Any more rifle makers going to chamber 17WSM?

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pisces-guy

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I'm not a fan of the Savage B-Mag and while I like the Volquartsen semi auto in 17WSM, I'm not sure I want to spend $3K on a plinker and turkey sniper. Sako and CZ make very accurate bolt actions
for the .17HMR, has anyone heard anything about more options in rifles chambered for the 17WSM? Or is everyone waiting to find out if it'll become more popular or die?
 
Judging by ammo availability, I'd say what manufacturers are in the game are probably it.
Guys I've talked to seem rather "Meh" about the cartridge. It doesn't do anything much more than the .17 hmr can, then you get to the cost. You can get .223 for the same, or less.
But there's always room for niche chamberings.
 
rosconow said:
Judging by ammo availability, I'd say what manufacturers are in the game are probably it.
Guys I've talked to seem rather "Meh" about the cartridge. It doesn't do anything much more than the .17 hmr can, then you get to the cost. You can get .223 for the same, or less.
But there's always room for niche chamberings.
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You can't buy .223 with expanding bullets for the same price. It's not too far off though, and if you reload then it's simple. If it's just going to be a plinker then .223 and FMJ is the way to go!

The 17WSM is sort of in no-man's land. The HMR is readily available, chambered in many different rifles, and is a bit cheaper on the ammo side.

Personally if I was contemplating between the two I'd ask myself a couple questions like what is the intended use, ammo consumption in a year, and rifle model that you want and what it is offered in. When this was being decided a couple years ago for myself, I concluded if I was to go rimfire I'd get the HMR, if I wanted something speedier I'd go with the centerfire .17 Hornet. Found a 527 Varmint, and the deal was done!

But as Rosconow said, there's always room for niche chamberings!
 
I was in the same boat and went with a 17hmr, you can get A17 ammo which is hotter and shoots at 2650-2700 FPS....you have to ask yourself is that last 300 FPS worth the ammo cost and limited rifle selection?

While the wsm is ballistically superior, at the end of the day it’s a small game round and with either of these tiny bullets the limiting factor becomes the wind after 200 yards, I did all the math and basically to me it seemed like the wsm bought you another 50-60 yards max. There are YouTube channels about the wsm, you can buy a stock for the savage, bed it, and then “tune” the barrel by tightening the action screws...but by the time it is done you are going to be looking at about a 1000 dollar gopher killer lol.

If you can reload another suggestion is the 17 hornet, you can load down to wsm or HMR levels, ruger made a great bolt version but it was discontinued. You can see them floating around from time to time.

At the end of the day if you want ammo and rifle selection, the 17 hmr is the choice until someone makes a hotter round that shoots cheaper bullets.
 
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I'm all for variety, but reports on the BMAG (and results with existing ammo at the time) scared me away from the caliber. Big time. I've had 4 x 17HMRs over the years, and for the cost of shooting them..the caliber never really got me excited until I started traveling to shoot gophers. Only then I got back into HMR after selling-off 3 rifles, and only got my current HMR (Marlin 917 with a Rifle Basix trigger) for that purpose. I still don't love it, but buying factory ammo is convenient for these 7-10 day adventures and if you have a year or more to look for ammo deals..you can usually find them.

I hand load .223, and owned/loaded-for .204R for a year too. I do love small, light, fast varmint bullets! :) For that reason, and, for the size of farms I frequent here in Ontario, I decided to give 17 Hornet a try. Honestly, it's an impressive caliber if you ask me. I bought a CZ527 Varmint new, and got all the reloading goodies to load for it. Factory Hornady 20gr ammo was sub-MOA right out of the gate, my first batch of hand loads have closed that significantly. Round 2/refinement is lined-up..and waiting on better weather+free time to align.

