“winchester super magnum”

If velocity is your thing, and you want the speediest rimfire cartridge currently available, look no further than the .17 WSM.

Savage Arms has announced the addition of .17 Winchester Super Magnum (WSM) to its line of A Series rifles.

BSA Optics has a new riflescope designed specifically for the .17 Winchester Super Magnum that promises to help varmint hunters with holdover at long range.

The high-velocity, high-energy .17 Winchester Super Magnum rimfire is a welcomed cartridge for many wishing to engage everything from destructive rodents to marauding coyotes, especially in regions where centerfires are noisy, frowned upon or even illegal. But finding a rifle to shoot the world’s fastest rimfire has been a challenge.

Shooters are drawn to rimfire cartridges primarily due to the per-shot costs being significantly less than those of comparable center-rifle rifle cartridges. However, their downfall is lackluster terminal ballistics—that is, until now. Winchester’s new economical .17 Winchester Super Magnum (WSM) cartridge defies convention, and in doing so handily becomes the highest-performance rimfire extant.

Get a closer look at the Franklin Armory F17-L, the latest addition to our #SundayGunday series.

Which of these cartridges better serves the hunter looking for a speedy rimfire? Contributor Philip Massaro examines the pros and cons of each.

What follows is a primer on commercially available .17-caliber cartridges and their respective performance.

Here’s a look at the top 10 varmint and predator loads available right now. Thanks to widespread availability and quality manufacturing, many of these loads are fairly inexpensive yet highly reliable.