I am looking to backorder one with a few mags.  I really like the .17hmr round for hunting/plinking and it would be awesome to have in an AR15 style platform.  I have not been able to find many reviews online.  What says the hive?  Are these GTG?

TIA!

My friend, this question has been asked many times.  AA sent a prototype rifle to several
gun writers who did review it.  Patrick Sweeny wrote of his experience (p.62, Gun Digest's
Book of the AR15 Volume 4) with an AA .17HMR upper on his lower, and while he was
diplomatic, he did describe problems encountered during his test and AA's development
of the gun.

That's been about it for press reviews by competent writers; news about guns actually in the
hands of purchasers is scarce.  AA had promised rifles and uppers to buyers who believed their
PR - myself included - only to never have the goods delivered (I cancelled after 11 months).

So approach this purchase with caution, and the very first thing I'd ask AA is "is what I want ready to ship today?"

Wishing you luck if you go that route, BTW, my wife and I are political refugees from Sandy Hook @ Bradley Lane, we
left CT and never looked back.

Ted

Ted gave you a good, honest, response and I would listen to what he had to say. Also, do some research on .17 HMR semi-auto firearms. Ask yourself why most every company that did make them have either recalled them or discontinued making them. Its a great round for a bolt gun but its been pure hell in semi-autos with a long track record of major Kabooms!.  Just look around, you will find lots of info out there.

I have a .17 bolt gun and enjoy it.....but I would not invest in any semi-auto .17 firearm. Their record is just too bad.

Thanks for the information. I will look for another caliber.  I already own a scoped NEF Single Shot .17hmr.  That rifle is a tack driver out to the 100yd berm.  Never tried it past it.

Most semi-auto .17 HMR's were .22 LR or .22 WMR rifles reconfigured to shoot the .17 HMR. Thus the bolt, etc. were not designed for the pressures of the cartridge.

Bill Alexander went the other way, and started with a rifle designed for a centerfire cartridge, and then built a completely new system for the .17.

I was privy to the design almost from day one, when I saw the earliest prototype drawings on the board on a visit to AA.

There were teething problems, of course, and it didn't like some of the .17 ammo, but I ran one of the prototypes for months, and the only real issue I had was polymer mag issues. Those have been addressed with a change in the composite used for the mags.

HOWEVER....The .17 is a descendent of the .22 LR and the .22 WMR, and the powders and primer used are noticeably dirty. That litte tiny bore can get fouled fairly easily, and it does. You can't run 1000 rounds a day and expect to function, it needs to be swabbed down and have a brush run through the bore occasionally.

I had LOTS of friends get a chance to shoot it and every single one of them would, inevitably, be giggling like a school girl by the 10th shot in the mag. It is honestly one of the most fun guns to shoot I've ever run.

The protoype I ran was sub MOA out to 100 yards with 17 grain ammo, and MOA with heavier stuff.

I've talked to several owners in the Pacific Northwest, and as soon as I ask about it, they start smiling. None of them are willing to consider selling or sending it back.

The only issue with current production is that there isn't enough of them. The backorder list is long!

Bwaites, what you've shared with us is all well and good, however, it begs the question:
If this is such a great gun/upper, why haven't we seen at least a handful of posts
saying exactly that?  

I for one, having experienced the "less than truthful" promises from AA regarding the
release of production guns and uppers, flat out refuse to believe that the product is
anything other than unreliable and quite possibly dangerously flawed.

AA has had ample time to de-bug this offering, it's been in development for what, five
years is it? Yet all we hear about are prototypes that have been handed around. That
doesn't speak well of AA.

Let's put all of the present day excuses aside and say, where are the production guns
and how do they work? Owners, please post photos of your guns/builds and let's see those
targets. I wager the response will be positively sleep inducing.

Ted

Ted,

Contrary to popular belief, the vast majority of AR owners don't know that AR15.com even exists. It's a bit of a surprise to those of us who frequent the online boards, but most people who own rifles don't show up to discuss them. That is evidenced by the fact that you see so many of the same people on different forums and recognize them. The AR boards, including here, 6.5 Grendel forums, 6.8 forums, .450 forums, etc. have a significant cross pollinization of posters. 80-90 million gun owners in America, but a tiny fraction of those on the boards.

It shouldn't come as much surprise that the few hundred owners of AR .17 HMR haven't bothered to check in and tell everyone their experience. One owner that I talked with laughed when I suggested he do a review for the forum. He said, "What, so more people will buy them and I'll be out of ammo like I am for everything else?"

They are out there, and the owners are happy. But....its a small population, and will remain so for the near future at least.

Then I suggest it is time for AA to make available to the Beta Testers here at AR15.Com
production run examples of their uppers and/or guns. The "Two Daves" and John do us a
tremendous service through their ethical and impartial testing and reporting of their findings.

Such fair and accurate evaluation provides the information that buyers like the OP require to make educated decisions.
I, and others, have come to view articles written by the gun magazine industry with skepticism as the authors risk their
very livelihoods if they dare write a piece that fails to show the manufacturer in a positive light. That hasn't been my
experience with those testers mentioned above - they have no ax to grind.

It is true that the internet is rife with those who relish in deception and the kinds of havoc that it
creates, but the testers and, many posters here, represent the body of experience gained from
the end user's perspective. In a conversation Bill Alexander had with me over the phone, he spoke of
his dislike for the internet and how an unethical person could wreck havoc through an agenda of
false information. But the opposite is also true, a great deal of good can come from those who tell
the truth. If the AA AR17 is as good as you would have us believe, AA has nothing to lose and can
benefit greatly from letting those mentioned above have an opportunity to put the AR17 through the wringer.

Witness the number of viewings here in this forum, that represents the ability to reach the part of the AR buying
public that magazines don't reach. Anyway, it is an idea worth considering.

Ted

Ted, if they can't make enough rifles now, why would they want to send 3 out for more testing? That means 3 people on the list would have to wait longer!

The market at this point is almost stupidly thin, there are no extra rifles sitting around to send out to more testers. The number of people who read AR15 reviews is miniscule compared to even the small rifle magazines.

The flip side to your question is also relevent, "If people are unhappy with their AA .17 HMR's, why aren't we hearing about it?"

I'm curious, bwaites, do you have a production model? If you do, would you be willing to share with
we, the "miniscule" cross section of gun owners who come here, some photos of the gun and your
range experience?

Ted

I don't own a production version. I wanted to buy the Beta tester I had, but Bill wanted it back. I decided to wait until the demand slowed a bit before I ordered mine. Hasn't happened, so I'm still waiting!  Here is one report from an active shooter with a high post count on ARF.com:

http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_2_455/226007_17_HMR_review.html

I know another shooter with one and I'll try to have him post a report as well.

Thanks, "b" I appreciate it.

Ted