Wildcatting - Whimsey or Marvel

When the 17 WSM was first announced in 2013, I was really excited when it finally arrived here on these shores. I love the .17 calibres but prefer the reloadable 17 Hornet, 17 Fireball or 17 Rem and indeed 17 PPC to the smaller rimfire 17 HMR. But the 17 WSM stood out as something with real potential for the reloading shy shooter. Trouble is, limited choice of both rifles and ammunition for the new round has somewhat stifled what could be a great vermin cartridge.

It hopefully will take off once we have some rifles like Rugers and CZs available, as it gives a really good performance over the HMR. Whether it will dislodge the hold its popularity with British shooters has is debatable. Here’s what I found out using the only load and rifle available at the time.

Spec

The 17 WSM has a COL of 40mm with a neck diameter and bullet of 4.96/4.33mm, the case has a diameter of 6.81mm all the way to the shoulder. The 17 HMR is 34.54mm long, neck and bullet diameter are of 4.86/4.15mm with the case being 6.07mm from base to shoulder. But these bullets are seriously tightly crimped in place and so have a slight swaged circumference.

Unusually, it’s based on the 0.27 nail gun case used by builders worldwide, also made by Winchester! Significantly, it’s a stronger case than the HMR, which has caused issues with splits and ruptures. No such problems with the WSM, as all aspects of the design are beefed up, allowing it to work safely at high pressure to achieve a decent velocity and operation.

Weight watcher

I weighed a batch of ammunition, to see if there was any significant difference which could mean inconsistent velocities. But no probs, I had 62.6 grains for a weighed round with no variation on my scales calibrated to 0.1 grain for the next 20 cartridges. In these smaller calibres, tiny differences can make big changes in pressure, velocity and therefore accuracy.

Hornady quotes this loading at 3000 fps/400 ft/lbs. A .17 HMR 20-grain is producing 2450 fps/272 ft/lbs, so 550 fps/128 ft/lbs better for the WSM. Meaning more down range energy retention, a flatter trajectory and less wind drift, which has always been a little problem with longer shots with the HMR round if you get a bit adventurous.

Annoyingly, that is the only load available, which is a shame, as Winchester offer, in the US, a 25-grain HE (2600 fps), 20-grain JHP round (3000 fps) and a lightweight 15-grain bullet too that speeds along at 3300 fps. That would be great for ferals and rats! Where the UK will see these remains to be seen, given the calibre has yet to fully establish itself.

Savage or savage?

Not a lot of choice on the rifle, as it’s the Savage B-Mag (Target) in stainless, which had its ups and downs. On the good side, accuracy was great but the bolt system was a bit finicky. It’s a traditional, turn-bolt format with a detachable magazine and laminate, thumbhole stock. It uses a medium/heavy, 22” varmint/target barrel (cut ½ x 20 UNF), but with a rather different action, build and style.

Feed is from an 8-shot, rotary magazine and has an Accu trigger, typical for Savage rifles, is very good and safe and I had a clean, creep-free sear pull of 2.5 -2.75lbs and is synonymous with safety as well as a great light and predictable trigger pull. This model broke at a weight of 2.75 lbs. All good so far but the bolt is decidedly weird, no other words for it. It cocks the firing pin on closing and has two rear locking lugs and I have to say it is very strange and awkward to operate. The bolt does not rotate and as a consequence when you push forward to load a cartridge the handle can drop and lock up. The cycle feels delicate and is not for me, sorry. The stock, though, is a Boyd’s laminate thumbhole in grey and is very good indeed, offering stability, great handling and strength and it looks very good too.

Field tests

This is where it gets interesting. The 17 WSM is not reloadable, so you just have to go with the flow and use the velocity your rifle gives you and then work out trajectories and wind drift to suit. As I reload a lot, it’s actually nice not having to work up a load and just pack a few boxes of ammo, although expensive at £38.50 per 100, and go to the fields.

Its not really a 200-yard round, but you can use it as such and to me, as with an FAC-rated air rifle, the extra power serves to flatten the trajectory and reduce wind drift for a more accurate shot at normal ranges.

I fitted a Bushnell 4-12x40mm scope with its 17 WSM matched reticule; the BM350 BDC, up front went an MAE STS Xtreme 17 calibre, over-barrel sound moderator. I zeroed in at 50 yards initially and then tested out to 200 on targets and steel silhouettes.

I was impressed with the accuracy at 50 yards, 5-shot groups were just one big hole of no more than 0.35”, very impressive. From five, 5-shot strings, the average group size was 0.41”. Brilliant; the Savage has started to redeem itself in my eyes. Stretching the range to 100 yards and I had a couple of 0.65” groups but an average of 0.75”, which, despite the quite breezy conditions, was impressive.

200 + ?

Out at 200 yards, the groups opened up to 1.75 to 2.00”, but it largely was dependent on when I pulled the trigger in the wind conditions. Still, clanging steel at that range was good fun, as was chasing a golf ball in the field, always good practise! The 20 grain V-MAX bullet has a ballistic coefficient (BC) of 0.185 (G1 value) so running the data through QuickTarget ballistics program I managed to have a very accurate down range print out.

If you sight the rifle in at 100 yards using the 20-grain Hornady load (actual average velocity 2912 fps), with the scope 1.95” above the bore, it will be 1.3” low at 150 yards and 4.4” low at 200. The bullet also only rises one inch at 75 yards from the barrel 1.5” below the sight line, so good and flat, aim dead on to 125 yards (0.4” low) for rabbit or crow sized target, more for a fox. You do have to watch wind drift, as at 100 yards with a 90⁰ 10mph wind, the V-MAX is shifted 1.6” and at 200 it is 7.3”. Compare that to a 20-grain XTP 17HMR round with a BC of 0.125 and a velocity of 2422 fps. At 100 yards, energy is 175 ft/lbs and drop at 150 yards is -2.1 inches. and drop at 200 is -7.0 with a wind drift of 10.3”.

Going ballistic

I also set up some ballistic gel to test the actual penetration and wound channel volume. I had good penetration and fast expansion with the ballistic media shot at 100 yards to simulate a typical range you may encounter your quarry. There was 1.5” of penetration, i.e. to get through the skin/ fur before total expansion with the lead core vaporising and jacket penetrating to 4.5” with a wound channel of 2.5” deep and 2” wide that equated to 627mls volume. A 17 HMR with a similar weight bullet has a volume of 311mls at 100 yards; so, a good increase for the 17 WSM. God, I really wish I could get some other loads, it looks really promising.

After setting up various steel rabbits and crows at range and confident that from most field positions I could actually hit where I aimed, I headed to the woods. The 17 WSM is a more viable fox round with its increased velocity but none availed themselves during the tests - wise move. I did, however, shoot some rabbits and a few distant crows that thought they were safe.

Conclusions

I was genuinely impressed with the performance of the new 17 WSM cartridge but less so with the Savage B-Mag.

The .17 WSM has the credentials to outperform the .17 HMR cartridge and certainly fills the gap better between rimfire and centrefire. With a wider choice of bullet weights and rifles to shoot this interesting round I would be tempted. But popularity and adoption by the general shooting public is another question and without more choices of ammunition types and rifles, you might not bother. The centrefire 17 Hornet is a better and more flexible round, but because the 17 WSM does not have to be reloaded and gives a real advantage over the 17 HMR it deserves to be more popular. Can’t wait to try a new Ruger 17 WSM.

Contacts

Edgar Brothers Savage rifles, Hornady ammunition and Bushnell Optics; www. shootingsports.edgarbrothers.com

JMS Arms Quickload and MAE mods: www.jmsarms.com, www.quickload.co.uk