What's With 17cal Varmint Guns?

[B23]

That would be a 20vartarg. You will love it.

I think the 20 VarTarg is a 30degree shoulder and slightly longer neck dimension. I'm looking at doing just a straight 20-221FB but they're so close it's almost like splitting hairs.

 

[Ohio Varmint Shooter]

I can't speak for other 17s....but my 17hmr is really good at certain things. I have the bull barrel Savage. Rather nose heavy, so it wants to slide off my shoulder a lot.

If zero'd in at 100 yards, it's about 3/4 inch high at 75 yards, and about 2 inches down at 150 yards. (and 150 is about as far as I'd go) As long as there's no wind, mine is wicked accurate. And I've seen/read reports and postings that others are very accurate too.

I use the 17hmr as my short range groundhog gun. But you have to go for head/neck/heart shots. You can't just blast away anywhere on the body like with center fire. And there are some fields I gh hunt that are close to some residential homes. So the small, exploding bullet... combined with less noise makes it the right choice in those situations. I have some other places where the land gently rolls with some hills, so you can't see too far anyway. The 17 works well there too.

 

[Big Mc]

For the first time in almost 10 years l am going to shoot prairie dogs in May.. Reading and looking

around l see lots of references to 17cal center fire varmint guns and cartridges... My question----

How do these 17 center fires compare to 22 center fire ctgs on prairie dogs.. First hand experiences.

thanks

282

I built a 17/223 back in 2009. Most fun gun I own. Just ask the many many yotes that met it. Tommy Mc

 

[searcher]

The .17's really shine when you want low noise either because of neighbors or skittish critters and/or minimal chance of ricochets. The .17 HMR (these are MY experiences) is great for out to 175 yards on average and my .17 Hornet out to 300. Wind is devilish with these small bullets, as they are capable of hitting much past these distances - but wind ultimately limits their effectiveness. You will definitely want a larger caliber rig to accompany a .17 for when the wind comes up (or allowing your .17 to cool down). Probably get a .20 Practical or similar for out to 450 average or even larger to push way out. maybe a 6BR or something along those lines. my shooting buddies have bought the .17 WSM's and they fill the gap between the .17 hmr and the .17 Hornet. The Hornet is a center-fire cartridge - so loading to your gun is possible. With the rim-fire rounds, maybe your gun will like the ammo - and maybe not. In most cases, the rim fires do well enough as intended for the shorter distances anyway. Even a "mediocre" 1 MOA rig will hit squirrels/prairie dogs most of the time at 150.

 

[tstowater]

I generally take 5 or more guns for a PD trip. This will include one or more 17s. Depending on time of year and expected shooting locations and ranges, the 17 will be either an HMR, WSM or 17 REM. HMR is good to 175, WSM to 275ish and 17 REM to 350+. None of them like a lot of wind. Love the 17 REM if light winds. Can shoot as far as I am comfortable with a 12X scope without recoil.

Other guns are generally one or more 204s and a pair of 22-250s or 220 Swifts. Picked up a 20VT to play with this year. We will see how that goes. FIL is planning on putting together a 17 Hornet so that could be a happy medium.

 

[Tommie]

The 25 grain 17 cal V-Max has a (declared) G1 BC of .230 which, while not amazing, is better than some of the lighter .22 cal bullets. When then combined with 4,000 FPS velocity many shooters have found wind drift to be much less than several of the mainstream varmint cartridges. The high RPM’s out of a 1-9” twist barrel help make for some eye-opening splattage.

That said, I’ve never owned or shot a .17 that I’d use much past 400 yards on the prairie. IMO the sweet spot of the .17 is inside that yardage where light recoil (and being able to spot hits/misses) really come into play.

No one gun or chambering will cover all the bases.

 

[JSH]

I built a 17/223 back in 2009. Most fun gun I own. Just ask the many many yotes that met it. Tommy Mc

Is it an improved case or just quick and easy neck down of the 223?
When this 17 Remington gives up I always figured to just go to a 17-223 of some sort.
Same goes for the 204 Ruger, it will be a practical next go around.

 

[sw282]

l'm really not interested in seeing how far l can hit a PD.... For that reason my

Win70 HV in .243 stays home most of the time. l want to see RESULTS when l

pull the trigger... This is my questioning about 17 cal Center Fires... l prefer to

keep things relatively simple with my shoots. Flying l take one gun MAX. lf l do

drive l will take a second gun

 

[Tommie]

l'm really not interested in seeing how far l can hit a PD.... For that reason my

Win70 HV in .243 stays home most of the time. l want to see RESULTS when l

pull the trigger... This is my questioning about 17 cal Center Fires... l prefer to

keep things relatively simple with my shoots. Flying l take one gun MAX. lf l do

drive l will take a second gun

One gun: 204 Ruger (for factory ammo shooters).

