Is the .17 WSM dead?

[plumbum]

[DArBad]

Its not popular, and haven't seen anyone " rave " about it. I may be wrong, but as far as I know, only Savage made rifles for it, and it wasn't much of a seller.

[oddjob]

I have three 17 WSM rifles. They are fantastic on ground squirrels.

[k1dude]

It's nearly an ideal round for those of us in occupied territory. Unfortunately, only one company makes a semi-auto for it and charges a pretty penny. If others would jump on board to provide some competition, the price would drop to the point that average buyers could afford it. Until then, it will continue to be a poor seller.

For bolt action rifles, there are too many comparable centerfire options available. So why buy a rimfire that you can't reload or find readily available ammo in stores?

[damon1272]

[plumbum]

I think the consensus is that it’s just not offering enough over the HMR and anybody who wants more performance just bumps up to the centerfire choices. Maybe they would have been better off doing a .20 or a .22 and not chased the numbers so much.

[elk hunter]

Its not popular, and haven't seen anyone " rave " about it. I may be wrong, but as far as I know, only Savage made rifles for it, and it wasn't much of a seller.

Ruger made them and they really work well on critters.

[Cuda440]

It will slowly disappear like the 17hm2 in my opinion, not gonna be enough ammo demand to keep it in constant production.

The WSM was cool with the little bit of extra power over the HMR, but at the pricepoint where you could reload your own 20 or 22 caliber centerfire ammo instead

[c good]

There are four of them in my group of shooters. I prefer it over the HMR. My one buddy with a HMR also bought one. The round is accurate and has plenty of punch all the way up to coyote. I find plenty of ammo around. $15.00 for 50 so right around 30 cents/round isn't bad. I don't reload. Almost zero recoil. So....I wouldn't say it's dead. Underappreciated maybe but not dead.

[DrewN]

If you reload, .17 Hornet is cheap. 12.2 grains of Accurate gets me 3700 fps+ with the 20 grain V-Max.

[damon1272]

Personally would like to see a 5.7x28 in a walking varminter And 40-45 grin bullet.

[M76]

FYI; OP was referring to 17WSM (R), not HMR (L)...

[theduracellbigd]

I am happy to hear it is fading out. I have two HMRs and when the HMS came out I was worried the HMR would become the obsolete round.....thankfully the marketing and price point of ammo has kept my HMRs alive and relevant. My .22s became dusty after the 17 HMR came out. The HMR better range and quicker kills on little vermin. I would only use my .22s today if hunting tree squirrels or rabbits for meat, even then I might just grab the shotgun.

[plumbum]

Personally would like to see a 5.7x28 in a walking varminter And 40-45 grin bullet.

I thought Savage was going to add the 5.7 to the 25 line? That would be a very cool plinker!

[Eric Mayer]

There is so much misinformation within this thread. Savage Arms stated in an online press conference, just this morning, that their B.Mag line (17WSM) are one of their best selling lines of rifles. There are no plans to discontinue the line and sales are doing very well.

I get it if you don't like the 17WSM, but if you have not spent a considerable amount of time shooting one, you have no idea about what you are speaking about.

Btw, the photo posted above has a .17 Hornet round on the right. It is not a 17WSM...