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cleaning .17 hmr

14K views 21 replies 12 participants last post by  kciH 
#1 ·
Hi guys, has anyone found how often the .17 hmr needs cleaning, what's the best way, what happens if you don't? any preferance in ammo? Thanks Clyde
 
#2 ·
don't know about cleaning the 17hmr, but my advice on ammo preference would be buy a bunch of different kinds and blast away until you find one you like
 
#3 ·
Not much difference in cleaning the .17HMR and your standard larger bore firearm, except the tools are smaller! Whatever your favorite method of cleaning your centerfire rifles will work for the .17HMR.

I run some wet/dry patch combinations with a jag to knock out the most fouling, then follow with a bronze brush/solvent treatment, followed by more wet/dry patches. Since the bullets are leaving the bore at over 2500 fps, there is a copper wash in the bore that must be removed, just like the bigger bores.
 
#4 ·
How often it will need to be cleaned will most likely be based on your individual rifle. If you are shooting for group and see your groups size fall off, that' a usually a pretty good indicator of how quickly (or not) your rifle will accumulate enough fouling to cause a detrimental effect on accuracy.

I've tried the CCI, Remington, and original Hornady ammo. The Remington and the Hornady seem comparable in my rifle, with the slight edge going to the Hornady. The CCI's, while still good, gave me groups that are nearly 50% larger in MY rifle.
 
#5 · (Edited)
kciH said:
How often it will need to be cleaned will most likely be based on your individual rifle. If you are shooting for group and see your groups size fall off, that' a usually a pretty good indicator of how quickly (or not) your rifle will accumulate enough fouling to cause a detrimental effect on accuracy.

I've tried the CCI, Remington, and original Hornady ammo. The Remington and the Hornady seem comparable in my rifle, with the slight edge going to the Hornady. The CCI's, while still good, gave me groups that are nearly 50% larger in MY rifle.
What make of rifle are you shooting? How do you like it so far? I'm kicking around the idea of gettig a .17 hmr. Looking at a Savage or a Marlin
 
#6 ·
I've got the Savage Model 93R17-FV. It's a bull barrel, blued, synthetic stock rifle. The trigger is not too good, but not terrible either as it came from the factory. I wanted a 17 HMR, and this is a good shooter. There are aftermarket triggers that will bring it on par with anything else trigger wise. I have NEVER missed a 16oz pop bottle with it at 100 from the prone, and I've shot lots of them, so the trigger isn't that terrible, but it sure isn't good. I'm looking to replace it with a CZ452 American, might be a rifle you'd like to take a look at also if you're looking for something a little nicer. The CZ has a great reputation for accuracy and an adjustable trigger. I've only seen one in action at the range and it was shooting just under moa with Hornady ammo. For the money, the Savage is a great rifle also. I don't have anything to say about the Marlin, as I've not shot one or seen anyone shooting one locally. If you're a squirrel hunter..make sure you head shoot em' if you want anything left to eat! :) This round takes pretty much all the guess work out of small game hunting trajectory questions. Shoots very flat, much flatter than any other rimfire. The wind will send it off course at longer ranges, but much less than any other rimfire. If you look around a little, there is no reason to pay more than $8.50-9 a box. Still a little high, but no worse than the best .22 Mag ammo.
 
#7 ·
kciH...The CZ's are very nice but I am looking at the Marlin or Savage because I don't want to drop a lot of money into this gun. I'm partial to the Marlin because I bought Marlin .22 mag bolt action ($160.00) before the .17 was released and am real pleased by it's performence. Accuracy is incredible! It's been bad news for the local crows. But I see the advantages of the.17 and want one. I was hoping I could talk to someone who had the Savage before I made the decision. Other then trigger, you have no complaints?
 
