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  #1  
Old 07-01-2022, 10:52 PM
carbon carbon is offline
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Default Current (2022) factory center fire rifle list (17 & 20 cal) available in USA

Ok, so I already have my guns in the calibers I desire, but I suspect others do not (like my son). So, since the small caliber offering have been going through a culling as of late, I wanted to make a list of current factory CF rifles in 17 and 20 cal. that one could still buy NEW in the USA. I know you could have one made custom, but many are not in position to buy those.

In 17 Hornet, I see:
  1. Anschutz 1771 ($2500)
  2. Ruger 77/17
  3. Savages (various)
  4. Weihrach (maybe no USA distrib?) HW60 J, HW66, HW66 Jagd-Match

17 Fireball:
  1. Deadshot barrels offers an AR15 barrel for the .17 Fireball

17 Remington:
?

204 Ruger:
  1. Browning X-Bolt Speed Suppressor Ready
  2. Cooper (various, $$$)
  3. Howa (maybe 204 is discontinued?)
  4. Kimber Varmint
  5. Rock River AR
  6. Ruger Hawkeye
  7. Ruger American
  8. Sako 85 Varmint Laminated Stainless (maybe)
  9. Savages (various)
  10. Thompson Center
  11. Various other ARs

Curse CZ for killing off their 527 and for Tikka for dropping the 204!

Let me know what I've missed.

Last edited by carbon; 07-04-2022 at 12:05 AM.
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  #2  
Old 07-02-2022, 01:55 AM
JDHasty JDHasty is offline
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I used to tell people to get a CZ or any one of the TC Contender or Encore barrels from Bullberry, MGM or EABco and they would be good to go. Lately I have been suggesting they go with a TC barrel if they want to get in the field for under a thousand dollars.

I really miss having the CZ 527 available. If I didn’t have a CZ 17 Hornet I could live with a TC and not feel cheated. I don’t care for Contenders in 204 or 17 Rem though. I have a CZ American in the former and a Harrington & Richardson Ultra Wildcat in the latter.

I’m just not a fan of Savage rifles. I talk to too many people who have had to deal with “issues.”

Last edited by JDHasty; 07-02-2022 at 02:03 AM.
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  #3  
Old 07-02-2022, 08:20 PM
carbon carbon is offline
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No one else has any info? Is it possible I actually covered all the based? (I doubt it)
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Old 07-02-2022, 09:20 PM
JDHasty JDHasty is offline
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I would give an AR in 204R a lot of thought before I committed to that option, or research them thoroughly. I see a lot of failure to feed issues at our club with them.
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  #5  
Old 07-03-2022, 01:31 AM
JSH JSH is offline
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I have been in to the small calibers a short time by most folks that lurk here.
I had CZ 527’s in everything offered by them except 222. I basically used them as factory cartridge platforms to test drive 17HH, 17 Remington and 204. The 223 came with the 204 as a pair all of nothing at the time. Also had one of their 22Hornets.

All of them are gone and myself for what I do with the calibers, I don’t miss them.
I built or barreled rifles in 17FB, 17 Remington, 20VT, 204 Ruger, 20BR and 22BR, all on Savage actions. These are all bench guns and designated prairie dog rigs, heaviest weights right at 40 pounds and the lightest is around 32. Nope not real pleasing to the eye, not butt ugly either. All of them have surpassed anything a CZ ever offered me in accuracy. The 20BR I used a Bighorn action.

I have a Cooper 22BR, the Savage does no less than equal anything it ever did.

I am not ditching CZ at all, but from the half dozen I had in my possession they shot from OK to excellent. They were just not the tool for the job for me. The 22Hornet is probably one of the all time disappointments I have had, almost ok accuracy but only with Hornet type bullets. I traded it straight across to get my model 40 Savage 22 Hornet back and didn’t t regret loosing $100.

The 17HH is a fairly decent cartridge. I found I could down load the 17FB to equal speed with less issues if I so desire.

As to issues with a Savage, seems a fair amount of issues with the smaller cases is a some what common occurrence.
CZ is far from problem free. The circle of guys I run with has some hard core CZ fans. Two separate fellows 223 and 204, both rifles back to CZ no less than three times. Their fix was to replace both of them.

Small action platform, if Legacy would get their act together on the Mini and do something about their bottom metal, they would have a winner. I have four of them and wish I had an even dozen.
I have a Mini in 222 that serves me well as a walking varmint rifle. 40 and 50 grain bullets make me smile.
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  #6  
Old 07-03-2022, 06:30 AM
JDHasty JDHasty is offline
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I have 527 Americans in 17 Hornet, 204 Ruger and 22 Hornet and they suit me. I had a 223 Varmint Kevlar in HS Precision stock that I gave to a friend. The 223 and 204 shot under half inch groups from day one. The 22 Hornet did using a Calhoon Single Shot Adapter and once I had Calhoon modify my magazines it has been solid. I’m getting 3,250 fps MV with the 40 V-max out of the 22 Hornet. The 17 Hornet shoots between 1/2 and 3/4 inches at a hundred yards with Nosler and Hornady 20 grain bullets, right at 3,600 fps MV. We have a pair of Oehler 35P chronographs and that is actually about twelve to fifteen feet in front of the muzzle.

Basically, they do everything I want and do it very satisfactorily. If I miss, it ain’t the gun. None of them has given me a hint of problem. I guess they could feed a little smoother from the magazine, but as long as I shove the bolt home I can’t remember ever having a magazine feeding issue.

