Some time ago Steve Boelter wrote an absolutely superb review of the then new Anschütz 1727 Fortner rifle in 17 HMR. This was posted to his website rrdvegas.com, which unfortunately now is gone. I've decided to salvage the article from his now defunct website using an internet archive. My hope is that having it now posted to the hide Mr Boelter's excellent article will be more easily accessible in the future.
____________________________________________
ANSCHÜTZ 1727
The following article is about the new ANSCHÜTZ 1727 sporting rifle chambered in .17 HMR.
This rifle is a new product for the company, based on the famous Fortner straight-pull biathlon action and features a 4-round magazine and excellent walnut stock.
I have based the information of this article on an extensive field testing of the rifle, consisting of over 2,000 rounds of CCI .17 HMR ammunition, as well as accuracy testing at the range.
Rifle Caliber: .17 HMR
Capacity: 4 + 1
Barrel Length: 22"
Weight: 7 lbs, 10 oz.
ANSCHÜTZ 1727
It started with an email...
Some time ago in early 2012, I was exchanging the usual post-holiday pleasantries email with Jochen (Jochen Anschuetz, President of ANSCHÜTZ GmbH) and during our discussion, he made a comment that there was some consideration of building a new 17 HMR sporting rifle.
I found it interesting at the time knowing 17 HMR rifle sales have long since peaked for most manufacturers, and it seemed that after the initial rush, sales have gradually slowed down.
Most rifle manufacturers in the American market still offer some type of bolt action 17 HMR rifle, but their suite has been greatly trimmed down to just a few models. Prior to this idea of a new model, the only ANSCHÜTZ rifle currently produced in .17 HMR is 1517 series, including the 1517 D, D HB, and MPR.
They had dropped their 1717 out of the match 54 action sporting line a few years ago; something I lament in that my 1717 D HB has sent a considerable number of ground squirrels to the great alfalfa field in the sky.
In the American semi-auto arena, a few companies still offer a rifle, but most blow-back designs have long since been abandoned or in Volquartsen’s situation, heavily reworked.
Even though the rifle sales have undergone this down-swing, ammunition sales and production on the 17 HMR round has remained very consistent since its release. The only thing that has changed with the ammunition is the price, climbing steadily over the years. At my last plant tour at CCI, I observed that the HMR machines were working as fast as they ever had, along with the staff, filling what seemed to be a never ending flow orders for HMR.
Without question, the 17 grain V-Max offering is the most popular among the shooting public, but there is a surprising diversity among bullet choices for the HMR. Knowing that there is a reliable volume of production and sales every month in ammunition must have played into the decision making process for the new HMR.
Going back to the overall drop in HMR rifle sales, it’s my suspicion that most shooters didn’t feel the need for more than one or two HMR’s, and many shooters treat these rifles as more like a centerfire that a rimfire. Casual plinking with $14.00 per box ammunition can get expensive quick.
ANSCHÜTZ F-27A .22lr
For a while I didn’t hear much more about the new 1727 sporting rifle. I figured they were working out some final details, and I had other projects underway leaving little time to pursue this new rifle.
As the trade show grew closer, Jochen mentioned that he would have a 1727 for display at the show. I was surprised they were able to pull this rifle together so quickly, knowing how fastidious they are about details.
But since they were working with the Fortner action, something they had spent many years refining, it was more than likely just a matter of machining the current F-27A action to accept a longer Magnum case.
On the first day of the show, I was able to head back to their booth where Jochen greeted me and pointed to a rather nondescript soft rifle case sitting among other shipping cases at the side of the room. Running the zipper open, the case revealed a very sleek, handsome, and slightly understated rifle of exceptional machining and craftsmanship.
Aside from the floor model being aggressively fondled by a wad of people clogging up the booth, in my hands was the only 1727 on this side of the pond, and it was going to be for quite some time. Jochen pushed this rifle though production so I could get some time with it out in the heavily populated squirrel fields of the West Cost.
ANSCHÜTZ 1727 Bolt
1727 Action Details
It’s important to start off with noting that this is actually not a new action design. The 1727 HMR is actually a repeating version of their existing rifle; the F-27A. Sold by their sister company AHG (headed by Jochen’s younger brother, Uwe), the F-27 A is one of ANSCHÜTZ’s premium single-shot .22lr target rifles.
While staggering in cost, the F-27 A is based on the
Fortner straight-pull action design and showcases the very best equipment the company has to offer. The production of the F-27A is not performed solely by the technicians at AHG or the ANSCHÜTZ factory.
In fact, the action itself is machined at Peter Fortner’s small company in Rohrdorf, Germany. At this shop, the highly skilled machinists create the F-27A and 1727 actions, as well as the international standard for all elite Biathlon competitors; the 1827 Biathlon rifle action.
All of these actions bear the designer’s name, and it was many years ago that Dieter Anschuetz recognized the brilliance of the design and purchased the exclusive rights, neatly folding it into the ANSCHÜTZ product line for their Biathlon shooters. Once the shooters had time to work with the straight-pull design, light weight, and superb reliability, nearly all other Biathlon-specific designs died off.
By having the action built at Fortner’s facility, it saves a substantial investment in machining equipment and government licensing of firearm manufacturing for AHG. Keep in mind that the primary focus of AHG leans towards the clothing and accessories for the Olympic shooter, not rifles.
ANSCHÜTZ 5020 Trigger
Unlike the larger volume of match rifles being built at Jochen’s shop, only about 35 of these special F-27As are built a year.
At this time, it is unknown exactly how many of the new 1727s will be built in a production run, but it’s more than likely going to be in greater numbers than the F-27 A, but still far from a mass production scale.
The most recent projected numbers I have
been told is somewhere in the range of 150 to 200 units this year, but that will be spread out between the European and North American markets.
For F-27 A, the barrels are actually provided by Jochen and delivered to Fortner’s shop for assembly into barreled actions. Once the barreled actions are complete, they travel back to AHG where Uwe’s master rifle builder, Norbert Ussfeller (former German Nation team member), completes the rifle by installing the trigger group, accessories, stock, and testing for function and accuracy. Norbert has nearly four decades working with the ANSCHÜTZ product line, and judging by the fit and finish of this rifle, he knows exactly what he’s
doing.
This is actually different for the 1727, which actually surprised me some. Unlike the F-27 A, the freshly machined 1727 action and bolt are sent to ANSCHÜTZ, and one of Jochen’s gunsmiths completes the assembly in-house. While I cannot get the exact details from the factory, it appears from the information I have collected that the 1727 is completed by the same group of gunsmiths that also build the 1827 Biathlon rifles.
ANSCHÜTZ 1727 Bolt
With that taken care of, it is time to focus our attention on the action. Starting out as a bar of ETG 100, the action is heat treated then machined in a single operation.
I did a bit of research and found out that ETG 100 is similar to 4000 series chromoly, and often used for automotive engine crank-shafts. After the final fitting of the bolt release, sight bases, and bolt assembly, the action is stripped back down and treated with a nitride coating. I have found a few articles which refer to the finish as a "nickel coating", which is completely wrong.
