Pat Cascio’s Product Review: Ruger’s Model 77/17 in .17 WSM

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I remember when the .17 WSM (Winchester Super Magnum) round first came out, and I believe it was Savage Arms who was the first gun maker to chamber this hot, new round in their rifle. Everyone was jumping on the bandwagon to get this new rifle and new caliber. I sat back and waited for a while before taking a close look at the .17 WSM. I liked what I saw and what my results were in my testing. Still, I wasn’t about to run out and buy a rifle chambered in .17 WSM.

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Ruger recently announced their Model 77/17 rotary magazine rifle in .17 WSM, and after looking over the press release I decided to order one. To be sure, the Ruger Model 77 is one stout rifle in any caliber you get it in, and it has been my experience that they are exceptionally accurate, too. I’ve never been disappointed by a Ruger Model 77, EVER! The model under review here is the American walnut stocked version with a stainless steel barrel. The gun comes without any sights, so you need to mount a scope. The barrel is 24 inches long, and the rotary magazine holds six rounds, though I was hoping for ten rounds. The rifle comes in at 7.50-lbs, but it actually feels a little heavier than that to my way of thinking. The wood on my sample didn’t disappoint; it was beautiful. The bolt action itself operated smoothly and had a 90-degree throw to operate it. The Model 77 comes with integral scope mounts, machined directly into the receiver. Ruger also provides scope rings with the rifle, which is nice! The three position safety allows you to lock the bolt to load and unload the rifle with the safety on. The only thing needed was ammo and a scope. I mounted a Leupold 3-9X40 scope and grabbed some Winchester .17 WSM ammo from the gun shop. I got their 20-gr polymer tipped fodder, and I was ready to go.

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I’m not all that familiar with the .17 WSM. My only experience was with it in a borrowed Savage rifle for an article, and I didn’t shoot as much as I would have liked to. Ammo was in very short supply back in 2013. A few words on the .17 WSM ammo is in order. This caliber descended from the .27 caliber nail gun blank, by necking it down to take a .17 caliber bullet. Muzzle velocity is around 3,000 FPS, and, of course, this is a rimfire round and not a center fire round.

The .17 WSM was designed, in my humble opinion, to be a very flat shooting rimfire round, capable of taking game the size of coyote and smaller out to several hundred yards, which are ranges the .22 LR, .22 Mag can only dream of doing. Winchester claims this is the fastest rim fire round in the world, and I have no reason to doubt or argue this claim. Nothing else even comes close in velocity!

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I haven’t been out varmint hunting in quite a few years, unless you consider moles in my front yard as varmints. Any more, I just blast ’em with a shotgun when I see a new mound appearing in my yard. I used to hunt my brother-in-law’s ranch in southern Oregon. I’d hunt ground squirrels, where on a good day I could easily kill a couple hundred in his front field alone in early Spring. I mostly used a .22 LR rifle or handgun of some sort, and I had to get close; the front field on his ranch in about 300 acres. However, if I had this Ruger M77 in .17 WSM, I could have set up a shooting table on the hill and sat there all day long, picking off those little critters without having to move all over the field in order to get closer for a shot.

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I zeroed the Ruger at 100 yards, and I wasn’t too worried about drop out to 200+ yards because the .17 WSM is very flat shooting, as I mentioned. It took me a bit of doing to get the Leupold scope fine-tuned with the itty-bitty .17 caliber bullets. I wanted the best zero possible for my testing. During my shooting, I fired more than 200 rounds of ammo, most of it downrange at 100 yards, and if I did my part I could get groups slightly larger than one inch, if the wind wasn’t blowing. When the wind blew, I was all over the target, due to some strong winds on the mountain where I shoot sometimes. I believe the Ruger is capable of groups under an inch, with the right ammo and if I’m really on my game. I only had the 20-gr Winchester poly tipped ammo for my testing. Ammo is still a bit hard to come by these days. All shooting was from a shooting bag, over a large boulder, and it was a bit lower than I liked, but it worked just fine for my testing. I suspect, if I had gone prone, I might have gotten better groups with the Ruger.

