Free: Contests & Raffles.
I'm thinking about getting a savage bmag.17wsm and maybe swapping the stock to a Boyd's and lopping the barrel at 20" or so. Any input? This would mostly be for shooting squirrels but I'm sure it'd get pressed into coyote duty occasionally. I'm interested in everyone's opinion
Quote from: jdb on August 27, 2019, 07:58:01 PMI'm thinking about getting a savage bmag.17wsm and maybe swapping the stock to a Boyd's and lopping the barrel at 20" or so. Any input? This would mostly be for shooting squirrels but I'm sure it'd get pressed into coyote duty occasionally. I'm interested in everyone's opinionThis is exactly what I did with mine. Back when I bought my HB SS Bmag all they had were the models that came with the cheap POS plastic stock. Before I ever fired a single round through it I ditched the plastic toy stock and dropped it in a Boyd's Pro Varmint and had the barrel chopped back to 20 inches when it was in getting threaded. I have a couple 17 HMR's and they've become loaner/backup guns and pretty much never see the light of day.The Savage Bmag is far from what I'd consider a "quality" built rifle. In fact, I can't ever recall owning a gun that was of lower quality, BUT, my Bmag shoots very well and for shooting sage rats, it's, easily, my favorite rimfire rifle. If you've never handled a Savage Bmag, I highly recommend you do so, BEFORE, you buy one because they have some real oddities about them, particularly the bolt. They cock on close so they take more effort to push the bolt handle down when you are closing it than other rifles. Also, the bolt handle itself is a very odd design and the first time you pick one up and cycle the bolt, you almost think there's something wrong with it. For me, it took a little getting used to, but once I did, it's no longer an issue.All of the ammo, regardless, of what label is on the box, is made by Winchester and it's all the same. I only shoot the 20gr and 15gr ammo in my Bmag and it does a number on ground squirrels like sage rats. The 17 WSM provides the best Ratobatics on ground squirrels of all the rimfires. For coyotes, maybe inside of 150 yds and I think shot placement would be key. The 17 WSM is the king of the rimfires, but I don't know that I'd consider any rimfire a good choice for coyotes, but that's me, others may feel differently.
Quote from: b23 on August 27, 2019, 09:34:20 PMQuote from: jdb on August 27, 2019, 07:58:01 PMI'm thinking about getting a savage bmag.17wsm and maybe swapping the stock to a Boyd's and lopping the barrel at 20" or so. Any input? This would mostly be for shooting squirrels but I'm sure it'd get pressed into coyote duty occasionally. I'm interested in everyone's opinionThis is exactly what I did with mine. Back when I bought my HB SS Bmag all they had were the models that came with the cheap POS plastic stock. Before I ever fired a single round through it I ditched the plastic toy stock and dropped it in a Boyd's Pro Varmint and had the barrel chopped back to 20 inches when it was in getting threaded. I have a couple 17 HMR's and they've become loaner/backup guns and pretty much never see the light of day.The Savage Bmag is far from what I'd consider a "quality" built rifle. In fact, I can't ever recall owning a gun that was of lower quality, BUT, my Bmag shoots very well and for shooting sage rats, it's, easily, my favorite rimfire rifle. If you've never handled a Savage Bmag, I highly recommend you do so, BEFORE, you buy one because they have some real oddities about them, particularly the bolt. They cock on close so they take more effort to push the bolt handle down when you are closing it than other rifles. Also, the bolt handle itself is a very odd design and the first time you pick one up and cycle the bolt, you almost think there's something wrong with it. For me, it took a little getting used to, but once I did, it's no longer an issue.All of the ammo, regardless, of what label is on the box, is made by Winchester and it's all the same. I only shoot the 20gr and 15gr ammo in my Bmag and it does a number on ground squirrels like sage rats. The 17 WSM provides the best Ratobatics on ground squirrels of all the rimfires. For coyotes, maybe inside of 150 yds and I think shot placement would be key. The 17 WSM is the king of the rimfires, but I don't know that I'd consider any rimfire a good choice for coyotes, but that's me, others may feel differently.what size groups are you getting?