 

[Big Mc]

Is it an improved case or just quick and easy neck down of the 223?
When this 17 Remington gives up I always figured to just go to a 17-223 of some sort.
Same goes for the 204 Ruger, it will be a practical next go around.

The case is blown out as far as it can go. Almost no neck. 20 gr. pills @ 4100 fps. But it can not be shoot in the fog.. Rcbs forming dies two steps. And did I say FUN !!!!

 

[AckleymanII]

Fun = Air Time!

Vartarg usually needs neck turning, you need several hundred cases for volume shooting.

For me, just watching the dogs fall over is boring.

I have owned most of the 17's and wild cats.

For a light caliber, I would opt for a 20 practical with 39g Blitz kings or the Tactical, simple to make, and fire forming produces excellent speed and accuacy.

223 AI is hard to beat, and 55g Sierra Blitz king and V max at 3700 produces some spectacular accuracy and incredible acrobatics on hits, very humane.

Don't forget cleaning and fouling issues, what ever you do.

 

[VaRandy]

With a 22 cal you probably either need a heavier gun or a muzzle break to see your shots. With my 17 and 20 cals, I do not. My eyes water when I shoot with a break. Laying in the dust of a PD town I don't want "particulate matter" being blown into my face or lungs.

I can also shoot MUCH longer strings with my Fireball and Vartarg than I could with a 223 or bigger. Personally, my fireball is more spectacular on PD's vs the VT, but, I attribute that to the twist rate.

Less fatigue and more accuracy.

Do you use a mat or similar under the break to reduce scatter?

 

[AckleymanII]

Radial brakes put dirt in your eyes, tactical breaks with the side ports are MUCH better.

"Personally, my fireball is more spectacular on PD's vs the VT, but, I attribute that to the twist rate."

22 cal, Bullet weight gives the launches.

 

[GrocMax]

17HMR is the most fun in blustery winds and the spring- young dumb ones close in.

 

[Ironworker]

I have a Savage A17 and its a hoot ! I have shot squirrels with it,large exit holes ,but the squirrels still manage to do the breakdance regardless of the large exit wound.So it doesn't have the shock of a ceterfire.

 

[B23]

I have a Savage A17 and its a hoot ! I have shot squirrels with it,large exit holes ,but the squirrels still manage to do the breakdance regardless of the large exit wound.So it doesn't have the shock of a ceterfire.

I have one of the heavy barrel Sav A17's and with the Butler Creek 25 rnd mags, these things are a sage rat slaying machine. I've been pretty impressed with how well it shoots but good lord did the trigger take a lot of work to make it acceptable. Not sure about yours but mine flat out sucked. It had a ton of pretravel and it was soooo crunchy. I probably spent at least two hours tuning on it before I got it down to a respectable 2.25-2.50 lbs. It's a lot more fun to shoot since I got the trigger fixed.

 

[Ironworker]

Oh my Trigger is very nice. I've done nothing to it.

 

[martini]

I shot sage rats for the first time recently in Nevada. Mostly, I shot my custom 17 Ackley Bee Martini. The wind was reliatively calm and I had no problem reaching out past 200 yards with 20g Vmax and 20g Berger bullets.

 

[markT]

Nice looking jack and sled arrangement you have there. What's the bench look like?

 

[martini]

I'm primarily a PD shooter. I switched to the scissor jack front because it's much quicker to adjust vertical than my Sinclair bench rest style front rest. Horizontal is handled by sliding the board containing with the rear bag and front rest across the carpeted top. The bottom of the boards is sanded smooth and the carpet is coated with a lubricant that allows the board to slide easily but not move when I want to shoot. The board has grooves that base of the scissor jack moves along to keep it centered as well as stable. I use different inserts underneath the rear bag to adjust the height for the particular rifle that I'm shooting. The shooting bench is a commercial one made of steel that I modified by adding the carpeted top, boards to stablize the feet and a larger seat because I used to be really heavy. I don't know whether the bench is still made as I've had it for over a decade. It also sits significantly taller that other shooting benches which I feel is an advantage in the flatlands where most of the PD shooting is.