Sidewinder

Gomer, was this "used" A17 that you looked at right here in the B'oro? If so, I'd be interested in looking at it myself... if you're sure you don't have any further interest in it. What was the seller asking for it? Thanks.

I like it! I like it! I just hope the A17 semi-auto version will perform like that. Have you noticed any particular brand and grain of ammo to perform better than the others? Just wondering.

Shotgunshooter, does the round exit the fox, leaving a blown out hole in the hide. Not sure I know exactly what you mean about "absolute hell on foxes".

Have you checked out Bud's Gun Shop? They are hard to beat...no sales taxes and usually free shipping! Are you considering the .17 HMR, or the .204 Ruger?

Gliderman...do you fly gliders/sail planes? Just asking as I've been a pilot for most of my adult life...more years than I want to admit. But I digress! Tell us about your A17. Have you done any hunting with it yet... has it drawn blood? Give us a field/range report. Are you shooting the ammo designed for it, or have you tried different brands? If game, what game have you taken with it... any coyotes? Do you have any experience with the round in a bolt action? If so, could you give us a comparrison between the two? Did you get the wood or synthetic stock? Are you satisfied with it's accuracy and overall performance?

MacGyver, was the recall of the Ruger and Remington semi-autos due to the bolt flying back too soon, while the chamber pressures were stii high? I read somewhere that some earlier .17 HMR semi-auto models were bursting cases, expelling hot gasses and casing fragments through the ejection port. From watching four or five of the videos, it appears they may have solved that problem. Point well made about the obliteration of small game, such as squirrels...and possibly fox and bobcat! The energy drop off also concerns me on the longer shots...and larger game. Would you say the round is good out to 150 yards for a coyote? It looks like this is a round that requires twisting turrets on the scope for consistant success at hitting the game/target. You mentioned shooting hedge apples. Do you mostly use your bolt action for target shooting or hunting. If hunting, what is your usual game for this round? I researched the bolt action, before the Savage A17 and was impressed with it's capabilities and reasonable cost. My leaning toward the semi-auto was mostly for a quick follow up shot on a spinning coyote. If I go for the bolt action, I'd prefer wood furniture. Do you know if the barrel is floated on the wood stocks? Also, one of the vids mentioned barrel leading...possibly with a certain brand of ammo. Have you experienced any of this with this hot little round? Have you had any experience with this round on beaver? Just wondering.

Gomer, I'm in agreement with you on that. Takes a lot of meat on the table, or hides in the shed, to pay for that kind of cost!

Thanks, I watched a utube video that shows the disassembly of the gun. Inside the stock, there is an extra piece in the barrel channel, held in by two screws. Speculation is that they may be planning on a bull barrel version. For target shooting folks, they'll almost have to offer a heavy barrel. I would imagine after two or three of those 10 round mags through that pencil barrel, it would heat up. I think the ads say the barrel is full floating...dunno.

GKar, I don't own anything in .204Ruger, but have read good things about the round. I've sort of become fascinated with the .17HMR round for it's ability to make a small entry hole in the hide and explode inside, with no exit hole damage to the hide. As for the Savage A17 rifle, Cave Man or Cave Dweller has some shooting vids, and I was a little disappointed in the accuracy at 100 yards, with different brands of ammo. I was hoping for hole in hole accuracy at 100 yards and a quick follow up shot.

TNWNGR, I agree that the .17 HMR round is expensive. I just bought some for my Contender .17 HMR barrel and paid around 30 cents a round! After watching the GB review, what do you think of the rifle? Fun varmint gun, but a bit expensive to rattle off hundreds of rounds at the range, for sure.

Hey, that's a possibility Gomer. But... at 30 cents a round, I doubt it'll get the action that my Ruger 10-22 gets! It will be more like a few shots to get it sighted in, and then it'll be standing watch for mr. coyote. I haven't dropped the hammer...yet, but am giving it lots of consideration. I guess I'm hoping for a 10-22 that shoots .17 HMR, successfully.

Shotguner, what was it about the gun that failed to impress you? Was it the fit and finish, the weight, that huge plastic bolt handle, or just the synthetic stock? What did they have on the pricetag? Personally, I'm old school and prefer wood furniture to plastic. I'm just wondering if a wood stock would make it pretty heavy. How did it feel...balance and shouldering? I'm not sure if Savage is considering a wood stock or not. Were you able to remove and reinstall the mag? Some have had complaints about the mag falling out. Just wondering if you had the chance to check that out. Does anyone else have one? Has anyone shot one and put it through the paces?

Good points. You guys know how it is when you get the...new gun fever... new car fever, or possibly the fever for other things we want. The bolt on this gun has a milisecond mechanical lock up...for near bolt action accuracy... and then cycles pretty much like any other blow back design. They have held it off the market, while working out most of the bugs. I'm not crazy about the fit and finish, but Savage accuracy out of the box usually makes up for what it lacks in the beauty department. I wish someone had one to give us a good owner's report.

Caster, that's the ten thousand dollar question. Some of the reviews on the A17 mention a FTF, stove pipe, or the rotary magazine falling out. Others say that after a little break in, the A17 runs like a sewing machine... and that the falling mag problem was due to failure to get them "clicked" in properly. Most reviews seem to be in the five star end, even though there are a few one and two stars. This looks like Savage's answer to Ruger's 10-22...in the .17 HMR caliber. They don't have a .22 LR version... probably figured Ruger had that market covered. I'm considering buying one of the A17s. I have an ad on GOC for one... hopefully from one of the "one star" guys... that way it'll have a one star price!

