.17 Rimfire

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.17 Rimfire may refer to a number of different cartridges or firearms that use them. The cartridges all use rimfire cases and fire .17 inch (4.5 mm) bullets. While .17 caliber airguns generally use .177 inch projectiles (4.50 mm), .17 caliber firearms, both rimfire and centerfire, generally measure .172 inch (4.37 mm).

.17 Rimfire cartrdges include:

• .17 Hornaday Magnum Rimfire, or .17 HMR, the first major production .17 caliber rimfire, introduced in 2002
• .17 Hornaday Mach 2, or .17 MH2, introduced in 2004.
• The .17 PMC/Aguila or .17 High Standard. These names all refer to the same cartridge developed by Mexican ammunition maker Aguila and introduced as .17 High Standard and .17 Aguila in 2003/2004. While the cartidge was marketed, it was greatly overshadowed by the much larger .17 HM2 release, and few firearms are available chambered for them (most being aftermarket conversions of .22 Long Rifle firearms). The cartridge was subseqently offered under the .17 PMC name as well. The .17 PMC/Aguila uses a 0.100" shorter case and a slightly different shoulder angle than the .17 HM2, but will chamber in most .17 HM2 firearms (but not vise versa). The .17 PMC/Aguila a similar bullet at a lower velocity than typical .17 HM2 loadings. There is no SAAMI specification for these catridges.
• Any of a number of .17 caliber wildcat cartridges based on rimfire cases. Most of these were, like the .17 HMR, based on the .22 WMR.

[edit] References

• Article on .17 Aguila/.17 PMC
• Brownell's comparision of .17 HS/Aguila/PMC and .17 HM2 cartridges