A few years back I started rebuilding my gun collection. I never got “out” of firearms, but my interest dwindled when I went for my undergraduate degree. Living on campus was required until senior year. Firearms were, of course, strictly forbidden in the dorms. The local sheriff would temporarily “hold” a longarm for those in college. You could only pick up your gun or guns on certain days of the week at certain times. Since pheasant and deer seasons were smack in the middle of mid-terms and finals weeks, I decided it wasn’t worth the bother. I gave up on the idea of getting much hunting done . . .
Fewer than two weeks after graduation, my girlfriend (now my wife) and I were getting ready to make our move across the country. Preparing for the trip, I gave away, sold or traded my firearms for what we needed: Money for gas and rent, and furniture for our new desert home. As I slowly started acquiring firearms again, my wife acclimatized herself to my collection. While not immediately interested, a spark caught and a fire grew. My safe now shelters a half-dozen or so firearms purchased specifically for her.
But not really. Most were guns that she may have liked; in reality, they were guns I kind of wanted anyways. I tried some smaller 9mm’s, a compact this, and sub-compact that. As it turns out, my wife’s favorite gun is a 6-inch S&W 586 that has been refinished and action-tuned by S&W Performance Center. Go figure.
My most recent acquisition: a Savage 93R17-GV in .17 HMR. Luckily for me, I don’t think my wife will have any surprises in store for me and my guess is that she will likely leave my 7mm Magnums alone for a while. You see, unlike handguns, my wife can’t hold a long arm up for more than 15 seconds. She is also a squint over 100 pounds. Even the kick from my AR is a “bit much” as she puts it.
Out of the Box…
The Model 93 is one of Savage’s bolt-action rimfire line. The Model 93R17-GV is the .17 HMR variant. It leaves the factory with a heavy barrel, a walnut-stained stock, a 5-round detachable magazine and scope bases pre-installed. (The 93R17 comes in 19 varieties including a Mossy Oak camo stock with a Bushnell scope, a black synthetic stock, or a thumbhole stock). The nicely shaped wood stock with its hard plastic buttplate has it going on, although purists should note that it’s made from “walnut-stained hardwood” not “stained walnut.” Enthusiasts seeking classier companionship would be better off with one (or more ) of the 93R17 BVSS, 93R17 BTVS and BV 93 variants.
The Savage 93’s heavy contour barrel has a 1-9” twist. It’s 21″ long, bringing the rifle’s overall length right up to 39.5″. Thanks to the relatively long (for a rimfire) and heavy bull barrel, the 93 tips the scales at around six pounds (sans scope, rings, and sling). It’s a bit “nose heavy,” but not uncomfortably so. Nor does the balance impose any irregular handling characteristics.
The Savage 93’s detachable box magazine is a single-stack design that holds five rounds of ammo, allowing a 5+1 loadout. Push the release and the magazine drops free. Counterintuitively enough, you have to push the release button significantly harder when the 93’s bolt is left open (it is what it is).
Initially, I had some trouble manipulating the magazine. When fully loaded, the 5-round magazine would “release” all of the rounds in an embarrassing, jack-in-the-box manner. After a quick inspection, I simply “pressed” the feed lips down a bit on the shooting bench. Problem solved.
The magazine felt “rough” at first when being loaded into the rifle, but it has smoothed out some. However, it still takes a bit of force to insert. With a little practice, a fresh magazine can be inserted without unshouldering or moving the rifle (great for varmint hunters). Also, the magazine capacity of five is a bit of an annoyance and I wish Savage offered a 10-rounder. I’d suggest that anyone who purchases one of these get an extra mag (or two, or three, maybe four).
Savage’s AccuTrigger is an amazing innovation; the 93R17’s go pedal is no exception. [Click here for Shooting Times’ excellent explanation of its operation.] Using my new Lyman Trigger Pull Gauge, the trigger break is clean and consistent. An average of 10 trigger pulls showed a trigger weight of 2 lbs-9.5 oz with a standard deviation of only 2 oz. Obviously, Savage built this trigger to inspire accuracy and precision and I can’t imagine anyone needing a lighter trigger for hunting purposes.
Other than the magazine quirks, my only gripe about the rifle is the safety. Having used many Savage rifles in the past, I always appreciated the tang-mounted safety. The 93R17 models have a push button safety located on the upper right-hand portion of the receiver, similar to those on Remington 700s. Due to its location (and to the fact that my thumb isn’t made of the same stuff as Gumby’s) I found it easier to use my trigger finger to manipulate the safety. Unfortunately, this requires removing my grip from the stock — not something I’m fond of in a hunting rifle (or any rifle for that matter).
