Thread: 17 HMR Barrel Length vs Velocity

Was wondering if anyone has any experience with different barrel lengths in 17HMR? I have a CZ 457 Premium (the European style model with the slim forend and comes with iron sights) and I recently took the front sight off as I realised I could see it in the scope... It's left a screw hole at the front, so for aesthetic reasons I thought I might get it shortened. It's also quite long and heavy and so a shorter barrel will be good in many ways. It's currently ~23.5".

The short version is I want to know at what length does the 17hmr hit max velocity? I have only been able to find one graph online that showed it flattening out at around 19-21" and then actually slowing down after that?

(Kind of a separate question but I was also thinking about getting it bedded and properly free floated if anyone has any experience with 'accurising' the 457 and what ACTUALLY makes a difference)

https://www.bullberrylegacy.com/17-hmr-velocity-data

I sure i am running a 16" factory barrel on my cz and no complaints from me about the length, sweet little gun. I am not target shooting , just using for pest control.
only complaint is cost of ammo since buying it.

I'd probably buy a second cheap rifle and chop that around to experiment. And leave the CZ entire.
Chopping a barrel off to hide a screw hole seems a bit weird to me.
I have several with grub screws in the holes.

Originally Posted by 300CALMAN

https://www.bullberrylegacy.com/17-hmr-velocity-data

Great info! Seems like confirmation that that 19" mark is looking pretty good... With the variability, I would say they didn't show any appreciable dropoff till they went below 18" ��

Originally Posted by 7mmwsm

I'd probably buy a second cheap rifle and chop that around to experiment. And leave the CZ entire.
Chopping a barrel off to hide a screw hole seems a bit weird to me.
I have several with grub screws in the holes.

To clarify, it's not so much shortening it just to hide the screw hole, it's more that that prompted me to think about it... The rifle is pretty long with a barrel forward suppressor which I have found to be cumbersome for shooting from a side-by-side etc. It's also quite heavy, especially with the scope I currently have on it (another area where I'm contemplating simplifying things), which makes offhand shooting more difficult than it perhaps could be...

What are you thinking of doing with the scope ? A mate told me 3-12x was enough so thats what i got.

Got a standard lenght barrel, think its 20 inches I would be happy to swop. What silencer thread is it standard 22 threat?

1/2 x 28 tpi or 1/2 x 20

standard 22lr thread is 1/2 x 20 correct me if I'm wrong.

Bought this barrel off a forum member, as new, I have fired less than 50 rounds, from what I had read it’s a 455 barrel it fits 457 no worries. Shoots well, easily half Moa with hornady 17g & 20s
Might be a cheaper option, plus my experience of chopping barrels on a rim fire sometimes they are choked, learnt the hard way. Length don’t worry me as I use an over barrel suppresser
Calibre: .17 HMR
Rate Of Twist: 1:9"
Barrel: Cold Hammer Forged
Barrel Length: 20.5"
Thread: 1/2x20

Originally Posted by flock

Bought this barrel off a forum member, as new, I have fired less than 50 rounds, from what I had read it’s a 455 barrel it fits 457 no worries. Shoots well, easily half Moa with hornady 17g & 20s
Might be a cheaper option, plus my experience of chopping barrels on a rim fire sometimes they are choked, learnt the hard way. Length don’t worry me as I use an over barrel suppresser
Calibre: .17 HMR
Rate Of Twist: 1:9"
Barrel: Cold Hammer Forged
Barrel Length: 20.5"
Thread: 1/2x20

Yes mine is 1/2x20 also

Do you know what contour it is? Need to make sure it will fit in my stock etc. I'll need to do some research to confirm they are compatible. But feel free to contact me as I could be interested. Thx

Originally Posted by Bagheera

What are you thinking of doing with the scope ? A mate told me 3-12x was enough so thats what i got.

I currently have a Bushnell Engage 4-16 with turrets, moa reticle etc. Bought it to have the capability to make longer shots, but once you go much past about 250 the little bullets are blown so much by the wind and they have so little energy that it's very challenging to spot impacts (at least I find that to be the case). I have also found it to be quite heavy and a bit too much mucking around when shooting rabbits which is 95% of what the rifle is used for. I have lost more rabbits to messing with scope caps, parallax setting, dials etc than I have gained by being able to shoot further with the extra features. Better to zero at ~125 set and forget and point and shoot to 150 max point blanc, imo....

I also think that the large semi-tactical-style scope looks a bit incongruous on the classic walnut/blued look rifle... I have an old simple weaver 3-9 that came off another rifle and thinking of putting that on instead (need rings). I think 3or4-12 is probably the sweet spot though.

The reason I'm banging on about weight so much is that I find it makes it a little harder to shoot off-hand, esp with the weight out front and the very light trigger (yodave custom trigger spring). Also my girlfriend finds it heavy/fatiguing to hold up for offhand shooting. (She's a weapon when she has a rest, though. No small critters are safe)

OK so the barrel is 525 length 14.35mm at the skinny & 21.74 breech Hope that helps as to the contour