Yes I know who sells them, let me clarify. Does anyone have experience with this model in either calibre? Preference? I have a 1712 in .22lr, was looking for one in centerfire. Thanks
I never post anymore, but I couldn't resist this one, as I have fallen in love with the Anschutz 1771 in this current horrific era of Canadian firearms ownership.
Let me just say this, they are all awesome: .17Hornet, .22Hornet, .222REM, .223REM.
If you are only going to experience one, then the .223REM is the obvious choice. There are more .223 loadings (or components) available on the Canadian market for .223 then for the rest of these calibres combined.
Twist is different on all, and they are all optimally configured around a specific load in my view and experience:
.17Hornet - 20gr. (228mm/8.97" twist, 6 groove) - the American Eagle one is the best, followed by Hornady, although there are only about 3 factory loadings on the market: Am.Eagle; Hornady and S&B... all 20gr., although there used to be 15.5 and 25gr. stuff - not made anymore). This one also has 5 round mags as "normal" (the only one like that).
.22Hornet - 35gr. (405mm/15.94" twist, 8 groove) is the best in this one. 30gr. is o.k. too. The heavier 40 and 45gr. stuff obviously works, but it doesn't wring out the accuracy potential. This is also the slowest moving (and twist) of these four, and performs a little worse than the others at 200m/yrds. The mags - despite looking almost the same as the .17Hornet mags, just with wider lips - are only labelled 3 rounds, and they do go a bit funky sometimes if you try and load more than 3.
.222REM - 50gr. (356mm/14.01" twist, 6 groove) is the ticket here. The Remington Premier AccuTip 50gr. is just awesome with this one. Sub half inch at 100 should be fairly straight forward with good optics, and if you really try you can get down in the .25" at 100yrds territory, sub 1" at 200yrds. I can show you groups, but if you don't believe me, you don't believe me. The Hornady Superformance 50gr. is also really good. Four rounds mags are stock for this one, and they are the same as the .223 mags.
.223REM - 55gr. (229mm/9.01" twist, 6 groove) for this one. The Hornady Varmint Express 55gr. V-Max is a great one with this rifle (as it is with a lot of .223 bolt actions: TIKKA, CZ, etc.) The thing with this .223 though, it is pretty good with a number of bullet weights, from 50gr. up to 75 and even 77gr. The Hornady white box "Match" 75gr. stuff shoots to the same point of impact as 55gr. V-Max for me at 100yrds. I would not have guessed that, but it is true. Many quality Match and Varmint rounds will shoot the lights out in an Anschutz 1771 in .223 - the 55gr. V-Max is probably my favorite, but the stuff "Remington" (i.e. Federal/CCI) is coming out with now are all good. You can also use the old 1770 5-round mags with this one, and they work great. They don't work as well on the shorter .222 for some reason, despite the 1771 mags being the same between the two.
Overall impressions: I love the .17Hornet. It is one of my favorite rifles to shoot. Its trajectory (to 200m anyway) is just like a little .223, and you can pretty much swap the (one piece mount) optic between the two (without adjusting zero). The .22Hornet is something from a different era, but it is fun too, and it has a following. The .222REM is probably the most "inherently accurate" cartridge of these four (whatever that means), with its long neck and shorter body. It is just that there are a handful of good factory loadings, and some will shoot the lights out, and some are kind of "so-so" (like soft point bullets, etc.) The .223 has the most "umph" to it, and is the most versatile.
I have shot the .17Hornet, .222REM and .223REM all down around .25" 5 shot groups at 100yrds, honestly, and sub 1" at 200yrds. You can't do it every time, but you can do it with good optics, good ammo, patience and slow trigger squeeze. .22Hornet (with the .35gr. Hornady stuff) you can probably get only down around 0.5" at 100 yards at the best of times, sub 1" will be good. And anywhere around 2" at 200yrds is great for that one.
I use high-end optics (S&B PMII 4-16x50, and 5-25x56, Khales 6-24x56) in one piece mounts (Spuhr or AI) and those big scopes work well. I don't feel the need for a cheek riser or anything with these set-up. Make sure the picrail is blue loctited though, as the scopes are heavy.
Hope that helps. If you have specific 1771 questions I can try and answer them.