The .22 LR alternative, the .17 Mach 2?

[David LaPell]

Right now with the lack of .22 LR ammunition seeming to be everywhere, I found an alternative recently at my local gun shop in the form of an H & R single shot in .17 Mach 2. I had never really given this caliber a lot of thought since to me it seemed to be kind of a gimmick, but I have to say it intrigued me. I've had a couple of .17 HMR's over the years but never really found a use for them, and the .17 Mach 2 doesn't have the reputation for being as destructive on small game like the .17 HMR does, although head shots are still preferable. The rifle was being sold cheap, and more importantly, the shop had a huge supply of ammunition, and for months no one had bought a single box of it according to the shop owner. So I bought the gun and a good stock of the ammunition. I could have gotten it all, although I wouldn't because I am sure eventually another shooter of the round will come looking for some.
The gun has a very good trigger, something I found on an older H & R I once owned in .22 Hornet, but usually few and far between on these guns. I added a Simmons 4X Whitetail classic scope, and used Traditions mounts for it which were high enough to clear the hammer. I took one of those cheap elastic cartridge carriers for the butt stock and stuffed it with soft cloth and the scope lines up perfectly with my eye.
I took the gun and a box of ammo to the range the other day, and in retrospect I should have waited because it was pretty windy and these .17 rounds were getting pushed around even at the 30 yards where I was sighting it in. The scope is on to be sure, but trying to get an accurate group size will have to wait for a calmer day. It's an excellent alternative to the .22 Long Rifle for right now, which ammunition is hard to find and even if you have plenty, you can't replace it that easily right now.

 

[BKSSNIPER]

congrats on finding one of those little rifles.

Those are awesome little rifles and there still seems to be ammo on the shelves for them. I went away from them after the allure of suppressed shooting drew me in.

 

[blackblue]

Wouldnt mind having one in hmr and m2.

 

[JG26_Irish]

I hunt small game with a mach2 Sav MKII. It is a sub moa rifle at 100y from a bench on bags. I have killed squirrels out to about 80y with it. My skills limit m to not much further when shooting with a tree or stick as a rest. Using the old Eley ammo. The horn Andy is nearly as good. It is a gem. I have a little Lilja bbl in Mach 2 for my Quad. It I have been having so much fun with the 22lr bbl that I have not tried it yet.

 

[obx22]

Biggest issue I’ve seen with any of the.17’s is folks treat ‘em like .22LR’s .
Not being a wax coated bullet, they really should be treated like a centerfire when it comes to bore cleaning/protection. Starting to see’em turning up in shops with rust, or so full of fouling you can’t see the rifling!

 

[justin amateur]

I wonder how the 17hm2 would do on the Grid?

It is a CCI made rimfire cartridge, only company making 'em.


Instigator? Who? Me?

 

[JG26_Irish]

Biggest issue I’ve seen with any of the.17’s is folks treat ‘em like .22LR’s .
Not being a wax coated bullet, they really should be treated like a centerfire when it comes to bore cleaning/protection. Starting to see’em turning up in shops with rust, or so full of fouling you can’t see the rifling!

OBX, you are so correct. All the 17’s foul so quickly. And that tiny bore does not take much fouling to affect accuracy. The Mach2 being slower is the most forgiving of the bunch. But when I clean them, I take my time and do it right. When the 17wsm came out, people on rimfire central were all howling that it’s accuracy sucked. That was true if you failed to break in the bbl and did not clean it, lol. Do it right and it’s accuracy would almost rival a centerfire... almost.

 

[Frankr]

I still have a 17m2 and will probably end up with a Mach 2 barrel for the 457.

It’s really too bad it didn’t take off better.

The Mach 2 does so much out to about 125 yards and is much easier for kids to shoot well at multiple ranges. It also makes target explode similar to the HMR.

Price on the ammo used to be quite affordable. There is a little more maintenance than the 22lr but no more than the HMR.

Is it a 17 HMR? No! But it ain’t to shabby for what it is.

