The
past few months have been filled with rumors of a new .17
caliber rimfire cartridge and a new Ruger rifle in which
to fire it. Now that the smoke has cleared, and production guns
and ammunition are available, we have been testing the new rifle
and ammo here at Gunblast.com.
The cartridge is a new development of Hornady
Ammunition. Hornady has been the leader among ammo
manufacturers lately in developing new cartridges such as the
.450 Marlin, .480 Ruger, and now the .17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire.
Guns are being produced, or are in development, from Marlin,
H&R, Anschutz, Rogue Rifle Co., Taurus, and Sturm,
Ruger and Company. Ruger chambers both their lever action
model 96/17 and their bolt action model 77/17 for the new
cartridge. The model 77/17 is the subject of this article. We
will look at this new rifle and cartridge on the merits of each
separately, and as the combination of the whole package.
The Rifle
Ruger introduced the rimfire version of their
excellent model 77 rifle in 1983 as the model 77/22. This rifle
is the basis for the model 77/17, the difference being the bore
diameter and chambering. The 77/17 has a big rifle feel to
it, without being overweight or bulky. The 77/17 weighs only six
and one-quarter pounds, and has a twenty-two inch barrel. The
overall feel of the rifle is one of quality. The wood is an
attractive walnut, with a nice satin finish and real hand-cut
checkering. This rifle is built like a big-game center fire
rifle. Most rimfire rifles built today lack the refinements
built into quality center fires. The 77/17, and all of Ruger’s
bolt-action rimfire rifles, are built with the same high quality
and craftsmanship as their larger caliber rifles.
The 77/17 has the excellent three-position
safety which allows the gun to be carried with the bolt locked,
but still permits the trigger to be blocked while unloading the
chamber. Another fine feature of this rifle is the patented
rotary magazine, which allows for a nine-shot capacity while not
protruding below the bottom of the action. Many box-magazine
rimfire rifles have a magazine that protrudes below the action,
resulting in a cumbersome carry and looks more like an
afterthought than anything else. The 77/17 action is built
around that rotary magazine, resulting in a superior cartridge
capacity, easy carrying, and improved aesthetics.
The 77/17 has a nice rubber butt pad, not really
needed for the minimal recoil of the cartridge, but a welcome
touch on the classic walnut stock. The trigger guard is made of
genuine, honest-to-goodness blued steel; a feature hardly ever
found on a rimfire rifle these days. Many gun makers, even on
their center fire rifles, have gone to either plastic or
aluminum on their trigger guards. The 77/17 is also supplied
with sling swivel studs. These blued steel parts are a
touch of class on the Ruger rifle, and complement the overall
quality of the product.
One of the best features of the 77/17, and one
that should be found on all rifles, is the included scope rings.
Ruger is one of a very few gun makers that provide scope mounts
and rings with their rifles. The fact that anyone would ship a
rifle that doesn’t have open sights without at least a
rudimentary scope mount is ludicrous. The receiver on the 77/17
has built-in mounts to accept the excellent Ruger rings, which
are furnished with the rifle. Other rifle manufacturers should
take a lesson from Ruger, and ship their rifles with a scope
mount.
The 77/17 action has dual extractors which pick
up the cartridge from the magazine and guide it into the chamber
much like a controlled-feed center fire action. The bolt locks
into the receiver with two opposed locking lugs; another nice
touch. The trigger pull on the Ruger is smooth and crisp,
breaking at four pounds. The twenty-two inch barrel tapers to
slightly over one-half inch diameter at the muzzle, which is
finished in a recessed crown.
The Cartridge
The .17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire (HMR)
cartridge was conceived to offer the rimfire shooter a flatter
shooting, farther reaching, and harder hitting cartridge for
small pests and vermin. The basic case for the new .17 is the
same as the .22 Magnum. This offers many advantages in both the
manufacture of ammunition and firearms. The .22 Magnum case is
readily available, and was a natural choice for necking down to
.17 caliber. From the rifle maker’s viewpoint, all that is
needed is a different barrel, and their .22 Magnum becomes their
.17 Hornady Magnum.