When I tested the Savage Arms rifle in .17 WSM, it was an okay performer, and it was priced about right. However, this Ruger M77 is the cream of the crop. We are talking about a big game rifle, for the most part, that is sized down (the action) to handle the .17 WSM round. The gun doesn’t have to be this well made; however, it is, and I love it. Needless to say, there was zero recoil with this 7.5-lbs rifle.

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I’m a bit surprised though, that when Ruger jumped on the .17 WSM caliber, that they didn’t chamber this round in their American Rimfire Rifle or their 10/22 (10/17?) to start with and then work their way up to the cream of the crop– the M77. I’m hoping that Ruger will at least work on the American Rimfire Rifle and find a way to chamber it in .17 WSM to make it much more affordable to the consumer. The M77 in .17 WSM has a full retail of $999. That’s not cheap, but then again no other rifle chambered in this caliber comes close to the quality of the Ruger M77. Still, one can hope that the engineers at Ruger and the powers-that-be will decided to chamber the .17 WSM caliber in the American Rimfire Rifle or the Ruger semiauto 10/22 line-up.

So, where exactly does the new Ruger M77 .17 WSM fit in, in the scheme of things? Well, to be sure, it’s an outstanding caliber for varmint hunting at ranges far beyond what any .22 caliber round can even begin to think about taking game cleanly. Secondly, ammo prices have finally started to come down quite a bit for the .17 WSM; so that’s real good news. However, the ammo is still a bit hard to find, so shop around for the best prices and quantity you need. Also, from a survival standpoint, I can see the little .17 WSM being used for hunting small game, cleanly, not wondering if your .22 LR or .22 WMR will get the job done. Also, the round is much quieter to shoot, so you can do some hunting without disturbing the neighbors out in the country. You don’t want everyone knowing that, in a survival situation, you are able to get some game meat. A big center-fire rifle will surely draw attention your way when you pull the trigger.

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I’m really starting to get sold on the .17 WSM round, now that I’ve had a little more experience with it, now that more gun companies have jumped on-board, and having Ruger come out with the M77 in .17 WSM is just an added bonus in my book. Check one out at your local gun shop, I think you’ll be as impressed as I was with the M77. Then again, Ruger doesn’t disappoint!

– Senior Product Review Editor, Pat Cascio

Recipe of the Week: Grandmother Upton’s Shortcake, by Nan

Here is my grandmother Upton’s shortcake recipe. This is fantastic with strawberries or peaches. Of course, Grandma served this with some real whipped cream. It serves six.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups of flour
  • 5 tsp. (rounded) baking powder
  • 1 good pinch of salt
  • 5 Tbsp. Crisco, butter, or margarine
  • 3 tsp. sugar
  • slightly less than 3/4 cup whole milk

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
  3. Using a fork or pastry cutter, blend together the dry ingredients with the Crisco and sugar.
  4. Stir in the whole milk.
  5. Using a fork, press mixture into a 9″ round cake pan.
  6. Bake in preheated oven for 17 minutes. Take a fork and lift under the shortcake; it should be brown. If brown on bottom, then it is done and is ready to remove from the oven.
  7. Serve with fruit or topping of choice and optional whipped cream.
  8. Enjoy!

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Useful Recipe and Cooking Links:

Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? Please send it via e-mail. Thanks!

Letter Re: EMP Shielding

HJL,

Hi! Can anyone tell me why parking your vehicle in a metal building will not provide the same EMP shielding as a metal ammo box or trash can? If my building is all steel, with no windows and has a metal roll up door, then where is the wave penetration? I was wondering if any experts out there knew the answer. Thanks. – R.M.

HJL Responds: The key to a Faraday cage is that the construction has good electrical conductivity across the entire surface and that there are no “holes” that are large enough to allow significant leakage through the barrier. This is usually accomplished with press fit seals on doors and windows along with solid connections on the seams. A metal garage is usually put together with standard construction practices that may or may not meet the criteria required for good electrical conductivity and minimization of gaps or holes. The metal panels are usually screwed together with standard hardware and the screws are spaced based on the mechanical strength rather than the electrical properties. They are generally too far apart and they may not even make a good electrical connection. If there is an electrical connection, it can change over time as the exposed metal corrodes. In addition, the floor usually does not have any shielding in it, allowing significant leakage that way.

It is possible to build a metal building with the right properties, but you have to start out knowing that is what you want, because it can be difficult to retrofit afterwards.