At the range…
The holiday season is upon us; I had a heck of a time getting Hornady 17 ammo. My local gun shop, Big 5, Dick’s, and even Wal-Mart had a limited supply, both in quantity and diversity. Eventually, I was able to secure three different types of ammo: Winchester Supreme 17-grain, Hornady V-Max 17-grain and CCI TNT JHP 17-grain.
After mounting a spare 4-12×40 Leupold Rifleman scope, I bore sighted the best I could and headed to the range. I was close, about 8 inches low and 2 inches left. With a few tweaks I was hitting the center dot at 50 yards. After letting the barrel cool down for 10 minutes, I got to work.
All three types of ammunition claim 2550 fps and I had every intention of verifying that. Unfortunately, in my new-gun excited state, I forgot my tripod at home and couldn’t find a volunteer to hand-hold my chrony. D’oh! For accuracy testing, I shot 10-round groups at 50 yards. When calculating shot groups, I only used the best 9 shots from each set. I like having a little “wiggle room” and I feel that eliminating one shot per set (as opposed to “calling flyers”) allows me to relax a bit. John Taffin feels the same, so I can at least say I’m in good company.
Using my new Caldwell Lead Sled Plus, I set up three color-changing targets at 50 yards. Of the three, the Hornady V-Max 17-grain rounds were the most accurate, punching clovers in my 8-inch Dirty Birds. However, all rounds proved to be quite accurate. Assuming the winds are calm, one can extrapolate the data below to calculate 100-yard accuracy from this rifle to be in the 1.5-2.5 inches range. Not bad for any bone stock rifle. And pretty exceptional considering that this Savage model is a rimfire. The only other rimfire that I’ve shot that comes close to this type of tack-driver accuracy costs more than $1,000.
| .17HMR Cartridge | Hornady V-Max | CCI TNT JHP | Winchester Supreme V-Max |
| Vertical Spread (in) | 0.578 | 0.953 | 1.5468 |
| Horizontal Spread (in) | 0.703 | 1.078 | 0.703 |
| Extreme Spread (in) | 0.766 | 1.141 | 1.5468 |
| Avg Spread (in) | 0.6823 | 1.0573 | 1.2655 |
| Testing Notes – 9 rounds, 50 yards, cold barrel, Lead Sled, Savage 93R17-GV | |||
[Note: I measure Vertical Spread as the furthest distance that can be measured between any two points along the vertical axis of the target (i.e. how far apart of the two farthest holes up and down). Horizontal Spread is the furthest distance that can be measured between any two points along the horizontal axis of the target (i.e. how far apart are the two farthest holes side to side). Extreme Spread is the furthest distance that can be measured between any two points (i.e. how far apart are the two farthest holes). Average Spread is the average of the three spreads (horizontal, vertical, and extreme).]
One thing I wasn’t expecting from this bolt-action rifle: misfires. Overall, I had 12 misfires out of 100 shots during the day of testing — nine of which came from the Winchester Supreme ammo, two from the CCI, and one from the Hornady. Upon inspection, the primer strikes were strong and distinct. I still don’t know what to make of it, but I’ll be sure to report any updates as I shoot this rifle more.
Back at home…
One tidbit that didn’t dawn on me until I got home: I didn’t have a cleaning rod for this rifle. My smallest cleaning rod was a 28-inches carbon-fiber Tipton that barely fits down a .223 barrel. No worries. A quick trip to the gun shop and I was back in business.
Cleaning the Savage 93R17 is no different than cleaning any other bolt action: Remove bolt, run a couple solvent patches through the barrel, a patch or two of oil, a dry patch and you’re done. To say the Savage cleaned easily would be like saying it shoots straight. Based on how the patches looked, had little copper fouling.
Conclusion…
The “GV” in Savage 93R17-GV doesn’t stand for “Great Value.” It should. The 93’s MSRP sits at around $280 (real-world pricing is between $250 and $275). Luckily for me, the SKS market has sky-rocketed lately (relatively speaking). I happened to have had an extra one sitting in the back of the safe collecting dust. A quick trip to Buck’s Guns here in Casa Grande and 20 minutes later I walked out with the Savage and a box of ammo in hand.