This is a very hard and corrosion resistant finish on the action, giving it a smooth satin feel. Unlike the ANSCHÜTZ other round sporting actions, the 1727 does not have a dovetail machined into the top of the receiver, but rather it is drilled and tapped, and black aluminum scope bases are provided.
Like the 1827 and F-27 A, this action design uses the same
seven steel balls in the bolt that locks the bolt into place inside the receiver. The bolt operates by pulling rewards on the bolt handle, which compresses a spring and allows a short, steel sleeve to slide rewards.
There are seven flutes in the sleeve that the steel balls roll in. When the bolt is pulled back, it allows the steel sleeve to slide rewards and release the balls into a groove inside the bolt. This unlocks the bolt, allowing for the bolt body to move, exposing the breech face and magazine.
Something else important to realize is that direct reward force from the bolt’s nose will not unlock the bolt. Unless the handle is toggled back, working around the cam, compressing the spring and allowing the inner steel sleeve to move rewards, the steel balls will remain locked in place. That said, even an improperly charged case from the factory or overpressure load and subsequent case failure will not cause the bolt to move, and chances of shearing hardened steel balls, all seven of them, is virtually impossible.
Even if there was a failure with six of the seven steel balls, the bolt would not open. There is not enough clearance for the bolt to shift to a side inside the receiver.
Further, there are pressure release hole located on the side of the receiver in case of complete case failure, but with the bolt lock-up and minimal clearance of the bolt inside the receiver, the end result is an action which can more than likely withstand nearly double the 26,000 psi of the 17 HMR loading. To add a final margin of safety, there is no straight path for gases from the case to reach the shooters face. The rear of the bolt is completely closed off. German’s prowess in engineering is fully on display with this action.
With the bolt open, the magazine works in an identical fashion as their other rimfire sporters, with single-stack 4-round steel magazine feeding the rounds up into the receiver.
The magazine is supported by a steel magazine well,
with a steel, springe loaded catch. To load, simply push the bolt forward either by the handle or directly from the rear of the bolt.
Spring tension snaps the bolt closed as the handle is cammed over, and you’re ready to fire. It’s an unusual lockup because the steel balls are acting as lugs, and all seven are securely locked in place, resting into a groove machined on the inside of the action. If it sounds a bit complex, that’s because it is. This design is efficient, but not simple in nature.
I decided to take the bolt completely apart to see how it worked. At this point, let me suggest that you not do this unless it’s necessary. There are bits and pieces everywhere in the bolt, and while it does ooze of fantastic German engineering, it’s not nearly as simple as the standard Match 54 bolt.
I asked Uwe how much hand-fitting is involved in this bolt, and to my surprise, he said that only the firing pin receives hand fitting. Unlike many other actions, every angle of this bolt has been addressed during the machining operation. I would venture to guess that there are some complex computer programs running in the machines to create all of the intricate parts.
Looking inside the bolt body, I noticed that internal surfaces are smooth and free from tooling marks. The additional parts are treated with equal care in that all the pins are polished, as well as the extractors being properly fitted. Judging by the spring force of the firing pin spring, the firing pin must be traveling rather quickly by the time it strikes the case.
Staying true to their roots, ANSCHÜTZ favors a light and very fast ignition. On their website, ANSCHÜTZ lists the lock-time to be in the 4 to 5 millisecond range.
Another interesting fact about the 1727 action, like the other straight pull actions, is that the bore of the action is concentric with the outside of the action, unlike the standard Match 54 actions which have an off-set bolt. This means that these can be threaded much easier than a Match 54 action.
17 HMR
This 1727 also features their outstanding 5020 match trigger, a similar version of their 5018 trigger. This trigger is standard equipment on all of the premium ANSCHÜTZ target rifles, and is considered so highly by the American market that it’s possible to get just about every centerfire custom action builder to allow for its use in their receiver.
The 5020’s impressive range of adjustments is equaled by the inherent reliability of the design. You can make this trigger suit just about any need, and for my purposes, I have it set as a two-stage trigger with 14 ounces in the first stage and an additional 8 ounces on the second stage. For a field / hunting rifle, the trigger is light enough for precise work, but has a large safety margin.
As for the change from the 5018 trigger, the reason is that the 5020 trigger is tuned to operate in a heavier trigger pull range, something a bit better suited to the hunter. Mechanically, they are identical.
Adjusting the trigger is done with a basic screw driver and some guidance from the instruction manual. I actually find it easier to adjust than most match triggers. Once you adjust the trigger, it stays where you set it.
Closing out the action details, there is another unique feature to this rifle in that it uses a front recoil lug, the same as what is found on their sporting line of rifles, but it then also features a front and middle action screws.
There is no rear action screw on this model, which is found in their sporting line of rifles. So, from the features, this rifle is a bit of a hybrid, blending many of the great features of both their target and sporting line of rifles.
ANSCHÜTZ 1727 with J&P; Screws
The Barrel
The 22” medium weight barrel on the 1727 gives the rifle a good balance, and feels a bit more nimble than the older 1717 heavy barreled rifles. This
medium weight barrel results in the rifle’s overall weight at just under 8lbs, making it light enough to carry in the field.
Unlike the other ANSCHÜTZ barrels, this one does not use a thicker section at the end, often referred to as the “knot”, to achieve the bore constriction at the muzzle.
While they won’t come right out and say exactly how they’re finishing the 1727 barrels, and if it is like anything on this side of the pond, they’re carefully hand-lapping each of these barrels in-house.
These barrels are “buttoned” for their rifling process, not cut or hammer-forged. The chrome-moly barrel is attached to the receiver in the traditional taper press fit and secured with dual pins running from the top to bottom for the action. There are no provisions for iron sights on this rifle.
ANSCHÜTZ 1727 in Action
Stock Details
ANSCHÜTZ opted to use a more European-styled look for the walnut stock, incorporating an oval semi-raised cheek piece and Schnabel forend.
The stock is finished in semi-satin polyurethane of some type, allowing the grain to show and giving it a hand rubbed appearance. It is not glossy or built up on the wood’s surface, and with a bit of wax buffed on top, it has a nice
feel.
On the rear of the stock is a nice rubber butt-pad, a welcome departure from the hard plastic butt plates.
The bottom metal is blued steel, and styled in a similar manner as their other sporting rifles.
But, I have to admit, the flat-head action screws make me crazy. They are inviting the chance for a screw driver to slip out and mar the blued steel finish of the bottom metal. As with all of my ANSCHÜTZ sporting rifles, I order a set of J&P hex-keyed action screws once the rifle arrives. I just make note of the screw length and place an order. These are the very best action screws on this side of the pond for ANSCHÜTZ rifles.
1727 Trigger Pull
Photo Sequence 1-4
Starting with this first photo, I’m sitting in the back of my truck, parked out in the middle of an alfalfa pivot. The early morning sun has climbed into the sky and the squirrels are pouring out of their dens by the dozen.
I have the 1727 rifle sighted in for 100 yards, and no hold for wind. The conditions could not be any better. A mild breeze was moving from right to
left.