Odds ‘n Sods:

The WHY of the Christian States of America.. – C.B.

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It’s good to see some good peace officers out there! Constitutionally aware police officer dresses down thug security guard – T.P.

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The Army’s robo-exoskeleton will help soldiers shoot straighter – D.S.

HJL Adds: This will be an interesting development to follow. It has always been my understanding that the tremors it is designed to combat are not the issue with “misses” but instead it’s the co-ordination with simultaneously pulling the trigger and holding on target. Our brains have a tendency to want to jerk or pull to the side causing the miss.

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I guess this is better than calling 911 because your pizza delivery was late – but just barely. ‘Offended’ flea market shopper calls 911 over Confederate merchandise This whole issue is getting out of control. – D.S.

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Food storage for $5 per week – J.C.

Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“The common denominator in all government activity is the use of force: Government either forces you to do things, forces you not to do things, or forces you to pay for things.” – Doug Newman

Letter Re: Pound Sand, Your Honor

James or Hugh,

Regarding Odds & Sods, Monday, 6 July 2015 in reference to New American Article; “Pound Sand, Your Honor. More Americans Want States To Ignore Federal Courts”, apparently there is some ignorance afoot about the federal courts, and the federal government.

  1. The citizens need to learn that the federal government was created by the original states and allotted certain specific duties for each branch to carry out, and given ONLY those duties.
  2. Thomas Jefferson, in 1798, and James Madison, in 1799, together established the legal action of NULLIFICATION; as a legal means for the citizens and states to counter ANY un-Constitutional laws or decisions by any part of the federal government, such as the recent SCOTUS legislating, un-Constitutionally, from the bench. That does include the Supreme Court of the U.S., which is NOT the final word on any Constitutional question but rather by the citizens and the states. This concept has been lost in recent times, and the public needs to be re-educated on their rights and duties. The Article Title is itself almost right but needs to be carried out through the legal action of NULLIFICATION.

“For, whenever a question arises between the society at large and any magistrate vested with powers originally delegated by that society, it must be decided by the voice of the society itself: there is not upon earth any other tribunal to resort to.”

– Sir William Blackstone, Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England, Book I, Chapter 3, pp. 205-206

(my underline, noting the origin of said “vested powers”; ie, the Original States)

– E.C.

Economics and Investing:

Tsipras Betrays Referendum, Sells Out to the Banks – H.L.

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China Stocks and the New York Stock Exchange Shutdown: The Untold Story – H.L.

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It’s Not If But When the Government Seizes Private Retirement Savings – B.B.

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Brief interview w/Paul Craig Roberts. This is the best analysis of the E.U./Greek crisis you’ll hear. Why can’t a few more people step forward and frame this thing as plainly as P.C.R.? The whole interview is a grand slam homer, but if you can only listen for five minutes, minute 12 to minute 17 draw the picture well enough. -D.W.

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SurvivalBlog reader G.H. prepared a spreadsheet of bank closings since 2001. It’s quite an eye opener, as you can see from the summary here.

Year

Bank Failures

Link

President

2015

?

source

Obama

2014

18

source

Obama

2013

24

source

Obama

2012

51

source

Obama

2011

92

source

Obama

2010

157

source

Obama

2009

140

source

Obama

2008

25

source

Bush

2007

3

source

Bush

2006

0

source

Bush

2005

0

source

Bush

2004

4

source

Bush

2003

3

source

Bush

2002

11

source

Bush

2001

4

source

Bush

Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner: this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people: for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them: and they left him, and went their way.” Mark 12:10-12 (KJV)

Notes for Saturday – July 11, 2015

On July 11, 1804, in a duel held in Weehawken, New Jersey, Vice President Aaron Burr fatally shot his long-time political antagonist Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton, a leading Federalist and the chief architect of America’s political economy, died the following day.

