17 WSM ? Savage B Mag? Opinions.

I would think once someone gets their hands on some 17 hornet brass it will cost pennies to load vs the expensive and almost impossible find rimfire ammo. Imo you can load and shoot any time vs letting gun sit untill almost impossible by ammo to find shows up. I quit buying new odd ball calibers years ago that only gain a couple hundred FPs. Imo the same velocities can be obtained with calibers that have been around for decades, or more, and hand loads. It's still the same 17 cal bullet no matter what case it sits in. Had a 17 rem, fireball, hornet, and HMR years ago. Got rid of all of them. I prefer a 22 wmr, .223, and .224 over it.
 
Last edited:
I know I am late to the game a bit.
Had a 17HMR and a CZ 17 Hornet. They are both gone. The Hornet was OK the HMR left me wanting a lot. Heavy barrel 17WSM took the place of those two. I have close to 10K of WSM ammo, bought all of it on GB for cheap when no one else wanted it $50-70 per case.
No it’s not quite a 17HH, but close. I barreled up a rifle in 17 fireball. Way better shooter than the Hornet dreamed of. Along with better brass, if I want Hornet speeds I can down load it to equal the 17HH.
I purpose built my varmint rigs. 17 WSM is mostly a truck gun. 17FB and 20VT are short to midrange, 250 max. Then comes the 17 Remington or the 204 Ruger 200-350. Some where in there the 223,20BR,22BR come to the show. If wind and conditions are where everything else struggles the 6BR or 6CM see some use. The 6’s see little as mirage is usually more a limiting factor than wind.

Coyotes and predators I have different medicine. 26” 22Nosler for the time being.
Working on a 22 Clark, may see some late season use but am not going to rush it. Preliminary hopes look pretty good. 75 grain class bullets at around 3700 or a bit more look doable. Yeah I know it won’t last long. Already thinking on a 30” barrel next go around.
 
I dropped my Bmag into a Boyd’s stock (before the stainless lamo was available), and even with an absolute garbage scope, it holds ~1moa out to 250. I’ve never really challenged maximum precision with it, or how far it will hold on, but when I go play with it, it has kept my attention. Considering I have $225 into the rifle and $93 into the stock, eh, it does more than I’d generally expect.
 
I think if you keep the mind set that this isn't a bench rifle and won't shoot one hole groups, you won't be disappointed or at least not completely. It would be nice if someone made better ammo for it and the HMR.
 
Shot a coyote at 172 yards with my buddies .17WSM two weeks ago using the Winchester Varmint X 15 grain bullets. First shot hit him in the neck and it was flopping around. After it laid still long enough and raised its head up I shot him between the eyes. Not a one shot kill but pretty impressive accuracy and power for a rimfire. His heavy barreled B-Mag has no accuracy problems whatsoever. I was apprehensive about shooting the lighter bullets at a coyote but it done it in bad enough that it couldn't run. All I had to do is get a good second shot on it.
 
Back
Top