As this photo was taken, I had settled the VH reticle on a rather robust squirrel making its way along a small section of alfalfa sprouts, approximately 60 yards away.
Using a center-mass hold, I took up the first stage of the trigger and then the moment the little portly squirrel paused to take another mouthful, I pull through the second stage and a 17-grain V-Max bullet went ripping across the field, launching the squirrel into a short but eventful flight.
With the rifle resting on the heavy sand bag, there was very little recoil, allowing me to watch the results though the scope. The Leupold scope is set on 10-X magnification, and as the bullet struck the light brown ground squirrel, I noticed a second squirrel pop its head up just to the right, looking to see what the commotion was all about.
1727 Bolt Unlocking
Photo Sequence 2-4
Unfortunately for the second squirrel, his sudden appearance in the scope was just the event I was looking for. With a quick flick of the wrist, I was able to load another round.
In this photo you will see that my thumb is off the rear of the bolt and rotated slightly to the right. I found that my thumb knuckle is a bit too large to allow the bolt to cycle back without clipping the top of the knuckle.
Moving my hand actually didn’t bother me, especially since my forearm remained almost motionless in place.
As my thumb moves over, my index and second finger hook the large bolt handle and pull the bolt rearwards. Unlike other toggle bolts, the 1727 bolt cams around a stout little steel pin with very little outward movement. It’s a compact move, much tighter than traditional toggle-bolt actions. You can see how my wrist begins to tilt upwards and not outwards.
1727 Ejection
Photo Sequence 3-4
At this point, the bolt has traveled to its rear-most position, ejecting the spent casing during the process.
This entire time, I can still see the squirrel through the scope. You can see that my head has not moved on the comb of the stock.
The rear of the bolt, commonly referred to the shroud, is just about to make contact with the pad of my thumb. Once I feel the bolt touch the bolt-stop, I immediately slam my thumb forward, driving the bolt forward and loading a fresh round in the chamber.
This takes only a fraction of a second, and most of the time the spent casing is still flying through the air as my trigger finger regains its contact with the black aluminum trigger shoe.
In the prior photos, you may have noticed the unusual shape and contour of the trigger shoe, being curved upwards versus having the curve centered towards the rear of the stock. There is a reason for this, and that is the angle of the stock’s wrist. With the curve of the stock, this unusual trigger shoe is perfectly in line with your trigger finger and offers the correct angle for a straight back and slightly upwards trigger pull. This creates a very comfortable grip and ergonomic aspect to the stock.
1727 Bolt Closed
Photo Sequence 4-4
The day is about to get much worse for the ground squirrel filling the scope’s field of view.
At this point, my thumb has completely closed the bolt, and the bolt handle has pivoted around the cam and locked into place.
My fingers are slightly splayed out and about to close down on the grip of the stock at the same time my trigger finger lands on the trigger. A few tenths of a second more passed and the next Hornady V-Max bullet was sent on its way.
As you can see, there is very little movement in the arm other than the wrist and hand. Because the HMR is built on the longer magnum case, the bolt needs to travel a bit more than the .22lr chambering of the identical Biathlon rifle. This additional length causes a bit more reward movement for the hand, but it’s nothing that I consider a disadvantage.
In the field where you are selecting individual targets, moving from one to the next, the action’s speed is far greater than the shooter’s ability to zero in on the next critter. Meaning that by the time you zero in on the next squirrel, you have already cycled the action.
After some time working with the 1727, it felt smooth and natural. I don’t think the second squirrel was terribly thrilled with the new rifle.
Leupold VX-3 Scope
Optics, Rings, and Bases
When it came time to install the optics on the rifle, I first contacted Talley Manufacturing for a set of their rings and bases.
On a rifle this nice, there is really only one kind of sporting rings to use, and in my opinion that is Talley. They are very well made, all steel in construction, and feature an excellent mounting system.
The top of the 1727’s receiver is drilled and tapped with no dovetail groove which is commonly found on their other rifles.
After speaking with the customer service technician at Talley, they were able to verify my measurements and send me the correct set of rings and bases. I was not sure if the 1727 had a different hole spacing for bases than their other hunting rifles, but wisely ANSCHÜTZ maintained the same hole-spacing and thread pattern.
I knew I be using a 30 mm Leupold scope with a 50 mm objective lens. Even though the rifle comes with aluminum bases for Weaver style rings, I simply removed those and prepared to install the new bases.
For the optic, I used one of my Leupold VX-III 6.5 x 20 x 50 LRT scopes with the Varmint Hunter reticle. As you see in my other articles, the majority of my scopes are set up with the Varmint Hunter reticle, and nearly every scope is from the VX product line.
Talley Bases
About 10 days later, I had both the rings, bases, and the scope in hand ready to install. This is where I tend to start doing things differently than most shooters.
Many years ago I noticed that as I would work on older bolt-action rifles, especially swapping out rings and bases for higher-quality new ones, there was always some rust buildup between the bottom of the base and the top of the receiver.
I would also notice some shiny spots on top of the receiver were obviously the bases were making contact but then some spots where the base wasn’t touching at all.
Knowing that this could impact accuracy, I started epoxy bedding scope bases to the receiver.
I do not permanently attach the scope bases to the receiver, but rather I leave release agent on the receiver so that down the road the scope base can be popped off if necessary.
What this process does is allow the epoxy to create perfect connection between the bottom of the scope base and the top of the receiver so the pressure is evenly
distributed over the entire footprint of the scope base.
It is a fairly simple process but it does require some attention to detail. In this photo, you can see the finished product.
With the scope bases properly bedded to the rifle receiver, I mounted the scope leveled it in the rack, and set the eye relief.
ANSCHÜTZ 1727 in the Field
Field Notes
Out here on the West Coast, we have these little critters called ground squirrels, and there are two main types: Otospermophilus beecheyi and Urocitellus armatus.
What makes these ground squirrels special is the sheer number of them in certain areas. While it may sound unbelievable, you can find yourself in an alfalfa field, sheep pasture, or other areas of farmland or ranches which will contain tens of thousands of these ground squirrels.
For the East Coast hunters, I know this seems impossible, but such impressive numbers can be found from time to time. Over all the years that I’ve hunted varmints from Arizona to the border of Canada all over the West Coast, I have never seen so many ground squirrels in the past decade as I have seen this season.
It is more than likely a combination of very strict poisoning regulations, a good rainfall, ammunition shortage curtailing hunting, and the good fortune that the plague is not wiped out some of these populations like it has in other states. Knowing that I had some very good areas to hunt, I had saved one pivot just for this article, purposefully not shooting in a particular alfalfa pivot until I had the 1727 ready to go.
That morning when I loaded up the rifle, two backup rifles, in enough ammunition to wear out 10 rifles, I had great hopes of being blessed with perfect conditions and a great hunt. And in fact I was.
I started the day at about six in the morning, working a remote section of pivots which are on the edge of a string of alfalfa fields. Around this particular pivot, there’s very little traffic with just one quiet dirt road running along its border. In the back of my truck I’ve set up a small shooting table with some large sandbags to shoot from. This provided me a steady platform and 180° field of view.
