17 WSM ? Savage B Mag? Opinions.

coal farmer

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Well seen this little gem and never really paid much attention to it.
It's kinda got me thinking about one. I have a 17 HMR.
Anybody out there have either and what do you think?
Might make a dandy back yard sniper rifle.
 
I like the the concept of the 17wsm, but I'm still not ready to rave about the B-mag. There was a significant improvement with the heavy barrel, but it's still not an amazingly accurate option for me. Savage does offer an A-17wsm now that might be worth looking into. Otherwise I might look into something other than the B-mag for a 17wsm.
 
I watched bunch's of video's, read lots of posts on the 17WSM before I bought mine. Seemed the stainless heavy barrel Savage B-Mag was the best option for the money. After I got it, I did all the tricks, new laminate stock and bedding the action and worked the trigger over a little. At least all the "tricks" that I could do myself. Accuracy was just decent. Not bad but not stellar either. I tried all the different ammo that was available at the time and that was before the shortage hit so its been a few years ago. While being a nice rifle, it just didn't impress me a whole lot. My opinion is the lack of accuracy lies in the ammo. Like the HMR, there is only so much ammo for the WSM and no match grade ammo. If I really wanted an accurate 17 caliber rifle I would look hard at the 17 Hornet or 17 Remington. It offers reloadable ammo and you can tailor the loads to your rifle. Granted, components are a little hard to find but they're out there. I know there are others that have the B-Mag and are happy with theirs. Maybe mine was just a Monday or a Friday rifle but it belongs to someone else now so it doesn't matter.
 
The Sav. Bmag is kind of like riding a moped or dating a fat girl, they're fun to ride, you just don't want your friends seeing you do it.

Like many I have both a 17 WSM and 17 HMR. My 17 WSM is a Savage HB SS Bmag and though the gun itself is kind of a POS design I have no complaints with how it shoots and I shoot it A LOT more than either one of my 17 HMR's.

There aren't a lot of options out there for the 17 WSM. Ruger makes a nice looking one in their Model 77 but their accuracy can be hit or miss and they're expensive. Expect to pay upwards of a grand for the Ruger 77/17WSM and good luck finding one.

If a semi auto is something that interests you, as was mentioned above, Savage is making a 17 WSM version of their A17 but I don't believe any have hit the shelves yet.

The 17 WSM offers a fair bit more pop than does the 17 HMR but currently ammo is much easier to get for the HMR than it is for the 17WSM so if anyone is planning on buying a 17WSM I'd suggest sourcing some ammo for it first or you could end up with a new gun and nothing to shoot in it.

Also, regardless of what the label on the box says, all, 17WSM ammo is made by Winchester and is the same stuff.

The 17WSM has a lot of potential as a rimfire cartridge but it just has never gained much in the way of popularity among consumers and it doesn't get a whole lot of industry support.
 
Had the 17WSM come out prior to the 17HMR with as many manufacturers
producing rifles for it, no doubt it would be much more popular.
However, that isn't the case and the Bmag feels and appears more like
it was made by Mattel than Savage. As for me, I'm satisfied with the
17HMR and if that won't do the job, the .204R or the 20 Tactical is
more than adequate.
 
Personally, I think they screwed the pooch when they didn't develop it as a 20 WSM. IMO, a 20 WSM shooting something like the Hornady 24gr NTX around 3000fps would have been more appealing than yet another 17 Rimfire. And of course Savage didn't do the 17 WSM any favors with their sub par release of the original skinny barrel Bmags.

For me, where the 17 WSM shines is when you're shooting ground squirrels and you'll go through 300+ rnds a day for multiple days. For volume shooting you just can't beat the rimfires and the WSM offers a fair bit more sploding on sage rats particularly when you start reaching out there 200+ yards.
 
I fell for the hype and bought one, accuracy just plain sucked. Sent it back to Savage and they sent me another, same problem. Sent that one back to Savage and believe it or not they sent me a refund after I sent them my reciept . No more Bmags for me.
 
