Locally 17HM2 is still on the shelves at some stores. I think it sells in the early spring around here and is used for sage rat hunting in the eastern Oregon alfalfa fields.
I ordered 10 more boxes last nite. After my order vendor showed only 70 boxes left.
Just a little insurance for me.
I have almost 6,000 rounds on hand currently.
I expect to shoot quite a few in next 12 weeks - squirrels.
Plus I need to shoot some shots at longer ranges for Drop.
May shoot my other hm2 barrel some too. To see Howe it does. Using my other 455 action. Don’t want to fiddle with my current hm2 setup, it seems to be doing very nicely.
Why would a barrel only last 20K rounds. It's not like a centerfire that burns up the barrels by flame cutting in the throat. I bet you could set back an HM2 barrel if it did become useless at 20K rounds. At least with a Ruger the barrels are easy to change.
Just a guess, the 17 hmr definitely went kaput a bit north of 12k. Guessing based off of bore diameter to volume, and the fact that shot strings are close to together.
Granted the 17hmr got burnt out when ammo was sub 7$ normal price. 10k of my hm2 was sub 4$ blowout priced, at 7-8 a 50 it slows my roll a bit.
Don't know for certain when the barrel will go, it's just that the current barrel has no replacement available.
Thanks for the update. Looks like a governor or two might ruin my Christmas travel plans....there goes my plans to stock up on bi mart bargin mach 2...
I've been monitoring the price and availability of both 22lr and 17hm2 for approximately the last week or so. I've never seen 22lr ammo to be more expensive than 17hm2 until then. My quick search has been using ammoseek dot com. This current shortage has got to be the worst I've seen. Glad I prepared. The only problem is now I'm afraid to use it not knowing what is in store for the future. I say this because I literally shoot thousands of rounds at ground squirrels in the Spring. I've resorted to purchasing single shot magazines for my various guns to slow my ammo consumption rate. Also taking longer to make sure not rush on my shots.
This gets me every spring. Folks dont realize how fast ammo can disappear in short alfalfa after a good hatch. I've seen 250 Ackley barrels glow and barely last a weekend...
Harsh reality is it will be a few years for that to happen again.
Was in Scheels in KC last week and 17Mach2 was the ONLY rimfire on the shelf. The cupboards were otherwise bare. Priced $8.99 + 10% tax makes it $9.90. Kinda steep, but at least they had some. I have 40-50 boxes so I'll have plenty for squirrels, my primary target.
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