What's available in .17 Remington
rol...@quadsys.com
I want to finally satisfy my curiosity for the .17 REM caliber and
plan on buying a target rifle.
The most obvious choice is a Rem 700 - a great gun, I have one in
7mm Rem Mag and it shoots extremely well - but I'm wondering if other
manufacturers make rifles in that .17REM. A semi-auto would also
interest me but I havn't been able to locate any in that caliber.
Regards
roland
David A. Holly
Roland,
If you want a high end, almost custom gun, try Cooper Arms. I know they
have an excellent reputation for craftsmanship and accuracy. Mr. Cooper had
worked at the original Kimber factory. When it closed, he set up his own
manufacturing company with some other former Kimber employees. The 1998 Gun
Digest lists Cooper rifles in general. And I always see a few listed in Gun
List magazine.
Also, you can get a TC Contender barrel in .17 Rem. I don't think a
semi-auto exists in .17 Rem. Would probably have a lot of feeding problems.
Have you ever examined a .17 Rem. cartridge? Very tiny bullet and cartridge
neck. Reloading can be tricky.
I read about various .17 caliber cartridges in P. O. Ackley's book on
reloading. A shot was taken at a rabbit, but all the shooter saw was a
cloud of dust. So, he thought he missed. On closer inspection, however, he
found that he was right on target. The rabbit actually exploded! Evidently
something quite interesting happens to matter when struck with a bullet
going over 4000 fps. Lots of hydrostatic shock.
Have fun.
=David=
rol...@quadsys.com wrote in message <6lgmig$i...@xring.cs.umd.edu>...
#
#I want to finally satisfy my curiosity for the .17 REM caliber and
#plan on buying a target rifle.
#
#The most obvious choice is a Rem 700 - a great gun, I have one in
#7mm Rem Mag and it shoots extremely well - but I'm wondering if other
#manufacturers make rifles in that .17REM. A semi-auto would also
#interest me but I havn't been able to locate any in that caliber.
#
#Regards
#
#roland
#
#
CoyoteJS
There are several that you can buy, but be careful with what your goal is. 17s
tend to burn the throat out quickly with any bullet. Speed is average,
accuracy is unrelable, and cost is high--are you sure this is what you want?
If you need more please advise-Arizona Ammuniton
Bunny Buster
Actually what you see is a pink flash.
David A. Holly wrote:
> ...
David A. Holly
Well, I checked TC's latest catalog, and I didn't see the .17 Rem. offered
for the Contender. But, I have seen it.
=David=
Tom Aiken
Roland,
The 17 is fun, and my 700BDL is very accurate. In fact I have never met anyone
with an inaccurate 17. at 4000 fps (hardly average) it has the same trajectory as
the 220 Swift, with much milder recoil (when you blow up ground squirrels, you can
watch the action through the scope). The little 25 grain bullet loses energy fast,
so I like to keep it under 250 yards for rodents and 175 or so for song-dogs.
I think Sako and Thompson/Center are the only factory gun makers other than
Remington that make .17 rifles. Kimber used to, but last I heard the only rifles
they are making now are conversions of military rifles.
Keep in mind that you will have to buy .17 specific stuff, like a cleaning kit,
and if you reload, be prepared for a new set of tools (unless you are lucky, and
your existing stuff has .17 adapters)
You have probably heard about the .17's reputation as a barrel-burner, but I don't
think it is any different that the .220 Swift or .22-250 which have a similar
velocity (up to 4100 fps)
Early 17's had rough bores, and fouling was a problem. This has all but gone away
as barrel's have improved, but the reputation stuck. Some people believe that you
need to clean every few shots, but this is not the case.
You can also go to www.dejanews.com and search for "17 remington" and read the
older traffic.
I hope this helps.
Tom
CoyoteJS wrote:
# There are several that you can buy, but be careful with what your goal is. 17s
# tend to burn the throat out quickly with any bullet. Speed is average,
# accuracy is unrelable, and cost is high--are you sure this is what you want?
# If you need more please advise-Arizona Ammuniton
--
--
"Quemadmodum gladius neminem occidit, occidentis telum est."
("A sword is never a killer, it's a tool in the killer's hands.")
--Lucius Annaeus Seneca "the Younger" (ca. 4 BC-65 AD)
epistulae ad Lucilium 87, c. 30
David A. Holly
CoyoteJS wrote in message <6lmd8m$5...@xring.cs.umd.edu>...
#There are several that you can buy, but be careful with what your goal is.
17s
#tend to burn the throat out quickly with any bullet. Speed is average,
#accuracy is unrelable, and cost is high--are you sure this is what you
want?
#If you need more please advise-Arizona Ammuniton
#
Well, that's what people used to think about the .17s mainly because they
were trying bigger and bigger cartridges and the barrel manufacturing
techniques were not as good for such a small caliber. Another clue to
better shooting with .17s is to use a stainless steel barrel. The chrome
molly barrels tended to rub the copper right off the .17 caliber bullets and
the barrels would get smaller and smaller as you shot. This was very
dangerous. Stainless steel barrels don't cause the copper fouling nearly as
much. Molly coated bullets will be a big help too. Today's chrome molly
barrels are made much better than they used to be in .17.
The .17 Remington is a very good cartridge. It is about optimum for bore
size. Many people tried wildcats based on necking .220 Swift, and even the
30-30 and .308 cartridges down to .17 caliber. These were all well over
bore capacity. In other words, there was a lot of powder still left burning
in the barrel long after the bullet had left the gun. This is what can
cause throat erosion. I even saw a "joke" cartridge made from a .50 BMG
necked down to .17 caliber. There are some wildcats based on the .218 Bee,
.22 Hornet, and the .357 mag. all necked down to .17 that are very nice.
=David=
rutledge
CoyoteJS wrote:
#
# There are several that you can buy, but be careful with what your goal is. 17s
# tend to burn the throat out quickly with any bullet. Speed is average,
# accuracy is unrelable, and cost is high--are you sure this is what you want?
# If you need more please advise-Arizona Ammuniton
This has not been my experience.
1) no problems with throating; somewhere between the .223 and .22.250.
You make it sound like some sort of horrific barrel burner, which is not
the case.
2) Accuracy has been spotty ... ranging from merely great to un-f*ck-ing
be-liev-a-ble. My worst shooter to date has been a factory TC carbine
which I had to fight to get under 0.75 MOA. My Remington 700 BDL would
hold half MOA to at least 200 yards. My current TC Carbine with the
custom shop 24" barrel is scaring the crap out of .3 MOA.
3) Cost is not bad for the reloader. Case run just under 30 bucks per
100 through midway, and by buying remington bullets in bulk, run under
$6.50 per 100. Powder and primer cost are, of course, identical to the
.223. When ya get all done, in the long run it shoots cheaper than the
.22-250.
4) I can't quite see how you call 4100 fps "average" speed. Heck, I
can't see how you can call a 3900 fps reduced load average. Average for
WHAT? A wound up .220 Swift? (Who are you kidding?)
It is not for everyone. I wouldn't recommend it to someone who is not a
dedicated handloader 'cause factory ammo is very limited and fairly
expensive. Never met a dedicated varminter who shot factory ammo,
though. And I wouldn't recommend it to someone who isn't a dyed in the
wool gun nut, 'cause you do have to understand what's going on to get
the most out of your .17.
Tom