.17 hmr opinions?

blackstairsboy

Lad's I will be investing in a .17 hmr rifle some time in the near future. I have done my research and have decided that it is best suited to my use as a vermin rifle. It will be the first rifle I have owned and to be honest I do not want anything too fancy just a decent rifle that will be reliable. I have posted a link to sportsden.ie with a rifle that I think would fill my requirements. What do other .17 hmr users here think about the rifle and do you have any advice for me as for what to look for in a rifle when I go round to the local dealers.

I am not really considering buying the rifle on sportsden I am just using it as an example I prefer to shop local.;)

http://www.sportsden.ie/guns/gun-showroom/rifles/marlin-917v-17-h-m-r.html

tfox

cant speak on the Marlin but I have a Savage Arms .17 and its a cracking rifle, synthetic stock, think it cost bout €420 new.

gr8 all round vermin rifle !!

Constab2

I have the Carbon Fibre Marlin 917VS-CF HMR can attest to its ruggedness & reliability .Extremely accurate rifle albeit a fiddly magazine feed which can be annoying .Accuracy is excellent (Zeiss Conquest) Wildcat Mod would recommend the Marlin & Cz ,Effective at the price best of luck with it

daithi55

had a cz was a cracking little rifle couldnt fault it

garv123

Im after getting myself a marlin917vs. its got a heavy stainless barrel and a different stock. they are great little rifles. one of the lads has same a you posted with a wooden stock in 22wmr and its a great little rifle too. never had a problem with it before in his life.

http://www.shoot.ie/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=2_25

duffies have a good selection of hmr's. he told me in a email the marlin917vs is the most popular seller.

Also Cz would be a good reliable brand.

blackstairsboy

Sound for the advice lads keep it coming. I see one advertised with a .22 heavy barrel. What does this mean is it more accurate or durable or are they pretty much standard? Also say if I bought the rifle by itself what would I be talking to kit it out with a half decent scope, moderator and bipod? I suppose I could pay as much as I want but for reliable gear what might I expect to pay?

garv123

blackstairsboy wrote: »

Sound for the advice lads keep it coming. I see one advertised with a .22 heavy barrel. What does this mean is it more accurate or durable or are they pretty much standard? Also say if I bought the rifle by itself what would I be talking to kit it out with a half decent scope, moderator and bipod? I suppose I could pay as much as I want but for reliable gear what might I expect to pay?

Im not sure but its heavy to carry :rolleyes:

decent scope could be 120-200. Bushnell 6-18x50 is onsale for £118 on a english site.
mounts 50quid maybe more depending on what quality you want
Bi-pod harris is about 100quid. deben are about 70
SAK mod is about 60 pus another 60 to get it the barrel threaded.
sling could be 20-40 euro again.

You could pick up a good second hand package for handy money

Boiled-egg

Will be picking up my marlin . 17 next week hopefully.
I did a bit of research myself and I chose the 17 as being best suited to my wwn type of shooting. It is supposed to be a cracking calibre punching well above it's weight @ 2400fps.
Best of luck

berettaman

I have a CZ american 452 in .17hmr. I got it at the tail end of the bunny season. It is accurate in my relatively novice hands. In the hands of some of the more serious rifle men around here we found it to be extremely accurate in very short order. Ammo is more expensive than the 22lr but it is worth it for the bit extra you get.Brilliant for rabbits at the 100 yard mark.. check out this guy in the link. He has a lot of research done on this....http://www.varmintal.com/17hmr.htm .Hope this helps...

The Big Fella

Go for a cz452 if you can. There the most reliable and accurate hunting rifle on a budget.

pugw

garv123 wrote: »

.
You could pick up a good second hand package for handy money

+1 There are great deals to be had out there, and unlike centerfires you dont have to be as concerned about the number of rounds that have gone through the barrell! The other benefit with going second hand is that the barrell will more than likely be threaded already which will spare you €80! I changed up from a .22 @ the end of the summer, had a choice between two kits, a semi custom marlin and a cz452 american, I went with the CZ because I didnt like the magazine feed on the marlin! You wont go wrong with either brand though! Shop around and see which one feels better! You dont need to go too fancy with the scope either a mil-dot 3-9X40 hawke scope would be all right!

tfox

berettaman wrote: »

Ammo is more expensive than the 22lr but it is worth it for the bit extra you get.

