A New .17 HMR Semiauto from Savage Arms: The A17 Rifle
Matt Korovesis 01.25.15
Anyone who’s ever shot a firearm chambered in .17 HMR knows how fun the cartridge can be. The zippy round is one of the most flat-shooting rimfire cartridges out there, and it’s perfect for punching paper and varmint control. However, the tremendous pressure built up by the powered-up round made it difficult to adapt to typical rimfire semiautomatic designs, and very few reliable .17 HMR semiautos are available on the market. This year, Savage Arms is upsetting the bolt-action .17 HMR status quo with a new autoloading contender: the A17 rifle.
The A17 utilizes a specially designed delayed blowback action to allow it to handle .17 HMR in a semiautomatic format. It features a 10-round rotary magazine similar to that of the Ruger 10/22. It’s got a hard chromed bolt, a case-hardened receiver, and a 22-inch-long button rifled barrel. The included AccuTrigger is adjustable to a user’s liking.
The A17’s MSRP is $465, and it will be marketed alongside a host of accessories including a Bushnell 3.5-10x 36mm scope and a line of A17-branded Varmint Tip rounds from CCI.
I didn’t have a chance to shoot the A17 at Media Day, but initial impressions seem to be positive, judging by IraqVeteran8888’s video:
Savage is looking at a March launch for the A17, and I hope to be one of the first in line to test them out.
I've been a history and gun enthusiast since I was a kid. I love to shoot just about anything, from silenced bolt-action .22s to fully automatic heavy machine guns, and I love even more when I get to write about them. My main interests are modern small arms and the military small arms of World War II and prior conflicts, with a particular focus on Russian and Finnish firearms. Reading about guns like the Mosin-Nagant rifle in books and on the internet got me interested in collecting, shooting, and writing about them, and I hope to do the same for others through my work.
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