17 WSM Ammo 20 or 25 Grain?

[CUTTER1]

My Ruger shoots 25gr sub 1/2 moa and 20gr about 5/8
The Bmag clearly does better with 20 GR but only a 7/8 to 1 MOA gun
Both do well on PD and sage rats, ruger needed a serious trigger job but
Is much more refined and also has higher velocity with 25 than the Bmag with 20s

 

[esorensen]

For me and mine, the accuracy edge is with the 20's. That said, I've messed with action screw torque and got the 25's to shoot .75" at 100 last week. It's good to go to 200+ with the 25's. I use it hunting certain properties where discretion is key. The 25 gives the best "anchoring" of the lot in my experience. Working that goofy bolt quickly on the BMAG to quickly get a second or third round into a spinner shot with 20's is not fun. Shoot them in the same spot and they might run 10 yards and they drop with the 25. Just what I've seen. The prairie dogs the kids shoot are more violently swayed with the 20's vs the 25. That said, this is a function of speed, but also the frangibility of the projectile.

 

[Nimrodmar10]

Mine shoots the 25 gr. considerably better than the 20 gr. It's a lite barrel

 

[woodnut]

Interesting posts. I may just have a looky loo at the 25s.

 

[Slowdrifter]

My thin barrel bmag shoots the 20s into little bitty groups, 25s into an inch and a half @100 tops

 

[B1s BmagX2]

I purchased one of the early "pencil barrel" B-mags 6 or 7 years ago. I had the rifle for about a year before I could get any ammo! Once I got my hands on some 20 grain Winchester's I never looked back. I sold my 22 Hornet and HMR. The B-mag replaced them both. I could go on for hours about how much the groundhogs on my uncle's farm hate me! After a few years and hundreds of groundhogs, I picked up the stainless bull barreled Boyds stocked version and a Vortex Crossfire ll 6x18x40 just for a little more reach. I recently had to send the "pencil barrel" back to Savage for some mods. It had lost its edge as far as the accuracy and the gunsmith's @ Savage did wonders with it. They lobbed off 5 inches of barrel and re-crowned it, installed a new trigger group, and bench-tested it. (Did not charge me anything!) I am guessing the original 26" barrel probably had some nodes and was whipping more? I'm getting consistent 1/2" groups at a 100 yards with 20 grain ammo on a cold barrel. Makes for a great "walking rifle" as it only weighs about 7 lbs with the Viridian EON 4-12x42 scope mounted. And being in my early 70's an extra pound or two adds up fast!! It shoots as good as the bull barrel, at least until she starts heating up. Most all the groundhogs I've dispatched never knew what hit "em", not even a tail wag, just lights out!!! My cousin is still shooting the venerable HMR, which I used for years from its inception but there is no comparison. He was amazed at how the WSM just shuts them off! Out to 200 yards, it is the best. After that, I go to my 22-250. I guess I've all the bases covered!!! The WSM was off to a slow start but I think we will see more and more of them. Contrary to common belief the HMR had a bit of a shaky start too. I bought one of the first ones around 2002 and waited a few months for ammo. Although once it got going it was unstoppable.

 

[Old Hickory 45]

A while back Savage changed their BMAG .17 WSM from 1/9 to 1/8 barrel twist. I purchased a BMAG WSM 1/9 twist as soon as the news broke they were for sale. It's the pencil barrel and is my for real go to rifle for hunting.

As for what the rifles prefer, many of the newer (1/8 twist) like the 25gr better than the 20gr. When ammo was scarce, I shot whatever WSM ammo I could find. Strange thing is, they print about the same with my rifle. I prefer 20 gr for my small game hunting of mostly tree squirrels and an occasional cottontail rabbit. A few varmints have quickly met their end when they were within range, also.

 

[woodnut]

When I read about the 17WSM, I was hooked! Found a Ruger 77/17WSM and bought it. My 17HMR sits in the safe. I had a stock made by MPI Stocks (who have gone out of business) and had a good smith re bed it. Shoots great and it's my go to rifle in the prairie dog towns! Likes the 20s and I think it has the 9 twist.
I am in the process of re-barreling a Ruger # 1 with a Lilja 9 twist barrel. I hope to have it done b4 CHRISTmas.

