Anyone have any experience with a Savage 93R17 BSEV 17 HMR?

CoreyWoods

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We live on a couple acres with chickens and ducks running around. So far any predator that comes on the property I get with my Marlin 60 SS. That is a great gun and I've had success getting fox with it as well as everything else (skunk, coon...etc). However, I'm looking for something with a little more punch. We have neighbours around so I don't necessary want to get out the 12 gauge. So, I was thinking of another Rimfire.

Anyone have experience with the Savage Arms 93R17 BSEV, 17 HMR?

Here is a link;

https://www.savagearms.com/content?p=firearms&a=product_summary&s=96771

If this is something that would be good for larger predators should I go with 17 HMR or 22 WSM? I know it is a controversial question that has been beaten to death. I only need to shoot a couple acres at most so 300 yards is something I do not need. I would be shooting anywhere from 3 yards to 100 yards.

Thank you.
 
I have the heavy barrel wood stock Savage 93 something something...17hmr is very accurate, no complaints with the rifle. I wouldn't shoot a yote with it, but others have and claim it works. It makes a pretty good mess of small stuff.
 
I really like mine too. Great little rifle, the 17 HMR certainly does some major damage to squirrels and such. I've used it for "sniping" patridge heads as well once they get spooky later on in the season.
 
I have the 93R17 BTVSS. It's the stainless thumbhole heavy barrel one, almost as fancy as the one you are looking at. I think I have a Bushnell Elite 3500 4-12 on it right now and it's a little laser beam. No complaints other than cost of .17hmr ammo over .22LR.
 
I have had a few... we shot many coons and foxes and coyotes with them, I recommend the 20 grain HP's over the 17 VM's if you are going to shoot larger stuff. They are accurate rifles, and comfortable to shoot. We ended up sprucing up most of ours.
 
My .22s don't see much action now in the gopher fields.

Love Savage, and love .17HMR, gophers get dragged out of the holes!

 
BSEV is a lot of bang for the money but for a fox size animal and up, the rifle also comes in a 22mag. Bullistic drop and accuracy is about the same as the 17hmr to around 150 yards and for the bit of volosity lost, you gain back in muzzle energy.
 
Thank you for the help everyone. Looks like this will be my next purchase. What scope and rings is everyone using on their BSEV's?
 
Thank you for the help everyone. Looks like this will be my next purchase. What scope and rings is everyone using on their BSEV's?

Any scope with an A/O, they come with weaver bases which opens up ring options greatly. I don't think Nightforce rings are required for rimfires, anything decent quality will work. I use the 4 hole weavers often with no issues, SFRC has them cheap.
 
I'm going to be the odd man out here and say that I really dislike these stocks, and the thumbhole version I like even less. At the very least, handle one if you can before ordering/buying...and see if you like it. The Boyd's laminate stocks are generally made very well, but are heavy for their size...and the BSEV model is not a well balanced gun if you ask me. (muzzle heavy) That may/may not matter to you but I'll never buy another Savage with a laminate stock. Were I shopping for a 17HMR, and had a Savage budget...I'd look at one of the new Savage B-series bolt guns and pick one of those instead. Varmint/heavy barrel if shooting from a rest or bipod...sporter weight if I thought I'd ever be shooting offhand. If you choose to stick with the 93 series...all good, but see if you can find one with a regular/mystery hard wood stock. Much lighter than the laminate, and a more traditional design.

Ultimately, your $/your choice...but my first HMR was the BTVS/thumbhole version...and I've never sold a gun so fast after trying it than I did that one. Accuracy was very good, trigger was very decent, but for a hunting rifle? No way.

17HMR is not a good coyote caliber, or even groundhog caliber based on my experience with it. (4 different HMRs) 22 WMR/22 mag was a far more effective caliber on groundhogs, I suspect the same is true on coyotes if you feel you're forced to use a rimfire on the property. You leave some accuracy at the gate, but out to 125 yards, it's definitely big-varmint-capable, and plenty accurate enough. Less fun to target shoot with than HMR...but a more effective varmint slayer. Period.

