the two Winchester loads were
used in a Savage B.Mag the year
before. Both rifles shot well af-
ter their triggers were replaced
or adjusted, respectively. At the
time, it was also learned that the
tiny .17-caliber bullets in all three
loads were made by Hornady. It re-
mains unclear if that is true today,
nor is it highly relevant.
The rifle used most recently is a
newer Ruger 77/17 that is slightly
different than the version tested in
- The first rifle featured a nice
walnut stock and a matte-finished
stainless barrel of 24 inches. The
newer rifle has a laminated stock
and a curt, 18.5-inch stainless
barrel with a muzzle diameter of
.745 inch. Obviously, this new ver-
sion is a bit more field-handy than
the long-barrel rifle, particularly
if a small-game hunter intends
to carry it over hill and dale. The
rifle’s weight with a Burris Sig-
nature Select 6-24x 44mm scope
with fine crosshairs and an ad-
justable objective is a tick under
8 pounds.
Even though some of this in-
formation was reported in Rifle
No. 303, it seems appropriate to
go on a bit more: Perhaps most
significant is the fact that Ruger
changed the striker spring on its
.17 WSM rifles when introducing
this new variant, allowing a lighter
pull weight. Unlike the long-barrel
version tested first, which had a
heavy factory trigger pull of more
than 6 pounds, trigger weight on
the laminated-stock version tested
here gave an average pull weight
of 4 pounds, 9 ounces. For com-
parison, I happen to own a blued
and walnut-stocked 77/22 .22 Hor-
net (the same basic rifle), and its
factory trigger pull is 5 pounds,
6 ounces. Interestingly enough,
the .17’s trigger has as bit of af-
ter-travel while the Hornet’s over-
travel is almost imperceptible.
Without going too deep into
whether or not a rifleman should
be able to handle a heavy trigger
pull, when small varmints are shot
at some distance, a smooth, moder-
ate-to-light trigger pull is appreci-
ated. And in my opinion based on
nearly 40 years of target shooting
and hunting, trigger after-travel is
more of an issue than is a heavy
trigger pull. While most excessively
heavy triggers can be replaced or
adjusted, not all factory triggers
can be adjusted for over-travel. As
such, both the 77/17 .17 Hornet and
77/22 .22 WMR that have been on
hand for some years are fitted with
after-market examples. As a result,
I shoot them better.
It seems that my testing of new
rimfire rifles always takes place
during late winter or early spring,
and at an elevation of 5,300 feet or
so, gusty winds are ever-present
and unpredictable in direction.
Nonetheless, the new short-bar-
rel Ruger provided good accuracy
at 100 yards, as can be seen in a
nearby table.
Also included is a calculated
trajectory table that features the
.17 WSM loads shot from the new
Ruger, along with other rimfireloads I’ve shot over the past few
years. Thrown in simply for com-
parison is the .17 Hornet. In a few
situations where ballistic coeffi-
cient (BC) was not listed by the
manufacturer, I used my best judg-
ment based on the bullets’ likely
manufacturer – or ignored BC all
together, as with the Browning.
Long Rifle load. In the case of the
Winchester VarmintX Lead Free
15-grain load, it too has been left
out since there’s no use in wasting
space on a load that hasn’t been
tested.
None of this, however, is in-
tended to pit one cartridge against
another. Rimfire fans should re-
joice when a cartridge such as.
Winchester Super Mag is intro-
duced because it usually means
new rifles will show up sooner or
later. The newer short-barreled
77/17 .17 WSM is a prime example- and quite a nice rifle.
July-August 2019 http://www.riflemagazine.com 11
Calculated Comparative Trajectories
ballistic muzzle trajectory
load coefficient velocity 200 yards
(grains) (fps) (inches)
Ruger 77/17, .17 WSM, 18.5-inch barrel
20 Hornady Varmint Express V-MAX .185 2,960 -4.
20 Federal American Eagle tipped .188 2,896 -5.
20 Winchester Varmint HV tipped .185 2,992 -5.
25 Winchester Varmint HE tipped .230* 2,643 -6.
25 Browning Performance tipped .230* 2,624 -6.
Steyr Zephyr II, .17 HMR, 19.7-inch barrel
20 Hornady Varmint Express XTP HP .125 2,453 -10.
CZ 452, .22 Long Rifle, 22-inch barrel
40 Browning Performance Rimfire, lead RN n/a 1,053 n/a
Savage Model 25, .17 Hornet, 22-inch barrel
20 Hornady Superformance V-MAX .185 3,662 -3.
* approximate BC – otherwise unlisted
Notes: All trajectories are based on a 100-yard zero.Table IIR