 

[B1s BmagX2]

My older pencil barrel is a 1 in 9 I believe, the bull barrel is 1 in 8. Since Savage did such a good job modding the pencil I go to it more often than the bull, just more convenient being lighter and all. The original pencil had the 26" barrel which as I stated before Savage shortened to 21". The horror stories surrounding the original B-mag are well-founded. A few shot pretty well right out of the box, I guess I was one of the lucky ones. A lot of them shot groups more like a shotgun!! Mine, after about a thousand rounds, went south on me and it was doing that shotgun thing! I tried bedding the action in a Boyds spike camp stock to no avail. I tried my old tried and true J-B bore paste and Kroil trick, still no luck. It sat in my gun safe for about a year. Since I had the bull barrel I figured why bother and was just gonna write it off! But I missed the convenience of a truly lightweight "walking" rifle. All that said I really believe that Savage hit the nail on the head when they shortened the barrel. All the newer models of the "pencil" come from the factory with a shorter 22" barrel I believe? They have a varmint type crown and it appears the barrel might be a tad heavier? That long thin barrel had to have a serious "whip" to it unless everything was perfectly straight and aligned properly. Not to mention soft spots in the barrel steel, a byproduct of button rifling? Mine was more than likely "perfect" out of the box and over time it became, for lack of better words, "misaligned"? I might be full of it, but that's what I think had a lot to do with the accuracy falling off so drastically. If you have the 26" pencil barrel just keep in mind my experience with it. Savage can make it right if you have a problem. If you can afford a Ruger you can't go wrong. I've owned many Rugers in the past 40 odd years and never had a bad one! As a matter of fact, the 22 hornet I mentioned in my earlier post was a Ruger 77/22 Hornet. My budget is more in line with Savage, which is good stuff but generally speaking, requires a little more attention to detail after the fact. I'm really satisfied with Savage mostly because they are very good at rectifying any problems you might encounter.

 

[woodnut]

As to other rifles in 17 WSM, if you want a really good semi, Valquartsen makes a fine one, although you will pay $$. If I even can sell my Valquartsen 17 HMR, I will look hard at getting it.

 

[B1s BmagX2]

Yes, Valquartsen does make an excellent WSM semi-auto I hear. And it is pricey. How they harnessed the WSM's 33,000 psi pressure is beyond me? Is it gas-operated? Almost has to be unless they perfected some kind of delayed blowback. I've never seen one and at their price level even really looked into them.

 

[woodnut]

I don't know how they do it either, but of course the case is extremely tough, unlike the HMR case.

 

[Ohlongarm]

I just purchased a 17 WSM and now I need to purchase some ammo so that I can get my rifle and scope dialed in.
I'm looking mostly at hunting small varmints with an occasional coyote.
Any one that has shot the 17 WSM much can you tell me about what grain of bullet I should go with, the 20 or 25, and which brand of ammo Winchester, or Hornaday?

All ammunitions' is made by Winchester,so not really a factor, so far I've used the 15,grain,and the 20 grain all have performed flawlessly on about 30 groundhogs and maybe 4 to 5 coyotes, everything was dropped drt. ranges were from 50 ,to 200 yards. I have the 25 grain I fired a test round at a target and it shot slightly left and high,no big deal. I'll do more testing this winter on coyotes and report back. My Savage b-mag has shot after free floating,Boyds stock,and action bedded absolutely excellent.Here's a group at 100 yards benched solid, ideal conditions, however

one won't miss much.Group is nine shots,one minute flyer ,wind.

 

[woodnut]

WOW ! Wish I could shoot that good. I'm doing almost that good, but 5 shots at 50 yards! I did witness my son shoot a group at 200 yds. with his 17 HMR that went in an inch. Five shots. And his rig wasn't that impressive either. Just a good day at the range. But it was sweet to be with him when he did t!