Marlin 917s Review - 17 HMR

The 917s is a rifle in the 17 HMR caliber made by Marlin. And it is a recent addition to my collection of firearms. This is a small review of how I came to acquire it and its subsequent performance first time out.

Having decided to buy a 17 HMR rifle the decision was Which Brand? Do I get a Savage, CZ, Mosberg, Marlin, Ruger, etc? There are just so many to choose from. So I did my initial research online with the aid of locally published shooting magazines. And I was looking for something within a budget range. So $800 for a CZ onto which I add a scope was out of my range. Not that such cannot be afforded, but from what I Perceived I was getting for my money.

This essentially narrowed it down to Savage, Marlin and Mosberg. With Mosberg being the cheapie budget entry level firearm - it was quickly discarded as an option leaving just Marlin and Savage.

The available reviews online show those who own them love them. But that doesn't tell me much I can use. Although, that both shoot accurately meant the decision came down to Feel. How did either of them Feel in the hand?

A trip to my local gun store to get some hands-on. The Marlin with Varmint barrel felt ok - but - I didn't quite like the action. There was something about it I cannot accurately describe that turned me off it. The non-varmint barrel Marlin felt good. Had a good feeling action. Nice easily dropped magazines (of which you get two when you buy a Marlin). And the weight distribution was good for the field.

The Savage with Varmint Barrel felt too barrel-heavy for me. So in the field, shooting offhand or from taking a knee, the weight of the barrel would be straining your supporting arm. The action was Rough. And the magazine feed was too fiddley and odd to make work right. So the Savage was ruled out right away. Leaving just the Marlin with normal barrel - because it felt better to Me. So I put a 3 - 9 x 40 silver-colored scope on it and was set.

Being an avid shooter, getting the most from a firearm without spending additional money on bedding or floating or reinforcing means, ammo must be found which Your firearm shoots best with. Beacuse not all ammo is the same. Some is good in your firearm, some is terrible. It all comes down to finding which type of ammo from which manufacturer, your firearm shoots the tightest groups with.

I'd heard good things about Hornandy V Max so that was on the test list right away. And I also picked up a box of CCI V Max to test as a comparison. This would give me a choice of two. The winning cartridge would be bought again for testing against another brand's rounds. And so it was now time to shoot.

There is a Lot of debate about Breaking In a barrel. Some say to shoot single shots with a clean between each shot, for the first ten, then every other shot gets a barrel clean. Others say other things. But frankly, I didn't have time for that. Nor did I have enough ammo. I had one box of each. And so, as I've done with all my firearms, it was cleaned before heading to the range - and cleaned & oiled upon return. And the results kind of speak for themselves...

Sighting In

There are many methods discussed on How to sight in your rifle. This is the method I use... starting with the target you see pictured, I aim at the middle and shoot a small three shot group. I then adjust Windage only until it lines up pretty close to the virtical line. If my holes allow it I then still aim at the middle and now adjust height only. When I am reasonably close, I then test my ammo. And as you can see by this particular target, I did two-shot-groups for a total of ten shots to get it close enough to shoot test groups of the different ammo.

The shooting method I used for sighting in as well as the other shooting is... front of the stock was on a rest while the back was free - or in my case, supported only by my shoulder as I shot. I did Not use the usual Bench Rest Technique of having a rear sand bag which is Squeezed to elevate the rear of the rifle as may be required, thus giving greater stability.

CCI V Max - 50 Meters

Using an Airgun-Target placed at 50 meters, I then shot four shots into each target, for 20 shots in total for the sheet. As you can see, the CCI ammo did farily well at this distance. And I figured at this stage of the testing, the distance is so close almost any half decent ammo would suffice. And for Hunting purposes, all shots aim at the head kill zone of say a rabbit or hare would have resulted in a one shot kill - the ideal.

I did notice, putting some of the spent shells back into the box, that the shells had expanded and they were tighter to push back in. Meaning, a slightly larger powder load or casing imperfection for those particular rounds. One round was so tight in the barrel it slipped out of the bolt's grippers and I had to use a small flathead screwdriver to pry it out. But otherwise, the CCI performed well.

Hornandy V Max - 50 Meters

I had another sheet set up at the 50 meter range and shot the same four shot groups with the Hornandy V Max I've hear such great things about. The holes look more crisp because the Backing Board was of a different material. And measuring the groups, the Hornandy V Max in 17 grain gave the tighter groups. With target #2 having a two-shots-one-hole and target # 4 having a very small group with one flyer. Which is pretty good for the windy conditions I was shooting in.

As with the CCI, I put some spent shells back into the box. But none of the Hornandy's felt tight going in. A sign of a difference in their manufacturing processes. I was also testing the magazine - loading the mag with four rounds at a time to shoot each group. And the Hornandy rounds Felt better than the CCI. It's not a feeling I can accurately describe. Just that those rounds felt better in some way, as if more robust, better quality, etc.

100 Meters

I had also set up some targets at the 100 meter range - mine is the one on the left third row. Here you can see a rough idea of what I was seeing through the scope as well as a non-scope look at what it looked like. Behind the 100 meter targets is a 200 meter target zone and the one at the very back is 300 hundred meters. And to give you an idea, the airgun target's roundel is only 50mm (2") in diameter. So at 100 meters it's small even through the scope set at 9x power. And I could not see the holes I was punching into the paper.

