This is the rifle the range riders of the 1800’s would have loved to have had close at hand for picking off varmints or just plinking at whiskey bottles. But since the .17HMR didn’t hit the market until 2002, it will be up to you to make it a legend.
Our Henry Varmint Express® rifle packs eleven .17HMR rounds in its tubular magazine. It features a 20? barrel, comes with a checkered American walnut Monte Carlo stock. Like all lever action Henrys, the action is incredibly smooth from the very first shot. It will enable small game and varmint hunters to take full advantage of the .17HMR with regard to velocity, trajectory, wind drift, ricochet resistance, quietness and accuracy.
Already considered by many to be the most accurate rimfire cartridge ever produced, the .17HMR incorporates a .17 caliber bullet into a necked-down .22 magnum case. This high-powered combination produces a sizzlin’ muzzle velocity of up to 2,550 feet per second and the laser-flat trajectory makes it lethal for long-range shots on woodchucks, prairie dogs, foxes and other small varmints. Henry’s take on this revolutionary caliber, the Varmint Express, has a 20? barrel that delivers dead-on accuracy.
Just like all Henry rifles, it’s handcrafted in the United States using only high-grade components such as a checkered American walnut stock, and Williams Fire sights and, of course, it’s outfitted with that legendary, smooth-operating lever action that sets a Henry rifle apart from all the imitators.
The information below comes from our Gun Caliber Dictionary and is for
general reference only. It does not describe the specifications of this
particular item.
Introduced by Hornady in 2002, the 17 HMR has become extremely popular and is the standard alternative to 22 rimfires for small game and small varmints. Most manufacturers who produce rimfire rifles chamber to it, and all major ammunition manufactures load ammo. The 17 HMR was created by necking down the 22 WMR cartridge, resulting in a lighter but much faster load. Most common are a 17-grain bullet at up to 2550 feet per second; and a 20-grain load at 2375. No 17-caliber bullet bucks wind particularly well, but the 20-grain bullet, though slower, holds up a bit better and tends to offer better penetration. Perhaps the greatest attribute of the 17 HMR is accuracy that is consistently good and often exceptional, effective to as far as 150 yards under calm conditions. As a hunting cartridge it should be limited to animals smaller than coyotes.
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Craig Boddington