As for the caliber . . . .22LR deserves a spot in everyone’s gun safe. My first rifle was chambered in .22LR, as will my son and daughter’s first rifle. For varmint hunting, the .17HMR is the hands down winner. It has double the speed (2550 fps vs 1250 fps), packs 245 ft-lbs of energy (vs 150 ft-lbs), and can effectively reach out to 200 yards. Prairie dogs don’t stand a chance…
As for my wife, she’s excited to finally have a rifle to shoot alongside me. However, I still haven’t let her shoot it yet. I know, I know . . . I’ll let her eventually. As it turns out, I enjoy shooting the 93R17 as much as she likes shooting my (her?) S&W 586. I guess I’ll just have to go out and get my own.
Specifications
Brand: Savage Arms
Model: 93R17-GV
Caliber: .17HMR (Hornady Magnum Rifle)
Sights: No sights, pre-installed scope bases
Barrel Length: 21” w/ 1:9” twist (Heavy Contour)
O/A Length: 39.5”
Weight: 6 lbs
Receiver: Matte carbon steel
MSRP: $280 (November 2011)
Ratings (out of five stars):
Style * * *
The wood looks better than any of the 93-series synthetics, but could be better. Then again, that probably would jack the price over $300.
Ergonomics * * *
The stock is short, as is common with most rimfire rifles. While the Savage 93 fits and shoulders well, I’d prefer a different safety. The comb is a bit low considering that the gun is specifically designed for scope usage, necessitating the need of a chin-weld. One of those foam, stick-on cheek pads would help.
Reliability * * * *
I’m not sure if it is ammo-related or gun-related, but I had 12 misfires out of 100 rounds. (FWIW most of misfires involved Winchester ammo.) I’ll post an update as my wife shoots this rifle more; I’ll add that star back if necessary. The magazine needs some tweaking right out of the box, so I dinged it another half a star.
Customizable * *
A factory-installed sling swivel studs allows for attaching a rifle sling or a bi-pod to the forend. I don’t consider a scope and rings “customizing,” so only two stars. You could certainly put on an OEM laminated stock or perhaps one of the custom “Stocky’s Rifle” stocks, but that would be done for aesthetic reasons only.
Overall Rating * * * *
Dollar-for-dollar the Savage 93 is one of the best rimfire rifles [small] money can buy.
More from The Truth About Guns:
.17 HMR Shoot-off: Savage 93R17 vs. CZ 455
Gun Review: Ruger American Rimfire
New Marlin XTTM Bolt-Action Rifles
Thanks for the write up. I have a Savage 93R17 BTVS that I picked up at on sale at Bi-Mart a few years back for $299.00. I experienced similar (mediocre) accuracy results with 17 grain ammo, but the gun really stepped up its game with 20 grain hollowpoints. Typical accuracy with the 20 grainers was 1/4 to 1/3 inch (three shot) groups at 50 yards, but some groups can even get better than that. I have even acheived a .11 inch three shot group at 100 yards.
Have you settled on a cleaning regime for this gun? I’ve noticed that the barrels on these guns require a lot of cleaning in order to maintain accuracy. I typically notice accuracy start to drop off after 50 to 100 rounds or so. It look me a while to get the hang of cleaning the .17 cal. barrel – I bent a couple of really nice cleaning rods in the process. In short, I have to be really gentle! I’ve also used boresnakes to get the big crud out – that makes it easier to get the patches through.
@Joe – you bring up a good point. I have already bent a .17″ phos-bronze brush. As you say, dealing with such small cleaning tools and super-skinny cleaning rod requires a “light touch”. A boresnake is already on my list sent to Santa, so I should be good there. My Tipton Bore Guide wouldn’t fit, so I have to use those skinny plastic bore guides that came with an old cleaning “kit”. I use MPro-7 to clean the crude and an occassional Hoppe’s 9 patch for copper. It seems to have worked pretty well.
Savage makes good bolt action rimfires for the money. I like CZs better, but they are more money. Get your Wife a .22LR bolt action Savage with the standard barrel and maybe the Youth Stock? I would not mind having a Savage Bolt Action, but maybe in .22 Magnum?
I have a Savage 93R variant as well. To really see what ammo your particular .17 HMR likes is to have to put in the time and work. Mine, in particular, likes CCI 17g V-Max rounds. I know that many internet folks have reported theirs likes 20 grain whatever, FMJ – yes – CCI makes one as well; or the Hornady 17g V-Max. A word of advice for those of you going to pick up one of these rifles: 1. the stainless steel mags work better than the blued ones, which tend to stick in the mag well just a little bit; 2. Try as many brands, grain weights, and bullet types as you can to find that one round that will be .5 MOA at 100 yards: trust me; 3. By an OTIS cleaning kit that will give you a wire to use to clean the breech to muzzle – you can use the same kit to clean your .22lr rifle or even pistol. Much easier than trying to ram a rod down a .17 HMR barrel. Save some time and also get .22lr patches, which will work for a .17. 4. Do yourself a favor and mount some decent optics on this rifle – since this round will go out to 200 yards and beyond, use, for example, a Nikon with BDC and you can tailor your round for the hold overs. I agree with the review – the .17HMR is an awesome little round and from my experience on praire dogs – if you place the shot correctly, they will not make it back to their holes and instead be DRT. Just my thoughts and opinions.