And when looking through the scope, each time my heart beat the scope would make a slight move. Meaning, my point of aim was also shifting slightly. Which doesn't make much difference at 50m, but as the distance increases, the difference is amplified.

Also, now the wind had started to pick up. And not just a bit. So much so that at times I had to pull off my shot because the target board was swaying back and forth. Also, sometimes the wind was blowing into my face, sometimes from left to right and sometimes from right to left. Never behind me though. So the swirling gusty wind made it Challenging. But, I had heard people complain of Drift in wind with the caliber. So this was a great opportunity to see if that was really the case, and if so, did it matter?

CCI - 100 Meters

First cab off the rank was the CCI. The rifle now had a total of 50 rounds through it. And as can be seen, pretty well all shots are left of the aim point and beneath the aim point. As the rifle had not been Properly zeroed at 50 meters, this Downwardness is expected. The leftness of the shots is partly wind - and - partly recoil. As it was around about this time I noticed the recoil was sending the butt to my right, which would point the barrel slightly left. This could be the nature of this particular firearm - or - my shooting position based on how the range benches are set up - they are not 100% square into the target frames. Which resulted in me not being square on to the rifle, but slightly shooting across my body.

Either way, however, while the groups are Much wider than the 50m groups, all would have resulted in one shot kills if hunting and heart/lung shots were taken (greater distances go for the larger target). And while the shots do look wild, the groupings are around 50mm (2"). And you will notice target #5 only has a three shot group. That's because the second round in the magazine looked already fired when I went to feed it in, so I removed it. Later examination revealed the projectile had pushed back into the casing! I subsequently tipped the gunpowder out and put the round with projectile rattling around in the casing, back into the box. Odd.

Hornandy - 100 Meters

As can be seen here, the Hornandy rounds gave Much tighter groups at 100m compared to the CCI groups. With target #4 being sub MOA - sub one inch. And in the condition I was shooting in, that is awesome!

Target #3 is full of Flyers. And besides the additional wind at that time, I was being buzzed by flies - the range is at the back of a cattle farm. So shots were Rushed, others were taken while shooing flies away, or by involuntary head movement when flies land on your ear as you shoot.

Based on this, the Hornandy V Max is the winner out of these two cartridges. Which makes it the Bench Mark to test others against. And at only a buck or two more than the CCI for a box of 50, is well worth the extra.

The Gun Itself

The rifle itself performed well. For a non-varmint barrel I was quite impressed. And I figured it would do alright. After all, the varmint barrel isn't really that much thicker. And non varmint 22 magnums have been around for ages.

The discharge is much louder than a normal .22. To the point that just on sound alone you would think you are shooting something larger than a .17 caliber rifle. The recoil, while greater than a .22 is hardly worth writing about. Even the most frail woman could handle the recoil. And in fact, on the Booth next to me the fellow was shooting a 17HMR Savage with Varmint rifle, and allowing some Never-Shot-Before friends to have a go. And the woman said she liked it - and she'd never fired a rifle before in her life.

I put 90 rounds through the rifle in this session and my shoulder didn't feel any different. My neck didn't feel jarred and strained. Physically, I felt fine. And if I had the ammo and time I could have kept on going. It was a Pleasure to shoot.

The Marlin's trigger is, as much as I can tell, a single stage. But this isn't really a problem. After all, two-stage triggers usually have a might-as-well-not-be-there first stage. That sees you almost Instantly at the 2nd stage. With this, you are there at the beginning. And having said that, it doesn't make the rifle more Dangerous because it's not a touchy trigger. Nor is it too hard. I found it Just Right.

The bolt fed the rounds from the magazine with ease. Smooth. And regarding the magazine... it came with two magazines, a 4 shot and a 7 shot. With both ejecting from the bottom of the rifle without trouble. And also in the box was a breech cable lock - you feed it through the breech and lock it and you are unable to put a bolt into it (different to a trigger lock) - so Marlin is looking after Safety as well.

It also has sling mounts already attached. So if you have a sling you don't need to drill & tap anything. Just flip open your sling's pins, put them through the holes in the rifle's sling mounts, resecure and your sling is attached.

The only thing I had an issue with was the spent case ejector. With the CCI rounds, maybe 50% of them did not eject. And I needed to flick it out of the bolt's grip with my finger. With the Hornandy, maybe 25% needed manual removal. At the time I Thought this may have been due to Me not pulling back the bolt Fast enough to cause the ejection. But as I was examining the problem, it Looked to my untrained eye to be an issue of the ejector pin not even making contact with the casing - the pin being too low down. BUT, if I didn't pull back fast enough, then the casing is pushed up slightly by the ejector pin but without enough force to Pop it. So it stays held onto but now Higher than the ejector pin. Subsequent testing at home revealed... single feed rounds were ejected without problem - and - magazine fed rounds were also ejected without problem when the bolt was pulled back with conviction (with slight force and speed). So the only Issue I had was caused by Me not working the rifle correctly.

For in the field work, this rifle is the bomb. Throw a scope on it for further shots or use the open sights that are part of the rifle. I always go for the scope to give myself the edge. And so, in summation, I am pleased with the Marlin 917s. It's accurate, well balanced, has little recoil and is just plain old fun to shoot. And if you ain't havin' fun there's no point.