The Rimfire Report: Hornady 17 gr VMAX 17 HMR by the Numbers

Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Rimfire Report! This ongoing series is all about the rimfire firearm world and all of its cool guns, ammo, history, and more. Today's subject is Hornady’s light and speedy 17-grain V-Max 17HMR loading. Primarily used for pest control and varmint hunting, .17 HMR is still a fairly rare ammo type these days due to its high cost and limited list of firearms. Today, we’ll check out how the ammo performs out of the new Bergara BMR-X Carbon, and of course, measure its average velocities and accuracy out of what I’d consider to be a pretty typical varmint hunting setup. Let’s get to it!

More Rimfire Report @ TFB:

• The Rimfire Report: The FRW Taquito 22 - The Silent Sizzle of 22LR
• The Rimfire Report: On the Range with the Bergara BMR Carbon .17 HMR
• The Rimfire Report: Aguila Super Extra Short 29gr – Compact Power

Product Link: https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/rimfire/17-hmr-17-gr-v-max#!/

Item #83170 | 50/Box

From prairie dogs to coyotes and fox, the Hornady® Rimfire line of ammunition offers varmint hunters high-speed rimfire cartridges. Loaded with either the V‑MAX® or NTX® bullet, these loads deliver tack‑driving accuracy and dramatic expansion on impact.

Product Features

Hard‑Hitting V‑MAX® Technology

The polymer tip of a V‑MAX® bullet delivers more than tack‑driving accuracy at long range ‑‑ it also creates dramatic expansion on impact.

Honest 200‑yard Performance

The flat trajectory delivered by the 17 HMR® makes it the most accurate long‑range rimfire ever made.

Select Brass

The uniformity of the Hornady® 17 HMR® case is equaled only by ultra‑expensive match ammo, and case geometry helps provide this new cartridge’s unequaled performance!

Propellant

The powerful new propellants available today make the 17 HMR® the most accurate, hardest‑hitting rimfire cartridge available.

The .17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire (.17 HMR) came out in 2002, born from a collaboration between Hornady, Marlin, and Ruger. They took the .22 WMR case and necked it down for a .17-caliber bullet, typically 15.5 to 20 grains, pushing it to about 2,550 feet per second. This gave it a flat trajectory and great accuracy, ideal for varmint hunting and target shooting out to around 200 yards. Its low recoil and affordable ammo made it a hit with hunters going after small game like rabbits or prairie dogs. It caught on fast, and soon enough, manufacturers were rolling out a wide range of rifles and ammo to meet the demand so it should be no surprise that amongst a few other select brands, Hornady has one of the most popular options on the market with their 17-grain offering with an advertised muzzle velocity of 2,550.

Accuracy Data

Frequent readers of Rimfire Report will no doubt have seen one of these groups when we did our initial review on the 17 HMR Bergara BMR-X Carbon. The optic that we’re using in this build is a fairly inexpensive Maven rimfire optic featuring a simple duplex reticle. The Maven CRS-1 isn’t the best scope, but I felt that it was more in line with a “varmint” gun with a medium range of magnification and a fairly slim profile in an affordable package. When it comes to raw accuracy, I’ll admit it’s not the best choice as it only gives me a maximum of 12x magnification, but the results are good enough for varmint hunting in my eyes. Your mileage may vary with different optics and skill levels.

I’d be interested to hear your thoughts and experience with this ammo out of other platforms - does Hornady’s own 17 HMR offering perform well in other guns? Thanks as always for stopping by to read The RImfire Report and we’ll see you all again next week!

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