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Took this new toy up to the gun range. I was basically the only one there again. 
Loaded up five Remington Premier Magnum 17HMR, 17 grain, AccuTip-V, Boat Tail, plastic point, bullet and shot at the target at 50 yards. These targets are regulation 25-yard pistol targets, the black area is BIG. I missed the BIG BLACK area five times. :dunno: Then ten times. :huh: I thought this rifle was bore-sighted. I went down range and discovered all ten holes in the bottom left corner. Great grouping but way off. Dave told me that with a 1/4 MOA that four clicks was about one inch. I moved the reticule about eight clicks up and to the right. The grouping didn't move two inches. It moved a lot less. I guess I moved one up almost one complete turn and the other one right about 3/4 turn.
By the time I had a decent grouping just below the bullseye, I had shot up 50 rounds. Dave then took a look through the scope. Turns out that the scope was rotated. (I am hoping that I could still site the rifle in and then move the scope later. I will find out at my next session.) My next bullets were Hornady Magnum, 20 grain XTP bullet. These have a hollow point. I only shot five rounds, all ending up about an inch high and to the right so I am averaging the bullseye. I stopped shooting after this round. After checking both my targets, I figured each grouping was no more than 2" and a couple were about an inch.
There is very little recoil, rather like a .22 since it was developed from the 22 magnum. The 4x scope is OK and has a focus on it. I was able to see the bullet holes at 50 yards as long as I hit the black. Changing the reticules is mediocre. They are well marked but the clicks are hard to feel. The magazine is not so great. It is easy to load and easy to remove but putting back into the gun was somewhat tedious. It wasn't always smooth and sometimes had to be pulled back out and reinserted with better alignment and a bit more persuasion. I feel that Savage should re-engineer that magazine.
Cleaning the gun was interesting. I do have a small brass brush and rod made just for this small caliber but I don't have anything to hold a cleaning cloth. So I asked myself what could I use to swab down the inside of the barrel to clean it? Duh! How about a cotton swab? It worked great. I cut them in half and stuck the stick in the hold of the cleaning rod and shoved it through. Obviously I couldn't pull the rod back out but as long as I pushed it through, it was fine.
Overall, I like the rifle. Once I get it sighted in for one particular bullet, I should be fine for small varmits and and those vicious cans and such. (Ever been attacked by a can? The can really give you a nasty cut!)
ian
p.s. I plan on going up to the Hendricksen range again on Friday about 1 pm if anyone is interested. Also, said range is scheduled to be closed next week from Tuesday, July 15 to Friday, July 18th, for a police shoot of some sort.
Loaded up five Remington Premier Magnum 17HMR, 17 grain, AccuTip-V, Boat Tail, plastic point, bullet and shot at the target at 50 yards. These targets are regulation 25-yard pistol targets, the black area is BIG. I missed the BIG BLACK area five times. :dunno: Then ten times. :huh: I thought this rifle was bore-sighted. I went down range and discovered all ten holes in the bottom left corner. Great grouping but way off. Dave told me that with a 1/4 MOA that four clicks was about one inch. I moved the reticule about eight clicks up and to the right. The grouping didn't move two inches. It moved a lot less. I guess I moved one up almost one complete turn and the other one right about 3/4 turn.
By the time I had a decent grouping just below the bullseye, I had shot up 50 rounds. Dave then took a look through the scope. Turns out that the scope was rotated. (I am hoping that I could still site the rifle in and then move the scope later. I will find out at my next session.) My next bullets were Hornady Magnum, 20 grain XTP bullet. These have a hollow point. I only shot five rounds, all ending up about an inch high and to the right so I am averaging the bullseye. I stopped shooting after this round. After checking both my targets, I figured each grouping was no more than 2" and a couple were about an inch.
There is very little recoil, rather like a .22 since it was developed from the 22 magnum. The 4x scope is OK and has a focus on it. I was able to see the bullet holes at 50 yards as long as I hit the black. Changing the reticules is mediocre. They are well marked but the clicks are hard to feel. The magazine is not so great. It is easy to load and easy to remove but putting back into the gun was somewhat tedious. It wasn't always smooth and sometimes had to be pulled back out and reinserted with better alignment and a bit more persuasion. I feel that Savage should re-engineer that magazine.
Cleaning the gun was interesting. I do have a small brass brush and rod made just for this small caliber but I don't have anything to hold a cleaning cloth. So I asked myself what could I use to swab down the inside of the barrel to clean it? Duh! How about a cotton swab? It worked great. I cut them in half and stuck the stick in the hold of the cleaning rod and shoved it through. Obviously I couldn't pull the rod back out but as long as I pushed it through, it was fine.
Overall, I like the rifle. Once I get it sighted in for one particular bullet, I should be fine for small varmits and and those vicious cans and such. (Ever been attacked by a can? The can really give you a nasty cut!)
ian
p.s. I plan on going up to the Hendricksen range again on Friday about 1 pm if anyone is interested. Also, said range is scheduled to be closed next week from Tuesday, July 15 to Friday, July 18th, for a police shoot of some sort.
