[TGV]

Anyone use this bizarre little cartridge? What do you use it for and how does it perform? My tables here are quoting MV of around (and over with some loads) 4000fps on a 25grain bullet. Sounds pretty flat but not all that practical in general field situations - a little too specialst or am I missing something?

Cheers in advance.

 

[Ballistic_Coefficiency]

The .17 Remington Centerfire is a small varmints most frightfull nightmare... with Remington 20gr ammo it drops only 32 inchs @ 500 yards with a muzzle velocity of 4,250 FPS. I would imagine the throat life of the barrel would be pretty low with that much powder expanding through that small of a bore however... Hornady and Remington are the only two ammunition manufacturers that i know of for this caliber.

With this load... you can acheive sub MOA groups (with the right rifle) @ 100 yards with a muzzle velocity of 4,425 FPS.

Bullet: .17" 20-gr. Hornady V-Max
Powder: 27.3 of BL-C2
Primer: CCI 400
Casing: Remington Peters

I think the caliber was a little to early for its time... being that it is just over 30 years old and of a .17 caliber @ over 4,200 FPS in a time where larger calibers were more popular... the real varmint calibers were either not very wide spread... or were just not liked. The .222 Remington and the .222 Remington Magnum fullfilled everything a varmint hunter could need back in the day... the .17 Remington just didnt really have a chance to ever take off. Fast forward 30 years to present day... the .17 Hornady Rimfire is a HUGE success and is the fastest growing caliber in the US.


BC

 

[AK]

I didn't know that Remington manufactured .17 ammo. I've only heard of the .17HMR rounds.

For those who've shot both, which do you prefer?

 

[Ballistic_Coefficiency]

Well the .17 HMR is a small rimfire casing... the .17 Remington is a larger centerfire casing... the .17 HMR ammo is cheap and pleasant to shoot since it has virtually no recoil or muzzle climb. the .17 Remington is a barrel burner... the ammo is expensive... and it is VERY loud. I would pick the .17 HMR for every day plinking and fun shooting.

BC

 

[Stormbringer]

17 Remington

I really love my 17 Remington. Mine is a Interarms, Mark V MZ, 25" Shilen SS sporter barrel and wears a 4.5-18 scope. I use mine mostly for varmints (rockchucks, Pdogs, rabbits, squrl's and coyotes).

The 20 grain Vmax are great on Pdogs, chucks and rabbits. Same can be said for the 25 horndady hollowpoints.

The berger 30 grain bullet is a great coyote buster.

Contrary to popular belief the 17 is not all that hard on a barrel, does not foul overly bad and in my opinion not nearly as loud as a 223.

Performance is much greater on all species listed above than any 17HMR. To compare those two is like comparing a 223-22 WMR.

Mike.

 

[Ballistic_Coefficiency]

With your 25" barrel i could understand why it would not be as loud as a .223 or so... the .17 Remington that i fired was a 20" barrel and was with hand loads... it was REAL loud. Some things are loud for unkown reasons... like a .30 Carbine revolver... loudest damn pistol i ever heard.

BC

 

[TGV]

Re: 17 Remington

I really love my 17 Remington. Mine is a Interarms, Mark V MZ, 25" Shilen SS sporter barrel and wears a 4.5-18 scope. I use mine mostly for varmints (rockchucks, Pdogs, rabbits, squrl's and coyotes).

The 20 grain Vmax are great on Pdogs, chucks and rabbits. Same can be said for the 25 horndady hollowpoints.

The berger 30 grain bullet is a great coyote buster.

What would you estimate as an effective range for a 20gn bullet? Even with those mad MV's, would it not just bounce off any game at 200yds?!

 

[tyvick]

I dont have very much experience with the 17 remington, but I do have a 204 ruger that isn't much bigger that I have killed coyotes consistently at 300 and 400 yards. Just to see what it would do I shot a boar hog in the head with it at 500 and he dropped like a rock. But the 204 bullets I shoot weigh 39gr not 20gr like the 17.

 

[Ballistic_Coefficiency]

Re: 17 Remington

What would you estimate as an effective range for a 20gn bullet? Even with those mad MV's, would it not just bounce off any game at 200yds?!

We were poping alluminum soda cans full of water at 500 yards with it (at least trying too... the wind seemed to push it around easily)... it seemed to make them explode pretty good so i imagine it would work just fine on any small varmint.

BC

 

[muzzleblast]

Most writers use the 17 HMR to 150 meters with great results, and I've seen people claim kills with it out to 250. BC hit the nail on the head with wind, thats the big issue with them, and sometimes they don't raise enough dust to spot your shot, I think.

But if the 17 HMR can do that, for sure the 17 Remington can stretch well beyond that!