Browning 17 HMR ammo - Help please

[drover]

I am looking for some "real-world" information on Browning 17 HMR, 17 gr polymer tip ammo. The box list the velocity as 2550 fps, Hornady 17 HMR 17 gr lists the same velocity on their box. My 17 HMR rifle groups Hornady 17 HMR 17 gr polymer tips exceptionally well. I suspect that the Browning may be the same ammo under a different label, but if not it really doesn't matter as long as it groups well.

Has anyone done a head to head match-up of these two ammos?

I have an opportunity to buy a few bricks of it at a very reasonable price but would really like some feed-back before making the purchase. I have until Thursday to make the decision so please share the good and bad experiences.

Thanks - drover

 

[jsof]

To my knowledge, there are only two manufacturers of 17 hmr ammo, CCI and Winchester. CCI produces Hornady, Federal, and CCI with the only difference being the projectile itself and the label on the box. I am not sure which one makes the Browning.
There are a number of threads regarding this on Rimfire Central and when I disbelieved it years ago, I called CCI and, after speaking to a number of reps was finally told it is true. 17 hmr is a really fun caliber and those of us who shoot it constantly gripe about the fact that no one makes a high grade variant.
I also read a while ago that there was an issue with cases splitting up at the end of the neck, but it did not seem to be causing any issues with the rifles themselves. That seems to have been fixed.
As with any rimfire ammo quality varies quite a bit from lot to lot, but if it's a really good price, I'd grab up a bunch of it, as I have yet not found a truly crumby lot of it, nor one that is full of magic bullets.

 

[drover]

Thanks for the info. I am sad to hear that given my experience with recent Winchester 22 LR ammo I am doubtful that this will be up to the accuracy of the Hornady, more than likely that is why it is being offered for less than the current going rate.

drover

 

[th82457]

Since Browning & Winchester are owned by the same holding company - I would guess the Browning ammo is made by Winchester. Lot's of information on Rimfire Central on ammo testing. I have tried almost every available .17 HMR ammo other than the Browning in various .17 HMR rifles. With that said, I usually have best accuracy with loads using the 17 gr TNT bullet or the no lead Hornady 15.5 gr NTX & CCI 16 gr. Green . I have had very good accuracy with the Winchester 15.5 gr NTX - but way too many fail to fires with it as well as damaged cases in brand new boxes. It is a shame that Winchester g=has such poor quality control in their rimfire ammo lines.

 

[drover]

I purchased the Browning 17HMR ammo yesterday, the bullet looks identical to a V-Max except for a grey tip rather than a red tip . Luckily today was dead-calm, although a bit chilly, so I took the opportunity to do a head to head test at 50 yds and 100 yds between the Hornady 17 gr and the Browning 17 gr. They appear to be the same ammo, the drop, elevation, and grouping virtually mirrored each other, I am positive that I could alternate them and never be able to see the difference between the two.

The only thing that would make me happier would be that if the gophers were up - Oh well, it is only about 2 months away.

drover

 

[TheOtherZilla]

I have used some Browning 17 HMR with no issues.

 

[dgeesaman]

I purchased the Browning 17HMR ammo yesterday, the bullet looks identical to a V-Max except for a grey tip rather than a red tip . Luckily today was dead-calm, although a bit chilly, so I took the opportunity to do a head to head test at 50 yds and 100 yds between the Hornady 17 gr and the Browning 17 gr. They appear to be the same ammo, the drop, elevation, and grouping virtually mirrored each other, I am positive that I could alternate them and never be able to see the difference between the two.

The only thing that would make me happier would be that if the gophers were up - Oh well, it is only about 2 months away.

drover

I’m glad to hear it worked out for you.

I’ll be honest I expected it would be the Winchester garbage, of which I’ve bought a couple boxes over the years and those were terrible.

Close scrutiny of the boxes and lot labels often seems to give away the original manufacturer (Fed and Remington made by CCI).

David