@Scuba – So far, the 17-grain V-Max appears to shoot well so I intend to test them at 100-yards when time and weather permits. Finding a day in central Arizona where the wind isn’t a player can be a challenge. We don’t have many trees to act as a wind break afterall. Also, most outdoor ranges back up to a mountain, compounding the wind problem.
I don’t think any rimfire, even the 17HMR, requires super strong optics. From the data that I’ve seen, the 17HMR can reach out (effectively) to about 200 yards. The Nikon BDC reticle (using the Spot-On software on Nikon’s webpage) will calculate out to 300 yards. The only problem I see with that is wind drift. Keep an eye out for “Part II” as I get more ammo in.
BTW – I have .22 cal patches and they are too tight. I had to trim off about 1/3 of each one (for wet patches) to 1/2 (for dry patches). I have a Boresnake on the way, so that will help.
I found a cleaning kit for airguns that works well. Even had a brush for .177.
There in lies a problem. Air rifles use 4.5mm ammo or .177 inches. Hornaday Rimfire Magnum uses .172 inch bullets. The bore diameter is .168″ and the grove diameter is .172 inches. This makes a difference. Devices made for air rifles, such as laser bore sighters and the like, will not fit and cleaning brushes will be a very tight.
I have also found that the 20 grain bullets are more accurate than the 17. I have not tried the 15 grain bullets yet. Must depend on the rifle.
My 93 prefers to eat Federal 17 grain. Also, get yourself a in-lb torque wrench like a Wheeler. Make a table for notes and adjust the pillar torque in small increments to fine tune your groups size. Watch the plate, it is thin and will buckle if you over-torque it. Someone, but I can’t remember who, makes a thicker plate.
I bought one of these first year they were made. The trigger was terrible, takeup and very loose, so loose it rattled. I replaced it with an adjustable trigger from a guy in SC made from CNC aluminum. Break is around 10 oz and it’s super crisp. That made this a 1 inch gun at 100 yards. The wood was not finished well, it really needed more stain and a coat of poly. I plan to refinish it myself. Overall it’s an excellent gun for the 190 dollars I paid and the 60 dollars for the trigger. I agree on the magazine, it’s still not a good fit it seems.
My gun had no open sights and a heavy bull barrel. It proved to be devastating on ground hogs. Even in hot weather the accuracy was always dead on. I chose this over the much more expensive Marlin because it had great machining and the mechanism seemed better. The trigger was a concern but I knew where to get a better one.
Now that Savage has solved the trigger problem they should work on the wood finish, it can’t cost that much to finish them better.
For all those concerned Savage also makes a left-handed version.
Mr. Carrube. I respectfully disagree with you about not using higher end optics on a rimfire. Especially with a Nikon – you can also use their spot on technology to attempt to calculate wind drift for your chosen caliber, which is very relevant to the .17 HMR since it is so affected by wind. To each their own, but I don’t believe that just because it is a rimfire, it deserves less in the optics department.With the OTIS kit, the wire I was referring to actually has, on one end, where you can screw in a small brush, and on the other end, you can put a patch through it. I have not had any problems using regular size .22 patches for this. Because it does not really use the whole patch, you have to make many more feed throughs to get it thoroughly cleaned. With regard to magazines, some have reported problems with magazines not feeding correctly or reliably. I would suggest fully load your .17HMR magazines and let them sit that way for awhile to break them in, and that should take care of it. Some report problems while others have no problems at all. Again, the stainless steel ones as opposed to the blued ones have worked better for me.
@Scuba – With the exception of the Monarch X series of scopes, I don’t consider Nikon scopes to be “higher end”. Even then, the limited internal adjustments of the Nikon scopes drop them into the “mid-level class”. They are great scopes and I use them quite a bit (see project Elk Slayer here on TTAG). I disagreed with the need to use high-mag or super high-quality optics because even the .17HMR has a limited range. After 200 yards, the velocity approches (or drops below) sonic speeds. At that point, accuracy exponentially decreases to ineffective levels. Also, the BDC reticle does not offer windage corrections. Scopes that do offer windage corrections are calibrated for .25-.30 caliber rifles with much different ballistic coefficients.
