Anshutz 1517 17 hmr 14" or 18" barrel??

[Marcel]

HI guys Ive had a Anshutz 1517 17 hmr on order for about 2 months, it is a 14" barrel version, now they still cant give me a date for delivery so was thinking of buyinf from anouther vendor who has the 18" barrel version in stock ready to go. Does any one have any ideas what the pros and cons are on both, as Im thinking about going for the 18" just to get on here.

Just wondered what accuracy and power differences would be between them, or what would you go for if you had the choice?

 

Cheers

[Rimfireboy]

Velocity of the hmr does reduce below 18 inches. Whilst 14 inch barrel works well in .22 lr it will compromise in .17 hmr.

[Whitebridges]

Hello Marcel, the distributor for Anshutz in the UK used to be Frank Dyke. I'm told he's now retired and very recently RUAG have been appointed as the new distributor.

I managed to get one of the last 14" 1517 DHBG bought in by Frank Dyke through my local RFD about two months ago. Maybe your supply issue is with RUAG? I think Frank Dyke had the 18" cut down and screw cut here in the UK, so this might be another factor for the delay? BTW I wanted the 14" because of the ease of handling when shooting from a motor. I believe a little power is lost through a cut down barrel but nothing i've shot with mine has noticed! The gun is super accurate with 17g Hornady red tips, it's taken a couple of hundred rounds for the bolt to loosen up but you's expect that. I'm delighted with mine. Minor downside is it comes with only a four shot mag and extra mags aren't cheap.

 

[telf]

frank dyke dont import or supply 1517s with a 14" barrel,they might cut it down if you asked them but otherwise no.Ruag may supply them i dont know,i bought my 1517 from sportsman gun centre about 8 months ago and have had no probs with it,as has been said any loss of any power is unnoticeable,the gun is very very accurate and the build quality second to none.The only thing i had done to mine was the trigger made into a two stage the same as the 1417,cracking gun

atb dave

[barney 66]

This has been asked before somewhere and the reply was the difference in velocity you wont notice,but you will notice the difference in having the 14" out of a landrover window,over the last couple of months a lot of my .17hmr shooting has been from the Landrover window and with the very compact LEI mod its brilliant,wouldn't change mine now,hang on if i were you and stick to the14",

 

just my opinion,not saying its right

[Gimlet]

I believe the optimum barrel length for an HMR is 23". The power loss between a 23" barrel and a 14" barrel is reputed to be in the region of 50 fps at the muzzle. However at 100 yds the longer barrel has shed much of its advantage and the power difference is much less, so loss of terminal energy is negligible. The difference between a 14" barrel and an 18" barrel is hardly worth measuring.

I have an HW60 in 14". It is very compact an manoeuvrable, and I imagine very handy if your preferred approach to shooting is poking a gun out of a car window. It is very light though. My heavy barrelled .222 is much more stable off sticks. I think barrel weight also helps when shooting prone without a bipod.

Overall, I've come to favour longer barrels.

As above, this is personal preference. There's no definitive answer, its what feels right to you.

Edited August 10, 2012 by Gimlet

[Rimfireboy]

Hello Marcel, the distributor for Anshutz in the UK used to be Frank Dyke. I'm told he's now retired and very recently RUAG have been appointed as the new distributor.

I managed to get one of the last 14" 1517 DHBG bought in by Frank Dyke through my local RFD about two months ago. Maybe your supply issue is with RUAG? I think Frank Dyke had the 18" cut down and screw cut here in the UK, so this might be another factor for the delay? BTW I wanted the 14" because of the ease of handling when shooting from a motor. I believe a little power is lost through a cut down barrel but nothing i've shot with mine has noticed! The gun is super accurate with 17g Hornady red tips, it's taken a couple of hundred rounds for the bolt to loosen up but you's expect that. I'm delighted with mine. Minor downside is it comes with only a four shot mag and extra mags aren't cheap.

 

 

N V scopes do an eight shot steel mag for the .17 anshutz. Edited August 13, 2012 by Rimfireboy

[Whitebridges]

N V scopes do an eight shot steel mag for the .17 anshutz.

 

Thanks RFB, any idea how much they are? I've got another 4 shot Anshutz mag but i'd like to try the 8 shot after market one. Cheers.

[barney 66]

£48 i bought one a couple of years ago

[1in9]

Optimal barrel length is around 19" based on Bulberry barrel's test data http://www.bullberry.com/HMRdata.html

 

According to their stats you lose about 90 fps by chopping the barrel down to 14" from 18", guy I shoot with his a CZ 452 in 17HMR chopped to 13" and it's a great size for truck use, that said I prefer to squeeze every last fps from a round for longer ranges so would opt for the 18" myself.

 

The flush fitting factory 4 round magazines are £44.95 at http://riflemags.co....gazine-1517-u4/ (shameless plug! ) you can make them take 5 with no feeding problems if you adjust the spring slightly.

Edited August 15, 2012 by 1in9