At 6:00, I started glassing the field and noticed countless squirrel mounds inside of the short alfalfa, and a completely barren strip of land encircling it. There was also a line of broken pieces of concrete possibly, dug up from an old foundation running alongside one of the fences which split to these pivots. That had my interest knowing the ground squirrels love to hide their burrows among large pieces of concrete, old tire piles, and especially along the edges of fence lines.
Around 6:30 started to see the first activity, and these were large adult ground squirrels emerging from their burrows to start their morning feeding. Shockingly I didn’t see one, or two, or even ten ground squirrels, but rather I looked around and there were at least 50. Looking again, maybe 100 were now slowly loping about, waking up to the morning sun.
Setting the binoculars down, I rested the 1727 on a large black sandbag and got to work. Next to me I had had seven 4-round magazines in the large storage box with a full case of CCI 17 grain V-Max ready to go.
Squirrel mounds around the pivot
From that point until about 11 in the afternoon, it was utterly amazing with the number of squirrels running about.
Working the straight-pull action, I was counting my hits as squirrels fell; 1, 2, 3, 4. The rifle was exceptionally accurate, and without surprise, the more I shot, the hotter the barrel became.
As the day continued on and the sun rose higher in the sky, the rifle was no longer cooling down even with five minute breaks between shooting magazines. It was about 95 degrees outside and only a mild 3 to 5
mph breeze was rolling by.
I had resorted to rotating two rifles, doing my best to let the 1727 cool off. In the past I have seen that it’s difficult (and very uncommon) to shoot the throat out of 17 HMR, but at the rate I was sending rounds down range that day, it was on my mind as a possibility.
When it hit the noon hour, I took a lunch break and put the rifle inside of the truck to cool off in the shade. After about a 30 minute break, it was still very warm to the touch. I had thought about cleaning it, knowing that I had well over 500 rounds down the barrel. But I did not notice any loss of accuracy, but the barrel had become so hot at times that the mirage was rippling the light in front of scope. Even so I was still able to connect the squirrel standing way out in the distance holding five and 6 inches above their heads. Why bother at this point?
Cycling the action, I got a sensation that the bolt was becoming dry. It had lost some of the speed and needed a little bit more force to close the action completely. I put a few drops of Break Free LP on the steel balls inside of the bolt, and a very light coating all around the outside. I wiped quite a bit of it off so it would not collect the dust and grit in the air. With that done, the bolt felt just like it had at the start of the day.
Body count
The shooting slowed down for a while in the heat, but remained busy enough, getting my total up to 800 by 4:00 in the afternoon. I had completely given up hope of letting the barrel cool down, so I just kept shooting. It can always be re-barreled later on.
I figured at some point I would start missing my targets noticeably and then have to get out the cleaning equipment.
I had worked my way around the field and even shot near a fence line where the squirrels had located their burrows at the base of the fence posts.
They would run from the base of the fence into the field and back incessantly, almost as if they were taunting me to try to get a shot on them. Working the accuracy potential of the rifle, headshots on squirrels at surprisingly long distances were possible.
At this point I had over 1000 rounds down the barrel accuracy was still holding up. I was expecting the bullets to fly wildly off course at any point, but with a good hold and trigger control, the squirrels kept falling.
Finally as the sun began to set, the next wave the squirrels came up for the evening feeding, and I quickly chewed through another 500 rounds. By the time the day ended at about 7:30 pm, I had shot nearly 1600 rounds of ammunition through the rifle. I was tired, my thumbs ached from loading magazines, and the gun was filthy from sweat, dust, and fouling. I was astounded at such a good hunting day in the alfalfa pivots.
Accuracy Testing & Results
This section of the article will actually be short and fairly focused. Accuracy testing of a sporting rifle is tricky to do because of the unique features of the stock.
Since the stock will not ride in a traditional front and rear rest system, I chose to shoot the rifle from a large X-Bag, which fully supports the rifle and allows for a repeatable hold and position, while not allowing it to cant to the side.
The targets were set up at 100 yards, and were also fired outside in excellent conditions. The temperature was in the high 80’s with moderate cloud cover and very little wind. The wind meter measured between 1-3mph.
After fouling the barrel with 10 rounds of CCI 17 grain V-Max, I fired 15 groups consisting of 5 rounds each. I tend to favor 10-rounds groups with target or Benchrest rifles, but since the rifle needs to be moved in order to load in a fresh magazine after the 5th round, there is no way to repeat the hold and position in the bag from the previous target, so I opted to move every 5 rounds.
For the V-Max ammunition, the overall average was 0.685” at 100 yards. The smallest group was 0.394” and the largest was 0.864”.
Switching to the 17-grain TNT bullet, the groups opened up to have an average of 0.81” with the largest group at 1.25” and the smallest at 0.67.” Plenty accurate for squirrel hunting.
Overall, this is excellent accuracy from any type of sporting rifle.
Conclusion
I’m not quite sure how to tie all of this together. The 1727 is truly a
masterpiece; there really is no other way to look at it.
I can’t think of any other rimfire action which remotely comes close in design or function, and executed at this level of precision.
The 1727 combines the accuracy of a
single-shot match rifle, provides the convenience of a four-shot repeater, and cycles with nearly the speed of a semi-auto without fear of a dreaded case failure or “Ka-boom.”
There are other toggle-bolt systems, but they are not offered in the 17 HMR platform, and don’t have the features of the 1727. And quite frankly, they feel like a claw-hammer in my hands when held side by side in comparison to this action.
Is there a downside of course, and that is what the 1727 does to your pocketbook. The rifle alone has a suggested retail price of $3,500 USD, and when you add a nice set of Talley rings and bases along with a sharp Leupold scope, you’re approaching $5,000 USD. It’s completely out of reach for the majority of varmint hunters, and that is a shame. With the amount of machine work and cost of highly skilled German labor, I do not expect to see an “economy” model in the future.
I see some comments on the internet about a possible .22lr version, and that it will be offered at a much lower price. I'm not sure where this is coming from; it's not info being passed out by ANSCHÜTZ. I'm also not sure how changing the bore diameter on the rifle lowers the cost, but maybe the internet experts may offer some explanation.
Due to the low production numbers, high retail price, and unusually strong European interest, the 1727 will be an uncommon sight in the States for the next few years. I suspect that the initial demand will easily outpace production for quite some time, so tracking one down will be a somewhat lengthy process. There is always the chance your dealer will be able to pick one up as the shipments begin to arrive in late August of 2013.
Since the completion of this article, I have subsequently epoxy-bedded the barreled action into the stock, as well as taken it along on a number of additional hunting trips. Every time it has impressed me with its performance.
There are a few things missing with this rifle, and first and foremost is a bore guide. The rimfire world has evolved enough to realize that modern rimfire rifles are commonly cleaned (when not being abused during a field test) with a rod of some type, and a bore guide that fits into the receiver properly would be a good thing to be included.
