Thread: .17hmr thoughts

I know I'm pretty late to the party but 17hmr is just blowing my mind now that I've given it a chance!

I resisted getting a .17hmr for many years, I guess it was just the noise that put me off because I had been shooting suppressed subsonic 22lr and PCP'S for a long time and when I needed more range or power I typically picked up my .223 or Grendel and made proper noise.

Through a mate I was offered a deal I couldn't turn down on a basically new Savage A17, the sexy model with the thumb hole laminate stock and heavy fluted barrel. It was a good deal and I figured if I didn't like it I wouldn't lose any money selling it on.

When it arrived I took it to the range with 3 different types of ammo, zerod in a spare Aim Sports FFP scope I found in the cupboard and was blown away at a tiny 4 shot group from 100m!



This was obviously a keeper so I sent it off to Wingman to have about 2 inches of barrel cut off (pretty much to the end of the fluting) and threaded, they certainly are loud without a suppressor! Wingman suggested a DPT centrefire suppressor running 17cal baffles which has really taken all of the boom away leaving just the sonic crack, which I've actually come to realize really isn't that bad.

Once I got it back I went to the range to do a 50-200m drop test and settled on a 100m zero which was more or less on at 50 and poi at 200m was 1 mildot low. Too easy.

First job was from sitting on the top of a 3m dirt mound on the edge of a barley paddock on Pukeko patrol, managed to get 10 in 30 mins ranged from 45m to 180m. Not a single bird that walked onto that paddock made it away.





Entry wound at 100m shows the devastating energy these angry little bullets have, massive entry wound and no exit.



Happy with this rifle and it definitely has a unique use case that neither 22lr or 223 can offer me.