AusVarmint

I was at my dealers today talking bullshit as you do. He started telling me about his marlin 17hmr and how well it shoots, shooting roos in the head at 160mtrs. I just rolled my eyes in the back of my head, thinking to myself bullshit. As about all i know about this round is its a necked down 22mag. Is this possible or a tall tale ? Here is a list of questions for you Guys and Girls who own one, and maybe you can enlighten me on what this round is capable of.
1. What sort of velocity is this little round reaching ?
2. How flat does it shoot ?
3. How accurate is this round ?
4. 17 HMR or 17 Ackley Hornet ? And yes i reload and i have a 22 hornet already.
5. Given the chioce out of these two which one would you have and why? Marlin model 917vt thumbhold $789 or Savage Tactical $695
6. How much is the ammo on average ?
Cheers Ron

Ron,I have a Annie with a Vortex Viper that is going up for sale very soon If you want a look you can meet me in the usual spot.

Ron Goulding wrote:I was at my dealers today talking bullshit as you do. He started telling me about his marlin 17hmr and how well it shoots, shooting roos in the head at 160mtrs. I just rolled my eyes in the back of my head, thinking to myself bullshit. As about all i know about this round is its a necked down 22mag. Is this possible or a tall tale ? Here is a list of questions for you Guys and Girls who own one, and maybe you can enlighten me on what this round is capable of.
1. What sort of velocity is this little round reaching ?
2. How flat does it shoot ?
3. How accurate is this round ?
4. 17 HMR or 17 Ackley Hornet ? And yes i reload and i have a 22 hornet already.
5. Given the chioce out of these two which one would you have and why? Marlin model 917vt thumbhold $789 or Savage Tactical $695
6. How much is the ammo on average ?
Cheers Ron

1 . about 2500 fps - 2700fps i think .
2. it's sposeta shoot like a 22 hornet .
3. there usually very accurate
4. 17 ackerly for sure / leaves the hmr for dead . the hmr ammo isn't cheap .
5. don't know of ether but if the marlin has there new trigger on it i think it's great on the xl7 .

5

Can't knock the accuracy of the little buggers(I have a marlin) as for his head shooting roos at 160m..... I'll back him up on that I have head shot rabbits at 180m a few times. Though when at that range the power is very lacking. It is pretty bloody expensive to run and in my experience it needs to be cleaned every 30-50 rounds to keep it's accuracy. I will be getting rid of it when I shoot all the ammo I have for it. The only reason I am selling is that I can load the .223 for cheaper and a .22 will shoot rabbits at the ranges that I consider too close for a .223. The HMR is good, it has just priced itself out of the market. I would be loading a .17AH or .17FB. reckon you would do it cheaper and have a more versatile rifle. The HMR is no roo gun(even if it was legal.) it is only a short range fox gun really.

atm .17HMR ammo is about 55c/shot. You may well get it cheaper in cities but IMO not worth it for the power of the round. I would pay 35c for them. IMO if .22lr is about 20c/shot then HMR would be worth around 35c for the extra accuracy and range.

Like I say to MISSED on the rare occasion he gets his out "Rimfire performance at centrefire prices."

Ron Goulding wrote:I was at my dealers today talking bullshit as you do. He started telling me about his marlin 17hmr and how well it shoots, shooting roos in the head at 160mtrs. I just rolled my eyes in the back of my head, thinking to myself bullshit. As about all i know about this round is its a necked down 22mag. Is this possible or a tall tale ? Here is a list of questions for you Guys and Girls who own one, and maybe you can enlighten me on what this round is capable of.
1. What sort of velocity is this little round reaching ?
2. How flat does it shoot ?
3. How accurate is this round ?
4. 17 HMR or 17 Ackley Hornet ? And yes i reload and i have a 22 hornet already.
5. Given the chioce out of these two which one would you have and why? Marlin model 917vt thumbhold $789 or Savage Tactical $695
6. How much is the ammo on average ?
Cheers Ron

1. 17gr pill starts at around 2550fps. 20gr starts at 2375fps. Those are factory figures - people who have bothered chronying them (and I haven't) have reported slightly higher figures.