Keep in mind that the bolt on this rifle is much larger in diameter than other ANSCHÜTZ rimfire rifles, so the standard bore guide for a match 54 or 64 action will not fit. The second item needed for this rifle is a unique brush to fit inside the action and clean out the bolt’s locking channel. It’s hard to reach and should be kept clean to maintain a smooth function.
There’s really nothing else to say about the rifle. With virtually no short-comings in design or function, superb field performance and overall accuracy, it’s to be considered a 10 out of 10.
To end on a quote from Ferris Bueller; “It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.”
____________________________________________
ANSCHÜTZ 1727
The following article is about the new ANSCHÜTZ 1727 sporting rifle chambered in .17 HMR.
This rifle is a new product for the company, based on the famous Fortner straight-pull biathlon action and features a 4-round magazine and excellent walnut stock.
I have based the information of this article on an extensive field testing of the rifle, consisting of over 2,000 rounds of CCI .17 HMR ammunition, as well as accuracy testing at the range.
Rifle Caliber: .17 HMR
Capacity: 4 + 1
Barrel Length: 22"
Weight: 7 lbs, 10 oz.
It started with an email...
Some time ago in early 2012, I was exchanging the usual post-holiday pleasantries email with Jochen (Jochen Anschuetz, President of ANSCHÜTZ GmbH) and during our discussion, he made a comment that there was some consideration of building a new 17 HMR sporting rifle.
I found it interesting at the time knowing 17 HMR rifle sales have long since peaked for most manufacturers, and it seemed that after the initial rush, sales have gradually slowed down.
Most rifle manufacturers in the American market still offer some type of bolt action 17 HMR rifle, but their suite has been greatly trimmed down to just a few models. Prior to this idea of a new model, the only ANSCHÜTZ rifle currently produced in .17 HMR is 1517 series, including the 1517 D, D HB, and MPR.
They had dropped their 1717 out of the match 54 action sporting line a few years ago; something I lament in that my 1717 D HB has sent a considerable number of ground squirrels to the great alfalfa field in the sky.
In the American semi-auto arena, a few companies still offer a rifle, but most blow-back designs have long since been abandoned or in Volquartsen’s situation, heavily reworked.
Even though the rifle sales have undergone this down-swing, ammunition sales and production on the 17 HMR round has remained very consistent since its release. The only thing that has changed with the ammunition is the price, climbing steadily over the years. At my last plant tour at CCI, I observed that the HMR machines were working as fast as they ever had, along with the staff, filling what seemed to be a never ending flow orders for HMR.
Without question, the 17 grain V-Max offering is the most popular among the shooting public, but there is a surprising diversity among bullet choices for the HMR. Knowing that there is a reliable volume of production and sales every month in ammunition must have played into the decision making process for the new HMR.
Going back to the overall drop in HMR rifle sales, it’s my suspicion that most shooters didn’t feel the need for more than one or two HMR’s, and many shooters treat these rifles as more like a centerfire that a rimfire. Casual plinking with $14.00 per box ammunition can get expensive quick.
For a while I didn’t hear much more about the new 1727 sporting rifle. I figured they were working out some final details, and I had other projects underway leaving little time to pursue this new rifle.
As the trade show grew closer, Jochen mentioned that he would have a 1727 for display at the show. I was surprised they were able to pull this rifle together so quickly, knowing how fastidious they are about details.
But since they were working with the Fortner action, something they had spent many years refining, it was more than likely just a matter of machining the current F-27A action to accept a longer Magnum case.
On the first day of the show, I was able to head back to their booth where Jochen greeted me and pointed to a rather nondescript soft rifle case sitting among other shipping cases at the side of the room. Running the zipper open, the case revealed a very sleek, handsome, and slightly understated rifle of exceptional machining and craftsmanship.
Aside from the floor model being aggressively fondled by a wad of people clogging up the booth, in my hands was the only 1727 on this side of the pond, and it was going to be for quite some time. Jochen pushed this rifle though production so I could get some time with it out in the heavily populated squirrel fields of the West Cost.
1727 Action Details
It’s important to start off with noting that this is actually not a new action design. The 1727 HMR is actually a repeating version of their existing rifle; the F-27A. Sold by their sister company AHG (headed by Jochen’s younger brother, Uwe), the F-27 A is one of ANSCHÜTZ’s premium single-shot .22lr target rifles.
While staggering in cost, the F-27 A is based on the
Fortner straight-pull action design and showcases the very best equipment the company has to offer. The production of the F-27A is not performed solely by the technicians at AHG or the ANSCHÜTZ factory.
In fact, the action itself is machined at Peter Fortner’s small company in Rohrdorf, Germany. At this shop, the highly skilled machinists create the F-27A and 1727 actions, as well as the international standard for all elite Biathlon competitors; the 1827 Biathlon rifle action.
All of these actions bear the designer’s name, and it was many years ago that Dieter Anschuetz recognized the brilliance of the design and purchased the exclusive rights, neatly folding it into the ANSCHÜTZ product line for their Biathlon shooters. Once the shooters had time to work with the straight-pull design, light weight, and superb reliability, nearly all other Biathlon-specific designs died off.
By having the action built at Fortner’s facility, it saves a substantial investment in machining equipment and government licensing of firearm manufacturing for AHG. Keep in mind that the primary focus of AHG leans towards the clothing and accessories for the Olympic shooter, not rifles.
Unlike the larger volume of match rifles being built at Jochen’s shop, only about 35 of these special F-27As are built a year.
At this time, it is unknown exactly how many of the new 1727s will be built in a production run, but it’s more than likely going to be in greater numbers than the F-27 A, but still far from a mass production scale.
The most recent projected numbers I have
been told is somewhere in the range of 150 to 200 units this year, but that will be spread out between the European and North American markets.
For F-27 A, the barrels are actually provided by Jochen and delivered to Fortner’s shop for assembly into barreled actions. Once the barreled actions are complete, they travel back to AHG where Uwe’s master rifle builder, Norbert Ussfeller (former German Nation team member), completes the rifle by installing the trigger group, accessories, stock, and testing for function and accuracy. Norbert has nearly four decades working with the ANSCHÜTZ product line, and judging by the fit and finish of this rifle, he knows exactly what he’s
doing.
This is actually different for the 1727, which actually surprised me some. Unlike the F-27 A, the freshly machined 1727 action and bolt are sent to ANSCHÜTZ, and one of Jochen’s gunsmiths completes the assembly in-house. While I cannot get the exact details from the factory, it appears from the information I have collected that the 1727 is completed by the same group of gunsmiths that also build the 1827 Biathlon rifles.
With that taken care of, it is time to focus our attention on the action. Starting out as a bar of ETG 100, the action is heat treated then machined in a single operation.
I did a bit of research and found out that ETG 100 is similar to 4000 series chromoly, and often used for automotive engine crank-shafts. After the final fitting of the bolt release, sight bases, and bolt assembly, the action is stripped back down and treated with a nitride coating. I have found a few articles which refer to the finish as a "nickel coating", which is completely wrong.