Never understand why people compare the two.

the .17 HMR is akin to the .22 WMR, and the ammo prices are similar

the 22 lr is akin to the .17 mach2

http://www.google.ie/imgres?q=17+calibre&um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=h64&sa=N&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&biw=1280&bih=557&tbm=isch&tbnid=-wa4l8DustAwrM:&imgrefurl=http://www.mienten.com.ar/phpBB3/viewtopic.php%3Ff%3D3%26t%3D12182&docid=niLcFnoyYZdYkM&imgurl=http://s4.postimage.org/5BDxJ.jpg&w=231&h=180&ei=utXfTt7cMMOGhQe469yDBQ&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=791&sig=111312872443882607355&page=2&tbnh=143&tbnw=180&start=22&ndsp=12&ved=1t:429,r:9,s:22&tx=81&ty=80

not having a go just a pet hate of mine, I'll get my coat :rolleyes:

berettaman

I know Tfox. I wasn't comparing ballistic wise per se, it is just that most guys starting with rifles choose from these two calibres for bunnies etc. For the same money I could have got the 22lr ..a very diff animal...;)

tfox

berettaman wrote: »

I know Tfox. I wasn't comparing ballistic wise per se, it is just that most guys starting with rifles choose from these two calibres for bunnies etc. For the same money I could have got the 22lr ..a very diff animal...;)

Yeah for sure, I agree wit you, out of the 4 the HMR is the only one i'd go for

landkeeper

just be careful which of those models you choose, some of the american ones are designed to use open sights and when you put a scope on them the comb of the stock becomes waaaaaay too low to shoot it comfortably

Witcher

It's the Lux and the basic CZ models that have the hogsback stock, the american, varmint, style and silhouette all have a straight comb.

kildare.17hmr

Had a marlin 917v myself, great little rifle. mine was the heavy barrel with walnut stock.

Very accurate gun even with my cheap scope and mounts. good groups at 200 yards were easy after a while as was knocking rabbits at that range.

A few cons i found

1. after maybe every box and a half i would get the odd misfire which got worse and worse. this turned out to be the screw that held the trigger secure.

2. the screws that held the stock tight would also the odd time come loose to locktight sortet this

3. the 7 shot mag, if you get one try swap it for the 4 shot mag, much better, sits flush(ish) and does not have a problem feeding where the 7 shot one does after 3/4 rounds have been fired you will find you have to push the mag up to chamber the round correctly

I loved that gun and actually miss it a bit especially when i see a group of rabbits:D

garv123

kildare.17hmr wrote: »

3. the 7 shot mag, if you get one try swap it for the 4 shot mag, much better, sits flush(ish) and does not have a problem feeding where the 7 shot one does after 3/4 rounds have been fired you will find you have to push the mag up to chamber the round correctly

I loved that gun and actually miss it a bit especially when i see a group of rabbits:D

strange that you mentioned that. its a problem with the .22wmr sometimes too with the walnut stock but it hasnt happened to me with the vs yet.

kildare.17hmr

yeah dunno what it is lad but the locktight sorted it and it hasn't happened since. Same screws an all in the 2!

MickDay

Here lads a friend of mine wants to know at what age do you have to be to get a .17 HMR and i haven't a feckin' clue could ye help out please?

kildare.17hmr

MickDay wrote: »

Here lads a friend of mine wants to know at what age do you have to be to get a .17 HMR and i haven't a feckin' clue could ye help out please?

once you are over 16 you can licence any firearm once you have good reason. 14 for a training licence ie your father has a gun and you want to learn. With a training cert the full licence holder must be with you at all times when you have the gun

FISMA

Remington 700 or a Howa 1500 - you just cannot go wrong.

kildare.17hmr

FISMA wrote: »

Remington 700 or a Howa 1500 - you just cannot go wrong.

do them rifles come chamberd in hmr??

FISMA

Sorry lad, looks like they do not.

I tend to think that the 700 comes in every caliber!

************

Not trying to open a can of worms, but has the OP given the 223 proper consideration?

kildare.17hmr

defo worth lookin at if he is considering foxes more than rabbits!

blackstairsboy

Lad's I thought about the 223 option I know for foxes they are the business. Although I have been shooting shotguns since I was sixteen I would say the amount of times I have shot a rifle could be counted on one hand. So I reckon that the 17 is the best tool for me to learn with it will do what I want it for mostly magpies and greycrows with maybe the odd fox when I get a bit more experienced. I could always upgrade if I wanted to in the future I suppose but see how it goes for starters. Thanks for the help and opinions I will do the rounds of the local dealers over Christmas and let ye know if I purchase.;)