17 wsm semi?

T

the radium king

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hi. went looking for a 17 wsm semi the other day - everything out there is either ar-based (banned) or there's the one super-expensive target rifle.

i was thinking that with the ban happening there might be interest in a detachable box magazine 17 wsm semi-automatic. while it is no 5.56, it sure is not a 22lr either. and as a rimfire it would have unlimited magazine capacity as well.

17 wsm is about the same length as the .30 carbine, and rims are around same diameter (case is a bit smaller diameter but perhaps by bending the feed lips ...). you can get 30 round mags for the m1 carbine; wonder if a bolt and barrel change would be possible?
 
The 17wsm was a pretty big flop IMO. Not many rifles, not many choices in ammo. If more people bought into the cartridge when it came out you'd probably see a decent semi on the market, but the cartridge felt pretty much Dead on Arrival.

I'm sure Savage COULD make their A17 work with the round, but its likely not worth their time to R&D the swap for how few rifles they'll sell.

A semi auto 22mag or 17hmr is the closest you'll get methinks.


As for your 30carbine idea, magazines manufactured for the 30 carbine will be limited to 5 rds of 30 carbine regardless of what you stick it in. You'd have to design a magazine from the ground up, otherwise you run the risk of the RCMP telling you it must be pinned to 5 rds of the cartridge it was originally designed for. This is exactly what happened with 50beowolf, the RCMP decided they are modified 5.56 mags, not proprietary 50 Beo mags, thus need to be pinned to 5rds of 5.56.
 
i thought modifying the mag would be a tangle given past experience with the 50 cal, but also thought that this might be a slightly different situation given the change to rimfire and the unlimited mag rules. and also what was driving my thinking was that the recent ban-fest might make magnum semi-auto rimfires w unlimited mag capacity more attractive and could, potentially, revive the wsm. you are seeing a big move to pistol caliber carbines in competition, but long range ballistics suffer w 9mm; a magnum rimfire at approx the same cost per round might be a good alternative. now, i don't really see anybody bringing anything to market (except perhaps one of those boutique pcc makers like fx or just right) so got looking around and found that the 30 carbine was about the same length and rim diameter. not a lot shoots the 30 carbine, however.
 
the radium king said:
i thought modifying the mag would be a tangle given past experience with the 50 cal, but also thought that this might be a slightly different situation given the change to rimfire and the unlimited mag rules. and also what was driving my thinking was that the recent ban-fest might make magnum semi-auto rimfires w unlimited mag capacity more attractive and could, potentially, revive the wsm. you are seeing a big move to pistol caliber carbines in competition, but long range ballistics suffer w 9mm; a magnum rimfire at approx the same cost per round might be a good alternative. now, i don't really see anybody bringing anything to market (except perhaps one of those boutique pcc makers like fx or just right) so got looking around and found that the 30 carbine was about the same length and rim diameter. not a lot shoots the 30 carbine, however.
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It doesn't matter what you are changing the magazine to work with. What matters is the caliber it was originally designed or manufactured for.

The problem with the bolded part is you're ignoring market size. Canada is an insignificant market compared to the USA, and very few companies (particularly outside of Canada) care about us. They'll make tweaks to existing firearms to fit our market (handguns with Pinocchio barrels that would otherwise be prohib, 18.5" barrels on semis to be NR, for instance) but it is highly unlikely any company is going to design a gun from the ground up or go through a major redesign of an existing firearm just for us. And the Canadian Manufacturers are very worried about their future thanks to the recent OIC and FRT changes, so you won't be seeing any of them spending the time and money to bring something like this to market any time soon when they aren't certain how long they'll be able to remain in business due to the hostile political climate.

As for moving to PCCs for competition, I'm not sure thats right either? I know PCCs in competition is becoming more common, but are people moving to them in exchange for their 556 guns, or is the PCC just another gun to add to the list of things people compete with? Is it actually taking market share, or just growing the market in a new segment?

Whats the ammo cost on 17wsm? Cheaper than 9mm? cheaper than 556?
 
I'm sure if you called Sylvester Sporting Goods they could easily order you any of the configuration Volqartsen offers for a semi auto 17wsm. Yeah, it might cost $2,500-$3,000, but thats what a lot of guys end up investing into a custom semi auto .22lr. But most importantly..... YOU CAN'T PUT A PRICE ON FUN!
 
i've got an email out to volquartsen to see if they would consider a carbine version of their 17 wsm lightweight semi (franklin has a 16" 17 wsm that is quite accurate apparently; ar-based so no va in canada). also asked to see if they would consider an extended capacity magazine (currly only an 8-round rotary). a 30-round teardrop would be most excellent.

30-round 17 wsm carbine, perhaps in a magpul stock, could be quite a versatile rifle. ammo same cost as 9mm. good plinker, good upland game and varmit hunter, could give the 556 guys a run for their money in 3-gun (might suffer a bit in a long-range stage) and might work w the pcc guys as well (not sure what ipsc would say about it, and not sure what would happen w steels at 10 metres ...).
 
The 30 carbine would have to be changed a lot to move the firing pin to work as a rimfire.

I have a franklin armory mag which I modified to work with a B-mag I put in an AICS airport stock. Works well enough on gophers, I wish the .22 shooting events would open up to all rimfires.
 
I picked up a very nice secondhand VQ in 17WSM. The original thumbhole stock was somewhat “blocky”. It was meticulously sanded and refinished and is now has a more refined, custom feel. The gun shoots excellently with sub 1” 5 shot groups at 100 yards and occasionally goes <0.5”. I have had no issues with cycling or feeding...although with all VQ semi auto 17’s, the action and chamber should be cleaned regularly to avoid misfires or “firing out of battery”. Ill try to post some photos (if I’m able???)
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I always thought a non restricted AR style 17WSM with a 30 round magazine would sell great in Canada. Even a rifle that was easily modded like a 10/22 to make it have black rifle features would be cool. Hell maybe it already exists and I haven't been paying attention. :)
 
Gatehouse said:
I always thought a non restricted AR style 17WSM with a 30 round magazine would sell great in Canada. Even a rifle that was easily modded like a 10/22 to make it have black rifle features would be cool. Hell maybe it already exists and I haven't been paying attention. :)
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just waiting for the Franklin Armory F17 to make that happen......as one can dream.
 
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