#8 ·
Bowtek,
I've no regrets of buying the rifle. I'm pretty certain the trigger on a Marlin or Ruger will be no better. I do see that Marlin has just announced a new trigger on their RF rifles...may be something to look into. My Savage shoots just under an inch with the Hornady ammo, pretty much the same with the Remington. I've got a trigger for it down in the gun room, haven't taken the time to install it yet. A shooter at the club where I shoot has the sharpshooter trigger in his and it is superb. I really don't see it improving my bench shooting, but it will likely improve my field shooting. Most folks would be very happy with the way this rifle shoots if it where a deer rifle, and it's a $200 rimfire, so I'm pretty satisfied to say the least. The accuracy is sufficient to easily use the rifle to 200 yards on small vermin..what more do you need from a 200 yard small varmint rifle? I don't see the wisdom in using it on anything other than small game and small vermin. Fox and coyotes I consider too big for this round. Not saying it can't be, or hasn't been, done...wouldn't carry the rifle if that was the intended quarry though.
 
#9 ·
kciH...I agree with you on small game only. Anyone wanting to go after Fox or Coyote with a .17 is missing the point of this cartridge. I have a "competion" going with the local crow population. They're holding there own. The storys you've heard about crows being smart are not just storys. If you want to brush up on your stalking skills, go crow hunting. Other then that, rabbit and long range (150yds max) on the local ground squirrels.
I am aware of Marlins new trigger on the rimfires and consider it a big plus. You say an improved trigger is availble for the Savage. Could you tell me more about this? Also, why won't this trigger improve your bench shooting? Thanks...Bill
 
#10 ·
I don't see the trigger improving my bench shooting skills by much because a good bench rest will overcome a poor trigger unless it's SKS bad, which the Savage isn't. I rarely shoot the rifle off the bench unless I'm trying out new ammo anyway. No benches where I hunt. Close as I get is shooting from the prone on a ground pad.

The trigger is made by Rifle Basix and can be viewed at Midway at http://www.midwayusa.com/rewriteaproduct/287188

When you add the price of this trigger to the rifle, you aren't too far away from the CZ452 with the better trigger. No free lunch when it comes to production rifles and good triggers, especially rimfires.

I've not tried the cartridge on crows, but it should turn them into a feather duster to 100 yards and kill em' dead to 200+. You will be amazed at how much flatter, and with how much less wind drift, this cartridge shoots than any other rimfire. Has more energy at long range to boot...not a bad idea after all. Don't look for spectacular kills at 200 yards, it's not a centerfire.
 
#11 · (Edited)
kciH....Thanks for the info on the after market savage trigger, will file that away for the day when I go shopping. The price of the trigger ($80.00) is making me lean towards the marlin though. I think the savage or marlin will serve my needs very well and see no need to spend more for a .17 HMR rifle. I know what you mean about the sks trigger. I took mine apart, honed it a little, reassembled and test fired it about five times before I got the three stages of creep out it!
 
#14 ·
savage .17 hmr

I love my savage, it's not the heavy barrel but shoots great. It had a horrible trigger. I took one coil off the trigger spring, backed the adjuster screw all the way out and stoned the sear lightly, it had a cast finish rather than machined. it took about 20 minutes. now it's right there slightly behind my 52. the biggest thing was the trigger spring was way too strong(liability). It is truely a small game gun do not abuse the larger ones with it. Off hand at crows is a hoot I call it public (crows) education. Most fun gun I own. Clyde
 
#15 ·
clydedunn said:
I love my savage, it's not the heavy barrel but shoots great. It had a horrible trigger. I took one coil off the trigger spring, backed the adjuster screw all the way out and stoned the sear lightly, it had a cast finish rather than machined. it took about 20 minutes. now it's right there slightly behind my 52. the biggest thing was the trigger spring was way too strong(liability). It is truely a small game gun do not abuse the larger ones with it. Off hand at crows is a hoot I call it public (crows) education. Most fun gun I own. Clyde
Clyde...I know what you mean about "most fun gun I ever owned". I guess every gun fills a nich but there's something about the rimfire magnums that just makes for fun shooting. I have a lemon tree out back that produces the neatest 100 yard targets for my Marlin bolt .22 mag a guy could ever ask for. Small but easy to see and when you hit one, you know it! Man, do they blow up. You can run a 100 rounds thru it in one sitting and not come home with a headache, half deaf or a sore shoulder, just happy. Looking forward to getting the .17hmr and giving it the citrus test...and then on to the crows!
 