I don't know if you (the OP) reload or not, but I used to hate when people told me "I should" when asking questions about 17HMR. The truth is..that was good advice, especially for a caliber LIKE .223. So popular that things like used brass is dirt cheap, sometimes free. Component parts readily available, and the caliber itself is pretty forgiving for a new loader. By that I mean small enough to be easy to work, so much load data that you'll get good loads right away, etc. Anyhow, 17 Hornet isn't quite as easy to load for due to size, but not that big a difference either. As to why someone might suggest .223 when you're asking about 17WSM? Well, look at the bullet weights/speeds of 17WSM, then look at the same in 17 Hornet, and also..what's available for .223. My best-shooting bullet weight for 17H is 20gr, and I'm also getting great accuracy results using 35gr. NTX in my .223. (which I tried on a whim) As a result, for me, it's hard to find merit in even looking at 17WSM when I have so many options covered with 17H and .223. SO much flexibility if you're a hand loader, but lots of speed/accuracy with factory ammo in both cases too.
 
spooksar said:
Ruger made it in a Model 77, Winchester made a Low Wall
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This^.
I have a heavy barrel Bmag and it's a serious pos. I mean it's reasonably accurate and all but the trigger and the stock and the #### on close bolt just plain sux.
The Ruger 77/17 is a really nice rifle. As is the Winnie.
I think the rim fire WSM case might be better served in a 20cal or a 22cal personally. Maybe the developers of the 17wsm were using the 17 as a marketing test. Who knows?
A decent semi auto in this cal would be cool tho.
 
Seems like the .17HMR is the way to go, for now anyway, as far as a long range accurate rimfire in a decent rifle. I love the .22-250 centrefire, don't get me wrong, but the regs in B.C. allow only a rimfire for turkey hunting,
and the .17HMR gives you more distance than a .22WMR. So what's a good value in a very accurate bolt action .17HMR rifle? I've heard good things about the CZ?
 
pisces-guy said:
Seems like the .17HMR is the way to go, for now anyway, as far as a long range accurate rimfire in a decent rifle. I love the .22-250 centrefire, don't get me wrong, but the regs in B.C. allow only a rimfire for turkey hunting,
and the .17HMR gives you more distance than a .22WMR. So what's a good value in a very accurate bolt action .17HMR rifle? I've heard good things about the CZ?
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A CZ would be a great choice, especially if you can track down a CZ452. There is at least one in the EE here, but I think the number of times the ad has been bumped speaks to an ounce of optimism with the asking price; https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1655802-CZ-452-Varmint-in-17-HMR?highlight=CZ The CZ455s are more readily available, but I think the 452s are (=were) better guns. Depending on your hunting approach, you might not want a heavy/varmint barrel.
 
I bought a Bmag a few years ago strictly for coyote hunting in more populated areas where a quiet report is beneficial. I liked the idea of an extra 50 yard reach over the HMR. It’s a 2 moa rifle which is plenty accurate enough for coyotes.

It’s now my 10 yo sons favourite rifle to shoot, although he sometimes has trouble operating the oddball bolt. Savage would’ve been better off clambering this cartridge in a $400.00 axis or whatever their current budget centerfire rifle is.
 
I have 4 17WSM rifles, but that’s me I like odd stuff. A B Mag, a Ruger, a Winchester and a Volquartsen. The B Mag is garbage, all the rest are nice but you need to feed them the right bullet.
 
finstr said:
I think the rim fire WSM case might be better served in a 20cal or a 22cal personally. Maybe the developers of the 17wsm were using the 17 as a marketing test. Who knows?
A decent semi auto in this cal would be cool tho.
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Somebody give this guy a prize! The WSM case with a .20cal, if only they went that route! Would have been WAAAY easier to market and sell considering it wouldn't have been going head-to-head with the HMR. In fact, I can say with certainty that if they had made a 20WSM I'd have one in my safe right now.
 
