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.17 HMR Woes
- Thread starter cb46184
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After getting the action screws tightened to recommended torque, I've inspected the fit of this stock and I don't see how it could be any more perfect. The fit of the action is snug. Almost a "press fit" like the stock was molded to the receiver. A dollar bill slides easily from the forearm all the way to the front of the action and the gap is even. I honestly think the fit is so perfect that glass bedding wouldn't be an improvement. I guess the groups I get tomorrow (if I can do my part) will tell the story but I've got great expectations. And, if it shoots as good as it looks (IMHO) it will be awesome.
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Got some sub-moa groups today. The best looks like about .4" (5 shots @50yds), easily covered with a dime and, for me, I"M HAPPY! I haven't received the 20gr FMJ from CCI yet so all my shooting so far has been with the Hornady 17gr V-Max. Best thing is that there were no wild fliers and no split cases. I'm going to call it good-to-go with the new stock.
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I'll be sure to report back after I get the CCI ammo. I also want to do some trials at 100 yds. I know the rifle is capable of better cuz my shooting skills need lots of polish.Thanks for keeping us updated! Hopefully, more updates as they come?
I had an easy shot at a crow at ~65 yards, yet it flew away.I need to put in some more work with my rifle/ammo setup.
I received the CCI 20 gr FMJ ammo yesterday and the rain stopped early enough for me to go to the range today. Overcast but the wind was fairly calm. I mounted a new Magpul bipod which I really like. All shooting was done at 50 yds. I started with a thoroughly clean barrel. My scope is a BSA Sweet 17 3-12 x 40 and I had it set to 12x. I don't have a guage but I'd guess my trigger pull is somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 1/2 + lbs. That accu-trigger is pretty nice. All groups are 5 shots each except for the bottom right target which is 10 shots.
The first 5 groups fired with the CCI ammo were not impressive. Maybe I was just getting used to the bipod and the feel for loading the rifle against it or, maybe what the BR shooters say about needing at least 20 "fouling" shots after cleaning your barrel has some merit. In any case the next group tightened up a bit to 1/2".
I then switched to the Hornady 17 gr V-Max on targets 7 thru 10 and was not happy. I went back to the CCI ammo on #11 thru 13 to make sure the difference was in the ammo and not my fault. Group #12 is less than 1/4" EXCEPT for the last shot which opened it up to 1/2". It was one of those times that I knew as soon as the trigger broke the shot was going to be off. It was entirely my fault. My vision was getting a bit blurry and the muzzle blast from the guy next to me was difficult to ignore. I should have paused, re-focused and took another breath but nooooooo...
The next string of 5 resulted in an honest 3/8" group and proved the CCI ammo was, at least for today, outperforming the Hornady. Now an observation: I'm no ballistics expert but the CCI ammo is a 20 gr bullet with an advertised muzzle velocity of 2375 fps. The Hornady launches a 17 gr bullet at an advertised velocity of 2550 fps. I would not have expected the CCI with the heavier, slower bullet to print higher than the Hornady. Don't know why but "it is what it is." Now, on to target #14 - I still had a couple boxes of ammo I purchased when I bought the rifle back in 2014, one box of Remington Premier and one of Winchester Varmint HV. I inspected these rounds back when all this trouble first started. I found 5 split case necks in the box of Remington and 3 from the box of Winchester. The Remington had a lot number that indicated it was made in Oct 2013, a much later date than the Hornady ammo I had trouble with. I don't know how to decode Winchester lot #'s but I decided to give them both a try. SURPRISE! Five rounds of the Remington resulted in what I'm calling a 1/4" group. Hey, this is my story and I'll call it what I want
(it's tough to find the center of the ragged holes and measure in the wet target. It might be 9/32") Anyway, the best group of the day AND with no split cases!
The last target shows the 10 shot pattern I got from the Winchester ammo. The last case extracted was split half its length. I will not fire any more of that.
I have some CCI TNT Green 16 gr ammo ordered which should arrive in a couple weeks and I'll post the test results. Then time to move to 100 yds.
The first 5 groups fired with the CCI ammo were not impressive. Maybe I was just getting used to the bipod and the feel for loading the rifle against it or, maybe what the BR shooters say about needing at least 20 "fouling" shots after cleaning your barrel has some merit. In any case the next group tightened up a bit to 1/2".