I'm on my second year using 17 Hornet for groundhogs and I'd bet that caliber would fit your needs perfectly, but, ammo is more $ and rifle options are limited. Mine is a CZ 527 Varmint, but they're not common. I don't find 17 Hornet to be much louder than 22WMR, but I find 22WMR seems louder than 17HMR. The HMR is like a 22WMR muffled a bit. lol
 
oh yeah...scopes. :)

None of the calibers I've suggested have any recoil...so you have options. If your targets are inside of 100 yards frequently, I'd suggest an AO or SF scope to avoid any parallax issues. Magnification is a good thing as far as I'm concerned, but a good quality 3-9X scope is better than a crappy-quality 6-24X. What I'd pick would depend heavily on how often I'd be using it, and for how long. If your targets are in the 50-100 yard range, maybe one of the rimfire-specific scopes Nikon offer with a 50+ yard parallax setting. Won't have to mess with the AO/SF if you're needing to get shots off quickly. Optics really are a "spend more/get more" proposition...but if this is a tool used ever week or two, I personally wouldn't go too nuts on a fancy one.
 
I have had a few... we shot many coons and foxes and coyotes with them, I recommend the 20 grain HP's over the 17 VM's if you are going to shoot larger stuff. They are accurate rifles, and comfortable to shoot. We ended up sprucing up most of ours.
Beautiful rifles, bet those muzzle brakes really tame the recoil of the 17. Just kidding they actually look pretty good
 
Beautiful rifles, bet those muzzle brakes really tame the recoil of the 17. Just kidding they actually look pretty good

If you want to watch hits at 24X then they make a significant difference in the vibration, even with .17 cal rimfire.
 
If you really want to get bent over a Savage .17 HMR build, check out the one below... but that configuration was incredibly stable on the bench and on groundhogs in the field.
 
I'm going to be the odd man out here and say that I really dislike these stocks, and the thumbhole version I like even less. At the very least, handle one if you can before ordering/buying...and see if you like it. The Boyd's laminate stocks are generally made very well, but are heavy for their size...and the BSEV model is not a well balanced gun if you ask me. (muzzle heavy) That may/may not matter to you but I'll never buy another Savage with a laminate stock. Were I shopping for a 17HMR, and had a Savage budget...I'd look at one of the new Savage B-series bolt guns and pick one of those instead. Varmint/heavy barrel if shooting from a rest or bipod...sporter weight if I thought I'd ever be shooting offhand. If you choose to stick with the 93 series...all good, but see if you can find one with a regular/mystery hard wood stock. Much lighter than the laminate, and a more traditional design.

Ultimately, your $/your choice...but my first HMR was the BTVS/thumbhole version...and I've never sold a gun so fast after trying it than I did that one. Accuracy was very good, trigger was very decent, but for a hunting rifle? No way.

17HMR is not a good coyote caliber, or even groundhog caliber based on my experience with it. (4 different HMRs) 22 WMR/22 mag was a far more effective caliber on groundhogs, I suspect the same is true on coyotes if you feel you're forced to use a rimfire on the property. You leave some accuracy at the gate, but out to 125 yards, it's definitely big-varmint-capable, and plenty accurate enough. Less fun to target shoot with than HMR...but a more effective varmint slayer. Period.

I'm on my second year using 17 Hornet for groundhogs and I'd bet that caliber would fit your needs perfectly, but, ammo is more $ and rifle options are limited. Mine is a CZ 527 Varmint, but they're not common. I don't find 17 Hornet to be much louder than 22WMR, but I find 22WMR seems louder than 17HMR. The HMR is like a 22WMR muffled a bit. lol

I agree that the barrel is a bit front heavy for free hand but to me this is a bag or hay bale type rifle and the weight helps with stability and follow up rounds and although the stock is not idea it is better than those thumb hole stocks when it comes to versatility. My left handed son could use this rifle.
 
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