GUNS Magazine December 1958 - Jeffersonian

'would have to be one never ordinarily considered.Th e decision was mad e to go "whole hog"and design a combination from scratch, exclusivelyfor varmints. Bullet was held at 25grains, as that is the lightest weight thatwould kill consistently at 200 yard s wit hreasonable velocities. Case design could beargued about endlessly, so a pr acti cal andtime-tested shape was adhered to, of sufficientcapacity to produce the desir ed velocity.No claims were int end ed for doub le venturishoulder design , inverted primers, or oth ermagi cal hocu s-poku s,Th e .17 caliber was chosen, as adapting itselfperfectly to th e weight and proportionsvisualized. Previous experiments had beenconducted on thi s caliber, usin g cases fromthe .22 Hornet right up to the .30·06. This isgoing from the reasonable to the rid iculou s.It has been suggested tha t the .22 LR wouldbe "just th e thing" if neck ed to .17, or perhaps that usin g th e .300 H & H Magnum casein .17 caliber might give velocities in theneighborhood of 10,000 Ips l.Since Hornet brass is sometimes inclinedto lack unif ormity and the excellent .22·3000 cases ar c no longer man ufactured, th enext to be considered were th e .218 Bee and.222 Remington. Both will be availab le forsome tim e ; the Bee case would be easilyadapted to th e single-shot ac tions and th e.222 would be ideal in magazine type boltac tion rifles.Preliminary work was don e with the .222case sbortened somewha t. T ests indicatedthat promisin g result s could be expected.Different case lengths were tested and variousriflin g twists were tri ed. It became obviousthat about 20 grains of 3031 powd er,when case design was such that thi s wasnearl y a full case , would give a velocity of3650 Ip s without excessive pressure. Caseswere reload ed as man y as ten tim es withthi s load, with out primer pocket enlargeffilipt.p1MnA!.uWe ~ 6;'i. ~gra lQ. u~jsku lingA Jt:t~I! I1~Different case length s were tested and variousriflin g twists were tri ed. It became obviousthat about 20 grains of 3031 powd er,when case design was such tha t thi s wasnearly a full case, would give a velocity of3650 Ip s without excess ive pressur e. Caseswere reload ed as man y as ten tim es withthi s load, without primer pocket enlarge ­ment . Using the 25 gra in Sisk and Barnesbullets, a riflin g twist of 1 turn in 14 incheswas not sufficient to stabilize bullets. Oneturn in 12 inch es stabilized them nicely.Test rifles were built both in hunting andtar get weights, with riflin g twists of 1 turnin 14" , 12" , 11" and 10" .Th e hunting rifle was used d uring th eArizona jav elina hunt, and accounted for thefirst of th e hardy little wild pig s. Somehowth e nam e stuc k and th e cart ridge is stillknown as th e 17 Javelin a (without thedecimal) .A & M's first .17 caliber tests were conducted about five years ago, usin g a Win ­chester high-wall action and a light spor terbarrel chambered for th e .170 Landis Wood s­man. Accuracy was fair. Th e chosen loadgave a velocity of 3700 Ips with th e neckeddown.22·3000 case.Several advantages were immedi ately ap ­par ent . Ricoch et dan ger was at a minimum ;an y bod y.hit produced an instantan eous killon ja ckrabbit s and other available varmints,and a half day's supply of ammunition couldbe carried in one shirt pocket. A considerablehole was blown in the far side of everyjack hi t at ran ges up to 200 yards. Oth erswere kill ed at 275 yards, ju st as qui ckly andstill with extensive tissue dam age. Th e pre-U. S. In custom gun work it is impo ssible togovern entirely the combinations of action sand cartridge s which ar e desired by customers.As long as a desired combination is safe,th e custom er's wishes ar e fulfilled as nearl yas possibl e.A good .17 barrel, fitted to a good action(espec ially in the bolt action class) offersan excellent pot ential for a fine, acc ur atevarmint rifle. Th e Sak o bolt action is oneideal choice for the 17 Jav elin a cartridge.Model 70 Winchester and Schultz & Larsenacti ons have also been used with markedsuccess.Regarding accuracy, S-shot groups below.300" have been fired at 100 yards by TedHolmes Gun Shop, Mattoon, Ill. Th ey tried a17 Javelina rifle bu ilt for them, upon aSchultz & Larsen acti on and with an Atkin-(Continued on pag e 58 )STANDARDDISCOUNTSTO DEALERS WITH LETTERHEAD• Hand Guns, Rifles and Shotguns• Reloading Tools and Components• Scopes, Mounts, Sights, Accessories• F.N. & Sako Rifles, Actions & Bbld.• Archery, Fishing & Camping EquipmentAll Cash orders postpaid­$100.00 net orders prepaid.229-233 E. Third St.LEWISTOWN, PA.AURAND'Suf.e M~ ' GREAT WEST.'1lAP/,P,-g/lE "/lOl 5TEIlS!J()St'A[)EIlO BElTSLOW MAIL-ORDER PRICESStandardReload ing PressAll rifle and pistol cartridges Powder and Bullet Scale $ 14.0 0$22.50! Standard of the Industry Guaranleed accurat e to a tenth grain.CapaCity 325 gramsShell Holder Primer Post~