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  #1  
Old 01-31-2021, 06:13 PM
Qaz Qaz is offline
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Default 17WSM and its future

I think this is a good round and a useful one, but it has gone nowhere. Except for a handful of manufacturers, no one has supported it. Has anyone around here worked with it? Has anyone made a 20wsm or 19wsm? Chuck Hawks thinks the case would make a very useful 6mm revolver round. His explanation of why seems logical to me and I agree with him. I think Nvreloader likes to play with the rimfires if my memory serves me right. Have you done anything Nv? There is a guy on Youtube that reloads the 17hrm hotter and uses Leigh high bullets for long range shooting.
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  #2  
Old 01-31-2021, 07:48 PM
Bayou City Boy Bayou City Boy is offline
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I own two 17 WSM rifles and I like both of them. In spite of what everyone on the internet who doesn't own one will tell you, both Ruger 77/17 rifles are very good shooters just as they came from the box. Go figure......

One is an original 24" barreled walnut stock/stainless action sporter weight rifle and the other is the later stainless metal/laminated stock rifle with an 18" barrel. As stated before, both rifles shoot extremely well.

When a couple of local Gander Mountain stores near me went belly-up a few years ago along with the entire GM company, I bought out their supply of 17 WSM ammo the last day that each store was open. Not sure of the exact pennies involved at this time, but I bought a beaucoup bunch of 50 round boxes of 17 WSM ammo that I paid roughly $3.35 each. I still have a very good supply of 17 WSM ammo......

The pic shows a target with three five shot groups shot with the first walnut stocked rifle just after I got it a few years back. Both rifles shoot comparably at 100 Yards. For reference, the square just below the top group is a 1" square. The spacing between all lines is also 1".

btw - the top group is a five shot group. The top group only shows 4 holes with a quick glance, but if you look closer you can see that the center most hole just to the right of the vertical red line is slightly elongated from two bullet strikes.

What's not to like about a 17WSM RF cartridge and rifle combo?




EDIT: Whoops, barrel is not threaded........ It's my look-alike Ruger 77/17 17 Hornet with the 18" barrel that is threaded.

-BCB
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Last edited by Bayou City Boy; 01-31-2021 at 08:24 PM.
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  #3  
Old 01-31-2021, 07:52 PM
barretcreek barretcreek is offline
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My understanding is the parent case is from an industrial cartridge for driving studs into concrete. Requires a heavy firing pin spring, which is why the Savage is such a clunker. Ruger makes one and Winchester has a Low wall.
If it was available in a CZ I'd be really interested, but it may be tough to make a slick functioning repeater.
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Old 01-31-2021, 09:20 PM
B23 B23 is offline
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I'm a huge 17 WSM fan and I think it's a great cartridge. Does it have its issue, yes, but the 17 HMR isn't without its faults either and I think the 17 WSM is a much more capable round.

Not really sure why CZ seems to have no interest in the 17 WSM. It's unfortunate that they don't because I'd imagine a CZ 17 WSM would probably put them at the top of the want list with regard to the 17 WSM.

The popularity of the 17 WSM overall is kind of a strange deal. For me, having both the HMR and WSM, it's a no brainer, come spring and ground squirrel season and I'm reaching for my WSM. I've got cases of HMR ammo still and can't even remember the last time I shot either one of my HMR's that's how much better I like shooting my WSM and mine is a HB SS Bmag so it's not as if my WSM is some super fancy piece and my HMR's are POS's.

All 17 WSM ammo is Winchester regardless of what the box says on the outside and I'll be honest it's just "ok" quality and I'm being nice but I'm really not even sure that has all that much impact on the 17 WSM's popularity. I used to think it did but lets face it short of the benchrest 22lr ammo all other rimfire ammo quality is just "ok-ish" at best so it's not exclusively a 17 WSM problem.

I'm still surprised at how many people either don't know what a 17 WSM is or they confuse it with A17 ammo. I've been at Sportsman's Warehouse on multiple occasions and overheard one of the counter guys explaining to someone that the 17 WSM was a completely different cartridge because the customer had it confused with CCI A17 HMR ammo that shoots 100fps faster than the standard 17gr 17 HMR ammo.
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  #5  
Old 01-31-2021, 09:46 PM
df06 df06 is offline
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Default 17s

Never owned a17wsm, but would like to if it was reloadable.
I do wish there were more rifle options in the 17HH.
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Old 01-31-2021, 09:51 PM
GLWenzl GLWenzl is offline
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I haven’t had my crystal ball out in a while so I’m not really sure what the future is…

But the 17 WSM it’s really an awesome little round. I keep thinking someday I’ll have one other A.R. 15 conversion kits for it!

The 17 WSM is right on the heels of a 17 CCM which happens to be my all-time favorite 17 I’ve ever owned.

Although I own several 17 HMR‘s and really like my age 17 auto loader; for me I could give up the HMR as long as I could keep my HM2s snd 17 WSM.
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  #7  
Old 01-31-2021, 09:55 PM
obijohn obijohn is offline
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I think that if the 17 WSM had come out before the HMR, it would be dominant... but the HMR can be more easily retrofitted to any rifle that can accept .22 WMR. Not so for the WSM.

