It is Wednesday again and if you are in search of wheelguns you have come to the right place! Last week we took a look at the rather thunderous Raging Hunter .44 Magnum from Taurus so this week we are going to go in a completely different direction, and check out something that is a near polar opposite as far as caliber goes. Our latest trip to the gun range involved the Taurus M17 Tracker .17 HMR (Hornady Magnum Rimfire) for some zippy, rimfire fun. Not many companies chamber the .17 HMR cartridge in a revolver anymore so we wanted to see what the M17 Tracker was all about and how it stacks up with other revolvers from Taurus and similar ones in the firearm industry as a whole. Let’s dive in and review the Taurus M17 Tracker .17 HMR!

SPECIFICATIONS: Taurus M17 Tracker .17 HMR

Like we alluded to earlier, finding a revolver chambered in .17 HMR for folks who are fans of that cartridge is a pretty rare find nowadays. This is partly what piqued our interest in taking the Taurus M17 Tracker .17 HMR for a test-drive. Personally, I am not a huge rimfire shooter, but I am a lover of wheelguns and appreciate unique firearms like this. All of the specifications for the M17 Tracker can be read below as presented by Taurus:

• 6.5″ Full-Lug, Vent Rib, Matte Stainless Barrel
• Fixed Orange Blade Front Sight & Black Outline Adjustable Rear Sight
• 7-Round Cylinder for .17 H.M.R. (Hornady Magnum Rimfire)
• Hammer-Fire Action Type (Single-Action/Double-Action)
• Medium Frame Size with Taurus “Ribber” Grip
• Transfer Bar Safety and Covered by the Taurus “Limited Lifetime Warranty”
• Overall Height: 5.30″ | Overall Width: 1.50″ | Overall Length: 10.75″
• Overall Weight: 47.00 Ounces

The full MSRP for the Taurus M17 Tracker .17 HMR is $582.87 (which is a pretty odd and specific number, to say the least). As mentioned earlier, this revolver like all Taurus firearms is covered under their Limited Lifetime Warranty in the rare event you should ever need service work for your firearm as well. A final enticing statement from Taurus can be read in this Press Release off of their website regarding the M17 Tracker:

Exceptionally rugged and reliable, the Taurus Tracker® 17 is designed to handle everything it delivers. A proven design combined with the patented Taurus Ribber Grip® means you’ll have no trouble handling the Tracker in the field or on the range.

FIRST LOOK: Taurus M17 Tracker .17 HMR

When it comes to popping the lid opening on the box of this Taurus there are a lot of familiar features melded across various Taurus revolvers we all may have seen before. One attribute that is common among a lot of Taurus wheelguns is a full-lug barrel. A full-lug equipped barrel can be a good or bad thing depending on what side of the fence you sit on in regards to weight. The full-lug adds more weight to the nose of the firearm which can create a stabilizing effect and aid in improving accuracy. Conversely, for someone who may carry this revolver in the field varmint hunting or otherwise, it adds more weight which on long days in the outdoors can become burdensome.

The barrel also has a vent rib which is once again an element that some shooters may or may not prefer. The vent rib raises the height of your sighting plane when aiming; thus, when you acquire your sight picture from a holstered position, as an example, there is less travel involved to obtain your sight picture. You are holding the revolver millimeters lower when pointing and holding a good shooting stance. The difference between a vent rib barrel versus a non-vent rib barrel, and the difference in travel achieving a sight picture is infinitesimally small. But again, it is a preference thing. Less travel for a sight picture, you do not hold your posture as high aiming, and it is more weight into the overall frame.

The next most immediately noticeable trait is the Taurus “Ribber” grip. It is their trademark rubber grip with a ribbed aesthetic and texture to it. I have always found this grip in the past to be very comfortable on everything from large magnum cartridges down to light rimfire rounds. The give-and-take of the Ribber grip is that all of those ribbed areas can occasionally collect dirt, but that is easily cleaned as well.