#17 ·
Lonegunmen said:
I'm looking for an aftermarket varmint stock for my Savage .17 HMR 93R17-FV. I would really like help with this if anyone has any information. I have already bought an aftermarket trigger and it performs VERY well.
Thanks if anyone can help.
Lonegunmen,

You might want to try posting in the trading post section of the forum. It's not too likely that someone will come to this thread looking to sell you a stock.

By the way, welcome to the forums, and I hope you find what you're looking for.

amndouglas
 
#18 ·
as far as cleaning goes it's no different than any other rifle with the exception of needing a .17 cal rod. I suggest you invest in a carbon fiber rod since they are so ****ed skinny they bend easy. Carbon fiber will bend but spring back into it's original shape. As far as fouling goes Mine doesn't foul any worse than any other rifle I own. I just shot a box of Federal premium with 17 grain bullets. and they ran about 1moa, but there was a breeze that day. The Savage mod 93 seems to have great potential, but the trigger realy sucked till my smith worked it over. I'd buy an after market trigger, but at 90 bucks the trigger is half of what I payed for the rifle new. A trigger job was under $30.00
 
#19 · (Edited)
We bought the Marlin 17V when they first came out . the trigger was a night mare.I would say , the metal fit was not the greatest , but the bolt /reciever does wear in.
When we got to shooting , we had regrets not going with the ruger.

We replaced the trigger with one of the rife basix triggers which brought the rifle on line.
Then on Marlin talk they were removing the spring on a ball point pen and doing a little polish .
It would be intersting to see how the new rifles fare with the new triggers.
Hind site - Were was the 204? might have been cheaper in the end to reload and shoot this round than buying the 17HRF
 
#20 ·
small calabers need cleaning more. if left un clean ill be a pain to get clean the copper fouling is bad to buld up like a 22-250 220 204. i have a savage 17 hmr and i clean it every so often, ill shoot .5 inch at 100yds with hornaday 17gn ammo when clean ive killed coytes by shoting them in the head but groundhog crows musckrat doves squreel rabbit dont matter
 
#21 ·
i clean my savage mkII .17 mach2 with my beeman cable air rifle cleaner and hoppes pulled through from the breech end to the muzzle with a tight patch.... it's the same thing as the otis cable coated in plastic... be very gentle on the muzzle end so as not to screw up the rifleing at the crown!
 
#22 ·
I wouldn't get too hung up on the cleaning regiment. There are a lot of folks out there that confuse a .17 HMR with a .17 Remington, and the alleged problems that where associated with cartridge when it was introduced. I shoot a .17 Mach IV (.17x.221 Fireball) that generates plenty of velocity, but needs no more cleaning than any other rifle. The Mach IV is a custom hand lapped barrel for a T/C, so that may minimize needed cleaning. You need to remember we are dealing with 2500fps with good bullets, not 4000+fps with the bullets and powders of 20 years ago...not saying they where bad..but I'm saying the ones in the .17HMR do not foul any more than a copper plated .22LR, if as much. Like the .17 Rem, your fouling seems to come more from the powder than anything. Keep it clean, being careful not to hatch the throat or crown with sloppy cleaning pratices, and shoot to your hearts content. I have seen no need, in any way, when shooting 2-300 rounds in a sitting. I clean my rifles when I get home from the range, so I can't tell you how well it's shoots at 1-2000 rounds as compared to 1-200 rounds. Clean it as you would anything else, of course being careful due to the diminutive bore size, and be happy. The .17 HMR is a fine round, the new 20gr XTP makes it even more useful for some things.

I'm pretty a-retentive about cleaning rifles and this one needs it less than a hand lapped barrel in a moderate velocity centerfire..at least as far as I can tell. I will say my barrel has over 5K rounds through it, which may have smoothed it some. It may just as well be that I don't worry about it much with this rifle since the accuracy doesn't seem to fall off under 2-300 rounds. I clean mine with the same foaming Wipe-out that I use for most everything else.
 
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