What is the .17 cal.? Is it new?

Answer 1

No and yes, like moust have said its been about a while, over the last 2 year its been modernised ny Honady, HMR ---Hornady magnum round

Answer 2

Depends on what you mean. .17 cal would only designate the bullet a gun fires. The first commercial cartridge chambered for a .17 bullet was the .17 Remington which came out in 1971 (I think... close if that's not it.) It was ALMOST like a .223 necked down to accept a .172" diameter bullet instead of the .224" that the .223 accepted. (Confusing I know, anything that's a .22 takes a .224 bullet, well, mostly, there's rare execptions). This cartridge was extremely fast and could reach velocities in excess of 4300 fps.

For whatever reason, it didn't really take off. The next time the .17 caliber got a chance was in 2001 when Hornady invented the .17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire (17HMR). This was the .22 Mag (Like a .22 Long Rifle aka just "22" only longer) necked down to .17 caliber. It was a very small cartridge, but for it size produced an amazing 2500fps with a 17 grain bullet. The guns were cheap and so was the ammo, so it was a big success.

A couple years later Hornady released the .17 Mach 2 which was simply a .22 Long Rifle necked down to .17. This has had mixed success. It is a very fine cartridge, but until reccently about the same price as the HMR's. That coupled with the fact that the HMR came out first, there was no great reason to get an HM2, but now the ammo is getting a lot cheaper, and HMR keeps getting higher.

This year Remington is releasing the 4th commercial .17 caliber cartridge, the .17 Remington Fireball. As the name suggests, it's the .221 Fireball necked down to .17. With a 20grain bullet I think it maxes out somewhere around 4000 FPS. They are cataloged and backordered, but I don't think there's any actually for sale yet.

In addition there've been countless .17 "wildcats." These are cartridges made by individuals or gunsmiths, but they've never been commercially loaded by a major ammo company. For pretty much every .22 cartridge (and there's a ton) someone has made it into a .17.

Answer 3

Well, the .17 diameter bullet has been around awhile (about 30yrs.) as the .17 Remington (they introduced it). This is a highpower round based on the .223 with a .172 projectile. These bullets are around 20-25 grains - way light. The round never really took off like the .223 and there are known to be some obscure wildcat cartriges like the .17 Mach IV and .17-223. Muzzle velocities can be up to 4,459 fps. A super fast round.

The new .17 HMR was introduced by Hornady a couple of yrs. ago. This little round is based on the .22 magnum cartridge. There is also a Mach II and this is based on the .22LR. This difference is visible. 2573fps from 10 feet in front of the muzzle has been reported using a .17 grain V-Max boattail.

I shot a pop can 100 yards away (empty_ and didn't even knock it over put a clean hole through it. These things are fast, cheap and way fun! Pick 1 up if U can!

Answer 4

17 caliber rifles have been around for quite some time in wildcat form. The 17 Remington has been on the market since 1971. In the past few years several wildcats have been "legitimized" and new cartridges introduced. They've not been very popular until lately because they require special cleaning rods, etc., and they're a little prone to fouling, requiring cleaning more frequently in a day of sustained shooting, neither of which is by any means a strong negative by any means. There's now an assortment of centerfire and rimfire 17 caliber cartridges available, and they're becoming quite popular.

Answer 5

The .17 HMR is similar to the cartridges developed by wildcatters to get the same performance of the obsolete 5mm Remington Magnum which was made in 1970-1974.

The .17 HMR is just a .22 magnum case necked down to hold a .17 caliber bullet. It came out in 2002.

In 2004, Hornady also introduced the .17 Mach 2 which is a .22 long rifle case neck down to hold a .17 caliber bullet.

Both are very fast and flat shooting but are limited to smaller varmint.

Answer 6

The .17 caliber is a sub-caliber round used for varmint shooting. The original center-fire .17 Remington has been around since the late Sixties, early Seventies and is based on the .223/5.56mm cartridge necked down from .22 to .17 caliber. This not a 'big game' round even though it is a center-fire cartridge.

The most recent introduction in .17 caliber is the rimfire .17 HMR (Hornady-Rim-Fire) and its only been around two or three years. It is a rimfire .17 caliber based on the .22 Magnum necked down from .22 to .17 caliber. It also is strictly a varmint round.

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P. S.

See Grizzly's reply above for more details.

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Answer 7

There are several .17 caliber cartridges in production today, both rimfire and centerfire, fairly new and years old.
The .17 HMR(Hornady Magnum Rimfire) and .17 Mach 2 are fairly new.
The centerfire .17's range from the Ackley Bee and Hornet, which have been around since WWI I, through the .17 Remington and Mach IV all the way up through the ultra-high velocity "wildcats", formed from cases of other calibers including .222 & .223 Rem.(5,56 NATO) and, believe it or not, .357 Magnum pistol cases, all "necked-down"(reformed by resizing in a reloading press) to accept .17 caliber bullets. These are all known and used mainly for their ultra-high (4000+ fps) velocities.

Answer 8

the 17HMR is old but the new .17 HM2 is new it is weaker than a .22 lr but is a lot faster and accurate
it sends the 17 gr bullet at around 2,100 feet per second or (fps)