Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires .17 WSM Accuracy?

Have heard horror stories about the accuracy of .17WSM accuracy. Wondering if this is happening often enough to be true? Seems like many guns will shoot a 5 shot group of about 2-3", but 3 of the 5 will be under 1". Like the gun really wants to shoot but inconsistent ammo will not let it? Would like to hear from some of you guys that have owned one or two for a while.

Centershot: The 17 WSM cartridge is one of the few rimfires calibers I do not personally own.
I do have several friends that shoot them though (in heavy barrel versions) and they enjoy good accuracy and good lethality on small game and Varmints.
I also have mounted scopes on and then sighted in two Rifles in caliber 17 WSM.
Both of these exhibited very good accuracy with no un-explained flyers that I recall.
I haven't bought one yet as I am waiting for a "deal" on a Ruger 77/17 WSM heavy barrel and I want the dust to settle on the ammo availability.
Personally I am confident the accuracy of the 17 WSM's I am familiar with.
And I personally have NOT heard of any horror stories accuracy wise.
I hope more folks pipe up and give us a broader perspective.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

They suck. Oddly enough this seems to be the exact opposite impression varmintguy has had. Do some research, you'll find many guys struggling to get these things to shoot worth a hoot. I truly think it's an ammo problem though. My buddy has had 2 of these. The first one was the elcheapo B-mag with the standard barrel. He then got the one with the heavy barrel. It doesn't shoot much better and helps to confirm my sneaking suspicion that the ammo is faulty. He's tried many different types of ammo and the Winchester is the worst. Seems he gets the unexplained flyer/s you hear about with these rifles. Honestly, I'll just stick with the HMR or 22 WMR..

I have been trying to do some research and that is what lead me to start this thread. I wonder if some of the guys that like them shoot a few shots to get them sighted in and go hunting. Figure a miss was just the shooter? Does not seem like too many of them will put 5 in an inch at 100yds, sounds like quite a few will not do it at 50yds. that is not acceptable accuracy for a varmint gun to me. Just looking for experiences with them before I buy a new Magnum Rimfire.

I have used the Federal American Eagle 20 gr ammo and the Winchester 25 gr ammo. The Federal stuff shoots great in my Contender. The Winchester is all over the place. So much that don't even use it for plinking.

If someone has a rifle that shoots the Winchester stuff well, I'll trade you what I have.

The distillation of what I have read about the 17 WSM is that nearly everybody with a Ruger is happy with the rifle/cartridge package and that nearly everybody with a Savage is disappointed with the rifle/cartridge package. Since the Ruger owners are shooting the same brands of ammunition that the Savage owners are shooting and the Ruger owners are getting much better results, my deductive reasoning is that the weak links in the 17 WSM chain are the Savage rifles.

Since the B-Mag action is a new design, it seems possible that Savage put them into production before "the bugs" were worked out, so that they could be "first to market" with the new 17 WSM cartridge. It seems to me that Savage would have been smarter to take an existing small/short action that is no longer in production, like the Winchester 43, Winchester 310/320, or Remington 580/590 series and reworked it for 17 WSM pressure levels and current production processes.

Of course, I could be 100% wrong. I embraced the 17HM2, 25 WSSM, and 260 and despite their excellent performance, they have never received the same level of love from the general shooting public.

I bought a Savage B-mag std barrel and it shot very well. Didn't care for the looks so I bought a Ruger stainless with heavy barrel. Shoots very well indeed! Killed over 100 sage rats in Central Oregon last week, many at ranges from say 100yds clear out to 250yds with what I'd have to consider darned good accruracy. Rats are about six inches tall...maybe three inches high on all four. Leupy 3X9 scope. Very happy with the rifle but could use more scope power for these critters. Lethal at 250! I would not underestimate its killing power at long ranges either.

I too purchased a Savage Bmag, but the newer version with the wood stock and heavy varmint barrel. I immediately bedded the stock with JB Weld, then went to shoot. I was depressed. I was getting 3-4" flyers at 100 yards, BUT after running through 150 rounds, the flyers went away, and all 20 grainers were inside a 2" bullseye. I still wasn't happy, so I tried some 15 grainers, and OMG. This gun started shooting. The first magazine of 8 rounds grouped at 3/4". I was ecstatic, AND THEN, I shot antother magazine of 8 rounds, and 7 of the 8 bullets went into the same hole. I had one bullet out of 8 go outside the same hole by 1/4". This is of course in an indoor range, with no wind, but this little beast is a shooter and a keeper. I think a lot of guys get depressed before they have run enough ammo through a new gun, but I've owned other guns that took some time before they got accurate. I've read that competition shooters won't enter a comp till they have 250 rounds through a new barrel. Sooooo, I congratulate Savage on another winner. By the way, half of accuracy is in he hands of the holder.

It should've been a .204

New to the 24CF site but I have a lot of experience with both the 17wsm and 17hmr. I own a Ruger 77/17 and a Volquartsen with the McMillan stock in 17 wsm. I found that the most consistent ammunition is Federal American in 20 grain. Poor accuracy from some may be due to their rifle coupled with normal inconsistent rimfire ammo production. Ruger has had a hit or miss past with some of their 17 wsm rifles not being as accurate as others, but that’s subjective to each owner... Volquartsen has been proven accurate by many owners albeit the price is extreme for a rimfire that isn’t a Winchester 52 pre 64 sporter...Fortunately, I have a Ruger that is a tack hole maker. New trigger helped my Ruger a lot. Just try different ammo until you discover which mfg your rifle likes and understand it’s a mass produced rimfire round, not handloads...Jusy my opinion.