What .17 Calibre?

Last updated: 20/08/2018

Review

Once upon a time, I remember people poo pooing the diminutive .17 calibre as too small and badly wind-affected; oh, how wrong those doubters where! Just look at the huge interest in .17s today, such as the 17 HMR (Hornady Magnum Rimfire) which has become a stable of the British vermin/fox shooter.

Now you have Winchester’s 17 WSM (Winchester Super Magnum), elevating the velocity still further for a rimfire, and of course the .17 Hornet, a relative newcomer that takes this diminutive calibre into the centrefire realm. The original 17 Remington still remains king, but the 17 Ackley Hornet, 17 Fireball and 17 PPC are still great performers for those wanting ultimate performance and something a little different. Whilst some did not make it, like the 17 Aquila and 17 Mach 2.

Here’s a look at what’s on offer and how they perform and relevance to British field use!

Why a seventeen?

The 17 calibre (0.172”) bullet diameter is one of my favourite calibres for vermin control, because these small and very fast projectiles shoot flat with explosive, terminal ballistics. I can live with a little wind drift, but don’t want the bullet passing through, as all you are doing is wasting energy outside of the intended vital area. The other big plus, is it’s far less likely to ricochet than a soft lead .22LR rimfire.

This is where the rimfire 17s excel, as they are perfect for closer range vermin control and are blessed with good ballistics, excellent accuracy and low recoil/noise, perfect for smaller farms or inhabited areas. The 17 centrefires extend effective range and increased power too and are less wind-sensitive. Here, the 17 Fireball and 17 Remington are most common and factory ammunition will satisfy the reloading-shy, whilst those wanting peak performance can tweak the rounds with a decent hand load. Some will say just get a .222 or .223 Rem and be done with it, but that`s like using a hammer to crack an egg; less is more sometimes.

Rimfire selection

This is where the 17 sits best for all round use, as you have a good selection of rounds as well and manufacturers of rifles and ammunition for the most popular 17HMR. But first, I must mention the 17 Mach 2 that has near disappeared, despite being some superb vermin round. It was introduced after the HMR and uses a the slightly longer 22 Stinger HV case necked to 17. With its 17-grain bullet, it’s slower at around 2100 fps, but still damn fast, Hornady, Eley, CCI and Federal all offered ammunition. It never really caught on in the UK, doubtless eclipsed by the more powerful HMR; plus, it was badly wind-affected. But consider that the Hornady load was still doing 1530 fps at 100 yards, with 89 ft/lbs of energy and was accurate and it filled a slot. I really liked it!

The guvnor!

The 17 HMR is your go to seventeen rimfire, with a good choice of bullet weights and rifles for it. Essentially, it’s a .22 WMR case necked down to .17”, to drive a 17-grain projectile at 2550 fps. Since its introduction in 2001, it took the shooting world by storm, providing a very good short-range, safe, fast fragmenting bullet for pest control, just what a suburban shooter in Britain has been waiting for.

Commonly, the 17 grain V-MAX bullets are ballistic tips and designed to expand rapidly on vermin such as crow and rabbits. There are many manufacturers of ammo today, but I like Winchester’s 17-grain load, as it has always proved consistent in rifles I have shot. In the same weight, CCI offers the Speer TNT hollow point bullet that performs much in the same way as the V-MAX.

The CCI Game Point has a heavier 20-grain bullet and is meant to be used on larger vermin i.e. foxes, where you need it penetrate deeper and then expand and dump all its kinetic energy. There are many other designs but another interesting one is Hornady’s NTX or Non-toxic bullet that is 15.5-grains. Being non-lead, it is lighter than a conventional shaped V-MAX and I’ve read reports on its lack of expansion and lacking the instant killing power of the lead-cored bullets.

Fastest ever?