I've been doing some online research on the new Savage A17, with the "delayed action, for the screaming .17 HMR varmint ammo. I've recently researched the .17 HMR round, and am impressed. This appears to possibly be a good varnmint gun, especially if you're hunting for hides. I like the availability of the quick "follow up" shot, if needed. My question about the gun is it's suitability as an "all around" varmint gun, here in middle Tennessee. Anyone have experience with the Savage A17? Will it work as a coyote gun around here? Anyone taken coyotes with the gun or round? Let's hear it...good or bad. Should I buy a Savage A17 in .17 HMR for middle Tennessee varnmint hunting?

I have all kinds of guns and calibers... 22 Hornet, .243, .223, .17 HMR, 7-30 Waters, and a sling shot! I just need some place to hunt varmints in middle Tennessee!

Have you considered the new Savage A17 ...it's .17HMR and getting good reviews. The big boys have them listed at right at $400. I've done some research and they seem to have solved the problem of high chamber pressures and blow-back bolts. It's called delayed action. Personally, I don't care much for the black synthetic stock. I'm into wood... have been all my life. They say it's as accurate as a bolt action.

Thanks Peejman. I guess I've never seen many of the carpenters. I catch the bumbles, with the white heads, with my hands... swirl them round and round... then release them to fly off in a dizzy flight pattern. They don't sting... but the black head ones will! Did someone say carpenter bees don't sting? Just checking.

I hope you are into "catch and release"...due to the humongus landfill (Mount Trashmore) at Walter Hill, I'm not sure it's safe to eat any of the fish out of the Stones River. Mona boat ramp is not that much farther down the river! Haven't seen any fish with three eyes there yet... but, a massive land-fill can't do much to purify the water!

Pics... pics, we need close up pics of Carpenter Bees along-side Bumble Bees, so we can tell the difference.

Thanks for the post 79troublehead. This is exactly the kind of "warning" information I was hoping to bring to the fore with my thread "Buying and Selling Reloads". I felt that if I presented too much information on the subject that I'd be perceived as anti-reloading...which I'm not. I'm anti-reloading for the purpose of "re-selling", for the reasons covered in this thread, and a hand-full more. I was hoping our members would enlighten others to be aware that they may, in fact, be buying re-loads on various sites, when they think they are buying "loose" factory loads. None of us want to see anyone get hurt while enjoying the hobby we all love. Hopefully, we all agree that we have to look out for our fellow brother and sisters involved in this sport. Perhaps my intention for starting the thread was misunderstood. This thread shows that we need to put all of this information in the hands of the less informed, for the safety of all of us. I've been re-loading since the '60s, and never sold one round that I have reloaded...nor have I ever allowed anyone else to ever even shoot one of my re-loads. We must be very careful in our re-loading/hand-loading operations! Complacency in most things can be bad, but in re-loading it can be down right dangerous! Safety - Safety -Safety is our friend!

Anybody know where I can get some 45 gr. Soft points or hollow points at a reasonable price?

I'm hoping we can have a good conversation about buying and selling reloaded ammunition. Hopefully, we can get some sage advice/information that will be beneficial to both buyers and sellers. Possibly there are some that say it should never be sold, that only the one doing the reloading should shoot the reloaded shells. There may be others that don't have any fear of shooting reloads, no matter who reloaded them. The truth is, we all see them listed on some of the local gun sites that we all buy and sell on. My hope is that this would not start a contentious argument, but would bring forth information many may not be aware of. I'll start it by listing some questions, and hopefull we can air it out with lots of useful information. Here goes: 1. Would you shoot any ammo that's been reloaded by an unknown source? 2. Would you allow "just anyone" to shoot ammo that you have reloaded? 3. What are the liability ramifications when shooting reloads, if someone gets injured? 4. Are all reloads safe to shoot, and how do you tell by looking which ones are and which ones aren't? 5. How should reloads be priced, in relation to factory sealed ammo? 6. How can a potential buyer spot reloads listed on a gun site for sale? 7. Have you ever known of anyone getting injured shooting someone else's reloads? 8. Have you ever known of someone's gun getting damaged from shooting bad reloads? 9. As a reloader, buying used brass, do you just take the seller's word on how many times it's been fired? 10. How can someone not knowledgeable in reloading tell if the reloads they got from someone is too hot of a load for their gun? These are just some thought provoking questions, not an attempt to badmouth reloading, as I'M a reloader myself, and have been for many years. I appreciate everyone's constructive opinions/input.

I just passed on 500 reasonably priced Hornady .223 dia. 45 gr. Soft Point Hornet bullets. My concern was that my Thompson Center Contender barrels are grooved at .224 diameter. I know some of the .22 Hornet barrels...before WWll had .223 diameter grooved barrels. But, I've read that all of the later barrels are grooved at .224 diameter.   I know it's only .001, but some say I might not be able to get accuracy, Others say accuracy may be fine, or all over the place...like a roll of the dice. What do you guys that have loaded .223 dia. bullets and shot them in a late model .224 dia. barrel have to say? I didn't have the option of loading a few to see how they grouped.   Right now, I'm holding out for some reasonably priced (10 to 12 cents each) .224 45 grain soft point or hollow point Hornet bullets.

Luke, good looking stands. Hope you have big time success in them this year and in years to come. Looking forward to seeing pics from the actual hunt. Are you going to take a Go Pro camera on your hunts? Also, have you seen any big bucks on game cameras in these areas?