Hornady advertises their .17 with a muzzle
velocity of 2550 feet-per-second (fps). Over the screens
of my PACT chronograph, the .17 ammo clocked 2448 fps at a
distance of 12 feet from the muzzle, so the ballistics
information from Hornady is very accurate. While the .17 HMR was
not invented to compete with the .22 Rimfire Magnum, comparisons
are inevitable. 2550 fps places the .17 HMR about 700 fps faster
than the .22 Magnum with a forty grain bullet. The shape of the
17 grain .17 caliber bullet also has a much sharper profile than
any of the .22 rimfire bullets on the market. The .17 HMR is
loaded with Hornady’s polymer-tipped .172 inch diameter
spitzer shaped projectile, which is ballistically superior to
any other rimfire bullet.
The initial starting speed and superior
ballistic coefficient result in a shorter time-of-flight
advantage for the .17, decreasing the effects of a crosswind and
flattening the arc of trajectory. Comparing the .17 HMR with the
40 grain .22 Magnum, both sighted to point-of-aim at 100 yards,
the .17 drops less than eight inches at 200 yards, while the .22
Magnum drops almost 21 inches at the same range. Wind drift of
the .17 HMR is roughly half that of the .22 Magnum at any given
range. Any way you cut it, the .17 HMR is the flattest shooting
and fastest rimfire cartridge available.
The Combination
For the shooting of the Ruger 77/17, I mounted a
Tasco 6 to 24 power Varmint/Tactical scope with the
illuminated MilDot reticle (see Jeff's article at Tasco's Varmint / Tactical Riflescope). This Tasco scope has superb optics
and precise target adjustment knobs in addition to the range
finding abilities of the reticule. It has proven itself to be
capable of fine accuracy, and thus was chosen for the accuracy
portion of the tests.
Accuracy testing was done on an overcast day
with temperatures in the mid forties, and a slight wind from the
left of the shooting position. All accuracy testing was done
from the bench, using the Accuracy Systems rest. After
bore sighting and getting on paper at forty yards, all targets
were fired upon at a distance of 110 yards. The rifle and
ammo turned in a fine performance, with groups of five shots
shooting under one inch, and three-shot groups doing somewhat
better. Average groups were seven-eighths of an inch, for five
shots, at 110 yards. The best three-shot group went into a
one-half inch cluster. With no breeze, and a better shooter, I
am confident that the groups would be even tighter.
To test the structural integrity of the bullet
in a very non-scientific manner, I fired the bullet into a can
of lard at a distance of 100 yards. The bullet left a half-inch
entrance hole for the first three-quarters of an inch into the
lard. Immediately past that, the channel opened to over four
inches, splitting the can lengthwise, and cratering the lard for
a distance of six inches. The only remnant of the bullet was the
red polymer tip. The explosive action of the bullet hitting the
can sprayed chunks of lard as far as twenty feet to the side of
the can. Shooting cans of lard proves nothing except as a
comparison of different bullets. The medium is readily
available, cheap, and quite consistent between 35 and 85
degrees. The quick opening and short penetration of the .17 HMR
should prove ideal on small pests and vermin such as rodents and
crows. Where legal, this new rifle and cartridge should be great
for head shots on turkey. It is not as prone to ricochet as the
.22 rimfires, but is flat-shooting and plenty powerful for the
task.
Throughout the tests, the Ruger 77/17 functioned
perfectly; feeding, firing, and ejecting without a hitch. Will
the .17 HMR replace the .22 Magnum? No way. It was never meant
to. The .22 Magnum is a very useful and efficient cartridge, but
the .17 HMR excels in a few areas. The .17 is flatter shooting,
better at bucking the wind, and less prone to ricochet. It is
both accurate and powerful, within its niche. I believe that the
.17 HMR will fulfill the promise of the 5mm Remington of
a few decades ago. It has all that the 5mm promised, and much
more. The 5mm was just a shrunken .22. The .17 HMR is a totally
new bullet design, with much greater velocity.
The Ruger 77/17 is a fine rifle chambered for a
fast, accurate, efficient new cartridge; the .17 HMR. I predict
that they will both meet with success.
Check out the Ruger
product line here, and Hornady’s complete line of ammunition and components at: www.hornady.com.
Jeff Quinn
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