2. Depends on the load. The flattest is the 17gr Vmax. This article explains it all.

http://www.chuckhawks.com/17HMR.htm

3. How accurate is the round? Depends on which rifle, but there have been various reports on bad batches of ammo. I've never had reason to question mine but then again I'm just a hunter and not a range princess who shoots at paper all day long. Put it this way, if I miss a rabbit's head out to about 120m I tend not to blame the rifle / ammo. A good HMR rifle will shoot MOA at 90m.

4. Different kettles of fish entirely.

5. The Savage. The Marlin trigger is excretable, though it can be fixed.

6. Depends where you live. Going price in Victoria is about $250 for a brick of Hornday Vmax while in Qld blokes are getting it for about $190 or less. As I use mine solely for hunting 500 rounds means a lot of dead foxes and rabbits etc without even looking at a reloading press or picking up brass. A brick of ammo will last me a year.


Killing kangaroos at 160m - illegal and unethical with a .7HMR regardless of whether it's hypothetically possible. It's a small game round designed to do what the .22LR does but further out. Yes, it can kill bigger critters but by and large it's not designed to penetrate very far.

My old marlin was very accurate, couple of times I got it under half inch at 100m. Its a great round to that far- maybe 130m but thats it. Foxes and rabbits were its best targets, though it needed a slightly heavier bullet that was thinly constructed. A 20gr vmax load would be tops.

I got rid of mine due to the cost of shooting as well. But I believe it could be a handy cal for those who dont have huge property to shoot on, and can get close to thier targets when spotlighting- ie under 150m.

Hi everyone , thanks for your replys. You have all just talked me out of one, and thats a good thing,as i always thought it was a fad anyways. Cheers Ron
PS i stick with a 22 hornet.

Ron Goulding wrote:Hi everyone , thanks for your replys. You have all just talked me out of one, and thats a good thing,as i always thought it was a fad anyways. Cheers Ron
PS i stick with a 22 hornet.

yep the hornets the go mate .

Ron Goulding wrote:Hi everyone , thanks for your replys. You have all just talked me out of one, and thats a good thing,as i always thought it was a fad anyways. Cheers Ron
PS i stick with a 22 hornet.

The HMR is no more a fad than any other calibre - some find it useful + some don't.

You have already stated that most of you are going to sell them once your ammo drys up because its too expensive to run. And that the distributors are pricing the caliber out of favour cause there charging to much , and someone said that theres a probelm with ammo being consistant in accuracy. Also its a caliber that can be achived with a 22lr and a hornet. In my opion thats a FAD ! Cheers Ron

Ron Goulding wrote:You have already stated that most of you are going to sell them once your ammo drys up because its too expensive to run. And that the distributors are pricing the caliber out of favour cause there charging to much , and someone said that theres a probelm with ammo being consistant in accuracy. Also its a caliber that can be achived with a 22lr and a hornet. In my opion thats a FAD ! Cheers Ron

Ron Goulding wrote:You have already stated that most of you are going to sell them once your ammo drys up because its too expensive to run. And that the distributors are pricing the caliber out of favour cause there charging to much , and someone said that theres a probelm with ammo being consistant in accuracy. Also its a caliber that can be achived with a 22lr and a hornet. In my opion thats a FAD ! Cheers Ron

I wouldn't call it a fad as it fills a void that was previously empty.
Short & fat rounds that duplicate the ballistics of rounds already available is definetly a fad.

Ron Goulding wrote:6. How much is the ammo on average ?

If you want a dirrect comparison I'm selling Hornady V-max @
17HMR $21.10/50
22WMR $19.90/50
17M2 $12.60/50
no V-max in 22lr but something like a CCI Stinger, Velocitor or Quik Shok are $8.75/50

Hi 220 , thats not to bad , i pay more for 50 rounds of .22lr.
Cheers Ron