BTW – the OTIS kits are great and I use them quite a bit in the field.
I’ve secured some 20-grain Hornady V-Max JHP for testing. Keep an eye posted for an update! Perhaps I’ll get a chance to do some 100-yard comparative testing as well.
Damn – one thing I just noticed in the “Testing Notes” is that my sig-figs didn’t transpose over during posting. For the record, none of the measurements should have more than 3 significant figures.
Looks like I’ll need to manually enter each calculation instead of having Excel do it for me!
Awesome article, thanks!
Just that, with respect, sir. . . HMR stands for Hornady Magnum rimfire.
@pcamper – Thanks for catching that. I’ll make sure it’s updated.
Stuck a left hand version on a Richards Tac Driver, pillar bedded, gun fits like a glove. at 100 yards these things are right on top of each other.
The trigger is excellent, I broke it in pretty good. Love to shoot it, just put a bipod swivel on the front, was using a really nice gun rest.
Had a BSA Sweet 17 on it but after 3 yrs the rubber coating melted off it, so I am waiting for that to come back and I am going to see it I can trigger some tannerite at 150 – 200 yards
If you own one of these, please do NOT degrade this fine Varmint Machine with a BSA Optic. It deserves Bushnell, Nikon, or better if you are serious about shooting Quarters at 100yds. Cheap optics for this rifle are an insult to it’s capabilities. If the groundhogs were still alive, they would also agree.
I got mine about 18 months ago. Looks like the -gv but has a gray laminated stock and came with an inexpensive 3-9x40mm Bushnell.
Right out of the box 1.5″ at 50. On a calm day you can clover leaf it at 100.
Don’t think I’d do it on a regular basis, but had coyote situation involving the neighbors pregnant poodle at 175 yards. With Hornady 20gr. xtp it only took one shot. I have since taken several small-med. hogs (125-175lbs.) out to 125 yards.
A friend of mine worked for Textron and came up with a slightly abused 4×8 sheet of 1/4″ Kevlar. The 20 gr. makes a clean hole out to 40yards and a jagged one at 50, at 55 the bullet is fully embedded with only a bulge in the back . For the .17 subtract around 10 yards.
Any of the 20gr. (for me CCI is best) ammo shoots better than the 17gr. (Winchester)
A cheep bi-pod and a sling will save you much aggravation with this rifle. While it is a fairly forgiving platform, you must have a stable base.
Nice report Patrick – I bought my 93R17 GV a few years ago (I think this is my third summer with it) for ground squirrel control on our little farm. And this little Savage is the best varmint gun I’ve ever had the pleasure to use. With the exception of one miss year before last, one of the nasty little critters has been eliminated every time the gun has spoken. A not-very-expensive Simmons 3×9 scope sits on top.
I agree with Dale – some form of rest is best for the relatively heavy barreled gun. So almost all of my squirrel shots are taken with the barrel resting on a fencepost or the like.
Anyone looking for a fun plinker or a tack-driver of a varmint gun simply can’t go wrong with one of these.
I love mine, it is my second one, the first i purchased an after market stock, and it was a tack driver, sadly it was stolen.
There is a company making a 10 round magazine now. I haven’t picked one up yet but just looking at them they seem to be good pieces. http://17hmrmag.com/main.sc
As far as cleaning and ammo for the .17, or any rifle ammo, every rifle is different. I liken them to women; everyone has it’s own tastes or attitudes. My professional opinon is that you buy several brands of ammo and see what shoots best in your rifle; period. As far as cleaning solutions I only use KG products. I have used just about every brand on the market and I find that this brand works the best bar none. I just a 93R17 and I love it. I find that Winchester Supreme 17 grain work the best in “my” rifle. And don’t forget to season your barrel before you get busy with your rifle, no joke it does work! Do your research and read, read, and pratice, pratice!
Good shooting.
Ofc. Martini is a fulltime LEO for 22 years, a Firearms Instructor and Armorer he is also a member of the NTOA, IALEI, ILLETA, NRA
I have a savage 17 with accutrigger and a sweet 17 scope. At what range should I zero the scope? I have been told 100 yds. Any suggestions?
Greg,
I have one as well, I tricked it out with a tactical stock and a 2.5x10x44. I have sighted mine in at 50yrds which should put you .5 MOA at a 100 yards. Remember if it is new you will have to break it in. Use a coated rod. Shoot one clean, shoot 3 clean, shoot 5 clean. Amd remember try 3 or 4 brands of ammo to see which one shoots better in your rifle.
