it up for 1 shot at 100,200,300, 400 then came back doing 1 shot each at same distances and was the most accurate "dialing" of any scope I had at the time! How impressed was I? Would probably try another one based on that one! Have now had it on 2 different rifles with same results!! It is a duplex and has been stated by previous posters, more useful all around than the dots! Dots have thier place....on the bench! Just my thoughts! GHD