.17 HMR... Savage or Marlin?
 

Although I don't really need one, I'm thinking about adding it to the collection.
A friend has the savage 17 hmr, basic blued, no accutrigger... and I really like the little caliber for some stupid reason. just a great truck gun.

I have had in the past, a .22 magnum heavy blued Savage, and it was a shooter. They only thing I did not care for was the magazines... P.I.A.
I handled the Marlin version yesterday, and the mag. design was much better... but the trigger was terribly heavy...

I know both are pretty accurate guns, maybe edge to the savage, but I'm kinda stuck...

-get a savage and deal with the mags, but have a great trigger
or
- get the marlin, have good mags, and shell out extra for a trigger job, or drop in...

I'm leaning to the heavy SS synthetic stock version of either. if that matters?
Any of those sweet 17 scopes, with bullet comp worth a damn btw...?
or just get good reputable glass...?

Id get the savage, i love the 22lr with the accutrigger. I dont think the mags are tht bad...
as far as glass http://www.muelleroptics.com/ havnt gotten a peice from them yet but my 204 im getting next week is gonna get a mueller. ive herd lots of great things and they have great prices. Compare their same size and power scopes to others and theres a price difference.

Unless you are shooting out past 150 yards all the time, the Sweet 17 scopes are a waste of money. The bullet compensation doesn't kick in until that point.

I went with a Marlin myself. It just seemed a bit more refined than the Savage's I was looking at.

Keep in mind that ammo prices can be quite high for a 17HMR. When it first came out, ammo was about $6.50 to $9 a box of 50 rounds. When I was looking for this last 17HMR, I noticed ammo was about $12 a box at most places and as high $17 for the same stuff. Luckily, my go to dealer came through with a case that worked out to about $10 per box.

I have the Savage. A little polishing on the mags fixed a lot of the problems for me. Clip a coil off the trigger spring and a good trigger gets even better. I have a Simmons pro hunter 6x18 scope on mine and it works pretty well. I also like the Mueller that's on my Savage in .308 though. For low cost scopes, I think the Mueller is a very good value. Most of the folks on RFC speak very highly of they as well.

When I bought my .17 HMR it was the newest hottest thing in gun sales. I really wanted the Marlin but my dealer couldn't get through Marlin's preference system to get one, unless I wanted to order a couple of lever action center fire guns at the same time.

But he could get the Savage 93R17FV in. This was pre acutrigger so I have the crummy mags and the crummy trigger. I also had to bed the action to get rid of some vertical stringing in my groups.

But now I love the rifle. Great accuracy, consistently shoots 3/4" groups at 100 yards.

For a $179 rifle with a $39.95 Tasco 6-24x scope it is a accuracy bargain.

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n...s/12280001.jpg


But, the new Marlin's have an improved trigger.

I have a Marlin and a Savage. Both have heavy blued barrels. Both are built like sturdy toys with metalwork and a feel that leaves a little to be desired, which is expected for the price.

Savage- The AccuTrigger is great, but the plastic trigger guard is lame. The magazines feel flimbsy but they work fine. Reciever is drilled n tapped for scope bases.

Marlin- I replaced the trigger with a RifleBasix and it's as good or a little better than the AccuTrigger. There are no plastic parts. Reciever has a dovetail milled for scope bases.

Both are exeptionally accurate. Which do I prefer? I guess the Marlin but only because it has nicer wood.

I went with the Marlin/RifleBasix, very accurate rifle!

This Savage .17 HMR of my wife's is definately a shooter.

Another +1 for Mueller, by the way.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...s/DSC04158.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...s/DSC04156.jpg


-Tim S.

I'm a Savage fan myself. The accutrigger is hard to beat.

I have a savage mako in 17hmr.My 12 yr old son tried it out,works for him too.It is very light and easy to carry back into the fields.

This rifle shoulda came out a long time ago,Beat my Ruger 22 mag hands down. its absolutely a tack driver.