I did see a 17WSM in a Winchester Low Wall. Beautiful rifle but the WSM and the price tag scared me away. Sure would like to know how it shot cause it was purdy.
 
Originally Posted By: pyscodogI did see a 17WSM in a Winchester Low Wall. Beautiful rifle but the WSM and the price tag scared me away. Sure would like to know how it shot cause it was purdy.

Anyone I've talked to with a 1885 17 WSM was they didn't shoot very well. Pretty, yes, but shoot well, not so much.
 
Originally Posted By: B23Originally Posted By: pyscodogI did see a 17WSM in a Winchester Low Wall. Beautiful rifle but the WSM and the price tag scared me away. Sure would like to know how it shot cause it was purdy.

Anyone I've talked to with a 1885 17 WSM was they didn't shoot very well. Pretty, yes, but shoot well, not so much.


To bad. For what they cost it should be a tack driver.
 
Well, guess I'll wait for Bergara to come out with one.
ohmy.gif
 
I got two of the B-mag's when they came out, one for me and one for my brother, both shot horrible and I got ahold of Savage and sent them back and they sent two new rifles and they shot just as poor as the first, so I sent them back again and they sent two more brand new rifles and they were just as bad as the previous 4! In the meantime I had bought a stainless heavy barrel and put it in a Boyds stock it was a little better but not good. My brother sold his and I still have both of mine but they seldom see any use. I think it is the shells, I don't believe that out of 7 of them Savage rifles they were all bad.
 
Originally Posted By: B23Personally, I think they screwed the pooch when they didn't develop it as a 20 WSM. IMO, a 20 WSM shooting something like the Hornady 24gr NTX around 3000fps would have been more appealing than yet another 17 Rimfire.

Amen to that!
 
I’m glad I read this because I was about to pull the trigger on a slightly used bmag. Really like the cartridge, ur it sounds like the bmags are junk. Kindof surprised since I have seen a lot of accurate cheap factory center fires from Savage.
 
I have 2 17 women rifles.First a Volquartsen semiauto and Savage heavy barrel. They both shoot real well.
Ammo is hard to come by about now,,,,,lucky I stashed some a couple times
 
I have had a WSM in the B-mag. Accuracy was so-so but the biggest issue I had was the rifle not ejecting or feeding properly. Even after a thorough cleaning it would not cycle correctly. Got rid of it and put out some change for Ruger's 17/77. A very "classy" gun in my opinion, pretty cute! It shoots great as I can hold 5 shots sub MOA at 100yds. I also own a Tikka T1x in the HMR which shoots fairly well. My third is a CZ 527 Varmint in 17 Hornet. I've always been a 22 cal fan because I grew up on the 22-250's and later used a few 223's since ammo was cheap and widely available. Although none of the 17s will replace a 223 or 22-250 in the pick up as a ride along gun for catching a coyote in the middle of the pasture while checking cattle, I do tote them while I'm calling because most of my shots are inside of 60 yds in the canyons or cedar country and I do call in a lot of greys. IMO, the greys are pretty enough that I'd rather let one walk than tear it in half with those bigger 22 calibers. Enter the 17's. Yes, the HMR is light for coyote but I have killed MANY with the little round and just as many with the WSM. out of the three, my go to for calling is my hornet. it is a bit heavier to pack around to stands but if I did need to reach a bit further I put much more faith in it than I do the rimfires. Furthest coyote I've killed with the hornet was just a scosche over 200yds. If I had any doubt as to the lethality of the little gun I would not have taken the shot but I was and still am very confident in the performance of the hornet. All in all, I think if you go with any of them or even move up into to fireball or further yet into the 17 rem world, you'll be pleased. I'd personally spend some extra money and stay away from the b-mags.
 
I've managed to get quite a bit of the ammo in the past two years before everything of any chambering dried up. I still have one place that seems to get it on a frequent basis.

Greg
 
My savage HB will be in the squirrel woods in 2 months. It’s been dry with thin air so cool mornings have been priming me up. Luckily I have ammo.
 
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