Ruger 77 17 wsm

scott_r

scott_r

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For the varmint hunter crowd here on CGN what the thoughts on this rifle? Ive got an invite from a farmer down southern sask....been on my hitlist for decades. Im thinking of buying this as my .204, .223 and .243 are bit much. Definitely not interested in Savage and know that Ruger makes a quality gun. Thoughts??? I know they aren't cheap.
 
scott_r said:
To be fair its a mini 14.....not a real precision tool lol. Looking for an excuse to buy a 17 wsm or 17 hornet :) Just seeing what the report is on these little guys are.
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Go with the Hornet, IMO... you can load it cheaper than you can buy the WSM and it has more "pop." Personally, I hate loading .17 cal pills... I call it quits at .20 cal, but prefer .22 cal... I'm shooting half a dozen .22 cal cartridges at the moment.
 
My Ruger 77 in 17 Hornet was poor accuracy wise. It took bedding and trigger work to achieve decent accuracy. My CZ527 in 17 Hornet was far superior. Cartridge wise, the Hornet is far superior.
 
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I don't really like reloading so I went with the 17 wsm. The bmag action is a pain but is plenty accurate even more so then the Ruger from the factory but the Ruger, with a bedding and trigger job becomes by far a better rifle in the end.
 
I received a 77/17 as a Christmas bonus about 10 yrs ago. It is chambered in 17HMR although. I quite like it as a 50 -150yd gopher shooter. The only issue is the wind does move the tiny bullet quite a bit. As far as the rifle goes I have never had an issue with mine, functions as should and accuracy is very good.
 
I bought and used my 17 HMR rifle for out to 200 yard gophers its more than enough for what the OP is looking for.

I walked the fields around my inlaws place in Alberta with a tall tripod rest even when the wind was blowing hard I just worked the wind shot with/into the wind moved if I had to.

200 yard shots were easy to make recoil is non-existent you can see your shot hit if your off just adjust your windage/elevation hold and shoot again because the gopher will still be standing there.

While the 17 WSM gives more velocity its also far more expensive to buy let alone find ammo for so unless you really want this round I would not recommend it.
 
I've had a 17 HMR for about 10 years and its been a great round for starlings, crows and groundhogs. Then the 17wsm came out and although I liked the idea of the caliber, I disliked any of the rifles it was chambered in. I grew tired of waiting for a decent rifle and bought a 204, so have no need of one to fill any holes now. That being said if you already have a 204 and looking for something smaller, either HMR or WSM will serve you well.
 
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I bought a 77/17 WSM a month ago or so and it seems to be shooting pretty good. Playing at the range today and I was smacking coke cans a 200 yds without to much trouble. Been using a 22 mag for years and this new unit shoots pretty flat compared to that. I was trying out different ammo today and the best 5 shot group I got was .40 at 50 yrds with Hornady .
 
Does the .17wsm seem to kill much more faster than a .22mag or hmr? On paper it should but I'm wondering what the real world observations are.
 
cath8r said:
Does the .17wsm seem to kill much more faster than a .22mag or hmr? On paper it should but I'm wondering what the real world observations are.
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I've been thinking about doing a side by side comparison with my HMR and my buddy's WSM for this reason, just haven't done it yet. I strictly use 20gr. Hornady which are hollow points and I believe the WSM still only have 20gr and 25gr with ballistic tips and I've been wanting to compare the penetration of both rounds. I know when I was shooting into a block of wood with both 17gr ballistic tips and the 20gr hollow points for my HMR we were surprised how the 20gr went through the block of wood and rang off the tractor bucket behind it.
 
I own a 77/17 in 17 WSM It's fair to good accuracy wise. I like it because it's much quieter to shoot than a centerfires and we've shot gophers up to just under 200 yards with it. It has a leupold 3.5-10 on top of her. I also use it coyote hunting and it's been a very good addition to the arsenal. My 17 WSM likes the 25 grain ammo and will shoot 1.5" groups.
 
willy11 said:
I own a 77/17 in 17 WSM It's fair to good accuracy wise. I like it because it's much quieter to shoot than a centerfires and we've shot gophers up to just under 200 yards with it. It has a leupold 3.5-10 on top of her. I also use it coyote hunting and it's been a very good addition to the arsenal. My 17 WSM likes the 25 grain ammo and will shoot 1.5" groups.
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Actually the 17wsm is not a lot quieter than a 17 hornet. As for 1.5" groups, I would not keep a 17hornet that wouldn't shoot groups less than half that size. My current 17 hornet puts five rounds in under 1/2", and I shoot ground squirrels to 250 yards on a regular basis. Even at 200 yards, 1-1/2 moa is way too big for consistent kills on ground squirrels.
 
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