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

I haven't seen any 17HM2 ammo in either retail or wholesale outlets for quite some time and was wondering what the 24HCF cognoscenti think.

I'm a big 17HM2 fan, believing that it is probably the best tree squirrel round ever created, but it never got much love from the hunting universe and seems to have, for the most part, died on the vine.

Is it dead?

Is it dying, without much hope for the future?

Is it holding on for a literary hero to champion its comeback as a previously unrecognized, but now rediscovered, gem?

agreed....

i hunt with it quite a bit, but not sure it'll make a comeback...i kind of wonder if the heavy demand for .22LR has made CCI put most plans for 17mach2 ammo production on the back burner?

I think a bit more Hornady .17M2 made it into circulation last month, but it dried up pretty fast.

It was dead before it ever got off the ground. Just couldn't compete with its Big Brother the 17HMR

The 17HM2 wasn't designed to compete with the 17HMR.

I contacted Hornady about this just a couple weeks ago, since normally some .17 Mach 2 ammo shows up around here in the spring, due to demand by "gopher" (ground squirrel) shooters. They said that no, the Mach 2 isn't dead by any means, just that the continuing high demand for rimfire in general put production off some this year, but that some Mach 2 ammo will be cranked out soon.

bea175 - I agree with you re: .17HM2 vs. .17HMR. It was designed to better the .22LR. The .17HM2 just could not compete with the LR both in price and availability. That was then and, at least in SoFlo, now I can't get either one. May have to go with my trusty 'wrist rocket' slingshot - LOL. Homesteadeer

Other than colony varmints, pdogs and gsquirrels, most small game and varmints that you'd use a rimfire for are shot within 100+/- yards and the 17HM2 shoots as flat a trajectory out to 100+/- yards as does the 17HMR with the same bullet weights. When the 17HM2 came out, ammo was about 1/2 to 2/3 of the price of the 17HMR ammo, so for applications out to 100+/- yards it was a more economical solution. I've never heard of a poor shooting 17HM2, particularly when shooting the Eley and Eley-made Remington ammo.

Or so it seems to me.

Around here in western Montana a lot of "gopher" shooters think the .17 Mach 2 is ideal--or did, when ammo was more available. While you can get shooting at longer ranges, most gopher shooting is in hayfields and cattle pastures, which are pretty level and in spring have enough vegetation so it's hard to see the little beggars beyond 150 yards.

A .17 M2 sighted in at 125 yards with 17 V-Maxes is about an inch high at 50 and 100, and 2 inches low at 150, significantly flatter than any .22 Long Rifle load, and covers the vast majority of shooting. And if you can find ammo for less than $100 a brick it's still a better deal for gophers than the .17 HMR.

Of course, you can take a long a .17 HMR, .17 or .22 Hornet (or even a .204 or .223) for the shots beyond 150, and some do. But if you only have a .17 M2 along you're set for the vast majority of shots.

I bought a T/C classic stainless in 17M2 and glad I sold it.

Not much demand for the cartridge or gun any longer.


Doc

I've taken 17HM2s along on pdog shoots, but it was always seemed too windy to use them. Now a Ruger 10/22 Magnum rebarreled to 17HMR is a lot rapid fire pdog shooting fun if the wind isn't blowing.

I bought a very rough Rem 581 with the thought that I might turn it into a 17HM2, but unless the ammo comes back in consistent availability at a decent price by the time I actually do something with it, it will stay a .22. I've never owned a 17HM2 but have always thought it would make an excellent squack killer.


Dave.

260Remguy,

Yeah, the M2 is a little on the light side for prairie dogging, due to the usual wind. Much prefer the HMR for PD's.

Gopher shooting isn't usually as windy.

It always seems to be windy where I shoot pdogs in South Dakota.

I have a Remington 581 that I rebarreled with a modified Green Mountain 17HM2 barrel that was made for the Ruger 96/17. It works fine and I like the trigger pull better than any of my Marlin or Savage bolt guns.

What's a 17HM2??

260Remguy: "I" hope its not dead!
I have three Varmint Rifles in this nifty little caliber.
I have not seen any 17 Mach2 ammo on a stores shelves in at least a year.
Rarely, even a rumor of such is heard.
I have about 4,000 rounds of 17 Mach2 on hand after this past season and would eagerly buy some more at any kind of decent price.
I have though, been seeing 17 Mach2 ammo offered for sale at gun shows for $17.00 and $18.00 a box of 50 - not sure if it sells but thats the norm here in the west.
I think it is an exceptional and efficient little rimfire.
Accuracy is outstanding and lethality on small game and Varmints is impressive.
I have several places where people invite me to shoot Ground Squirrels off of their lawns, out of their gardens and out of their flower beds - this is THE cartridge I choose for all these occassions.
Risk of ricochet in semi-settled areas where I frequently shoot is GREATLY reduced with the plastic tipped 17 Mach2 ammo especially when compared to 22 rimfire rounds!
I vote to keep up the production and availability of the 17 Mach2.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Too many 17M2 guns sold for it to die any time soon IMO.

If/when rimfire ammo supply ever returns to normal I'm going to get another one in a bolt gun. Great gopher round.




Travis

but this was the way most shooters viewed it, plus I have never found the 22 lr lacking for squirrels in the tall Hickory's in VA & TN

While the .22 LR is the standard by which squirrel rifle cartridges are measured, the 17HM2 is superior in range and the fragile bullets make it less likely to ricochet. The 17HM2 is a decidedly acquired taste, but once you've tasted it and discovered what it is capable of, nothing else in its category measures up. Also, when Eley was making ammo, the 17HM2 ammo was match-grade accurate for less than the cost of comparable Eley/RWS/Wolf .22 LR offerings.

They are a kick in the pants on a calm day in a dog town. Especially when the town hasn't been shot in over a year.