Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires Is the 17HM2 dead, dying, or ripe to be rediscovered?

does the 581 have a sporter barrel or a varmint contour? sounds like an interesting conversion.

also, have you had any issues with the 10/22's? have read a few reports of problems such as blown cases, etc...have a spare 10/22 now i've been thinking of converting.

How did it shoot?

I had a Classic in .22 and it would group MiniMags into an inch at 50 using a cheap red dot. What it wouldn't do was feed holler points so it went down the road. I figured the M2 might feed pretty well, but they disappeared before I made up my mind. I had 1800 rounds I bought for my Kimber conversion unit, but sold them when I gave up on the rifle idea.

All of the GM 17HM2 barrels that I have are 20" fluted blued CM sporter contour that were made for the 96/17. I have installed these on the Rem 581 and on two 10/22s. I use the 10/22 Magnum recoil springs and a 'smith who shall remain nameless reworked the bolt to add 6 oz. of weight. The trick for my conversions is to keep them spotlessly clean, so that the rim is fully recessed. I have not had a blow out, but have has some bulged cases when I let the breech get dirty with powder residue. It isn't a conversion that I would recommend for the casual shooter, but if you're willing to keep it clean, it is fun to shoot.

PS - I've been told by several people that the conversion is unsafe and won't work, at least in theory, but in practice it does work, it just isn't foolproof.

The 17m2 shot 1/2 inch at 50 yards and about 1 1/2 inches at 100 yds.

Doc

In a very short time the 17HM2 will be as dead as the 5mm Remington magnum. Cartridges are just like animals, sometimes they just go extinct for no really good reason. The 5mm Rem Mag should have been the success story that the 17HMR was, ballistic wise it is a superior cartridge but the stars were just in line for it.

drover

Nothing personal, but when it come to predicting the 17HM2's future, I hope that JB is right and that you are wrong.

I Have Found them a few times at pawn shops and they were reasonable.
They usually are anxious to move them as none of their customers know what they are.

One of the problems Hornady cited was more rimfire cartridges these days, all except the .17 WSM based on either the .22 LR or .22 Magnum case. As a result, factory production lines have to be changed over from .22 LR to .17 M2, and with the still incredible demand for .22 LR, .17 M2 production has to remain seasonal.

Apparently the .17 HMR is more popular that the .22 Magnum these days, judging from the relative abundance of .17 HMR and lack of .22 Magnum. However, there's relatively little variety in .17 HMR loads. The wide variety of "specialty" .22 Magnum loads each require different manufacturing set-ups, however slight, so big ammo runs aren't as easy as with the .17 HMR.

It will be interesting to see how it all shakes out.

Mule Deer: A friend of mine on the west coast found 26 cartons (13,000 rounds) of "fresh" Hornady 17 Mach2 ammo at a sport shop.
He bought me 5 cartons (at $6.75 per box plus 9% sales tax!).
Luckily he is coming my way soon to recreate and I won't have to pay any shipping.
IF... there are any cartons left when I get more mad money (on August 19th and August 31st) I will buy more then.
Maybe this is a sign of some fresh (new to the stores) 17 Mach2 ammo becoming available?
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

not after you hog it up ....

Natchez got some HM2 in recently and sold through it very quickly. I should have scooped some up at $7.50/ box. I have a reasonable supply, but it never hurts to have a little surplus.

Bought my M2 about 7-8 yrs ago...yea when Eley ammo was everywhere

Its a HB SS Lam wood Salvage w/Basix trigger...Minox ZV-3 4-14

Its an amazing cartridge for what it is...most would call me a liar

when I tell them of 1 shot kills on p/dogs at 175 yds..on a calm day

The little V max really smacks & kills fast...My buddy has a CZ HB

M2 that I may try to talk him out of..

I have three of the Savage Mark IIs in 17HM2, two are the BVSS style with the stainless heavy barrel and laminated stock and the other is an FV that I restocked with a Boyds Rimfire Hunter laminated stock. I gave the restocked FV to a friend in New Hampshire and he uses it to discourage the woodchucks that want to chow down on his vegetable garden.

I also have three of the Marlins, a 917M2S and two 917M2s I like the balance of the longer Marlins better than the Savages and find myself shooting them more often. The 917M2S is my primary fox squirrel rifle. I have bedded it in a Boyds Rimfire Hunter laminated stock and mounted a Weaver V16 in Warne Maxima rings. If I do my part, it is accurate enough to shoot squirrels at 100+/- yards when they are scavenging waste corn out in cut corn fields.

Just put together a 10/22 his week in .17m2; have several bolt guns in mach2 but decided i'd give it a try in an autoloader.

Its the one on the right, Volquartsen carbon fiber barrel, Leupold 4x12. VQ heavy bolt assy arrived today, dropping that in this weekend, and shooting it some next weekend.

I'm thinking about doing this backwards. If I get an opportunity to buy a case or more of ammo, then I'll buy a rifle.

Had a Kimber .45 conversion unit that was fun, but would fire when slightly out of battery and cause the cases to bulge. Never split one though. After I sold it I sold the 1800 rounds of mixed brand ammo I had for about what I paid (pre-panic).

If this latest batch of ammo sold out as quickly as it seems, then the message to the ammo manufacturers is crystal clear. There is an eager market for the round, and it will be worthwhile for them to meet it's demand.

I for one love the little cartridge. I have a Contender chambered in it, and everyone who shoots it has a blast.

I have 11 bricks of 17M2. I bought it when it was 7 cents a shot.
I have a 17M2 reamer.
I have a 17M2 rifle.
10 years ago we were hunting Eastern Oregon for ground squirrels.
Now we are hunting Eastern Montana for prairie dogs.
The 17HMR is not good enough for prairie dogs that have been shot over.
I am not using my 17HRM rifle either.
So despite the amazing groups a 17M2 can make at 100 yards, it is dead to me now.
It is all 223 builds for me now.


But 8 days ago I got a running brain shot on a coon with a 22 CB short.

So the 17M2 may find resurrection someday.
I am just not shooting anything at 100 yards right now.
Lately, my brother in MT has a new hobby of shooting pigeons off the tops of grain silos... maybe we can work in the 17M2.

Perhaps not, but the 17HMR smothered it nevertheless. If the 17HMR had never been the 17HM2 would be far more popular than it is now.

The only good news is that the 17HM2 uses readily available components, the 22 Stinger case necked down and the same bullets as the 17HMR. So it isn't difficult for CCI to tool up for a run now and then. The problem right now is that demand for 22 ammo is so high that they can hardly spare the time to swap tooling at all.