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Today, we present another entry for Round 59 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $12,000+ worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,195 value),
  2. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  3. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper with a hammer forged, chromlined barrel and a hard case to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR type rifle to have quick change barrel, which can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools, and a compact carry capability in a hard case or 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  4. Gun Mag Warehouse is providing 20 Magpul pmags 30rd Magazines (a value of $300) and a Gun Mag Warehouse T-Shirt. (An equivalent prize will be awarded for residents in states with magazine restrictions.),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A pre-selected assortment of military surplus gear from CJL Enterprize (a $300 value),
  7. A Model 120 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $340 value),
  8. A $300 gift certificate from Freeze Dry Guy,
  9. A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo,
  10. KellyKettleUSA.com is donating both an AquaBrick water filtration kit and a Stainless Medium Scout Kelly Kettle Complete Kit with a combined retail value of $304,
  11. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $300 gift certificate, and
  12. Two cases of meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Second Prize:

  1. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  2. A FloJak EarthStraw “Code Red” 100-foot well pump system (a $500 value), courtesy of FloJak.com,
  3. The Ark Institute is donating a non-GMO, non-hybrid vegetable seed package–enough for two families of four, seed storage materials, a CD-ROM of Geri Guidetti’s book “Build Your Ark! How to Prepare for Self Reliance in Uncertain Times”, and two bottles of Potassium Iodate– a $325 retail value,
  4. A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials,
  5. Twenty Five books, of the winners choice, of any books published by PrepperPress.com (a $270 value),
  6. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $150 gift certificate, and
  7. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site.

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  3. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances,
  6. APEX Gun Parts is donating a $250 purchase credit,
  7. Montie Gear is donating a Precision Rest (a $249 value), and
  8. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).

Round 59 ends on July 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Beyond The B’s…Now What? – Part 2, by Jason (Soon To Be In The Redoubt)

Don’t Be Too Cool For School

SurvivalBlog readers, at least on the greater web, believe it or not, have a reputation as being amongst the more educated and affluent members of the preparedness community. Take that for what you will, but up until quite recently I had relied on a work ethic, intelligence, and blessings to continue to secure my rise in my chosen field. I had left college some eight years ago after being stuck in the “somewhere in my senior year” quagmire for what seemed like forever, after deciding that I had plenty of opportunity in my chosen field without it. Fast forward to last winter, and I had basically hit a plateau in my field. I’m blessed, don’t get me wrong, but I was also stuck. The position I really wanted to move into in my company required a degree in Business Administration, which was my prior major. Experience was not considered in lieu of the degree, therefore one might as well not even look at the posted position without one. So, I went to speak with the admissions department of a relatively well known midwestern university not too far away to ask about what it would take to transfer and finish my degree. What a surprise! I was only six classes away (conveniently the minimum number of courses that the university requires you to take there for them to confer their degree upon you. I did the math, and I thought, “That’s only a year to finish. I can do that!”

So I applied for and received my companies’ tuition reimbursement program and worked towards finishing this up. Well, the big wigs showed up at my regional job site for the yearly dog and pony show, and one of the Senior VP’s recognized me. (I had worked for a year at Corporate Headquarters on the east coast before transferring to the midwest; again, that’s another article entirely.) The Senior VP is a very nice lady who remembered me, asked how I was doing, and how I liked my job. Figuring I had very little to lose, I told her how much I enjoyed my job and was grateful for their help transferring, but I also mentioned that my true career goal was in Acquisitions and that I was going to school to finish my degree to try and move into that department. She said all of the right things that you say to employees in that situation– “That’s great; let me know if I can help” and so forth. I really didn’t consider it much, until about a week later when I came into work and found an e-mail from her waiting for me, asking me when I would graduate. There was a position open in Acquisitions. It was not pressing, and she had thought of me. I told her my expected graduation date, and the conversation continued. I won’t bore you further with the details, but I was offered the job pending completion of my degree in August. I told that story so that I could tell this one. My wife and I dreamed for a long time of moving to the American Redoubt. Part of the negotiations for my accepting the position was…, wait for it, …the right to telecommute from anywhere in the country where high speed data connection exists. It is with the understanding that I am at the beckon call of my bosses to travel to Virginia or Los Angeles (our two coastal headquarters) at company expense. I can’t imagine a more perfect opportunity. My wife and I have our first planned visit to northern Idaho/western Montana in two weeks to look for property. We’re looking for a minimum of ten acres, and seclusion comes right after the availability of satellite Internet on the “list of wants and needs”.

