As testing progresses, we'll trickle content out here in this thread.
Thus far everything is working 100% and shooting great!
Thus far everything is working 100% and shooting great!
Introducing TS Customs 17WSM RimX Rifles
- Thread starter orkan
- Start date
Those shots from the video at 50yds
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We have a wait list for these rifles and barreled actions. Give us a call at 605-554-1911 to inquire. Pricing will be similar to our 22lr variants.
A 17HMR would be pretty sick. What barrels are you guys using?
Thank you. Seems like quite the shooter. I’m interested to see 100yd groups with that rifle as I am interested in owning a rim x in a .17 cal config at some point down the road and this has peaked my interest.
The 17WSM is such a great round. Kudos to you guys for taking the initiative to offer a high grade option.
Those shots from the video at 50yds
No surprise for me. Anything that comes from Travis is simply the creme of the crop.
MB addressed the 'Moses' moniker in a very respectful, professional manner the last time you brought it up. Yet here you are once again showing everyone what a little bitch you are with your comments.I guess they didn't get the memo from "Moses" that a 17 WSM build is a "horrible idea".
Did some 100yd testing. Dots are half an inch. One 5-shot group with 5 different lot numbers. All rimfire ammo is not created equally. This is not new, or surprising to see.
Is that all 20gr ammo? If you have some or can get your hands on any I've had the 15gr stuff group better than the 20 grainers. I'd be interested in seeing how it groups in comparison to the 20gr ammo.
For me, the value in the 17 WSM is in its downrange abilities if you have time or want to I'd be interested in seeing some 200yd groups and maybe even compare shooting your 22LR version with match ammo to your new 17 WSM at distance on the same day same conditions.
For me, the value in the 17 WSM is in its downrange abilities if you have time or want to I'd be interested in seeing some 200yd groups and maybe even compare shooting your 22LR version with match ammo to your new 17 WSM at distance on the same day same conditions.
That is 20 and 25gr offerings. I do not presently have any 15gr, nor can I seem to find any. If anyone wants to send a box or two for eval, I'd be happy to run it and report back.
I don't want the fact that I'm providing examples of accuracy or precision to suggest the wrong thing. I do not view this cartridge as a "match" or "target" cartridge. It is a varmint cartridge, pure and simple. I've been planting badgers, skunks, pdogs, and the like with it for a long time and it is absolutely fantastic in that role. Though I'd never put it up against my 17 remington in a shooting contest.
Other people's reports of ammo being terrible are correct. It is, and has been terrible... just like 17hmr, 17hm2, and "non-match" grades of 22lr. The 17WSM is probably even worse than HMR and HM2. However, this does not mean it needs to be abandoned. It simply means more attention paid during ammo selection. The solution comes in the form of lot testing and ammo sorting. The results I've shared are non-sorted and non-lot tested. Just grabbed some of what I have available and shot. If someone were to ask me what I think the cartridge is capable of, I would say for the average user, that is 3/4 to 1 MOA. That's what you can expect to see with no effort spent on ammo selection. Thus far, this rifle is shooting better than my Ruger 77/17WSM and better than my previous Volquartsen 17WSM semi-auto. However, this is still extremely early in testing and there have not been enough rounds fired to come to any real conclusions. I have more lot numbers showing up soon. I'm also going to get a 25x optic on there and shelf the 15x to ensure a bit better control.
Completely agree, the 17 WSM is at its best as a varmint rimfire cartridge particularly at distance when compared to the other available rimfire cartridges. That's nothing against any of the other fimfires but the 17 WSM, ballistically speaking, is King of the rimfires.
For me, the 17 WSM is a favorite when you are shooting ground squirrels or prairie dogs and you'll go through hundreds and hundreds of rounds per day for multiple days. It gives you more distance, better killing power, and saves me hours and hours and hours in the reloading room.
If anyone is interested I have
10 x Hornady 83180 Varmint Express .17 WSM (WSM) 20 GR V-Max 50 (83180).
Plus Fed.
Caliber: 17 WSM
Grain Weight: 20
Bullet Type: Tipped Varmint
Muzzle Velocity: 3000 fps
10 x Hornady 83180 Varmint Express .17 WSM (WSM) 20 GR V-Max 50 (83180).
Plus Fed.
Caliber: 17 WSM
Grain Weight: 20
Bullet Type: Tipped Varmint
Muzzle Velocity: 3000 fps
That is looking good. I am interested in one of these. I already have a Savage, Ruger, Franklin Armory and a VQ in 17WSM so I would like to see how it compares to them. What is the weight on it? When I go hunting I do a lot of walking so weight is a concern for me.
This build isn't for walking around, that's for certain. With the 20" M24 barrel, foundation stock, atlas bipod, and TT525P scope... it's just over 17lbs.