This is a very hard and corrosion resistant finish on the action, giving it a smooth satin feel. Unlike the ANSCHÜTZ other round sporting actions, the 1727 does not have a dovetail machined into the top of the receiver, but rather it is drilled and tapped, and black aluminum scope bases are provided.
Like the 1827 and F-27 A, this action design uses the same
seven steel balls in the bolt that locks the bolt into place inside the receiver. The bolt operates by pulling rewards on the bolt handle, which compresses a spring and allows a short, steel sleeve to slide rewards.
There are seven flutes in the sleeve that the steel balls roll in. When the bolt is pulled back, it allows the steel sleeve to slide rewards and release the balls into a groove inside the bolt. This unlocks the bolt, allowing for the bolt body to move, exposing the breech face and magazine.
Something else important to realize is that direct reward force from the bolt’s nose will not unlock the bolt. Unless the handle is toggled back, working around the cam, compressing the spring and allowing the inner steel sleeve to move rewards, the steel balls will remain locked in place. That said, even an improperly charged case from the factory or overpressure load and subsequent case failure will not cause the bolt to move, and chances of shearing hardened steel balls, all seven of them, is virtually impossible.
Even if there was a failure with six of the seven steel balls, the bolt would not open. There is not enough clearance for the bolt to shift to a side inside the receiver.
Further, there are pressure release hole located on the side of the receiver in case of complete case failure, but with the bolt lock-up and minimal clearance of the bolt inside the receiver, the end result is an action which can more than likely withstand nearly double the 26,000 psi of the 17 HMR loading. To add a final margin of safety, there is no straight path for gases from the case to reach the shooters face. The rear of the bolt is completely closed off. German’s prowess in engineering is fully on display with this action.
With the bolt open, the magazine works in an identical fashion as their other rimfire sporters, with single-stack 4-round steel magazine feeding the rounds up into the receiver.
The magazine is supported by a steel magazine well,
with a steel, springe loaded catch. To load, simply push the bolt forward either by the handle or directly from the rear of the bolt.
Spring tension snaps the bolt closed as the handle is cammed over, and you’re ready to fire. It’s an unusual lockup because the steel balls are acting as lugs, and all seven are securely locked in place, resting into a groove machined on the inside of the action. If it sounds a bit complex, that’s because it is. This design is efficient, but not simple in nature.
I decided to take the bolt completely apart to see how it worked. At this point, let me suggest that you not do this unless it’s necessary. There are bits and pieces everywhere in the bolt, and while it does ooze of fantastic German engineering, it’s not nearly as simple as the standard Match 54 bolt.
I asked Uwe how much hand-fitting is involved in this bolt, and to my surprise, he said that only the firing pin receives hand fitting. Unlike many other actions, every angle of this bolt has been addressed during the machining operation. I would venture to guess that there are some complex computer programs running in the machines to create all of the intricate parts.
Looking inside the bolt body, I noticed that internal surfaces are smooth and free from tooling marks. The additional parts are treated with equal care in that all the pins are polished, as well as the extractors being properly fitted. Judging by the spring force of the firing pin spring, the firing pin must be traveling rather quickly by the time it strikes the case.
Staying true to their roots, ANSCHÜTZ favors a light and very fast ignition. On their website, ANSCHÜTZ lists the lock-time to be in the 4 to 5 millisecond range.
Another interesting fact about the 1727 action, like the other straight pull actions, is that the bore of the action is concentric with the outside of the action, unlike the standard Match 54 actions which have an off-set bolt. This means that these can be threaded much easier than a Match 54 action.
This 1727 also features their outstanding 5020 match trigger, a similar version of their 5018 trigger. This trigger is standard equipment on all of the premium ANSCHÜTZ target rifles, and is considered so highly by the American market that it’s possible to get just about every centerfire custom action builder to allow for its use in their receiver.
The 5020’s impressive range of adjustments is equaled by the inherent reliability of the design. You can make this trigger suit just about any need, and for my purposes, I have it set as a two-stage trigger with 14 ounces in the first stage and an additional 8 ounces on the second stage. For a field / hunting rifle, the trigger is light enough for precise work, but has a large safety margin.
As for the change from the 5018 trigger, the reason is that the 5020 trigger is tuned to operate in a heavier trigger pull range, something a bit better suited to the hunter. Mechanically, they are identical.
Adjusting the trigger is done with a basic screw driver and some guidance from the instruction manual. I actually find it easier to adjust than most match triggers. Once you adjust the trigger, it stays where you set it.
Closing out the action details, there is another unique feature to this rifle in that it uses a front recoil lug, the same as what is found on their sporting line of rifles, but it then also features a front and middle action screws.
There is no rear action screw on this model, which is found in their sporting line of rifles. So, from the features, this rifle is a bit of a hybrid, blending many of the great features of both their target and sporting line of rifles.
The Barrel
The 22” medium weight barrel on the 1727 gives the rifle a good balance, and feels a bit more nimble than the older 1717 heavy barreled rifles. This
medium weight barrel results in the rifle’s overall weight at just under 8lbs, making it light enough to carry in the field.
Unlike the other ANSCHÜTZ barrels, this one does not use a thicker section at the end, often referred to as the “knot”, to achieve the bore constriction at the muzzle.
While they won’t come right out and say exactly how they’re finishing the 1727 barrels, and if it is like anything on this side of the pond, they’re carefully hand-lapping each of these barrels in-house.
These barrels are “buttoned” for their rifling process, not cut or hammer-forged. The chrome-moly barrel is attached to the receiver in the traditional taper press fit and secured with dual pins running from the top to bottom for the action. There are no provisions for iron sights on this rifle.
Stock Details
ANSCHÜTZ opted to use a more European-styled look for the walnut stock, incorporating an oval semi-raised cheek piece and Schnabel forend.
The stock is finished in semi-satin polyurethane of some type, allowing the grain to show and giving it a hand rubbed appearance. It is not glossy or built up on the wood’s surface, and with a bit of wax buffed on top, it has a nice
feel.
On the rear of the stock is a nice rubber butt-pad, a welcome departure from the hard plastic butt plates.
The bottom metal is blued steel, and styled in a similar manner as their other sporting rifles.
But, I have to admit, the flat-head action screws make me crazy. They are inviting the chance for a screw driver to slip out and mar the blued steel finish of the bottom metal. As with all of my ANSCHÜTZ sporting rifles, I order a set of J&P hex-keyed action screws once the rifle arrives. I just make note of the screw length and place an order. These are the very best action screws on this side of the pond for ANSCHÜTZ rifles.
Photo Sequence 1-4
Starting with this first photo, I’m sitting in the back of my truck, parked out in the middle of an alfalfa pivot. The early morning sun has climbed into the sky and the squirrels are pouring out of their dens by the dozen.
I have the 1727 rifle sighted in for 100 yards, and no hold for wind. The conditions could not be any better. A mild breeze was moving from right to
left.
As this photo was taken, I had settled the VH reticle on a rather robust squirrel making its way along a small section of alfalfa sprouts, approximately 60 yards away.
