“Tag: .17”

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

Seeking the best load for your .17 HMR? We put six to the test to ease your decision-making process.

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.

Seeking the best load for your .17 HMR? We put five to the test to ease your decision-making process.

Let’s take a look at the .17 Hornet and .17 Remington and compare and contrast their attributes.

The new rimfire cartridge is designed to offer the downrange performance of a center-fire cartridge at only a fraction of the cost.

The new Savage A17 uses a delayed blowback action. A small bar in the top of the bolt slides up to fit into a slot in the receiver when the bolt is closed, locking the action. The bar cams back down upon firing to release the bolt and allow the action to cycle, but it delays the action from opening until pressure has dropped to a manageable level.

There is no doubt that the .17 WSM elevates rimfire ballistics to a new level. But will enough gun companies jump on board to produce rifles in this caliber?