We will be offering a much lighter barrel contour as well as McMillan A3A Edge fill stocks for the walk around rifles.
Not sure, as I haven't shot one out yet. You can use reports of 17 hornet barrel life as an absolute worst case scenario, with the hornet being a solid 600fps faster. I intend to burn one down this next summer... but for now, I will just have to guess.
Testing is proceeding wonderfully with the 17WSM! Put a few hundred rounds down range in the dog town with it the other day. About as much fun as you'd expect it to be! The action is running absolutely wonderfully. We have some more barrels getting spun up at TS Customs soon so we can give a better look into the accuracy and precision expectations.
Suffice it to say it was shooting well enough to anchor prairie dogs out to 250yds nearly every shot. Past 300yds the 17WSM pulls the parachute and deploys all drag fins. I was able to anchor some out in the 450yd range, but the shots really scattered in this prairie wind. A 300yd shot with 9:00 5mph wind requires 1.6 mils of elevation an 1.0 mil of wind... while a 200yd shot requires 0.6 mil up and 0.6 mil left, respectively. With 4-6 pdogs sitting around a mound at 250yds, this smooth RimX action and low recoil of the 17WSM can let you launch rounds in fast enough succession to anchor several if not all of them before they get back to their hole! Especially if they don't immediately dart off, which due to the quietness of the suppressed 17WSM... they often don't. They'll often just sit there.
Some 100yd groups. This barrel is shooting better the more rounds I get on it... but its clear at this point it's not a super great barrel. Just under a thousand rounds fired so far. With a 1mph wind causing 0.1 mils of wind drift, and a 5mph wind causing 0.3 mils of drift at 100yds, it also takes an almost impossibly nice day to really see what these little cartridges are capable of. With a G7 BC of .082, these 20gr .17cal projectiles are just not suited for even the most mild of breeze. Having said that, once you get some experience calling wind for the little guys, you can really put them to work in the field. It's not uncommon to get 3 rounds landing really well at 100yds, or close to that... but by the time you get 5 launched, the wind tends to shift just enough to make it just that little bit worse. It's a fantastic little varmint round... and it's been an amazing experience finally being able to deploy it with a quality action!
Suffice it to say it was shooting well enough to anchor prairie dogs out to 250yds nearly every shot. Past 300yds the 17WSM pulls the parachute and deploys all drag fins. I was able to anchor some out in the 450yd range, but the shots really scattered in this prairie wind. A 300yd shot with 9:00 5mph wind requires 1.6 mils of elevation an 1.0 mil of wind... while a 200yd shot requires 0.6 mil up and 0.6 mil left, respectively. With 4-6 pdogs sitting around a mound at 250yds, this smooth RimX action and low recoil of the 17WSM can let you launch rounds in fast enough succession to anchor several if not all of them before they get back to their hole! Especially if they don't immediately dart off, which due to the quietness of the suppressed 17WSM... they often don't. They'll often just sit there.
Some 100yd groups. This barrel is shooting better the more rounds I get on it... but its clear at this point it's not a super great barrel. Just under a thousand rounds fired so far. With a 1mph wind causing 0.1 mils of wind drift, and a 5mph wind causing 0.3 mils of drift at 100yds, it also takes an almost impossibly nice day to really see what these little cartridges are capable of. With a G7 BC of .082, these 20gr .17cal projectiles are just not suited for even the most mild of breeze. Having said that, once you get some experience calling wind for the little guys, you can really put them to work in the field. It's not uncommon to get 3 rounds landing really well at 100yds, or close to that... but by the time you get 5 launched, the wind tends to shift just enough to make it just that little bit worse. It's a fantastic little varmint round... and it's been an amazing experience finally being able to deploy it with a quality action!
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Looks like Volquartsen removed all their 17WSM from their website. I grabbed a 17WSM semi 2 years ago.
I had a volquartsen 17WSM semi auto as well. My time with it was quite unpleasant.
My time with this RimX 17WSM has been very pleasant.
My time with this RimX 17WSM has been very pleasant.
Right around 20,000 rounds comprised of 30 lot numbers, spanning 3 years of manufacture... should be a good start on seeing what this RimX action can do.
lol... if I have a single round of that left by the end of next fall... I'll be super surprised.
I haven't found wind to be as much of an irritation as that caused
by mv spread and visible problems with wsm cartridge assembly.
Due to bullet design the 17 is less affected by wind than the 22lr and 22wmr.
Visual inspection of cartridges before chambering
has shown differences in seating depth and angle,
crimp tension, bent/broken/missing polymer tips and irregular brass dimensions
as well as ignition problems due to missing primer.
When I got a box of decent wsm cartridges, results were better than match 22lr.
When Winchester let tolerances slip on the assembly line, spread increased substantially.
by mv spread and visible problems with wsm cartridge assembly.
