Lead Ban Chronicles – .17 HMR Ammo Availability Update
Here’s a quickie for a Monday morning…
It’s still a little early, but for folks who enjoy shooting ground squirres, jack rabbits and such in the condor zone, it’s been a long, miserable search to find a lead-free, rimfire bullet for the .17hmr. Last year, CCI released their TNT Green line, but personally, I never even saw it on a shelf or catalog. I guess it was out there, but it slipped right by me. From talking to several Hog Blog readers, it slipped by them too.
Well, here’s your chance to remedy that…
I have found (and purchased) the .17hmr TNT Green ammo online at RM Ammo. They had a fair supply when I ordered, and according to their website, they still have 30 units left. I’d never heard of RM until a friend turned me on to them, but the service was extremely fast. It’s not super cheap, at $12.95/box, but that’s only a couple of bucks more than regular .17hmr ammo.
If RM runs out, you can also find the TNT Green in stock at MidwayUSA. They’re getting a little more for it, about $15.99/box or $145.99/brick (500 rds).
As best I can tell, Cabelas and BassPro are not carrying this ammo yet, or at least it isn’t listed in their catalog. You can check your regular ammo sources to see if they have it as well.
The lead-free, .22lr “Short Range” ammo from CCI is still not widely available. I’d intended to take my test box out to the range this weekend, but it just wasn’t in the cards. As soon as I get a chance to get this stuff into the field, I’ll let you know what I think about it.
Thanks for the info Phillip. It’s great to finally have these. Let us know how they shoot!
February 8th, 2010 at 3:09 pm
Jake, I shot a bunch of the .22lr at the range in Vegas, shooting at both 25 and 50 yard targets. I was shooting it in a Ruger bolt action (I believe), and it was hitting pretty well on reactive targets (spinners, pop-ups, etc.). I need to try it in a couple of different rifles, and I also want to see how it performs on game. The CCI reps made clear that the .22lr ammo is designed for short range, 50 yards or less, since the bullets tend to drop off in velocity and accuracy at longer distance (due to bullet weight and design).
The .17hmr performed, as best I could tell from the bench, just like standard lead ammo. It zipped out to 100 yards and as long as I held my stuff together, I hit every target. Accuracy was definitely not an issue. Again, I’ll shoot it through my own rifle a bit more, and I should have an opportunity soon to try it on ground squirrels or jackrabbits. A full report will be forthcoming. In the meantime, if you have a .17, I’d definitely recommend picking some up and trying it yourself.
February 9th, 2010 at 6:00 am
just received the winchester 22lr lead free, any one out there shot it yet?
March 8th, 2010 at 7:04 pm
the .17 cci 16 gr lead free is accurate but really seems to lack the knockdown punch of the cci 22 mag tnt green
March 8th, 2010 at 7:07 pm
Hiya Bill,
I’ve shot the Winchester ammo at the range, but only at 25 yards. I’ve got a half-brick, but haven’t been able to get out in the field with it. I was pleased with the short-range performance, though.
As far as knock-down, the .17 lead really doesn’t compare to .22mag either… if you’re looking for oomph, the .22wmr is the way to go. The .17 is accurate and deadly on smaller critters, but it doesn’t have the weight behind it that the .22 carries.
March 8th, 2010 at 7:23 pm
Hunting ground squirrels out past 100 yards with the mag is good but hoping for good results from the lr due to quieter report. I now have 20 boxes of the lead free long rifle and 30 boxes of each the mag and .17hmr All bought on line california retailers have nothing and when they do like turners the gouge prices, they are actually asking 16 a box for the mag and dont even know about the long rifle and .17 When schwartznegers ill fated ammo restrictions go into effect most of us will have enough in our safes for a decade. The Obama effect has totally backfired.
March 8th, 2010 at 7:42 pm