It's also my impression that the HMR is slightly more accurate. The Savage featured in the earlier post is shooting about 1 MOA... my HMRs will do better than that consistently (CZ 452 and 455), around 3/4 MOA. I know, this is nitpicking and if I miss a small target within 200 yards it's me and not the rifle. I could be wrong about the inherent accuracy of the two cartridges, and I'll defer to those who are more knowledgeable and experienced.

Perhaps the larger reason the WSM hasn't taken off is because if I want something better than the HMR, why not get a .17 Hornet? If the WSM is 100 yards better than the HMR, the Hornet is 100 yards better than the WSM. I have the HMRs and a new .17 Hornet built on a Browning A-Bolt II with a Lilja barrel, and honestly can't see why I'd want a WSM. Several nice rifles available in .17 HMR and .17 Hornet, but not really for the WSM. The HMR is when I want a little more reach than a .22, the .17 Hornet is when I want up to 300 yards and be able to see the bullet strike easily.

I have nothing against the WSM, and if people like it and have a good rifle in that caliber... all the better. But, I can't see myself buying one given I have the HMR and the Hornet. I think the WSM was a good idea, but too late to the game. Hornady was at the right place at the right time, and in terms of easy adaptability to current rifles the HMR is just a better design.
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Old 01-31-2021, 11:56 PM
Daryl Daryl is offline
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We use .22 RF's to 100yards on our larger Columbia Ground Squirrels/gophers, then another 100yards for the .17HMR's, to 200yards. I do have a Martini HMR that is reliable to 280yards, but the Marlin is done just past 200yards, for head and chest hits.
From 200yards out, that is where the CF's come in, .222, .17 AH and .17AckBee and .17Rem.
Those, except for the .222, work fairly well right out to 500yards.
I don't have a CZ Hornet right now, I miss it.
The .17 WSM would be an intermediate round, to 300yards, then, but would just mean packing another rifle. But then, it would mean packing another rifle - yipeeee. I don't have one, yet. Right around here, ammo is hard to find for it.
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  #9  
Old 02-01-2021, 02:13 AM
Bayou City Boy Bayou City Boy is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by obijohn View Post
I think that if the 17 WSM had come out before the HMR, it would be dominant... but the HMR can be more easily retrofitted to any rifle that can accept .22 WMR. Not so for the WSM.

It's also my impression that the HMR is slightly more accurate. The Savage featured in the earlier post is shooting about 1 MOA... my HMRs will do better than that consistently (CZ 452 and 455), around 3/4 MOA. I know, this is nitpicking and if I miss a small target within 200 yards it's me and not the rifle. I could be wrong about the inherent accuracy of the two cartridges, and I'll defer to those who are more knowledgeable and experienced.

Perhaps the larger reason the WSM hasn't taken off is because if I want something better than the HMR, why not get a .17 Hornet? If the WSM is 100 yards better than the HMR, the Hornet is 100 yards better than the WSM. I have the HMRs and a new .17 Hornet built on a Browning A-Bolt II with a Lilja barrel, and honestly can't see why I'd want a WSM. Several nice rifles available in .17 HMR and .17 Hornet, but not really for the WSM. The HMR is when I want a little more reach than a .22, the .17 Hornet is when I want up to 300 yards and be able to see the bullet strike easily.

I have nothing against the WSM, and if people like it and have a good rifle in that caliber... all the better. But, I can't see myself buying one given I have the HMR and the Hornet. I think the WSM was a good idea, but too late to the game. Hornady was at the right place at the right time, and in terms of easy adaptability to current rifles the HMR is just a better design.

I have rifles for the HMR, the WSM, and the Hornady Hornet. All serve a different but similar purpose. I prefer to hand load for better accuracy if I can, so the 17 Hornet is probably my favorite of the three for that reason and for the fact that it has a bit more reach if you want it. The WSM would fall into second place with the HMR trailing behind in a distant third place. But the two RF cartridges both work for me too.

-BCB
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I miss mean Tweets, competence, and $1.79 per gallon gasoline.

Yo no creo en santos que orinan.

Women and cats will do as they please. Men and dogs should relax and just get used to the idea.

Going keyboard postal over something that you read on the internet is like seeing a pile of dog crap on the sidewalk and choosing to step in it rather than stepping around it.

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Old 02-01-2021, 04:17 AM
B23 B23 is offline
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100% Completely agree. For more precision shooting, more reach, and lets not forget the funnest element of them all "splat factor" in the tiny cartridges the little 17 Hornet is the hands down winner but in all fairness to the 17 HMR and WSM it's not really a fair fight. With the Hornet being reloadable so we can control nearly all the variables and the HMR and WSM at the mercy of mega mass production and mediocre QC, if you spend much time measuring and examining the HMR and WSM ammo it's actually rather amazing that stuff shoots as well as if does. I know if I loaded my centerfire ammo with the same inconsistencies that rimfire ammo has my CF rifles would should terribly.

I love my two CZ 527 17 Hornets. I shoot my 17 Hornets, WSM, and HMR suppressed which just adds to their enjoyment and they are just a fun little guns to shoot but where I like my 17 WSM better is in the spring when it's sage rat season because you can easily go through 300+ rounds a day for multiple days a week for a few weeks and my 17 WSM though not as consistently accurate or powerful as my Hornets saves me countless hours grinding away in my loading room reloading thousands of rounds of 17 Hornet ammo and I can't speak for others but after so many hours of reloading those tiny little cases and seating those itty bitty little bullets my eyes start to cross.
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