Maybe its just my area(Ottawa valley to Montreal) but I hit up a couple stores this week as I have a 22wmr on the way and had no problem finding a good supply and wide variety to test out. Federal and CCI being the easiest to find in different flavours.
17HMR or 22WMR?
- Thread starter wayupnorth
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hometownhero
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- Toon Town, Sk
Saskatoon cabelas finally got some a bit ago. Haven't seen a good supply in years though.
You've raised an interesting issue about the .17HMR. Almost all the range reports I've seen have shown better accuracy with the .17HMR than with the .22WMR, and that's been my experience as well (although with a very small sample). Sub-MOA at 100 yards seems to be common with the HMR, but rarely achieved consistently with the WMR. So is it the cartridge or the fact that current HMR rifles are just a little better? A recent discussion on the Rimfire Central forum included a post by a knowledgeable shooter who maintained that, from the beginning, tighter specs and quality control were established with the HMR, starting with Hornady's original loads and continuing now with CCI's. This was the case, presumably, because Hornady wanted to carve out a following for its new .17. This makes some sense to me. And grauhanen's earlier post showing the wind-deflection advantage of the HMR is worth noting. I have rifles chambered for both rounds, but, if I were starting out and had to choose a single rimfire rifle for both paper and small game out to, say, 150 yards, I'd pick the .17HMR.
wayupnorth
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it would make sense that Hornady would make the 17HMR round to super tight specs.
its their legacy round, hell they named it after themselves.
but that CCI continued this is strange.
its their legacy round, hell they named it after themselves.
but that CCI continued this is strange.
hometownhero
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- Toon Town, Sk
What is strange? Cci loads all 17hmr ammo.
All but Winchester, evidently.
I think wayupnorth's point was that, once Hornady gave up production of .17HMR ammo, it had no control over quality. Whether CCI has maintained the tight specs and quality control is open to question, I guess. Perhaps Hornady were able to demand that quality be maintained by CCI before signing over production to them. The fact that some of this CCI-made ammo comes with the Hornady label might suggest this.
wayupnorth
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- Northern Alberta
yes.
what he said.
what he said.
...I don't think Hornady ever manufactured rimfire ammo of any kind. At least, not that I'm aware.
wayupnorth
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- Northern Alberta
hometownhero
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- Toon Town, Sk
But loaded by cci
BRANDED Hornady, not made by them. I've read Hornady make the .17 (and 30gr. 22WMR) bullets themselves, but they're shipped over to CCI who actually load/manufacture the finished product. To be 100% clear, Hornady make NO rimfire ammo themselves. And yes, I know what my avatar is~a photo of CCI-made, Hornady-branded 17M2 ammo.
^amen.
Label on the packaging doesn't mean they manufactured it.
Well, one way that Hornady can continue to influence the quality of the loaded .17HMR ammunition is in the providing of the V-Max bullets in all the CCI-assembled, variously-branded 17-gr. V-Max loads. Hornady is, after all, primarily a bullet-maker (or has been until they started producing ammunition). As any handloader will tell you, the bullet is the most important element in the accuracy equation. I suspect that Hornady places some emphasis on the V-Max bullet production, thus helping to increase the probability of accurate rounds assembled by CCI.
There have been a number of questions over the years about whether match-grade .17HMR ammunition would at some time be available. Since there's no SAAMI .17HMR match chamber specifications, the road to higher-grade ammunition would have to come via more uniform bullet, case, primer, and charge weights. I'd really like to see Hornady--or another ammunition company--take this on. The price would be higher, but for many, it would be worth it, as it's already a great cartridge and, in good rifles, just about equals .22LR match-ammo performance. In fact, I can do as well at 100 yards with my one .17HMR as I can with my .22LR Anschutzes with match ammo. And as I noted earlier, my .17HMR does better (pretty consistently sub-MOA) at that range than the three .22WMR rifles I've owned.
There have been a number of questions over the years about whether match-grade .17HMR ammunition would at some time be available. Since there's no SAAMI .17HMR match chamber specifications, the road to higher-grade ammunition would have to come via more uniform bullet, case, primer, and charge weights. I'd really like to see Hornady--or another ammunition company--take this on. The price would be higher, but for many, it would be worth it, as it's already a great cartridge and, in good rifles, just about equals .22LR match-ammo performance. In fact, I can do as well at 100 yards with my one .17HMR as I can with my .22LR Anschutzes with match ammo. And as I noted earlier, my .17HMR does better (pretty consistently sub-MOA) at that range than the three .22WMR rifles I've owned.
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hometownhero
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
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- Toon Town, Sk
Hmr has been around since 2002. Strong following in the usa. I don't see it going anyplace anytime soon.
Hornady is bringing back the .218 Bee in 2017.
22 mag is the BETTER one ! jmo RJ