Scott
Thanks for the feedback. what I failed to mention is I am using an extreme duty supressor from coastal gun. I am trying to effectively knock out critters from 100 to 200 meters. The sweet 17 scope has been a bit of a challenge to use effectively any tips ?
Kinda depends on what you intend to use it for. Like Greg, I sight mine in at 50yds – but that’s simply because shooting the little varmints is almost always in the 25 to 75 yard range. If you intend to shoot more often at 100, then by all means sight it in there. I’ve played with the rifle at 100 yards at the range, and it performs just fine at that distance.
I just purchased 93L17BTVLSS and a BSA sweet 17 scope , having difficulty matching up scope mounts , i ordered Shootmy Scope Ring Set 1″/2PCs for High Profile Picatinny/Weaver Rings from amazon and they didn’t quite fit , I dont want to add a pic rail and just use the factory mounts. any suggestion ?
I’ve got a 93R BTV. The nice thumb hole laminated stock, rubber butt pad, and floated heavy barrel are awesome, but it ,akes it pretty heavy, close to my .270. You can shoot and not lose your sight picture. It came with a 3×9 Simmons 8 point for 300 from dick’s. I changed that to a 4×16 weaver and it is bad medice at 100 yes for any varmint. Crows and rabbits are easy. I’ve even killed invading coyotes, one with a 85 yd headshot of Hornady vmax. Mine came with the extra stud for a bipod but I would rather use a trigger stick. Speaking of triggers, the accutrigger is head and shoulders above the rest.
I bought a savage 93r17 in november and maybe have 500 rounds threw it and every 5 rounds it jams and my bullet is cracked any thoughts
It jams because if you look closely as you load last round it’s at steep angle while being loaded. I had the same problem, as well as all round ejecting after about 150 shots. I fixed this with a pliers bending the edges closer to the center of the mag. to hold shell better. No more ejecting rounds and no more problems loading last round. I am in disbelieve after owning cheap .22 Ruger and Remington that a more expensive rifle would have such a a sh!tty design! that and the mag being loose and having all that extra space around it! And the spare mags run $30+, where I bet Chinese can produce these at $1. The other problem I have is my scope base is tapped off center, so I needed to adjust scope to the right by 50 clicks, but many people reported running out of windage adjustment.
I found my bases were off as well… turned one around and it allowed me to adjust windage to a normal degree. you can fix the loose mag the same way as you fixed the problem with the bullets self ejecting.
Bend the tabs at the rear of the mag so they grip the mag guide tab tighter and the mag will sit snugly in the breech. this fix also helped the bullets chamber more smoothly.
I have the 93R17 and It was just what I was looking for. Very accurate and deadly. For a great show try plastic bottles full of water with and without tight lids. However ever so often it would misfire and is now getting worse. Cleaned every thing very good and tried different ammo with no results. Any suggestions?
Had the same problem with my .17. Did just what you did…. a real good cleaning. Didn’t help. Then, I changed out the firing pin and it helped for a bit, maybe about 200 rounds. Then, it started misfiring again.
Then, I got mad and changed out the firing pin spring in the bolt. Fixed the problem. I must have about 500 rounds through the gun with the new spring in place. Not ONE… that’s right… not ONE misfire.
As an aside, I bought this rifle about 5 years ago off the shelf at Wal-Mart for $197. Since it was on the shelf and was the display model, everyone would ask to see the rifle, cycle the bolt, then snap the trigger. That’s a no-no on a rimfire. Turns out, it had started to flatten out the firing pin, hence the 17% misfires I experienced. Then, when I got that fixed, the firing pin spring had gotten weak enough to cause problems.
Jack First, Inc. in Rapid City, SD has the new firing pin springs. I was shocked to find the new spring was a bit longer than the old spring. Hope this helps.
I picked up a Savage 93R17 and I to have bent a few rods, cleaning as well, now I use the solid rod, I’ve mounted it with a 4×12 Bushnell a 14 in. bipod holds nice patterns with the v-max loads at 100 yds. nice little rifle around the farm.
Did a cleaning regime on mine of 1 shot an clean for five rounds. Then 5 shots an clean for 30 rounds . No more copper fouling just powder. At 200 to group shrunk to .5 at 100 . When I hit about 350 rounds I scrubbed it till it was spotless . Took bout 70 rounds to come back to me an when it did , it has been consistently on calm day grouping in the .1 to .2 with one jagged little hole at 100 yrds. I have a jewel !!!! An love it !!!!
Very nice gun after some mods however firing pin sucks. Like the author of this site stated (mis- fires) I two had a number of them. Turns out it was not the ammo it was a cheap firing pin. After less than 100 rounds the firing pin mushroomed to the point I had to refile the end. It now works great.
