Why no .17 semi ?

SoLDneR

SoLDneR

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I was wondering beside the Volquartsen TF-17 @ 1100 $,why there is no other semi 17 on the market ?

Could be very interresting having a SR 17 model !!! :)

Any tought ?
 
.17 HMR is a very difficult cartridge for which to make a semiauto rifle work properly. Remington built some 597s for it and recalled them all due to being prone to kabooms. Keep in mind that most straight blowback firearms use fairly low pressure straight walled cartridges.
 
Ya, they couldn't tune them quite exactly (it was very hard to do with the cartridge) so the bolt would start to open while its still firing which leaked gases. Something along those lines.
 
outoftowner said:
Ya, they couldn't tune them quite exactly (it was very hard to do with the cartridge) so the bolt would start to open while its still firing which leaked gases. Something along those lines.
Click to expand...

This happens with all blowback operation semi's. It just resulted in serious problems with the .17HMR round. A delayed blowback or gas operated semi should work fine with the round, but no one makes those in a rimfire at the moment (that I know of, anyway).

Mark
 
SoLDneR said:
So if i got it,it's just because the shape of the shell ??
Click to expand...

And the immensely higher pressures.

That snappy .17 velocity comes from somewhere...

Straight blowback is tough to do safely with a high-pressure cartridge. As mentioned a delayed blowback (think the tilt mechanism in a lot of pistols) would be workable, or a gas-op system like the AR15 or SKS/AK/SVT/etc. would work too.

But then, the manufacturer says "how much are people wanting to pay for a varmint gun in semi-.17 when they can just buy a 10/22 in .22LR and have it work until doomsday?"

You could actually make a rotating-bolt or delayed semi-.17 pretty easily if you had machine tools, but nobody seems to want to go to the trouble.

.22's are cheap because a straight blowback mechanism is simple. Some rails, springs, and the weight of the bolt carrier control your whole action. Add parts, and it gets complicated... and therefore more expensive.

-M
 
SoLDneR said:
So if i got it,it's just because the shape of the shell ??
Click to expand...

I have not seen a definitive reason for the problems, but they seem to be due to lack of support for the brass as the action opens with pressure still in the barrel. The bottleneck brass loses a lot of support around the neck and shoulder as the bolt pulls out of battery, compared to a straight walled case, so it is very likely the shape that is causing the issues.

Mark
 
There are kits to convert the 10/22 to fire the .17 mach 2.

Like this one:
ht tp://www.rimfiresports.com/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=RSC&Product_Code=HM2Kit
 
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