Ruger Corrals Winchester's Hot .17

Ruger’s classy, rotary magazine, bolt-action rifles have been around since 1983 in a wide variety of models and calibers. Blessed with classic stock lines, centerfire proportioned barrels, slick actions and Ruger’s incomparable rotary magazines, the rimfire models are currently chambered for the .17 HMR, .17 WSM, .17 Hornet, .22 LR and .22 WMR. Frankly, there isn’t a better small game understudy for your big-game centerfire rifle than the current Ruger 77/17 WSM or 77/22 rimfire series, particularly if they’re dressed out in stainless steel and American black walnut.

Eleven years ago, I went shopping for a .22 Magnum rifle. Walking into Murphy’s Gun Store in Tucson, Arizona, I checked out every .22 Magnum in stock and walked out with a Ruger Model 77/22 “All Weather” model, featuring a brown laminated stock and stainless steel barreled action. The Ruger wasn’t the least expensive of the bunch, but it had “presence” as they say.

It wasn’t a wee flyweight of a rimfire nor, other than the rotary magazine, did it sport any plastic parts. It had good lines. Real steel and wood gave it some heft when you shouldered it. In fact, the Models 77/17 and 77/22 weigh 7.5 pounds without sights. It’s an adult-sized rifle. Much of the weight is carried in the 24-inch, medium weight, sporter-contour barrel with a recessed target crown. With a muzzle diameter of 0.660-inches and a tiny .17-caliber bore, the 77/17WSM barrel really becomes a varmint weight barrel in .17 caliber. The added stiffness and weight of the tube is most welcome when trying to squeeze the utmost accuracy out of persnickety rimfire calibers.

I was so pleased with my first 77/22 that I had the former OEM barrel maker, Clerke International Arms, supply me with matching, interchangeable barrels in .22 LR, .17 Mach 2 and .17 HMR. It was the ultimate rimfire switch-barrel set, requiring only a different magazine latch plunger to switch between the magnum and standard rotary magazines. It was a slick set-up, and I was surprised Ruger never exploited it. Unfortunately for us, since 11/13/2009 and serial number 703-58030, Model 77/22 and 77/17 barrels are now firmly screwed into the receiver and not easily switched out.

THE Super Mag Arrives

The new .17 Winchester Super Magnum Rimfire cartridge delivers a polymer tipped, 20-grain bullet at 3,000 feet per second or a heavier 25-grain bullet at 2,600 fps. In Ruger’s Model 77/17 WSM platform, these two were made for each other.

The .17 WSM is at the top of the heap when it comes to .17-caliber rimfires. It’s the fastest rimfire rocket in the world, and it’s proving to be a wicked varmint cartridge out to 200 and even 300 yards on prairie dogs.

Comparing it to its nearest rimfire competitor, the .17 HMR, the .17 WSM trajectory is 40 to 50 percent flatter than the .17 HMR while packing 2-1/2 times more energy. Wind drift is 50 percent less, and wind is what you fight when launching light 20- and 25-grain missiles down range.

With the .17 WSM, 20-grain loading zeroed at 100 yards, its drop at 200 yards is -4.1 inches and it’s packing 188 foot-pounds of energy. With the same weight bullet and zero, the .17 HMR drops -9.9 inches at 200 while yielding only 75 ft-lbs. The 200-yard variation in windage with a 10 mph breeze blowing in at right angles is even more dramatic. The .17 HMR drifts 16.1 inches while the .17 WSM more than halves drift down to 7.3 inches. The differences in trajectory, energy and wind drift with 25-grain bullets loaded in both calibers is just as dramatic.

Unpacking the new 77/17 WSM Ruger, I did catch a few subtle changes they’ve made in the action. The length of the 77/17 WSM action is 5/8-inch longer than the length of my .22 WMR action to accommodate longer cartridges. On the left side of the bolt shroud a protective flange has been added to block any gas that might blast down the left raceway in case of a ruptured cartridge case. Gas escaping down the right raceway is blocked by the root of the bolt handle, although most of it would spill out the ejection port. Finally, the bolt release, which was once tucked into the left side of the rear receiver bridge, is now a small lever catch on the left floor of the action just in front of the tang. I had to hunt for it!

I scoped the Ruger with an oldie but goodie—a Bausch & Lomb Elite 4000 Target & Varmint scope. With a power range of 6-24X, a parallax adjustable objective, sharp lenses and finger friendly knobs, it’s been reliable workhorse and the perfect test scope for quite some time. How did it shoot? On hand were Winchester’s two “Varmint High Energy” loadings featuring their 20- and 25-grain polymer tipped bullets. Every .17 caliber rifle I have ever owned or shot has been a hummer and that includes .177 caliber air guns. The Ruger 77/17 WSM was no exception at 100 yards.

Out of the six groups pictured only one exceeds an inch. Interestingly, I found no difference in accuracy between the 20- and the 25-grain loads. At a temperature of 45 degrees, the 20-grain loading averaged 2,975 fps and the 25-grain, 2,570 fps. I think the grouping could have been improved with a lighter trigger. It averaged 7 pounds on a Lyman electronic scale—way too heavy for a precision varmint rifle.

Fouling

This is one rimfire you should clean like a centerfire after a session on the range or in the field because it’s digesting jacketed bullets. You will need a .17-caliber cleaning rod, jag and brush. I favor the Tipton brand, carbon fiber rod with a brass spear tip or Hoppe’s .17-caliber Bore Snake plus a solvent designed to attack both carbon and copper. If your accuracy ever drops off, the first thing I would do is to thoroughly clean this tiny bore.

The .17 WSM is a remarkable cartridge and quite a step up from the .17 HMR. Ruger’s solid 77/17 WSM platform brings out the best this hot, new rimfire has to offer. On the other hand, if you reload, you might take a look at the 77/17 chambered for the .17 Hornet. The Hornet’s a sleeper, but ballistically it’s a barnburner. Either way, you’re going to like Ruger’s adult-sized 77/17.

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