Due to bullet design the 17 is less affected by wind than the 22lr and 22wmr.
Visual inspection of cartridges before chambering
has shown differences in seating depth and angle,
crimp tension, bent/broken/missing polymer tips and irregular brass dimensions
as well as ignition problems due to missing primer.
When I got a box of decent wsm cartridges, results were better than match 22lr.
When Winchester let tolerances slip on the assembly line, spread increased substantially.
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Less... well, less is less... though by any definition, holding a half a mil at 100yds in a 10mph 9:00... is still a lot of wind. When you're trying to keep all the bullets inside a 1/2" circle at that distance... the wind is a massive factor. A 1mph unseen shift of intensity... and your 1/3MOA group is now 3/4MOA.
17WSM 20gr
22LR RWS R50
As the properties of 22lr bullet flight are quite well known to many... the .17WSM is comparatively unknown to many, I don't want to have this thread get off on too much of a tangent. Suffice it to say, wind is a problem for these small cartridges, among those of us that live somewhere 10mph+ is the norm every day. Those of you that live in calm southern states need not worry.
I can however entirely agree with you on the quality control in ammo assembly. It's a significant problem. Though until widespread adoption of the cartridge results in sufficient demand for someone to invest a few million dollars (CCI) I don't see that situation changing much. So just as always has been the case for rimfire shooters... lot testing and buying in bulk will be required to get the most out of these rifles. Despite that fact, even the bad lots I have are perfectly suitable for varmint shooting at short ranges. Gophers, skunks, raccoons, prairie dogs, pigeons, badgers, etc, etc. If they are inside 200yds... they don't stand much of a chance against a good 17WSM rifle.
The real question is: What do we have to do, to convince Winchester that we want a "match grade" 17WSM offering?
I hear ya' orkan.
It's unlikely that CCI or Winchester will ever produce competition quality rimfire cartridges.
It doesn't appear to be a component in their business model.
The necessary quality control would put the cost per cartridge
up there with high end small bore center fire.
That kind of expense and I'd rather reload 222 or 223 to my specifications.
I use the 17 wsm as a rodent control cartridge.
For that use, it is more than adequate, center of critter and meat spray without center fire expense.
My cartridge of choice is the lead free 15 grain.
No long term residual effects in the farm fields we shoot.
50 shots, 200 yards, better than 22lr under the same conditions.
It's unlikely that CCI or Winchester will ever produce competition quality rimfire cartridges.
It doesn't appear to be a component in their business model.
The necessary quality control would put the cost per cartridge
up there with high end small bore center fire.
That kind of expense and I'd rather reload 222 or 223 to my specifications.
I use the 17 wsm as a rodent control cartridge.
For that use, it is more than adequate, center of critter and meat spray without center fire expense.
My cartridge of choice is the lead free 15 grain.
No long term residual effects in the farm fields we shoot.
50 shots, 200 yards, better than 22lr under the same conditions.
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Barrel block Bmag.
I don't like the factory tupperware and method of receiver to stock mounting.
Going to a barrel block rig eliminated stock and receiver flex.
I don't like the factory tupperware and method of receiver to stock mounting.
Going to a barrel block rig eliminated stock and receiver flex.
That would probably be to much to ask for, hell I'd even settle for "almost match grade" 17 WSM ammo or at the least if they'd just seat the friggen bullets within a few thou of each other instead of these huge seating depth variances.
Side note, I was in our local Sportsman's Warehouse last week and made a stroll down the ammo isle. As you can imagine, the shelves were literally bare maybe ten boxes of odd ball rando CF ammo was all they had. Got down to the RF end of the isle and much to my surprise there was lots and lots of 17 HMR and 22 WMR but not one single box of 17 WSM. I was VERY surprised by that.
I've measured as much as a 28 thousandths disparity of seating depth within a single box of ammo.
Oddly enough... that box still shot 3/4 - 1 moa.
Yep, I know exactly what you mean.I've measured as much as a 28 thousandths disparity of seating depth within a single box of ammo.
Oddly enough... that box still shot 3/4 - 1 moa.
When I first got my 17 WSM I bought four cases of AE, Hornady, and Winchester labeled 20gr ammo and spend way more hours, than I'm willing to admit, sorting. I came to the conclusion I could hit sage rats at all the same distances just as easily with ammo right out of the box as I could with the stuff I'd spent hours sorting and all that extra time spent sorting defeated the whole purpose of using a RF which was supposed to help eliminate time spent in the reloading room.
At least now there will be a top quality 17 WSM rifle option.
I've never thought about using a bag to shoot out of a window...now I need a bag...
You yanks have a lot to learn about shooting from a ute
we use bags and door rests for spotlighting for donkeys years down here in Australia. My warhorse dev commanche bag gets taken every roo/fox shooting trip.
