One of my regular visits at the SHOT Show every year is the Winchester ammo booth. Along with their advertising team at Chevalier, they’ve been really great for working with me on lead-free ammunition offerings, as well as keeping me up to date on upcoming products.
At any rate, during the media range day this year, I almost missed out on the new .17hmr rounds the company is introducing. The product manager caught me as I was leaving a demo and asked if I’d had a chance to shoot any of it yet. In moments, we were back at the table, loading some rounds into a magazine.
It’s kind of hard to really evaluate ammo at the media day, since there’s no opportunity to set up a bench, set out different targets, and check each one individually. On top of that, you’re shooting rifles that have been manhandled all day long by hundreds of people. The odds of finding a scope that’s dialed in for your specific needs are slim. So you take what you’ve got, pick something to shoot at (in this case it was spinners at about 100 yards), and see if you can hit them (I could). It was enough to make me want to get some for real field testing, and I hope that’s in the pipeline.
You’ll know as soon as I do, I promise.
In the meantime, Winchester has just officially announced the new ammo. Here’s the press release:
Winchester® Ammunition takes varmint hunting to a new level in 2011 by adding 17HMR to the Varmint Lead-Free ammunition hunting lineup.
This new lead-free load by Winchester Ammunition features a 15.5 grain bullet designed with a Polymer Tip for ultra-flat trajectories and delivers a blistering 2550 fps velocity. The Varmint LF uses a non-corrosive primer and clean burning powder to generate a sure-fire ignition every time.
“The NTX® Polymer Tip technology assures highly accurate, flat shooting bullets at all ranges,” said Brett Flaugher, vice president of sales and marketing for Winchester Ammunition. “ We work hard to offer the most innovative rimfire ammunition, and our offerings continue to expand for small game hunters and shooters.”
The new Varmint LF Bullet features:
- Velocity: 2550
- Grains: 15.5
- Bullet Type: Lead Free NTX® polymer tip jacketed hollow point
- Cartridge: 17HMR
- Availability: 2011
Sounds like the Winchester almost the same as the Hornady 15.5 NTX ammo. Who makes the NTX bullet for all these folks?