Custom Ruger 17 WSM

[accurate shooter]

I have built a custom rifle in 17 WSM based on the Ruger 77/17WSM. It has a Lilja barrel, and a stock from Accurate Innovations. This rifle shoots groups at 50 yards that average in the low .300s with several brands of ammo. Note these are 5 shot groups and at least four or more groups were shot to determine the average. The 100 yard groups should be double that plus about another 10%.

 

[KenOath]

I have built a custom rifle in 17 WSM based on the Ruger 77/17WSM. It has a Lilja barrel, and a stock from Accurate Innovations. This rifle shoots groups at 50 yards that average in the low .300s with several brands of ammo. Note these are 5 shot groups and at least four or more groups were shot to determine the average. The 100 yard groups should be double that plus about another 10%.

Sounds like you’ve got a shooter, what’s your intended use?

 

[B23]

The 17 WSM, for a rimfire cartridge, is definitely a step up from the 17 HMR, with regard to killing power and splat factor on small critters. It's not quite in the same league as the 17 Hornet, but if you are a high volume shooter, and especially if you don't reload, the 17 WSM is considerably cheaper to shoot.

I have a HB SS Bmag that has had a few modification and is very accurate, but like the 17 HMR, the ammo is anything but match quality so how a gun shoots can sometimes be dependent on the Lot# of the ammo you are shooting and it won't matter what brand or label you choose because all of the ammo is made by Winchester, regardless of what the box says on the outside.

 

[accurate shooter]

Sounds like you’ve got a shooter, what’s your intended use?

I developed this rifle for ground squirrel hunting. I was able to hunt with it a couple weeks ago. It is very flat shooting. Zeroed at 100 yards, the 20 gr bullet is one inch low at 150y, and 3.5 inches low at 200y (4200ft elevation). It hits noticeably harder than the 17hmr. I have a very accurate Anchutz in 17 hmr. The accuracy of the two is virtually identical. Maybe the wsm is as inherently as accurate and the hmr? The Ruger from the factory shot over an inch at 100y before it was re-barreled and re-stocked.

 

[accurate shooter]

The 17 WSM, for a rimfire cartridge, is definitely a step up from the 17 HMR, with regard to killing power and splat factor on small critters. It's not quite in the same league as the 17 Hornet, but if you are a high volume shooter, and especially if you don't reload, the 17 WSM is considerably cheaper to shoot.

I have a HB SS Bmag that has had a few modification and is very accurate, but like the 17 HMR, the ammo is anything but match quality so how a gun shoots can sometimes be dependent on the Lot# of the ammo you are shooting and it won't matter what brand or label you choose because all of the ammo is made by Winchester, regardless of what the box says on the outside.

Yes, the ammo has some issues. Some 10 shot strings were over 100fps extreme spread. Standard deviation ran 40 to 60fps. The surprise was the 15 gr Winchester lead free. The accuracy was the best of the brands I tried, but had the worst extreme spread and standard deviation ES=150, SD=63. Average velocity was 3395 fps! It has a very tight chamber.

 

[B23]

I had the barrel on mine chopped back to 20 inches when it was in at my gunsmiths getting threaded. I always shoot mine suppressed and when I run the 20gr ammo across the Magnetospeed, it Avg. right at 3000 fps. I don't think these 17 WSM's need a whole lot of barrel length to get the speed out of them and since I'm hanging a suppressor on the end of mine, stiffer is better.

My biggest gripe with the ammo is this stuff seems to require a pretty heavy strike to make them go off. I can't recall one that didn't fire but there have been many that required me to re-cock the bolt and strike it again to make it go off.