.17 WSM- The good the bad

[Bubs11]

I'm looking to replace the 17 HMR that I should of never sold (sellers remorse), I don't shoot a ton as I do more of the long range thing with lower shot counts rather than a lot of plinking. If I'm going to be perfectly honest, part of the appeal of the WSM is the "cool factor". The HMR makes more sense in most ways- cheaper to shoot, quieter & more availability of ammo but all that aside who shoots one and why over the other options available?

[elkhunter11]

I looked at the 17wsm, but the 17Hornet is superior ballistically, and the 17hmr is much cheaper to shoot, and easier to find ammunition for at lower prices. So I have a 17hmr, and a 17 hornet, the 17hmr is great to 150 yards, and the 17hornet is excellent to over 250 yards on ground squirrels.

[waldedw]

I had all the 17's at one time, the only one I have now is the 17 HMR, the 17 WSM was faster with a heavier bullet so it had more whoomph and really splatted gophers, as for the 17 hornet it was the king, vaporized gophers, I had a CZ 527 varmint and shot the barrel out of it in just over 7,000 rounds, it is a bit dinky to reload and I just sold off the action and reloading supplies, found I was spending more time loading than shooting

Ammunition for the 17 WSM is scarce and expensive, probably $10 per box more than 17 HMR but you don't have to reload and that's a good thing. I shoot around 2500 rounds a year of 17 HMR and another 2,500 of 22 LR each summer, I will never give up my HMR

[Groundhogger]

.17s are of pretty limited use here in Ontario where small game is concerned. Either too much, or not enough it seems, haven't tried 17 Fireball.

For me, 17Hornet is a great combination of power/speed..and very flat shooting out to 200 yards. (field experience, couldn't tell you what the drop chart says) Anchors big groundhogs out to that distance at least, it's the furthest I've tried. With the smaller size of some of our farms here, 17H could be considered a better option than my other favorite, 204.

I only know a few people who bought 17WSM, and the only one who loved it/kept it was a gunsmith himself. Told me it took some effort to get it shooting well.

[Dean2]

Owned 17 Mach2, 17 HMR, 17 WSM, 17 Hornet, 17 Fireball, 17 Remington and 17 Practical (223 necked to 17). Still have 17 HMR and 17 Fireball, rest all went down the road. Kept the 22 Hornet, as I like it much better than the 17 Hornet.

I can load 17 Fireball for about the same price as 50 17 HMR and it way outperforms the 17 HMR beyond 200 yards and will easily shoot tighter at 100 on out. However, at 200 yards or less the 17 HMR is great and lots accurate enough for gophers. If you are shooting 3-4000 rounds a year, that is a lot of time at the loading bench you don't have to spend. I use a 22 RF from 25-100 yards, 17 HMR from 100 to 200, and a 17 FB or 22 Hornet beyond that.

The 17 WSM is just WAY too expensive ammo wise and I can load for less, and get better performance. Like all rimfires, accuracy is quite variable and a 17 FB will group far better at 100 yards on out than the 17 WSM I tried. To me the WSM is an answer to a question that was never asked.

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by Dean2

Owned 17 Mach2, 17 HMR, 17 WSM, 17 Hornet, 17 Fireball, 17 Remington and 17 Practical (223 necked to 17). Still have 17 HMR and 17 Fireball, rest all went down the road. Kept the 22 Hornet, as I like it much better than the 17 Hornet.

I can load 17 Fireball for about the same price as 50 17 HMR and it way outperforms the 17 HMR beyond 200 yards and will easily shoot tighter at 100 on out. However, at 200 yards or less the 17 HMR is great and lots accurate enough for gophers. If you are shooting 3-4000 rounds a year, that is a lot of time at the loading bench you don't have to spend. I use a 22 RF from 25-100 yards, 17 HMR from 100 to 200, and a 17 FB or 22 Hornet beyond that.

The 17 WSM is just WAY too expensive ammo wise and I can load for less, and get better performance. Like all rimfires, accuracy is quite variable and a 17 FB will group far better at 100 yards on out than the 17 WSM I tried. To me the WSM is an answer to a question that was never asked.

I have owned the 17mach2, 17hmr,17hornet, and 17Fireball. The 17mach2 was my favorite for ground squirrels to just over 100 yards, and when I bought my rifle, I purchased 10k of Eley ammunition at $6.50 per box. I bought a further 20k of Eley ammunition at $7 per box. I sold my 17Mach 2 and my remaining 16k of Ely ammunition, for 50% more than I paid for them, so I shot about 14k at almost no cost. I liked my 17 Fireball as well, very accurate and killed great to over 300 yards, but the barrel would heat up, during high volume shooting sessions. The 17 Hornet has a little less range, but it can be shot pretty much continually, without the barrel heating up too much. The 17hmr was the last one that I purchased, and it replaced my 17mach2, with a bit more range, and ammunition is much more readily available. If you can find it, 17mach 2 ammunition costs about as much as 17hmr these days, especially when I purchase 17hmr on sale at Prophet River.

[Demonical]

I have a CZ452 HB Varminter in 17HMR. It's a tackdriver at 100 yards. I've honestly never shot it at longer ranges than that.

My scope is a Bushnell Trophy 5-15x.