Using a center-mass hold, I took up the first stage of the trigger and then the moment the little portly squirrel paused to take another mouthful, I pull through the second stage and a 17-grain V-Max bullet went ripping across the field, launching the squirrel into a short but eventful flight.
With the rifle resting on the heavy sand bag, there was very little recoil, allowing me to watch the results though the scope. The Leupold scope is set on 10-X magnification, and as the bullet struck the light brown ground squirrel, I noticed a second squirrel pop its head up just to the right, looking to see what the commotion was all about.
Photo Sequence 2-4
Unfortunately for the second squirrel, his sudden appearance in the scope was just the event I was looking for. With a quick flick of the wrist, I was able to load another round.
In this photo you will see that my thumb is off the rear of the bolt and rotated slightly to the right. I found that my thumb knuckle is a bit too large to allow the bolt to cycle back without clipping the top of the knuckle.
Moving my hand actually didn’t bother me, especially since my forearm remained almost motionless in place.
As my thumb moves over, my index and second finger hook the large bolt handle and pull the bolt rearwards. Unlike other toggle bolts, the 1727 bolt cams around a stout little steel pin with very little outward movement. It’s a compact move, much tighter than traditional toggle-bolt actions. You can see how my wrist begins to tilt upwards and not outwards.
Photo Sequence 3-4
At this point, the bolt has traveled to its rear-most position, ejecting the spent casing during the process.
This entire time, I can still see the squirrel through the scope. You can see that my head has not moved on the comb of the stock.
The rear of the bolt, commonly referred to the shroud, is just about to make contact with the pad of my thumb. Once I feel the bolt touch the bolt-stop, I immediately slam my thumb forward, driving the bolt forward and loading a fresh round in the chamber.
This takes only a fraction of a second, and most of the time the spent casing is still flying through the air as my trigger finger regains its contact with the black aluminum trigger shoe.
In the prior photos, you may have noticed the unusual shape and contour of the trigger shoe, being curved upwards versus having the curve centered towards the rear of the stock. There is a reason for this, and that is the angle of the stock’s wrist. With the curve of the stock, this unusual trigger shoe is perfectly in line with your trigger finger and offers the correct angle for a straight back and slightly upwards trigger pull. This creates a very comfortable grip and ergonomic aspect to the stock.
Photo Sequence 4-4
The day is about to get much worse for the ground squirrel filling the scope’s field of view.
At this point, my thumb has completely closed the bolt, and the bolt handle has pivoted around the cam and locked into place.
My fingers are slightly splayed out and about to close down on the grip of the stock at the same time my trigger finger lands on the trigger. A few tenths of a second more passed and the next Hornady V-Max bullet was sent on its way.
As you can see, there is very little movement in the arm other than the wrist and hand. Because the HMR is built on the longer magnum case, the bolt needs to travel a bit more than the .22lr chambering of the identical Biathlon rifle. This additional length causes a bit more reward movement for the hand, but it’s nothing that I consider a disadvantage.
In the field where you are selecting individual targets, moving from one to the next, the action’s speed is far greater than the shooter’s ability to zero in on the next critter. Meaning that by the time you zero in on the next squirrel, you have already cycled the action.
After some time working with the 1727, it felt smooth and natural. I don’t think the second squirrel was terribly thrilled with the new rifle.
Optics, Rings, and Bases
When it came time to install the optics on the rifle, I first contacted Talley Manufacturing for a set of their rings and bases.
On a rifle this nice, there is really only one kind of sporting rings to use, and in my opinion that is Talley. They are very well made, all steel in construction, and feature an excellent mounting system.
The top of the 1727’s receiver is drilled and tapped with no dovetail groove which is commonly found on their other rifles.
After speaking with the customer service technician at Talley, they were able to verify my measurements and send me the correct set of rings and bases. I was not sure if the 1727 had a different hole spacing for bases than their other hunting rifles, but wisely ANSCHÜTZ maintained the same hole-spacing and thread pattern.
I knew I be using a 30 mm Leupold scope with a 50 mm objective lens. Even though the rifle comes with aluminum bases for Weaver style rings, I simply removed those and prepared to install the new bases.
For the optic, I used one of my Leupold VX-III 6.5 x 20 x 50 LRT scopes with the Varmint Hunter reticle. As you see in my other articles, the majority of my scopes are set up with the Varmint Hunter reticle, and nearly every scope is from the VX product line.
About 10 days later, I had both the rings, bases, and the scope in hand ready to install. This is where I tend to start doing things differently than most shooters.
Many years ago I noticed that as I would work on older bolt-action rifles, especially swapping out rings and bases for higher-quality new ones, there was always some rust buildup between the bottom of the base and the top of the receiver.
I would also notice some shiny spots on top of the receiver were obviously the bases were making contact but then some spots where the base wasn’t touching at all.
Knowing that this could impact accuracy, I started epoxy bedding scope bases to the receiver.
I do not permanently attach the scope bases to the receiver, but rather I leave release agent on the receiver so that down the road the scope base can be popped off if necessary.
What this process does is allow the epoxy to create perfect connection between the bottom of the scope base and the top of the receiver so the pressure is evenly
distributed over the entire footprint of the scope base.
It is a fairly simple process but it does require some attention to detail. In this photo, you can see the finished product.
With the scope bases properly bedded to the rifle receiver, I mounted the scope leveled it in the rack, and set the eye relief.
Field Notes
Out here on the West Coast, we have these little critters called ground squirrels, and there are two main types: Otospermophilus beecheyi and Urocitellus armatus.
What makes these ground squirrels special is the sheer number of them in certain areas. While it may sound unbelievable, you can find yourself in an alfalfa field, sheep pasture, or other areas of farmland or ranches which will contain tens of thousands of these ground squirrels.
For the East Coast hunters, I know this seems impossible, but such impressive numbers can be found from time to time. Over all the years that I’ve hunted varmints from Arizona to the border of Canada all over the West Coast, I have never seen so many ground squirrels in the past decade as I have seen this season.
It is more than likely a combination of very strict poisoning regulations, a good rainfall, ammunition shortage curtailing hunting, and the good fortune that the plague is not wiped out some of these populations like it has in other states. Knowing that I had some very good areas to hunt, I had saved one pivot just for this article, purposefully not shooting in a particular alfalfa pivot until I had the 1727 ready to go.
That morning when I loaded up the rifle, two backup rifles, in enough ammunition to wear out 10 rifles, I had great hopes of being blessed with perfect conditions and a great hunt. And in fact I was.
I started the day at about six in the morning, working a remote section of pivots which are on the edge of a string of alfalfa fields. Around this particular pivot, there’s very little traffic with just one quiet dirt road running along its border. In the back of my truck I’ve set up a small shooting table with some large sandbags to shoot from. This provided me a steady platform and 180° field of view.
At 6:00, I started glassing the field and noticed countless squirrel mounds inside of the short alfalfa, and a completely barren strip of land encircling it. There was also a line of broken pieces of concrete possibly, dug up from an old foundation running alongside one of the fences which split to these pivots. That had my interest knowing the ground squirrels love to hide their burrows among large pieces of concrete, old tire piles, and especially along the edges of fence lines.
