VQ 17HMR

[Hdawg]

Anyone have experience with the Volquartsen 17 HMR rifles? I have a 17 M2 converted 10/22 with the VQ bolt and barrel and I love it but non-lead ammo is harder to find than an honest Democrat in California. With the upcoming total ban on hunting with lead ammo I'm looking at options and I have a couple of bricks of 17 HMR lead free ammo.

Does the VQ handle like the 10/22 (or 10/22 mag)? Are they reliable? Any known issues? Any general advice or pros and cons?

Merry Christmas!

[1911Luvr]

VQ 17HMR

Anyone have experience with the Volquartsen 17 HMR rifles? I have a 17 M2 converted 10/22 with the VQ bolt and barrel and I love it but non-lead ammo is harder to find than an honest Democrat in California. With the upcoming total ban on hunting with lead ammo I'm looking at options and I have a couple of bricks of 17 HMR lead free ammo.



Does the VQ handle like the 10/22 (or 10/22 mag)? Are they reliable? Any known issues? Any general advice or pros and cons?



Merry Christmas!

Two of my buddies bought them and I have to admit they are sweet! Super accurate and no issues cycling the 17gr Hornady varmint tip loads we shoot. The target below is 18 rounds (2 9 round mags) at 50 yards from a sandbag with one flyer when the bag slipped on the card table we were using. The only con with these VQ rifles is the price- they are EXPENSIVE!




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[Jcannon91]

I've played with them. Like the previous guy said they're not cheap but damn are they nice.

[ChuckDizzle]

I wouldn't expect a great deal in the reliability department. From what I've read and been told from a gunsmith friend the .17 hmr suffers from a similar problem to it's parent cartridge the .22 winmag, it straddles the pressure zone where it doesn't work well to cycle as a blowback design or through gas operation.

But there are a handful of autoloaders in .17 hmr and .22 magnum that work well enough for target and varmint shooting, which is the primary purpose of the cartridge.

[joe47]

It's a shame there is no target ammo for the .17. 1911 Luvr's target is a testament to that. Decent .22 ammo will out shoot that target at 50 yards any day. I bought a .17 without knowing about the ammo, now it stays in the safe. I tried every flavor of ammo I could find, but the .22 with good ammo outshoots the .17 every time.

[1911Luvr]

VQ 17HMR

I wouldn't expect a great deal in the reliability department. From what I've read and been told from a gunsmith friend the .17 hmr suffers from a similar problem to it's parent cartridge the .22 winmag, it straddles the pressure zone where it doesn't work well to cycle as a blowback design or through gas operation.
.

The actual problem in early .17HMR auto loaders was the bolt unlocking too early due to the pressure of the round, but subsequent designs which delayed unlocking of the bolt didn't have the same issue. Both of my friends' VQ rifles run flawlessly.

[Jcannon91]

It's a shame there is no target ammo for the .17. 1911 Luvr's target is a testament to that. Decent .22 ammo will out shoot that target at 50 yards any day. I bought a .17 without knowing about the ammo, now it stays in the safe. I tried every flavor of ammo I could find, but the .22 with good ammo outshoots the .17 every time.

I've had really good luck with the 17 grain hornady vmax. Maybe try it out? I've pulled some pretty long shots on squirrels with it out to 150 yards+

[capitol]

From what I read the VQ17 hmr's have a heavier bolt and that's why they never had the issues other semi auto 17 hmr's had.

I never have had one issue with mine, but I think Im gonna sell it soon.

[Wrangler John]

The .17 HMR is a great little cartridge that I had to have for ground squirrels. To feed the need, I bought a savage bolt action rifle, it's accurate and does the job, but I really wanted a semi-automatic for quicker shots. Then I found this manufacturer that makes uppers that fit the AR-15 as well as complete rifles.

http://www.shopalexanderarms.com/Products-_17_HMR.html

So I bought a upper and mounted it on a Colt M-4 lower. To do so may require a few additional parts, like a separate buffer conversion assembly mentioned below, or in my case a full length receiver extension spacer.

http://www.shopalexanderarms.com/Parts-_17_HMR_Full-Length_Receiver_Extension_Spacer.html

It also requires a heavy weight hammer spring which I had to swap in from the JP Enterprises EZ Trigger Kit installed earlier for the 5.56 NATO configuration, included in the upper kit are the magazine adapter, a filler to replace the bolt hold open latch, and a magazine catch to replace the bullet button release (not necessary on the rimfire and wont' work anyway). If I had wanted to retain the lightweight spring on the fire control group, they sell a heavy duty buffer conversion kit that allows for proper functioning.

At the time I also bought an assortment of spare parts, those that could likely wear or break, like extractors, firing pins and associated parts. A good idea to have spares hanging on a hook for future use if parts become unavailable. The magazines are economical in bulk so I bought ten. I also purchased the rimfire cleaning guide to prevent messing up the chamber and bore:

http://www.shopalexanderarms.com/Cleaning_Kits-_17_HMR_Cleaning_Rod_Guide.html

The folks at Alexander Arms didn't know if the CCI TNT Green .17 HMR ammo with a 16 grain lead free bullet would reliably work the action, and recommended keeping the bolt well lubed through break-in. This proved not to be a problem, and the cartridge functioned properly once the magazine adapter was adjusted according to instructions. I lubed everything with Militech-1 and kept it clean through the first two boxes of ammo. Bottom line is that the upper functions reliably and groups around .5" at 50 yards.

So, if someone wants a .17 HMR on the AR-15 platform, and has a lower sitting around, here is a solution. As mentioned, Alexander Arms also sells complete rifles, and while expensive, they are a bit less so than the Volquartsen. After years of shooting centerfire varmint cartridges, I found myself wondering if the first few shots had gone off - sort of a anti-climax, but entirely too much fun.

P.S. I installed a E&L rigid brass catcher which mounts on rails attached to the flat top picatinny rail. It slides easily on and off, aand catches all that nasty rimfire brass so I don't litter the range or leave the stuff on public land to annoy the tree huggers.

http://www.brasscatchers.com/store/brasscatcher.html

[Spyder]

Keep an eye out for the CCI lead free. I bought several thousand rounds of it a year or so ago when I found it on a halfway decent sale. It shoots just as well as other CCI ammo out of my Savage 93, which is fantastic. Does wonders on jackrabbits and squirrels too.

[Wrangler John]

Keep an eye out for the CCI lead free. I bought several thousand rounds of it a year or so ago when I found it on a halfway decent sale. It shoots just as well as other CCI ammo out of my Savage 93, which is fantastic. Does wonders on jackrabbits and squirrels too.

You are very correct about that CCI lead free. I bought a case of it in 2015, and then another in July of 2016, just to be sure I had enough. Cheapest price at the time was at Cheaper Than Dirt and cost me $555 for 40 boxes. I just checked again and they still had the lowest cost of $14.49 per 50 round box. Some don't like CTD, and others don't like to buy online, but that has never stopped me. In checking online ammo vendors, they all had it available, but at anywhere up to $15.75 per box. Good shopping.

[DGoodale]

Wrangler, you can't be serious that you're paying $.28 - $.30 per round pre-delivery?? With shipping charges I'm getting it delivered for $.25 or less. I don't touch it for more than $.20 / round before shipping and it's plentiful out there. Without looking too hard I found Hornady 17HMR NTX for $.20 / round but the retailer's shipping costs can be high. Continuing to look I found Winchester NTX for $.23 / round delivered.
To add, I love both my custom 17HMR and my 2 17HM2's and only recently have I been able to occasionally find HM2 ammo for a decent price ($.14/rnd)