looking at a .17

hey guys and gals,

i am looking at adding a .17 to my safe to be used for things that need to be shot. a lease buddy swears by the converted ruger 10/22 mag to .17, but those are hard to find and $$$$.....

i have been looking at the savage a17 (wanting a semi-auto) and wondered if anyone had any experience with them. my buddy thinks they will be much louder than his ruger convert, but hard to know without having one to compare. hoping someone on here has some experience with them.

thanks in advance.....

Louder ?

ford or chevy

ok, for those not paying attention on the back row....lol.

when driving around a deer lease looking to shoot things that need to be shot....with me? sound can be an issue. a gun that is much louder would be considered less desirable. I have decided my AR15 is much too loud for this and I have never owned a .17 and only shot his 10/22 mag convert. it is very quiet but as i said very expensive.

i am not looking for a discussion to get the popcorn out for, but wondered if anyone with experience shooting the other .17's on the market thought they were a loud round. and IF a ford or chevy are louder than the other, please let me know....cause that is the entire purpose of my post.

The popcorn was because I'm trying to decide which .17 myself....no rush tho...

You might get better/more responses if you repost in the "Rifles, Shotguns & Handguns" forum farther down the front page....

I have the Savage with the AccuTrigger. Laminated thumbhole stock and stainless barrel. Very accurate and not loud at all. It is a heavy rifle though.

I have a video on my cell from a few years ago. My brother was shooting a 223 and my Dad a .17 . Text 817-680-9421 and I'll send it to you to compare sound. The .17 is great; taken a few Hogs and coyotes out to 100 yards ( No wind).

I have a ruger 77/17 bolt gun and a marlin 917 heavy barrel bolt gun , both are about the same as far as noise . but I will say the marlin out shoots the ruger . go figure !!

I have the HMR and the mach 2, both are very accurate and sound isn't bad. Very accurate but you need to clean often, the .17 caliber barrels foul quickly but a couple of patches brings back accuracy.

thanks fellas.

i hope i wasn't being a smarta$$...just having a little fun.

thanks again for confirming that my buddy is an idiot! lol.

My .17 is louder than my .22mag but not enough to matter. I would put the .17 against the 22mag in a shootout any day though, especially at a distance. (both of mine are bolts)

I bought a .17 this year to turkey hunt with, CZ Bolt, and to say I'm please with it would be an understatement. I killed a turkey with it at 125 yds. And as for the sound...it's not that much louder than my .22.

awesome!

Most 17's shoot well and most loads will buck the wind better than the 22 WMR, just doesn't seem to take bigger critters down as well as the WMR in my experience.

I have 2 of them one is a marlin and the other is a savage. I like them both. not semi auto but they are worth the money.

^^^^^^^^^^ Agree, 22 WMR is a better performer on critters the size of raccoons and upwards.

In fact I'd go so far as to say...I've been a bit disappointed with my .17 HMR on raccoons.

I read of folks shooting coyotes (and sometimes hogs) with the 17 and while I can see 'headshots' getting the job done I can't imagine any other shot being consistently effective.


As for noise, mine is considerably louder than a .22 LR. Not as loud as a .223 but everything within a half mile will definitely know there was gunshot.

x2

I have 17 HMR. You can never go wrong with Savage bolt action to 125 yds.

I have an older Marlin bolt 17 with stainless bull barrel. Very accurate and pretty quite. I would not be able to compare the 2 that you are asking for but I would say it is just a little louder than a normal 10/22.

I have the 17 HMR in a Remington, the 22 Mag in a Ruger and the 17 WSM in a Savage, the WSM shoots circles around the other two.

Not trying to be a smart a , are you saying the WSM really shoots circles around the others
( as in , not as accurate ? ) Or do you mean it shoots much better ?

I have wanted a 17 WSM since they came out , but heard so many stories of
Savages that were not accurate , and high dollar brands that were not much better.
Some folks blame the ammo ., some blame the rifles. Lots of talk on
rimfire central.

MO

Got my boy one to practice shooting with. Marlin with Marlin scope 17hmr.

I have an A17. I like it. I put a 1-4x scope on it to avoid the temptation of really long shots on game. For jacks and armadillos to 150 yards it does just fine. Crosswinds are not its friend though

Went this morning and shot my new Savage 93R in .17 HMR. Came with a Weaver 3x9 that's actually decent. Couldn't hit paper at 100yd at first so took it to the 30yd rage. Shooting high and right till I realized the scope rings weren't tightened. Mt bad for not checking when I took out of the box. Got them tightened and after a little adjustments was hitting the bulls eye. Took it back to the 100yd side and had a blast. Fun little gun to shoot and accurate as any I've had. Look out raccoons and tree rats!

The 17 WSM is hard to find. I thought about one but always out of stock or discontinued. The ammo price is right in line with 22 magnum lately. I was reading the converted 10-22's took a battering from the larger case.
I somewhat remember Volquartson building a magnum version. Sticking on the 22 magnum isn't too loud and pretty solid on coons and close yotes. Better ammo availability than the 17 WSM too.

Got a Savage bolt .17hmr synthetic on stainless with a bsa sweet 17scope.. nice little gun.. id go with a 4x12 simmons i use to have on a cz .22 lr if i had to change it

killed over a dozen hogs with it also one was ear hole at 90yrds

Had a Ruger .17 with a Redfield scope. Very sweet shooting rifle.

^^ 100% agree

We shoot a ton of 22s for rabbits and yotes. I wanted something a little more powerful and researched 17s. I bought the A17 because most all of our shots are running and we like to throw lead while riding on a ranger. Absolutely love the A17 semi. Sweet shooting gun. Just keep it oiled well. Only issues I have seen is once gets a bit dirty, it will jam. Stick with the A17 ammo. It's a bit hotter than standard 17 ammo and does not jam up. If you read the technology and development of the A17, you will understand why their ammo works better.

I've got a CZ 455 heavy in .17 HMR, it's one of my more "fun" rifles. Crazy accurate at 100 + yards, you just really have to watch the wind at that distance. Does a number on squirrels, rabbits and crows, 'coon and up it becomes more of a range and shot placement issue. 75 yards and under, it's gonna die.

I bought the Savage A17 because I wanted semi-auto. Liked it with the exclusion of the cheap stock. I knew that before I purchased it but I had a plan. The video below shows ALMOST exactly what I did with very similar results. The wood stock made it more quiet. The ALMOST came into play when I had the barrel threaded and added a suppressor. All I hear now is the supersonic crack. I'm very pleased but spent a lot more money than I usually do on a rifle. It was all a great learning experience for me and I'm glad I did it. That's my experience with one 17 HMR. Here is the video I followed with my build. Good luck!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQTt-Jcx7uw

That has been my experience as well. Small game/varmints are no problem. Larger animals (Coons, possum, armadillo, etc..) it gets kinda dicey.

The accuracy of 455 is excellent with several different .17 bullets, but as you say...wind can be a factor when you start getting out to 100 yds. or better.