Around 6:30 started to see the first activity, and these were large adult ground squirrels emerging from their burrows to start their morning feeding. Shockingly I didn’t see one, or two, or even ten ground squirrels, but rather I looked around and there were at least 50. Looking again, maybe 100 were now slowly loping about, waking up to the morning sun.
Setting the binoculars down, I rested the 1727 on a large black sandbag and got to work. Next to me I had had seven 4-round magazines in the large storage box with a full case of CCI 17 grain V-Max ready to go.
From that point until about 11 in the afternoon, it was utterly amazing with the number of squirrels running about.
Working the straight-pull action, I was counting my hits as squirrels fell; 1, 2, 3, 4. The rifle was exceptionally accurate, and without surprise, the more I shot, the hotter the barrel became.
As the day continued on and the sun rose higher in the sky, the rifle was no longer cooling down even with five minute breaks between shooting magazines. It was about 95 degrees outside and only a mild 3 to 5
mph breeze was rolling by.
I had resorted to rotating two rifles, doing my best to let the 1727 cool off. In the past I have seen that it’s difficult (and very uncommon) to shoot the throat out of 17 HMR, but at the rate I was sending rounds down range that day, it was on my mind as a possibility.
When it hit the noon hour, I took a lunch break and put the rifle inside of the truck to cool off in the shade. After about a 30 minute break, it was still very warm to the touch. I had thought about cleaning it, knowing that I had well over 500 rounds down the barrel. But I did not notice any loss of accuracy, but the barrel had become so hot at times that the mirage was rippling the light in front of scope. Even so I was still able to connect the squirrel standing way out in the distance holding five and 6 inches above their heads. Why bother at this point?
Cycling the action, I got a sensation that the bolt was becoming dry. It had lost some of the speed and needed a little bit more force to close the action completely. I put a few drops of Break Free LP on the steel balls inside of the bolt, and a very light coating all around the outside. I wiped quite a bit of it off so it would not collect the dust and grit in the air. With that done, the bolt felt just like it had at the start of the day.
Body count
The shooting slowed down for a while in the heat, but remained busy enough, getting my total up to 800 by 4:00 in the afternoon. I had completely given up hope of letting the barrel cool down, so I just kept shooting. It can always be re-barreled later on.
I figured at some point I would start missing my targets noticeably and then have to get out the cleaning equipment.
I had worked my way around the field and even shot near a fence line where the squirrels had located their burrows at the base of the fence posts.
They would run from the base of the fence into the field and back incessantly, almost as if they were taunting me to try to get a shot on them. Working the accuracy potential of the rifle, headshots on squirrels at surprisingly long distances were possible.
At this point I had over 1000 rounds down the barrel accuracy was still holding up. I was expecting the bullets to fly wildly off course at any point, but with a good hold and trigger control, the squirrels kept falling.
Finally as the sun began to set, the next wave the squirrels came up for the evening feeding, and I quickly chewed through another 500 rounds. By the time the day ended at about 7:30 pm, I had shot nearly 1600 rounds of ammunition through the rifle. I was tired, my thumbs ached from loading magazines, and the gun was filthy from sweat, dust, and fouling. I was astounded at such a good hunting day in the alfalfa pivots.
Accuracy Testing & Results
This section of the article will actually be short and fairly focused. Accuracy testing of a sporting rifle is tricky to do because of the unique features of the stock.
Since the stock will not ride in a traditional front and rear rest system, I chose to shoot the rifle from a large X-Bag, which fully supports the rifle and allows for a repeatable hold and position, while not allowing it to cant to the side.
The targets were set up at 100 yards, and were also fired outside in excellent conditions. The temperature was in the high 80’s with moderate cloud cover and very little wind. The wind meter measured between 1-3mph.
After fouling the barrel with 10 rounds of CCI 17 grain V-Max, I fired 15 groups consisting of 5 rounds each. I tend to favor 10-rounds groups with target or Benchrest rifles, but since the rifle needs to be moved in order to load in a fresh magazine after the 5th round, there is no way to repeat the hold and position in the bag from the previous target, so I opted to move every 5 rounds.
For the V-Max ammunition, the overall average was 0.685” at 100 yards. The smallest group was 0.394” and the largest was 0.864”.
Switching to the 17-grain TNT bullet, the groups opened up to have an average of 0.81” with the largest group at 1.25” and the smallest at 0.67.” Plenty accurate for squirrel hunting.
Overall, this is excellent accuracy from any type of sporting rifle.
Conclusion
I’m not quite sure how to tie all of this together. The 1727 is truly a
masterpiece; there really is no other way to look at it.
I can’t think of any other rimfire action which remotely comes close in design or function, and executed at this level of precision.
The 1727 combines the accuracy of a
single-shot match rifle, provides the convenience of a four-shot repeater, and cycles with nearly the speed of a semi-auto without fear of a dreaded case failure or “Ka-boom.”
There are other toggle-bolt systems, but they are not offered in the 17 HMR platform, and don’t have the features of the 1727. And quite frankly, they feel like a claw-hammer in my hands when held side by side in comparison to this action.
Is there a downside of course, and that is what the 1727 does to your pocketbook. The rifle alone has a suggested retail price of $3,500 USD, and when you add a nice set of Talley rings and bases along with a sharp Leupold scope, you’re approaching $5,000 USD. It’s completely out of reach for the majority of varmint hunters, and that is a shame. With the amount of machine work and cost of highly skilled German labor, I do not expect to see an “economy” model in the future.
I see some comments on the internet about a possible .22lr version, and that it will be offered at a much lower price. I'm not sure where this is coming from; it's not info being passed out by ANSCHÜTZ. I'm also not sure how changing the bore diameter on the rifle lowers the cost, but maybe the internet experts may offer some explanation.
Due to the low production numbers, high retail price, and unusually strong European interest, the 1727 will be an uncommon sight in the States for the next few years. I suspect that the initial demand will easily outpace production for quite some time, so tracking one down will be a somewhat lengthy process. There is always the chance your dealer will be able to pick one up as the shipments begin to arrive in late August of 2013.
Since the completion of this article, I have subsequently epoxy-bedded the barreled action into the stock, as well as taken it along on a number of additional hunting trips. Every time it has impressed me with its performance.
There are a few things missing with this rifle, and first and foremost is a bore guide. The rimfire world has evolved enough to realize that modern rimfire rifles are commonly cleaned (when not being abused during a field test) with a rod of some type, and a bore guide that fits into the receiver properly would be a good thing to be included.
Keep in mind that the bolt on this rifle is much larger in diameter than other ANSCHÜTZ rimfire rifles, so the standard bore guide for a match 54 or 64 action will not fit. The second item needed for this rifle is a unique brush to fit inside the action and clean out the bolt’s locking channel. It’s hard to reach and should be kept clean to maintain a smooth function.
There’s really nothing else to say about the rifle. With virtually no short-comings in design or function, superb field performance and overall accuracy, it’s to be considered a 10 out of 10.
To end on a quote from Ferris Bueller; “It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.”
