For the last couple weeks I've had hankering for a 17 WSM. There isn't a lot of options in this chambering so it wasn't like I had a big selection to choose from. The Ruger 77/17wsm seems to be in fairly short supply and was more than I wanted to spend, especially considering I knew I was going to likely replace the stock on whatever it was I ended up with.
Savage has a $25 mail in rebate and a local dealer had a heavy barrel stainless in stock so after fondling it for a few minutes, I ended up taking it home. With the rebate, I'll be right at $300 which isn't to bad. Savage has a HBSS laminated thumbhole stock version out also but the only one I could find was $520 and I wasn't that enthralled with the laminated stock to spend that much. Figured I'd buy the same gun with the cheapo plastic POS stock and put a Boyds Pro Varmint on it.
Now, when I refer to the plastic stock that came on this thing as the worst POS I've ever held in my hands, trust me when I say it, this thing is total garbage. In all honesty, I think Savage should be embarrassed and ashamed of themselves for putting something like this on an actual working firearm. All I can say is WOW, this thing is junk. I've seen toy guns that had a more substantial stock on it than this thing has. I would have rather it came as a barreled action w/trigger group. This plastic POS isn't even worth the effort it'll take to throw in the trash. Yes, it's really that bad.
Speaking of triggers, I'm pretty impressed with the factory trigger in this thing. I haven't even touched it yet and it appears to be pretty darn crisp and fairly lightish. It has a tiny bit of take up and I'd guess it breaks around 4lbs and that's right out of the box. I haven't taken it apart yet but I don't think it'll take to much work to get down to 2ish lbs. I've got a HBSS 93 17hmr I bought about 10 years ago and the accu trigger in that turned out pretty decent too.
I obviously knew the stock was garbage when I bought it and my plan was to put a Boyds something or other on it right away. So this morning I started looking around at Boyds different stocks. I liked the idea of the taller comb on the Pro Varmint version and I stumbled on to a, local to me, mail order company that is based in Post Falls Id. that had one in stock and it comes with a nice metal trigger guard, too. DIP Inc. is a mail order company but since they are based in Post Falls I called to see if I could come pick it up, considering I'm only about 20 min from PF, instead of waiting for it to arrive by mail. They don't have a store front so that wasn't really an option but the person I talked to on the phone said they'd be heading into Spokane later this afternoon and I could meet them somewhere and pick it up then. As you can imagine, I was thrilled. So big shout out to DIP Inc. for saving me the wait time of 3 or 4 days.
I've never owned or used a Boyds stock on anything so I'm not exactly sure what to expect with regard to how well they fit right out of the box. I haven't even sat the barreled action and trigger group down in it yet. It seems decent enough, especially considering what they cost. I mean it's no MCM or Manners but it also only cost $135 not $700+. I'll probably have it bedded to some degree, I'll let the person who's going to bed it, decide how much.
I haven't shot it so I have no idea how it shoots but I wasn't overly impressed with the crown from the factory. It could shoot just fine but since I'm going to have it threaded so I can run it with a can, I'll have it cut back a smidge an re-crowned.
I'm undecided about putting a pic rail on or just go with the 2 piece Weaver mount. I bought a 1 piece rail from DIP Inc. so I'll likely use it but I'm only using a Leupy 4.5-14x40 Vari X III and if that rail puts the scope to high up off the barrel, that'll look like sheet and I'll have to rethink using the rail.
I'm hoping it turns out to be a good shooter because I think it will make for a fun little sage rat/varmint killer, especially for those areas that only allow rimfire cartridges. It'll be interesting to see how it compares to my 17hmr on those 100++ yd shots. Only time will tell and I'll try and update things as they progress along, good or bad.
I'm always open to suggestions on making things better so feel free to offer up anything you'd like.
