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Noob looking for advice Advice on Rimfire Rifle and Scope; CZ, Savage?

Jjustus16

Private
Minuteman
Apr 4, 2023
9
0
Indiana
How’s it going everyone. New to the forum, but not new to shooting. I’m excited to be around some experience and great minds. I will preface with I am sorry, I’m going to ask a lot of questions. It’s one of my character flaws lol.

I recently graduated and now have time to pursue my interests so I’ve been getting back into shooting. I’m no expert by any means as I mostly grew up an Indiana shot gun hillbilly and have limited exposure to rifles from my time when I did military cosplay (National Guard.)

I’m currently running a Tikka T3X in .223 with an SWFA fixed 4 on it to focus on fundamentals. While at the range the other day I shot my buddies marlin .17 HMR and immediately knew I had to have one (for myself, and to get my girlfriend into shooting with me, but mostly for myself 😂)

I’ve read through these threads and it looks like a lot of people are running a Tikka T1X or some variation of a CZ 457 for the sub 1k crowd. I’ve been heavily considering both and was ready to pull the trigger on a CZ 457 varmint, and than the unthinkable happened: I came across Savage’s B17 precision lite in .17 HMR..

My experience with a savage has been limited to handling them in the store. Although it wasn’t a B17, it was their rifle in 6.5 PRC that also comes with a proof barrel. I have to say, aesthetically they are pleasing and I’ve heard they’re good guns for the price point, but the one I handled had an action that was absolutely atrocious. Is this a common problem in the brand, even in their upper echelon of rifles?

The reason I am so heavily considering it is, I have heard great things about the proof barrels, and it comes with an MDT stock. My rationale is: I will be more ready to move towards match shooting on a rifle I am familiar with and have put thousands of rounds through when my skill develops to that level.

Also, what are opinions on scopes. I don’t need it to be a bullet proof nightforce and would like to stay under 1k for an optic as I feel like anything past would be overkill on either platform I own or will own (.223 and .17 HMR) at my current skill level. With that being said I do plan to move up the board to bigger and better things one day and I am very much a buy once cry once type of individual. I’ve read some really great things about Zeiss’ LRP S3 and I am foaming at the mouth over it.

Sorry to rant at you on my first post and I look forward to hearing from all of you. P.S. don’t be afraid to tell me my thinking is out of whack and I’m an idiot. I’m here to learn, not tell you how I know everything.
 
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If just hunting/plinking then the Savage will serve you as well as the CZ. Planning on PRS or NRL22 then a stock CZ457 Varmint is the way to go...very competitive rifle for base class and plenty of options to build it up to Open should you choose to down the road....that's 22LR of course, not 17HMR.
 
If you got a Walmart that sells gun nearby then look at Savage93 17 in a Red At One stock with scope for around approxiamtely 487 bucks or less. Same as for Mk 2 22lr Green At One for $458 at least at the Walmart I go to. I think Im going back next time to get the Green Mk2 because its cheap just to see how it shoots. I'm not sure if Savage will out shoot my CZ though but it worth a try to find out and have fun in the process.
 
If just hunting/plinking then the Savage will serve you as well as the CZ. Planning on PRS or NRL22 then a stock CZ457 Varmint is the way to go...very competitive rifle for base class and plenty of options to build it up to Open should you choose to down the road....that's 22LR of course, not 17HMR.
CZ457 is switch barrel. It can be a 17HMR with just a slip in aftermarket barrel and a mag.