Originally Posted by aether_tech
Originally Posted by PaulBarnard
I always welcome new cartridges, even though I often don't get excited about them. I suppose some of the concern for a prospective buyer is whether or not the cartridge will endure and be supported. The 17 Mach 2 was a real winner, but for some reason or another is no longer chambered by anyone other than Savage as far as I know. If this one turns out to be a winner, will int continue to see support?

I'm not that experience with guns..

But the Mach 2 failed because it did everything 22LR was doing, at higher velocity, but more cost. Faster, but otherwise similar energy. Heck, as much as I love 17HMR, for the same reason 22WMR is going to remain more popular, it mostly does the same thing. And 22 wmr is just slightly cheaper to make the difference in popularity. I still love my Savage 93R17, fantastic shooter. But ... if I had to pick one over the other, 22WMR is gonna win.

Also past 100y, both HMR and HM2 fall off steeply for energy, and they are small bullets. So any long-range varmint hunting, 22LR will beat 17HM2. The 17HMR beats the smaller 22WMR for energy up to 150? 200y? But loses to larger 22WMR bullets. And again, Cost per round.

This new round has the same problem - 22LR is here, established, mature, and is always going to be cheaper for what is the same basic performance metrics. IT MIGHT see better luck in serious competition shooting. But in lower levels 22LR is gonna be king there simply due to cost and availability.

I have to disagree with your assessment of the 17HM2.

The 17HM2 does an outstanding job within its performance envelope. In my experience, it is a much better hunting cartridge than the 22 LR beyond 50 yards because its flat trajectory out to around 110 yards makes it much easier to hit what you're aiming at. If you look at a chart comparing the trajectories of the 17HM2, 17HMR, and 22 LR, all with a 100 yard zero, you see that the 22 LR doesn't have flat spot in its trajectory curve, as the bullet is either rising or falling and falling precipitously after 100 yards. IMO, the 17HM2 is a niche cartridge and possibly the best tree squirrel hunting cartridge yet to be introduced. If the 17HM2 had been introduced before the 17HMR it might have gained more market traction, but most people compare the two cartridges on velocity alone and the 17HMR is always going to win that race.

When I hunt colony varmints, I usually bring a 17HMR along to shoot the 0 to 150 pdogs and a 17HM2 to shoot the gsqurrels at the same ranges. I've watched people shoot the 22 LR at gsquirrels and pdogs at longer ranges, but one shot kills were the rare exception compared to both the 17HM2 and 17HMR due to trajectory and wind drift challenges.