I don't have one but my brother bought one from Savage and can that thing shoot. BEST groups at 100 are covered by a nickle and last week 5 shots at 200 went into 1 1/2" on a windy day. Those are best groups but even his "average" 5 shot groups are excellent. The rifle came with a "Boyds" laminated stock and looks very very nice. He lives on a small piece of land with raccoons and coyotes causing problems so he wanted something to help sort them out. Is it worth the extra 300 fps? I'm not sure but lots of guys buy a new hunting rig just to get an extra 200 fps. Great looking rifle that shoots well and was't expensive.
 
I've got a pile of HMR's and WSM's in both the Bmag SSHB and a Ruger 77/17.

The Bmag action is junk. If I pull the bolt back, the handle just drops down on the stock like a limp-#### on close is weird too. It shoots decent, but you have to remember you're shooting an action that doesn't behave like any other action.

The Ruger shot like crap so I crowned it, bedded it and installed a Jard trigger, it was better, but not anywhere near as good as the Bmag out of the box. I love the Ruger action and mag, but wow it won't shoot. I have a new Lilja barrel plus a reamer so I need to sort this out. I also have a Harrell tuner to go on it and see if I can tune the ammo to the rifle since ammo selection is limited.

I have a CZ 527 Hornet and that has about the same report as the WSM and has all the right things going for it. Accuracy, proper mechanics in the action and all metal. The Hornet mags do tend to not be the smoothest feeding, but compared to the WSM's negatives I'll grab the Hornet.

People that say the WSM isn't much more than an HMR haven't shot much with them, there is a pretty big difference. The jump up to the Hornet is pretty big too. There is definitely a void to be filled in the WSM rifle field. If the WSM had a better rifle platform, I think it would have a larger following, Winchester should be ashamed for allowing Savage to be the deciding factor in the success of the round, the low wall was a pointless player in the game. Savage could get a huge amount of redemption if they'd scale the A17 delayed locking autoloader for the WSM. I have an A17 and think it absolutely rocks! It's a solid 1moa rifle at 100 yards and reliability is top notch. That Bmag tho.......ugh.
 
PGW Steve said:
I have a CZ 527 Hornet and that has about the same report as the WSM and has all the right things going for it. Accuracy, proper mechanics in the action and all metal. The Hornet mags do tend to not be the smoothest feeding, but compared to the WSM's negatives I'll grab the Hornet.
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^My mag feeds absolutely fine, but it's just no fun to load, especially with cold hands. I bought a spare mag when I got my rifle, but never opened it. It's in the EE. I DID buy a single-shot adapter from Calhoon in the US and other than the mag release needing an ounce of TLC to get that seated right, it's one of the best-functioning, nicely made rifle accessories I've ever bought. He's one of the nicer guys I've ever done business with too. The experience has me considering something .19 cal down the road!

I don't have the desire/inclination to buy a rifle as a fixer-upper, so the Savage in 17WSM was never a temptation for me. Some buddies of mine have told me that I'd probably love the caliber, but I went with 17H and have no regrets. Feels like a great combination of power/speed/accuracy/low-report, etc. Can't wait to try it on groundhogs in the coming weeks.
 
.22LRGUY said:
A CZ would be a great choice, especially if you can track down a CZ452. There is at least one in the EE here, but I think the number of times the ad has been bumped speaks to an ounce of optimism with the asking price; https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1655802-CZ-452-Varmint-in-17-HMR?highlight=CZ The CZ455s are more readily available, but I think the 452s are (=were) better guns. Depending on your hunting approach, you might not want a heavy/varmint barrel.
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I understand getting a CZ455 and putting a Lilja barrel on it is the way to go, if you want a nail driver?
 
The 17wsm is likely not going to get much more popular, so don't expect a lot of manufacturers to jump on the bandwagon. The 17hmr had a huge head start, and the 17 hornet is superior ballistically, and can be loaded for the same cost.
 
Had an hmr and ammo got too pricy. Wanted another 17 tho and finally decided on the hornet over the wsm. Not sure why I waited so long to decide. Reload for the hornet and over all it looks like a better round than wsm will ever be
 
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