I then switched to the Hornady 17 gr V-Max on targets 7 thru 10 and was not happy. I went back to the CCI ammo on #11 thru 13 to make sure the difference was in the ammo and not my fault. Group #12 is less than 1/4" EXCEPT for the last shot which opened it up to 1/2". It was one of those times that I knew as soon as the trigger broke the shot was going to be off. It was entirely my fault. My vision was getting a bit blurry and the muzzle blast from the guy next to me was difficult to ignore. I should have paused, re-focused and took another breath but nooooooo...
The next string of 5 resulted in an honest 3/8" group and proved the CCI ammo was, at least for today, outperforming the Hornady. Now an observation: I'm no ballistics expert but the CCI ammo is a 20 gr bullet with an advertised muzzle velocity of 2375 fps. The Hornady launches a 17 gr bullet at an advertised velocity of 2550 fps. I would not have expected the CCI with the heavier, slower bullet to print higher than the Hornady. Don't know why but "it is what it is." Now, on to target #14 - I still had a couple boxes of ammo I purchased when I bought the rifle back in 2014, one box of Remington Premier and one of Winchester Varmint HV. I inspected these rounds back when all this trouble first started. I found 5 split case necks in the box of Remington and 3 from the box of Winchester. The Remington had a lot number that indicated it was made in Oct 2013, a much later date than the Hornady ammo I had trouble with. I don't know how to decode Winchester lot #'s but I decided to give them both a try. SURPRISE! Five rounds of the Remington resulted in what I'm calling a 1/4" group. Hey, this is my story and I'll call it what I want
(it's tough to find the center of the ragged holes and measure in the wet target. It might be 9/32") Anyway, the best group of the day AND with no split cases!The last target shows the 10 shot pattern I got from the Winchester ammo. The last case extracted was split half its length. I will not fire any more of that.
I have some CCI TNT Green 16 gr ammo ordered which should arrive in a couple weeks and I'll post the test results. Then time to move to 100 yds.
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I received the CCI 16gr TNT Green ammo and also some Federal 17gr V-Max ammo which I had forgotten about ordering. The weather was great yesterday morning and I went to the range to try it out. I also shot a few more groups with the Hornady, CCI 20gr FMJ, and the Remington Premier ammo. AND, I found a really cool app that lets me measure and analyze my goups! 
The Federal ammo, or course, uses the same 17gr V-Max bullet as the Hornady and the two brands performed similarly, neither terrible nor stellar.
The CCI 20gr FMJ and 16gr TNT Green were both consistent shooters with the 16gr having only a slight edge over the 20gr in my best group measurements. The 20gr bullet printed about 1/2" higher at the 50 yd line than the 16 gr. I'm interested in finding what happens at the 100yd line.
Again, the Remington Premier's surprised me. Since this ammo was from an older batch, I examined every case after firing. On my last range session there were no split cases from this box and it produced the best group of the day. But my luck didn't hold out this time. I would get excited watching through my scope as some awesome groups started forming only to be disappointed by a flier. In the photos you can see what would have been a .37" group open up to 1.25" with a last shot flier.
Each flier (some more dramatic than others) proved to be the result of a split case neck. I could tell by the sound that something wasn't exactly kosher. I exhausted my remaining supply and wish I could get my hands on a fresh batch of the Remington ammo but, so far, can't find any available. Hopefully, the ammo supply situation will continue to improve. Right now, I wouldn't take a truckload of 17HMR ammo over a year or two old if they were giving it away.
The Federal ammo, or course, uses the same 17gr V-Max bullet as the Hornady and the two brands performed similarly, neither terrible nor stellar.
The CCI 20gr FMJ and 16gr TNT Green were both consistent shooters with the 16gr having only a slight edge over the 20gr in my best group measurements. The 20gr bullet printed about 1/2" higher at the 50 yd line than the 16 gr. I'm interested in finding what happens at the 100yd line.
Again, the Remington Premier's surprised me. Since this ammo was from an older batch, I examined every case after firing. On my last range session there were no split cases from this box and it produced the best group of the day. But my luck didn't hold out this time. I would get excited watching through my scope as some awesome groups started forming only to be disappointed by a flier. In the photos you can see what would have been a .37" group open up to 1.25" with a last shot flier.
Each flier (some more dramatic than others) proved to be the result of a split case neck. I could tell by the sound that something wasn't exactly kosher. I exhausted my remaining supply and wish I could get my hands on a fresh batch of the Remington ammo but, so far, can't find any available. Hopefully, the ammo supply situation will continue to improve. Right now, I wouldn't take a truckload of 17HMR ammo over a year or two old if they were giving it away.Attachments
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