I had the magazine spitting all the rounds out problem and Savage sent me a new mag. Only the serial number over the phone. No charge. I have not tried the new one yet, hopefully it will work without modification.
Just got my 93R17 Saturday 2-15-14 took it to the range with the un-named 3x9x40 sitting on It with hornady 17 gr ammo and had it driving tacks at 50 yards and bout 1.5″ groups at 100 yds. Got windy so I shut it down. Really love it so far! Ordered me a bipod, and a 10 round mag for it on eBay both together under $50. Next to come is a sweet 17 by BSA. Thinking of getting a Boyd’s thumb hole stock for $99 but not sure. Can’t wait to get some headshots on some squirrels or yotes!
-Don’t retreat! Reload!-
will I need high mounts foe my 93r17 btvs or reg. mounts
i had to put extra high rings on to accommodate scope caps on a 40mm objective. w/o caps you could use high rings
I bought a savage 17 hmr and it is a piece of junk!
It’s n the burn pile with the scope on it!
I could only hope that these weapon would not be used in war, due to miss fire. War would not last long!!!!!!!!
I would hazard a guess that it is the ammo giving you problems, not the rifle. I own and really enjoy a BTVS. Originally, I purchased a Marlin XT-17VR. Every fourth shot would stick in the chamber due to a cracked case and one shot per clip of 10 would hang fire. Thinking it was the rifle, I traded up to the BTVS. Well, the BTVS is a much nicer rifle and I was glad to have made the upgrade, but I had the same statistics in firing with the new firearm. Then I changed ammunition. I was using Winchester 17 grain Vmax and when I switched to Hornady or CCI, the cracked cases and the hang fires went away. I kept the cracked cases and made careful comparisons and then I contacted Winchester. They agreed that it was a problem with the ammunition and bought back the 3000 rounds of 17HMR ammo I had purchased.
This rifle is my plinking rifle of choice. I agree that it is a bit more expensive than .22LR, but it is more like firing a large calibre rifle, but at a fraction of the cost. Lets face it, the only way to become a better shot is to shoot.
The thumb hole in the stock is a great addition. When I first saw it, I thought to myself, what a stupid idea. After shooting with a rifle with one, I wonder why all rifles do not come like this.
I still use my .22 for hunting and put rounds through all my other rifles, but by far, the .17 HMR 93R17BTVS sees the most shots.
Caliber aside Savage 93R17BTVS is the rifle I have most problems with. Also, I don’t know if you actually did some math for ammo cost. A bulk ammo I bough last time in .22 which happens to be pletty accurate in my CZ cost me 4.5 cents per round after WA tax. A Hornady 17HMR I bough comes out to 30.6 cents a round after tax in Cabela in WA and that’s actually best price you can find locally. That’s almost 7 time more!!! Can you imagine if you paid 7 bucks for a bottle of water at gas station instead of 1 dollar?
I’ve seen it on Midway online for 3 dollars less per box, but the shipping was costly, so if I ordered 10 boxes, I could save maybe 10-15 bucks on 500 rounds. I don’t know about you, but it’s pretty darn expensive to plink when each shot is costing you 30 cents and speaking of “large calibers”, I did some math and reloading .223 would cost me about .25 cents per round (I collected 1000+ free brass).
Almost all of the 22LR ammo I have seen on Ammoseek.com is .12 or more per round. .17 HMR Hornady 17 grain is .26 per round. Its a little more than double the cost. If you were to add up the cost of your reloading equipment, and your time involved reloading those .223 rounds, they are costing you way more than .25 per round. I reload most all of my ammo, but sometimes its just nice to buy some and go shooting. Plus these little guns are pretty quiet, and won’t wear you out after shooting squirrels all day.
Just my 2 cents.
I just checked GunBot, there is 9 cents Armscore ammo and it’s available, shipping brings it to 11.5 cents, but I don’t buy .22LR online, I just check my Walmart, Cabela’s and Sportco whenever I go there and I was able to stockpile 5k rounds, after I realize how much I have I just stopped buying and in fact thinking of selling some back. I just hardly shoot 22LR anymore. The most I paid for local ammo was 10 cents and that’s for premium stuff like Velocitors in small quantities, the average is 7-8 cents. But I also bought 2.5k rounds of bulk ammo for 5.5 cents per round in last 2 years. Remington Golden and Federal auto match bulk stuff.
