Does anyone have one and what have been their experiences with it? Not sure the price of the ammunition but the rifle seems intriguing. Such a fast accurate little round and the rifle must have a smooth action since it is a henry.
Henry .17HM Varmint Express
- Thread starter Teapot
- Start date
I am not sure but from the pictures I have seen it looks like .17HMR is a centrefire cartridge. You might get some action with a thread on the rifle section. I am going to check out this .17 thing this weekend......
- Location
- Oil-Country Alberta
I've owned one for a few years now. It is my favorite 17hmr I currently own. The action is just like any other Henry lever action... butter smooth. It is very accurate, but it does not have the heavy barrel (like the Savages) so it heats up a little bit faster than I'd like. However the barrel does cool quite quickly.
I wouldn't say it is as accurate as my CZ, or Savage 17hmr, but for Gophers, it's the first rifle I reach for.
I've just put in an order with a CGN dealer for the Frontier model 17hmr, so I guess you could say I like the Varmint Express so much I had to buy another!
If you decide to pick one up I would suggest "stocking up" on ammo... 17hmr has gone up about $3.00/50rnds in the past two years or so... Stay away from Federal ammo, mine hates it. Winchester it seems to like the most.
I wouldn't say it is as accurate as my CZ, or Savage 17hmr, but for Gophers, it's the first rifle I reach for.
I've just put in an order with a CGN dealer for the Frontier model 17hmr, so I guess you could say I like the Varmint Express so much I had to buy another!
If you decide to pick one up I would suggest "stocking up" on ammo... 17hmr has gone up about $3.00/50rnds in the past two years or so... Stay away from Federal ammo, mine hates it. Winchester it seems to like the most.
I've read this sentiment dozens of times and have to chime in. .17 HMR is expensive ONLY if you compare it to the cheapest ammo. made~which is .22lr. I've seen boxes of 50 .22 for as little as $1.77 on sale! So yes, compared to that, .17 HMR IS expensive. Compared to everything else, it's very fairly priced.
Now, this is my opinion only..and not related to the thread so I apologize. I would, however, suggest that if you FIND it a bit pricey, do what I do. Buy a box every time you see it, and by the time you want to go shooting, you'll have all you need +. I spent 7 hours yesterday slugging around my Savage 93R17 BTV in pursuit of groundhogs and even WITH 1/2 hour of punching paper, only when through about 70 rounds. (about $35, or $5 an hour) If that amount of money is cost prohibitive, than a .17 might not be a great fit.
Sorry for the rant...
I wonder if the frontier and the Varmint Express are the same rifle save for the butt and barrel. Should this be the case then Could the Varmint Express be ordered with the octagonal barrel or the Frontier with the VE's butt and scope mount attached? This would create a rifle whose barrel does not heat up quickly and therefore retains more consistency from shot to shot- or am I worrying about something I needn't? I had a Win94 whose barrel would heat quickly and all my shots would string vertically. I got rid of that rifle-quickly.
