I wasn't sure what to make of the diminutive .17 HMR when I first read the press releases, but any questions I had about its usefulness disappeared the first time I fired it. I was able to smack rocks way out there, and it got there a lot faster than my old .22 Magnum. Plus, it was devastating on Texas-sized jackrabbits.

I've fired all sorts of .17 HMRs over the years. From heavy-barreled varmint rigs to lightweight lever guns, I've shot them all. They all have their good points, but when it comes to pretty, the subject of this review--Savage's 93R17--is tough to beat.

The heart of the 93R17 is its tubular receiver. Tubular receivers are easy and economical to build, which is how Savage makes such a pretty gun so inexpensive. And tubular receivers sacrifice nothing in terms of accuracy and reliability.

The rimfire's bolt has no locking lugs. Instead, lockup is via the root of the bolt handle's fit into the corresponding cutout in the rear of the receiver. Two small extractor hooks--one on each side of the boltface--pull fired cases from the chamber. The fixed ejector rides in a cutout in the bottom of the bolt and spits the empties out the ejection port.

The 93R17's two-position safety is located in the usual spot, just behind the ejection port. Forward is "Fire," and rearward is "Safe." The lever on my rifle engaged positively yet was smooth and easy to operate. The safety does not lock the bolt, which is something I like because that allows me to load and unload the rifle with the safety on.

A detachable, five-round magazine of stamped steel feeds the 93R17. The magazine juts about 0.35 inch below the rifle. The magazine release lever, which is just behind the magazine, protrudes a quarter-inch more. The magazine fed flawlessly and was a snap to load, though I would gladly sacrifice a round of capacity for a sleeker, flush-mounted design.

My test 93R17 Classic's stock is a pretty one. The classic design is carved from a very attractive piece of walnut, and decent checkering and an ebony fore-end tip round out the cosmetics.

Savage's superb AccuTrigger is standard. Mine came set from the factory at a very clean 2.5 pounds. That is right at the minimum of its adjustment range, which Savage gives as 2.5 to 6 pounds.

The 93R17 comes with a 24-inch, sporter-weight barrel that measures 0.568 inch at the muzzle. As with all Savage rifles, the barrel is button-rifled in-house, and its crown is recessed to protect it from accuracy-robbing dings and scratches.

The recoil lug is dovetailed to the underside of the barrel just ahead of the front-most action screw, and it is held in place with a setscrew. The round, steel lug fits into a matching recess in the stock, as do the two action-screw pillars. Like the AccuTrigger and button-rifled barrel, the recoil-lug design is proof that this rimfire was purpose-built for accuracy.

Weaver-style scope bases are standard, and I used a set of Warne rings to mount a well-used, sleek, little Leupold 2-7X scope on my review rifle. That outfit gave me all the confidence I needed to really wring out the 93R17's accuracy.

The 93R17’s bolt has no locking lugs. Instead, the root of the bolt handle locks up in a cutout in the tubular receiver. The 93R17’s magazine fed flawlessly, but Greg thinks it protrudes from the bottom of the rifle a bit much. That is his only complaint about the 93R17. Greg says Savage’s AccuTrigger is a darn-good factory trigger. The 93R17’s trigger is adjustable from 2.5 to 6 pounds of pull.