I agree that reloading is a choir and it would be nice to just buy cheap ammo. You’re right, I spend a lot on reloading equipment, but I look at it as investment, It will pay for itself in savings plus I can produce precision ammo that shoots more accurate than factory. Besides .223 I also reload 300 blackout, 9mm, .380 and .40/10mm and my next caliber will be .357 mag.
Just got a 93R17-FV. Bull barrel, blue, composite stock. Safety was in-op right out of box; after talking to a buddy that had same issue, got the flat spring back in place after removing action from stock. Still very stiff to operate safety, but thought it would loosen up. Wrong. After mounting scope and bore-sighting, safety spring tang came off again with first dry-fire cycle. Either the flat spring is too long, or formed incorrectly. PITA. Scope now off, waiting to hear from Savage again. Can’t get it to the range to shoot it … not impressed so far. Maybe just spoiled by CZ452 22MAG I have had for years…it’s a great little rifle.
Right now, I am shooting mostly .17HMR because I cannot find .22LR. I usually plink with standard velocity target Remingtons, but I have not seen any at any of the stores around here for well over a year. About the only .22LR rounds I can find are Winchester 222 or 333 packages and I do not like those. Just recently, there has been a lot of Aguila .22LR standard round nose around and I am going to give them a go, but I was paying under 30 bucks for 500 of the Remingtons and these Aguilas are 50 bucks a brick. Where have all the .22LR gone? Even the .17HMR have gone up in price. I bought several bricks for $97 and now the same ammo is $140, but at least it is available.
I bought a Savage 93R17 BTVS a couple of years ago. Great rifle. First I put an inexpensive Simmons 8 point 3-9×50 scope on it. I used Weaver 1″ extra high ring mounts so the 50mm objective would clear. At 50 yards I did 1 1/2″ groups with little effort. However for me the .17 HMR holes in the target were too hard to see at 100 yards. Better glass is required. Balancing cost vs. focal length vs. quality, I ended up with a Redfield Revenge 4-12×42 scope. I added a Champion Bi-pod to the mix and I now have a serious 100 yard shooting system. As a relatively new rifle shooter I need to tweak my shooting to tighten up my 100 yard groups and cut down on the flyers though. What a fun shooter.
If you’re getting 1.5″ groups from the rest than that’s terrible. My old cheap marlin shoots like this with bulk 22LR ammo which costs 6x less. If am paying 15 dollars per box of ammo, I expect much better results. I get 1/2 inch groups with my CZ in 22LR at this distance.
For a new rifle shooter I wouldn’t say it was terrible with a gun right out of the box. Certainly can be improved, and it has been at that distance.
In case you didn’t know, all 17 HMR ammo are made in ONE factory in a little town in Idaho. The stories behind that certain brands of ammo misfires compared to others almost sounds like BS. The only differences the brands made in ONE factory, is the bullet itself and only. The rimfire brass and powder are all the same.
There needs to be further investigation into why there are misfires, I’ve had misfires with CCI, Hornady, Winchester and Federal with my Savage M93 and this very dangerous when I am teaching children and young adult proper firearm shooting and safety. Has anybody here sent there 17 HMR back to Savage due to 20% misfire regardless of 17 HMR brands/
I just picked one up. The 93r17gv and put 25 rounds of hornady 20 grainers through it. The accuracy at 50 yards got just under an inch groups. The dangest thing though i noticed after shooting that the stock had cracked along the bottom and on the back of the butt stock? Now i don’t remember feeling any recoil while shooting it so i don’t know whats going on? But Savage customer service was very nice on the phone and said they would send me a new stock right out. So at least theres that. I’m really hoping i don’t have the miss firing problem i have been reading about here as well. I really want to like savage as they have some of the most accurate rifles out there. I own a few axis rifles and a model 12 that have been pretty good to me so far. Back in the day i was a remington only man, but quality issues and prices as of late has seen me turning to savage. And yes a Nikon scope to go with my Nikon camera lenses would be nice, but us broke guys just throw a cvlife 8-32×50 on em and call it good. Lol
I got me one of these because I got caught up in all the hype over .17 HMR and how they are so accurate and so this and so that. Mine came with 2 mags and I had to empty them both on a nice Pronghorn at 50 yards and it still didn’t drop him. It was a good thing he didn’t scoot himself to far off the road cause I ended up finishing him with my pickem up. Not to mention that the whole experience left the wife and kids in a complete pissy-fit. The gun isn’t to bad though, just shouldn’t of been made in that caliber. I’m going back to the double deuce long rifles and leave that fancy Euro stuff for those girly men.
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I had the same problem with the bullets popping out of the gun all at the same time . I put the clip in the vice like you sait and wallaaa . It worked . Thanks for the info
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