This is the continuing story of my experience with the Savage 93R17 FV. After my last trip to the range I was starting to feel this gun just didn't have it. It would group a couple shots nicely then throw a couple way out. At first I thought it was me but soon realized no matter how steady the shot, fliers ruined my groups without fail. That is why I was so pleased that while I was cleaning the barrel the forward action screw literally fell out! Ahha, I proclaimed to myself. That's the problem. I put that screw back in, snugged her down, and had a whole new outlook on my next trip to the range.
It's been a month since my last post and there is good reason for that. It's been spring here in Wisconsin and the winds have been howling away. Gusty winds take their toll on low ballistic coefficient bullets. I'd been waiting for a mostly calm day to get back to the range and I finally had my opportunity with winds 5-10 mph last weekend. I started off pretty rusty. My cheek pressure on the stock was varying causing some still pretty wild groups, but it didn't take long for me to settle in.
I had some CCI full metal jacket 17g, Federal V-shock 17g, Hornady 20g XTP's, and some Hornady 17g V-maxes. The CCI FMJ's were up first. Since I only shot three groups they didn't get quite a fair shake. I'd say those first three groups were my warm up. They shot decently though with five shot groups of 1.375", 1.813", and .875" before I ran out.
Next up was the Federal V-shock Premium 17g. So far I'm leaning toward this being the most accurate load in my rifle. Five shot groups ran 1.875" (vertically strung, only 5/8" wide), .813", 1.625" (without one called flyer group was .75"), 1.25" (actually seven shot group. I forgot which target to shoot at), followed by a .75" three shot group (I used up two of the shots on the previous target). You can see two of these targets directly below.
Next up was the Hornady 20g XTP. This is a controlled expansion bullet made for those shooting things bigger than ground squirrels. The first group went well at .688", followed by 1.438", and a curious 2" group. The 2" group had three in .75" just left of center and another two considerably higher and to the right. Probably another loose nut. Only this time behind the trigger.
On to the most popular round for the 17HMR, the Hornady 17g V-max. The first five shot group went 1.125". Surprisingly, four went into a nice 1/2" cluster. The next try yielded a 1.313" group. I'm starting my excuse for the next group early. This was Mother's Day and I was in a hurry to finish this last target before the cease fire was called. This was a 2.313" group! Three shots left of bull at 5/8" and two shots right of bull at 5/8". I wasn't going to post this embarrassing target, but what the heck. It's the last one at the bottom.
There you have it. I didn't get the fantastic 1/2" groups every time like some guys claim. I'm sure a really skilled shooter could easily best my numbers, but I'm not a once a year shooter either. The facts are this rifle will best a lot of it's center-fire counterparts. For a rifle I only paid $249 for, I'm impressed.