If a box of 50 ever gets close to $5 again, I will stock up on it.

 

[brian1]

In my experience, the ammo for them is a lot harder to find and a lot more expensive than 22LR or 17HMR.
I have one and (pre-panic) did eventually manage to acquire a couple cases of ammo for it, but it was difficult & expensive.
The only reason I bought that rifle was erroneously assuming that "Mach 2" meant even faster than HMR. As most of you probably know and I do now know, it is NOT - it's really just a 22LR necked down to 17
Personally, I'd avoid the caliber and stick with much more mainstream (and more powerful) 17 HMR

 

[JG26_Irish]

No doubt the 17hmr has many more options for ammo. But in the end, I think most of it was made by CCI. I was able to buy several bricks of the Hornady Mach 2 ammo at 67 per brick when I got my rifle a few years ago. Also rounded up several bricks of Eley at $100 per. I pay more than that for Eley black 22lr match ammo. I only use mine for hunting so that supply will last a long time. It is as accurate as the hmr out to 200y. It is quieter and for small game like squirrel, rabbit, Fox, etc, it is not doing the massive damage of the hmr. Is it better? No. It is another answer for the same question as the hmr. But it will still fit onto a 22lr action.

 

[cas6969]

Years ago I had the thought of buying a "nicer" .22, but it didn't make sense since I have so many .22's already that never get used. Realizing a .17M2 was different enough that I could lie to myself and believe myself, I bought a CZ. I bought it mainly for "squirrel hunting" (which I only do about two days a year, half heartedly and usually with a handgun), but that too was mostly an excuse. After tweaking the trigger I found it to be very accurate. I free floated the barrel at some point mostly to experiment. I think what I like about the round the most, for squirrels, I don't feel any hesitation or concern if I miss, shooting them up into trees. I know those little bullets will truly fall to earth completely harmless.

That said, I almost never shoot up in trees lol. The the CZ's too well made though, the nice walnut stock is heavy! "Why am I draging this through the woods, it's as heavy as a real rifle!" lol (the reason I never used my Marlin 39A either, what a little piggy!) Now and then I toy with selling it. I realized if I'm going to buy hard to find, semi expensive rimfire ammo, that I'm going to carry a lot but hardly ever actually fire, my childhood friend the 591 is so much lighter and fits me like an old broke in baseball mit, just feels right. Though like the .22 mag, too destructive for body shots.

 

[justin amateur]

I've heard of some keyholing at 200 yards with the 17hm2.
Is it velocity related or bullet problems? Don't know.

 

[Nodak]

I have many 17hm2's and so far the keyhole seems to be isolated to web forums. I've been using it on gopher fields for 10 or more years and if it's tumbling then it sure is dead accurate while doing it. I've done paper out to 150 but meat out to 225. It is an amazing cartridge that is very much under rated. Ammo is $8.99 here and 17hmr is $16.50. That and all the store told me about 17hmr availability is that they will have it in stock every 8th day of the week.........

 

[justin amateur]

I don't know...might be time for a 6x5 at 200 yards with the 17hm2, or a 50 at 200.
See actual results from the cartridges.
Only time I saw 200 yard results with the hm2,
they had definitely punched through sideways.

50 at 200

Product description of the RWS 22wmr from the U.S. distributor Velocity fluctuations are almost non-existent? Really? :eek: Or maybe it was translated from German incorrectly. ;) I think RWS might need to recalibrate their chronographs. :D Mine shows in excess of 200 fps ES from every box...

www.rimfirecentral.com

 

[cas6969]

.17 M2 at 200 yards is good for one thing! Testing your spotting scope!

I have a .17 Ackley Bee in a 12" Contender barrel that I know I shot on paper at 200 yards a time or two, but I don't recall if my cheap spotting scope was up to the task. I haven't shot it in years, my new range it so frigging windy I think it would be nothing but frustration. (and the fields it was meant to hunt are now gone, so there's that)