Well I guess it's that time of the year...I'm getting calls about this little marketing wonder....No guns really out for it, barrels are coming and some are custom made...now onto the need or desire for one of these things.

We've been getting the press releases for over 6 months on the cartridge and I still can't figure it out except it's marketing.Nominal performance compared to the .17 HMR, same bullet, in a CCI necked down stinger case.

Now certainly I can fully understand the benefits of the .17HR and the older .17 Aguila (that was cool while it lasted)....but the .17 MachII?...

What do you expect from it and whay does it appeal to you...I am very curious as to the answers you will provide.

Is it that you can buy a barrel and have a new gun? Is it that the ammo will be "cheaper" than the .17HMR? but the performance will be somewhere in between the .22 LR and .17 HMR? What are you planning to hunt or do with it?

I don't have a .17 hmr, but if the machII is somewhere between the .22lr and the .17hmr, then I see no need for it at all.

Good point...the marketing of it bets on the following:

1. All you need to do is swap a barrel with your favorite .22 and you are good to go.
(problem is the barrels run $125+ and if you can buy a new gun for $169 (10/22) why bother with buying just the barrel. Some guns will also require gunsmithing to get the new barrel on or off...again more money.

2. It's supposed to be cheaper than the .17 HMR with not nearly the performance (2100 FPS with the same bullet). You can buy .17 HMR for like $8-9 a box...the MachII is supposed to sell for $9 a box which means $7 a box....my cost is just around $5 a box....I don't see the value.
But a lot of people are excited about it...