The 17 WSM is the new kid on the block, and having tested a Savage rifle recently, I was impressed with its performance, if not the rifle’s bolt system. This is a real power house in a short package. Its origins are from a 0.27” nail gun blank cartridge, necked down to 0.172” inch to propel a 20-grain V-MAX bullet at 3000 fps. That’s a very useful velocity and energy of 400 ft/lbs for any vermin and foxes with still all the attributes of a small fast accurate frangible bullet. This cartridge, in my view, is destined to topple the HMR off its throne when a better choice of rifles, bullets weights and styles are available. Hopefully, the best is still to come with this fascinating .17 calibre round?

Centrefires

The .17 Hornet is another relative newcomer but owes its origins to the excellent .17 Ackley Hornet. P O Ackley, a renowned wildcatter from the USA, necked down and modified the rimmed 22 Hornet case to shoot .17 calibre bullets. Hornady took this design and slightly altered it to make a commercial version.

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It’s an efficient design, as it will shoot a 20-grain V-MAX at 3800 fps, burning only 12.5 grains of IMR 4227 powder as a reload, with loads at 3650 fps/592 ft/lbs energy. You can also opt for a lighter, 15.5-grain NTX bullet at 3875fps/517 ft/lbs energy and a heavier 25-grain at 3375 fps/632 ft/lbs. It also produces little noise and is naturally easily sound moderated.

This leads me to the larger centrefire rounds that are of course reloadable, allowing us to make what we need for most shooting situations. Two commercial 17 centrefires fit the bill, these being the 17 Fireball and the larger 17 Remington. The Fireball is interesting, as its origins lie, like so many cartridges, as a wildcat round and was called a .17 Mach IV.

It is based on the 221 Fireball and necked down to .17” and holds 23-grains of powder, so generates low recoil and noise and increases ranges over the rimfire 17s to 250 yards. I have had a few Mach IV and Fireballs over the years and all are very efficient. The 22” Remington Predator rifle, with a factory load of a 20-grain bullet, achieves 4147fps/764ft/lbs.

Upping the power still further and the first commercial .17 centrefire was the 17 Rem. I love it and still shoot one, as it is unbelievably accurate, fast, flat shooting and very safe, as ricochets are almost nonexistent. Based on a re-formed and necked down .223 Rem case that, with a 20-grain bullet, produces 4200 fps and 25 grain bullets at 4000 fps. I split my reloads up into three sections: close range screamers for all vermin including foxes, mid range all-purpose and finally longer range or best fox load.

If I am to shoot feathered vermin, Magpies, Crows etc. then an explosive 15 or 18-grain. Berger bullet or pulled bullets from a 17 HMR at 4300 fps is just the ticket, as they both provide super-fast velocities, coupled to a very flat trajectory and sheer on-target energy transfer.

Wildcats or exotics

Next, an array of wildcatted small case capacity 17s that range from necked down .218 Bee cases, which shoot 20-grain Bergers at over 3800fps! To 3700 fps for 25-grainers. Stepping up a gear on the case size, comes the 17 Javelina, which uses a shortened .222 Rem case and is a wellbalanced to shoot the 30-grain Bergers. With a load of 19.45 grains of H4895, a 30- grainer will break the magic 4000-fps barrier.

Others include the bizarre 17/ 224, which is a necked down .224 Weatherby case, the diminutive .17 Pee Wee, a short .30 carbine derivative, to the .17 BR. I have a 17 PPC, a wildcat based on the 6mm PPC case, itself a wildcat based on a .220 Russian. My Sako .17 PPC Venom custom shoots a 20-grain V-MAX at 4437 fps/875 ft/ lbs energy, an incredible hooded crow load, or a 30-grain Berger at 4108 fps/1124 ft/lbs energy makes a great fox load.

Conclusions

So long as you are sensible with keeping the range reasonable, that little .17” bullet is deadly. Depending on make and barrel steel, they can be a bit cleaning fussy, but that’s just something you learn to cope with! Everyone should have at least one .17 calibre rifle in their collection, they add an interesting facet to your varmint shooting and can be exceptionally accurate too.