We have a Howa Mini I bought on a whim for $314 on sale at Cabela’s. I took it to the range and it shot just under an inch and I put it in the safe until I bought DIP Aluminum Trigger Guard and Mag Well for it and proceeded to make it into a rock chuck rifle for my kids. I was just going to shorten up the stock and develop loads, but came across a an AT-One Thumbhole stock on Boyd’s Rapid Fire. Bought it and was getting it together and was on the phone BSing with the guys at MGM after finishing up business and the Howa Mini came up and one thing lead to another and I had Brice send me a Prefit 26 inch 20 Practical barrel for it. OK, I wish I had bought a dozen more at that price. Last time I took it to the range I shot four five shot groups the best two measure .291 and .401 center to center. I can find absolutely no faults with this rifle performance wise. The plastic magazines are cheesy, but they feed very smooth and function has been flawless.

The factory magazine release sucks hard. The DIP fixes that.

That rifle is something for the kids to shoot chucks out past where their 17 HH Contender carbines quit them and that is a quite a little bit better than our longer range chuck rifles need to be accuracy wise.

I’m not super obsessive about getting the last bit of accuracy out of our rifles. 3/4 inch out of the smaller case cartridge rifles and 1/2 - 5/8 inch out of the bench rifles provide what we need.

On the TC Contenders and Encore the only thing I really do is Bellm Trigger kits and have Steve Stratton fit hanger bars to the barrels and fore ends. The Contenders in 17 HH shot 1/2 inch groups from day one. One is an EABco barrel and the other an MGM. Our Encore 243 barrel may come around, or I might just shit can it and go with a custom barrel. It’s a factory barrel and so far haven’t got it to shoot better than an inch. It’s a TC Factory barrel. It’s fine for deer, but not of much use for 500 yard chuck shooting. My oldest daughter is right handed, but left eye dominant. That is what got me started on the TC carbine track. I built her 17 Hornet carbine on one of my pistol frames. To say I love those Contender carbines in 17 HH would be an understatement. I put a man stock on them and sneak out with them myself some weekends instead of taking my CZ.

My 17 Remington H&R Ultra Wildcat is on a Sako 461 action in an MPI stock and I have never seen any thing I would trade it for. 1/2 inch groups and it weighs a bit over five lbs.

Our ARs are all 223 Wylde and all shoot about 5/8 inch groups. Geiselle triggers in all but one that has a LaRue. They are built on Aero Precision blemished receivers that I got when Aero was here in Tacoma for almost free. Pretty much all I care about is that I use American Made parts kits in them. Common Toolcraft BCGs and a $14 ambidextrous safety. Just first rate barrels and triggers and everything else is just common mil spec except the foreends and buffer assy. I take great care truing up the uppers, like Aero receivers ever need it. They are never off by much, if at all. We like the Magpul Moe stocks because they work for everybody, super well for kids.

I can’t imagine that one in 20 P or 20 T or any other small caliber wouldn’t perform as well.

Last edited by JDHasty; 07-03-2022 at 06:47 AM.
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  #7  
Old 07-03-2022, 08:35 AM
carbon carbon is offline
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While I agree with most of what I’ve read here, to stay on topic please do let me know of any 2022 factory 17’s and 204’s that I may have missed. Remember I already have my 17 Hornet and 204’s (heavy Rem 700 in a chassis, a CZ varmint, and a Tikka sporter), and this list is for those who are looking.
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  #8  
Old 07-03-2022, 09:12 AM
JSH JSH is offline
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Sorry for the derail of sorts.
Factory action and a new barrel can fix a supply issue fairly quick and easy. There are more and more prefits every day. Some use nuts, others use a shouldered barrel.

Finding a GOOD shooting factory rig in some of what we consider a popular cartridge is more easily said than done. Thus my reason for piecing together a rig of my choice of caliber with out having to overpay for the privilege.
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Old 07-03-2022, 02:56 PM
Bill K Bill K is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JSH View Post
Sorry for the derail of sorts.
Factory action and a new barrel can fix a supply issue fairly quick and easy. There are more and more prefits every day. Some use nuts, others use a shouldered barrel.

Finding a GOOD shooting factory rig in some of what we consider a popular cartridge is more easily said than done. Thus my reason for piecing together a rig of my choice of caliber with out having to overpay for the privilege.
Exactly: I now have a CZ527 in 17 Fireball and am putting together another one in 20 VTT ( Improved 20-222) this will add to, and cover a couple more 17 & 20 caliber rifles in my fold of small calibers. What's not to enjoy ?
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  #10  
Old 07-03-2022, 04:49 PM
JDHasty JDHasty is offline
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I think you have them all except the scads of ARs available from “factorys” and actual factory’s.

My inclination is that with machining tolerances being what they are today and pre fit barrels becoming more popular that it might not be long before we start seeing center fire bolt actions offered in a kit with a pair of barrels. Something like CZ is doing with their rim fires.

What I believe is holding that up is LIABILITY. in a sane world, the rifle would come with detailed instructions and either you follow the instructions and pay attention to detail, or you own the consequences. In todays world, inattention to detail and recklessness is someone else’s fault and the irresponsible get rewarded and the cost is passed on to everyone else who could manage to follow instructions.

The newest CZ is supposed to be something along that line. Not that I have been following that rifle with any interest whatsoever, but I believe it has been either delayed or scuttled because of exactly that dynamic raising it’s ugly head.
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