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pact of the little 17-grain 17 HMR bullet is incredibly hard to beat. Its extremely thin copper jacket quickly comes apart on the fi rst inkling of impact, resulting in a tremendous amount of tissue dam- age. And because of the light report of the cartridge it is favored for use over
that of the centerfi res in more populated areas where neighbors might be a bit sensitive to shooting noise. And, when compared with the 22 rimfi re cartridges, it also should be favored in those same environments because of the less likeli- hood of a ricochet. Dave Emary of Hornady origi-
nally formed the case of the 17 HMR by necking down a 22 WMR case. This was necessary to accommodate the smaller diameter bullet of the HMR, and this step transformed the case from a straight-walled to a shouldered bottle- neck design. The HMR’s little sister, the 17 Mach 2, was similarly produced. In this case it was the result of necking down the case of the 22 L.R. Even though this article pertains
If anyone questions the potency of the little 17 HMR cartridge they should take a look at this metal silhouette shot while attempting to zero the scope. I temporarily forgot about the devastating impact of this little cartridge and my silhouette suffered because of that forgetfulness.
Page 20 Winter 2012
to the HMR and the so-chambered Vol- quartsen Custom rifl e, I feel compelled to say something about the little Mach 2, for which Volquartsen also chambers their rifles. Somewhat unfortunately for the 17 Mach 2, much of its fire was drained away and stifl ed by the popularity of the 17 HMR. In my way of thinking, that is a real shame. Even though the 17 Mach 2 sends its bullet out the barrel about 500 fps slower than the HMR, both cartridges are what I would consider to be 100-yard rounds. It is true that sometimes under the right conditions the HMR can be stretched out a little beyond that range, but essentially both cartridges are best classed in that range category. The 17
HMR was introduced in 2002 and the 17 Mach 2 was introduced in 2004. The two-year head start in the market and the faster velocities produced by the 17 HMR meant the 17 Mach 2 was behind from the start. The initial glory and popularity of the Mach 2 quickly began to dwindle. Nevertheless, the cheaper cost of the Mach 2 ammo as compared to that of the HMR cartridges is a point worthy of consideration. And, when it comes to destruction of varmints like prairie dogs and ground squirrels, the Mach 2 does an excellent job as well. Clearly, there are fewer fi rearm choices available chambered in the 17 Mach 2 than there are in 17 HMR and the Mach 2 suffers because of that. As is the case of the HMR, as far as I know Volquartsen is the only manufacturer building a blowback designed semiauto fi rearm in 17 Mach 2. VOLQUARTSEN ON THE RANGE Semiautomatic rifl es are notori-
ous for not being all that accurate, but I found the Volquartsen to be the excep- tion. No matter what brand of ammo I put down its barrel I was impressed at its ability to group the shots very well. In order to provide a comprehensive basis to judge the rifl e’s potential for accuracy I chose to shoot cartridges from three different mainstream manufacturers: Remington, Hornady and Federal. All three types of cartridges were loaded with copper jacketed bullets in the typi- cal weight of 17 grains, but the bullet designs were quite varied. The Hornady cartridges came loaded with that com- pany’s very popular V-Max® bullets; Federal used their sister company’s Speer® brand TNT® hollow-point bul- lets; and the Remington shells came with Accutip V boat tail bullets. I have frequently found, particu-
larly in the case of rimfi re rifl es, that there is a tremendous difference in both accuracy and the point of impact be- tween different brands of ammunition. While one rifl e may prefer a particular brand and shoot it very accurately, when loaded in another firearm the results can sometimes be starkly dif- ferent. In the case of the Volquartsen, I was absolutely amazed to fi nd that all three brands of ammo produced very similar results. The differences between the three types of cartridges were almost negligible, both in overall accuracy and their point of impact. This being
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