Other thoughts I gathered are that the M17 Tracker has some definite heft to it for a rimfire revolver and the general mechanical workings of the revolver are pretty crisp. Out of the box, this appears to be a good functioning, clean, and attractive revolver. The only thing left to do is to warm it up on a cold Minnesota day, and see how it truly performs!

RANGE TIME: Taurus M17 Tracker .17 HMR

Once I got out to the range it was finally GO Time! The ammunition that I brought with was some Hornady Varmint Express .17 HMR 17 Grain V-Max. In my eyes, this is the bread-n-butter, gold standard for .17 HMR ammunition so I believed it would be a good baseline of sorts to test the Taurus M17 Tracker.

While shooting one of the first things I noticed is the recoil is negligible at best. I think most everyone could assume this, but coming from traditionally not shooting a lot of rimfire it truly was a welcomed recoil impulse. This allowed me to really focus on my trigger press, become more acquainted with the revolver, and be a better shooter. I am so used to shooting rifles and big-bore centerfire cartridges that I forgot how enjoyable and easy it is to shoot a rimfire gun like this.

Another feature I observed was the Taurus Ribber grip which actually conforms to your hand really well. Where some people believe it fails in the aesthetics and looks department, it rules in comfort and managing the firearm. Something else I appreciated was the orange painted fixed front sight blade being a good contrast to the black blade adjustable rear sight. Also, there was a small amount of space surrounding the orange front sight when it was boxed in by the rear sight. I liked the tiny bit of space because you had a better idea of the location in space of your front sight blade.

While aiming, holding the revolver with outreached arms, and generally shooting you notice the M17 Tracker has some decent heft to it. I would not view it as a negative though because it provides a good stabilizing effect while shooting more than its weight would detract from you wanting to carry it out in the field for potential varmint hunting.

All in all, it is a very accurate revolver. The nuances and movement of your grip is very apparent in the accuracy you see on paper. I think this is partly because of good tolerances on the build of the revolver, but also the zippy nature of the .17 HMR cartridge. You definitely cannot daydream one of your shots because it is going to glaringly show up on target and ruin the group have got going on.

The little checkerboard pattern of my targets were comprised of 1″ squares so as you can see I was getting 2″ groups of 7 rounds (one full cylinder) off-hand from 15 yards. I thought this was good accuracy for not shooting from bags or a rest coming out of a varmint revolver. The spent casings were a little tight to hand eject the cylinder, but the longer I shot the easier they began to come out. So that is something that I would tend to believe would wear in.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Taurus M17 Tracker .17 HMR

So after a range day of fun, being able to closely examine the M17 Tracker before we got gunpowder all over it, and seeing it in the gun community before testing, what are my final thoughts?… Well, it bluntly lived up to my expectations. It is an accurate .17 HMR revolver with essentially everything you need and nothing you do not.

It is as accurate as the man or woman holding it, the sights are adjustable and easy to acquire, the Ribber grip is comfortable although not pretty, and the overall feel and its mechanical workings seem very crisp and sound. For an affordable revolver that is chambered in a less-than-common cartridge for revolvers, this checks all the boxes I would like for in a varmint revolver.

The only downsides I honestly see, which are purely user preference, is the weight and the bland nature of the grips. I brought up the weight a lot simply because some people might unwittingly dive into this revolver thinking small caliber so it must be light, right? Well, it has the normal heft and mass you would expect from a 6.5″ barrel revolver. Nothing exceedingly heavy, but the diminutive round does not translate into tiny weight as well. The grips in my personal opinion are a bit simple in appearance, but as I previously stated they are tremendously functional. So, just like anything try to get one in your hand, feel it for yourself, and see if it is a good fit for you.

In closing, I want to say thank you to Taurus for allowing TFB and myself the opportunity to try out their Taurus M17 Tracker .17 HMR! That is greatly appreciated. Also, we would like to know what all of you guys and gals think? Do you believe that the Taurus M17 Tracker is something worth spending your money on? Would you carry it while camping or hiking? Shoot a league with it? Hunt with it? Let us know all of your thoughts in the Comments below! We always appreciate your feedback.

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