17 HMR for competitions

[Grimstod]

Does any one use a 17HMR rim fire for competitions?
And are there even any competitions for just that caliber?

Friends at work claim they are very accurate and I would like to learn more about the options available to his round.

 

[pacificman]

I don't know of any 17HMR competitions but then again I live in a small town. We do have a 22LR silhouette shoot once a month which by the way is a lot of fun. As far as accuracy goes it seems that you are limited by the cartridge being a rimfire. I know some who used to try several brands of 17HMR and when they found one brand shot good in their rifle they would buy a whole case or more of the same lot number. My HMR shoots about 1 moa at hundred yards... many times better but the occasional flyer keeps the groups at about 1 moa or so. Good for prairie dogs out to 200 yards or so.

 

[Grimstod]

Thank you for the info. I don't have a 17 myself. Only 22s and a friend at work has been asking me advice about them but I was a little lost cause I know littl about them and there is very little info on the web yet cause it's relatively new.

I would consider one though if I knew I could compete with it.

 

[jonbearman]

I have a savage heavy barrel(mod 93) and the one thing it doesn't really like is windy day's.

 

[Grimstod]

I figured wind is hard on the light bullets. What about accuracy. Can you expect sub MOA with one? I have a Ruger 22 that gives me sub MOA

 

[SS427]

I've had 3 myself. Had friends with them, so I've been around at least 7 different 17 HMR rifles (Ruger, Savage, Marlin) and not a single one could consistently shoot sub moa. The Chuck Hawks website has an article about extensive testing HMR rifles and they got a few that would average sub moa, but the majority of them averaged more than that.

http://www.chuckhawks.com/17HMR_rifle_accuracy_results.htm

 

[Rick in Oregon]

From my experience with HMR's, spending about 60 days afield for grass rats every year, the rifles that I've had (5 so far) and considering all my friends rifles, I'd opine that the only way you'll get sub-MOA accuracy with an HMR is with an Anschutz or Cooper. Once in a while a Marlin or Savage will surprise everyone, but most off the shelf HMR's just will not give that kind of accuracy.....remember ammo is the biggest issue, as it's a rimfire, we're all subject to the quality of the factory ammo.

At present I'm running two HMR's, an Anschutz 1517HB and a 77/22 Mag Lilja HMR switch-barrel rig. Both shoot sub MOA with Hornady 17gr Varmint Express, but wind is always the biggest issue with this caliber.

Here's some targets shot with my Anschutz....definitely NOT BR accuracy, but it IS sub-MOA and plenty good enough for ground squirrels and PD's......



I'm not aware of any sanctioned competitions that feature 17HMR's, but I've been wrong before.

 

[rickiesrevenge]

ALL of the rimfire competitions I've looked into don't allow anything but .22's.

 

[moorepower]

I have a Savage 93 that I have bed the action and got the trigger below 14oz. and it has shot many 1/2-5/8" 5 shot groups. Would it agg 3./4", I don't know but I am fairly sure it would go sub1". The HMR is really picky on headspace and esp. concentric bullet alignment. I still have a bunch of real early production ammo that has been very accurate. I have a custom zero free bore tight PTG reamer, but am kind of hesitant to touch the Savage as well as it shoots. The private range, which all my good groups have been shot has been cut out of the middle of a shelter belt, so wind was little to no factor. It is hard to remember some times, but this round was designed for busting crows and prairie dogs, and it does a fine job of both.

 

[Grimstod]

Do you guys think on average they are better or worse then 22s?
I have shot some 22s that are just terrible. So bad they are hard to site in :'( My ruger 22 is super accurate which was a luck of the draw for sure since it's not a gun known for being precise.

17hmr convert has been singing about his HMR gun a lot at work. Some how I think he had a lucky draw on one with perfect head spacing lake moorepower said. If they were really that accurate I would be interested in one.

 

[moorepower]

Do you guys think on average they are better or worse then 22s?
I have shot some 22s that are just terrible. So bad they are hard to site in :'( My ruger 22 is super accurate which was a luck of the draw for sure since it's not a gun known for being precise.

17hmr convert has been singing about his HMR gun a lot at work. Some how I think he had a lucky draw on one with perfect head spacing lake moorepower said. If they were really that accurate I would be interested in one.

At 50 yds. with match grade ammo and a good shooting .22lr should be at least equal. At 100 yds. and calm conditions, I will bet on the HMR.

 

[th82457]

I shoot in a 100 yd. rimfire "varmint league". Small rodent size targets with very small scoring rings, although a "fun" league it is very competitive. The guys who win use .17 HMR's. Savage & CZ for the most part. I have two CZ's one sporter and one varmint barrel and with minor bedding and trigger work they both shoot sub MOA. Need to find correct ammo. for gun and sort to OAL length and rim thickness. Each gun has it's preference to ammo. They are very sensitive to wind at 100 yd. range - but so are .22lr. My two cents.