So, when you can gain some knowledge and complete some sort of schooling relevant to your field (especially if your company participates in any sort of tuition reimbursement program, as many do nowadays), take advantage of it. You never know where the opportunity might take you in your preparedness efforts. While it’s true that I would’ve preferred to take some welding courses instead of Corporate Law, welding would not have likely gotten me my ticket to the relocation my wife and I had been praying for.

Get Out of Town

I’m willing to bet that if you’re reading this, there is a great chance that you currently don’t live where you really want to live. It’s true for me, and there is no shame in it. However, there is something you need to ponder upon, and it is this; if you are reading this blog regularly and preparing to the best of your abilities, you do not think like the rest of society at large. I think most of us can agree that is a good thing. If you do not think like the rest of society, the sad fact is that you don’t belong. You don’t fit in there, and you shouldn’t want to. The good news is that there are a lot of folks who don’t belong, and they are clustering, not just inside the American Redoubt but in the rural areas all over our great nation. If you are in an urban setting and see the writing on the wall, my friend, it is time to leave. Oh, I know, you can’t pick up today and drive to Wyoming. You have your job and your mortgage and your kids are in school and your uncle needs to be taken care of and all of your friends live here and a million other things that are keeping you where you are. As I mentioned earlier, it’s amazing what we can’t do when we put our minds to not achieving it. Maybe, well even probably, you are unable to just pick up and leave. But, most assuredly, you can pray to Our Heavenly Father to show you His path for you, and you can ask Him to lead you down it. And then, if He moves your heart towards relocation, you can accept the fact that you should obey His command and not tempt His mercy. And then, you can work towards it. You can start by wrapping your mind around the idea that if God has put it on your heart to prepare, and that your city is not safe, that you should probably try and leave it. You can start to look into putting your house on the market. You can poke around your job at the office and test the waters of telecommuting. (In Corporate America, it’s an “ask not, get not” culture.) If you receive a cool reception, you can hop on this wonderful Internet and look for jobs in your field in a safer area. You can trade that impractical Nissan Versa in for a 4WD Silverado. You can do a bit of digging around at available properties in central Montana. You can take a few days of vacation, fly into Spokane, and take a trip a few hours west to get a feel for the area. I know that I have been immensely blessed with the opportunities provided to me, and that the Lord blesses each of us in different ways, but I also know that if we follow His will, He will open the doors for us to walk through them. Taking that step is up to you; He won’t do it for you. And personally, I’ve no desire to meet my Maker and have to account for why, when He allowed me to see the storm clouds on the horizon and put it on my heart to leave, I refused to take the initiative to follow His lead. Talk about an uncomfortable conversation that would be!

There is Always More

None of the aforementioned at all is meant to be or sound boastful. I am the least among you, and I have a ridiculous amount to learn about so many things. My only hope (other than the Lord) is that I am fortunate enough to recognize that I don’t know anything. It remains a journey and a learning experience, even among the basics that I’m not entirely sure any of us ever truly master completely. Alas, there are a million things “Beyond the B’s”. We could all chime in and discuss them for days, but In the end what order we take them and how we go about achieving them is up to us, individually. More than anything, though, I would like to close by reiterating not to put the cart before the horse. I return to the sage advice mentioned earlier: “Make sure your three B’s are squared away first!”

Letter Re: Most Important Prepping

HJL,

Regarding CC in Ohio, while concerned about his current status, he is also way ahead in that he is aware and attempting to get to his personal end result. He has weapons, ammo, food, he’s a HAM, and he has the mindset that shows he is watching and planning. Many of us (I’m in my 60s and active) understand that we no longer have physical youth on our side. Teamwork is putting together a team that works well together. I’m sure that if CC can keep his ears open, I feel certain he’ll find someone that would love him on their team. Virginia might be too far for CC, but I’d add him in an instant if he were in my neck of the woods. – Piper in Virginia

Economics and Investing:

Premier Bank is the sixth FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the first in Colorado. – G.G.

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China lost the equivalent of 14 Greeces over the last month: Why the actions of banning short selling and punishing the market taken by the Chinese government will backfire.

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Items from Mr. Econocobas:

Greek Deal in Sight as Germany Bows to Huge Global Pressure for Debt Relief

Greece’s Tsipras to Sell Austerity Deal to Reluctant Party – We are truly living through some crazy weeks here globally from an economic perspective.

With Cash Fast Running Out, Greek Bank Failures Loom