Citadel Trakr .17 HMR

I have wanted a .17 HMR for quite some time for various reasons. One reason or another I always came up with justifications against it such as I have a .22 LR, I can hunt small game with other means, prices of a new rifle, etc. When I say some things in life sort of stumble into your lap, they definitely do. While at a local gun show I was scouring every booth and table for a perfect deal on something. I wasn't sure on what, but I knew I was going to not be going home empty handed. Towards the end of the day, I had made countless loops looking at the same stuff all day, then I finally stopped at a booth that had caught my eye earlier in the day. I saw the Citadel Trakr on the gun rack chambered in .22WMR and .17 HMR. To make a long story short which I will pick apart later on in this article, I ended up walking out with the Citadel Trakr .17HMR!

First Thoughts

When I first picked up the Citadel Trakr, I was blown away by the weight of this rifle. It is synthetic, lightweight, but the plastic is very durable feeling. When I worked the bolt (which I have the bolt action (they come in Semi-Auto in .22LR) I was impressed by how smooth the bolt action was. Another cherry on the top of the cake was the trigger action. It does not have a heavy trigger, nor a hairline. It is a smooth pull which I love. The price of this rifle was also hard to beat. At the gun show it was $215 and came out around $250 after taxes and all that fun stuff. For that price I couldn't turn it down and couldn't wait to get some rounds down range through it! 

Specifications

Bolt Action-

Calibers: 22WMR, 22LR, 17HMR

Length: 36.75"

Barrel: 18"

Weight: 4 lbs.

Threaded Barrel: 22WMR, 17HMR- 1/2x20

Frame System: Synthetic with MLOC system

Magazine: Two 5-round magazines come with it

Optic Mounts: Weaver, Picatinny bolt is too big, had to get an adapter.

First Time Firing

The first time I took mine out was to do some plinking and shoot some prairie dogs that had been wreaking havoc on a buddy's ranch. I went ahead and through a Vortex Crossfire II optic on it so I could reach out a bit further to test its capabilities. Sighting this rifle in was pretty straight forward. I liked how flat shooting the rounds heading down range were, and once I had it dialed in perfectly it was a tack driver. It is definitely a fun rifle for plinking, and I was having no problems poking out around 200-250 yards with ease. Of course, this took a few shots to get dialed in, but I was nailing prairie dogs like a game of whack-a-mole in no time. I put probably 200 rounds through it and had a blast shooting it all day long! 

Grievences

I did however have a few complaints with this rifle. Chambering a round was rather difficult for me, as the round would get caught on the lip of the barrel where it receives, and it would force the bullet into the casing. I noticed however that the more I shot it, the less this occurred. It was very frustrating at first though having every couple of rounds do this. Another complaint I had was it had a hard time ejecting the spent casings. I would go to reload, and find the casings still stuck in the barrel. This was rather annoying as I would have to manually pry them out with my Leatherman just so I could load another round. I would take the magazine out, work the bolt about 20ish times, and it still would not eject the casing. Just like the issue I had with loading a round, the more I shot it the less this occurred. I am not to upset seeing is it is a budget rifle, and I think it just needs a good break in period. If a guy was crafty, he could shave down where I round chambers to allow it better travel into place to fire. I will keep monitoring these problems I had however, and if they keep occurring, I will contact Citadel and see what they say about it. 

Final Thoughts

All in all, I am pretty impressed with the capabilities of this rifle. It is a fun gun to go out plinking with, and being budget friendly makes it even better. Of course, 17HMR isn't as cheap as 22LR, but it still is better than plinking with my AR or 6.5 Creedmoor. Despite the problems I had ran into, I still love this rifle very much. I went out and picked up an MLOC picatinny adapter so that I could attach a bipod. I ended up ordering a cheap one off of Amazon, and I love it. It was perfect coming in at $20.00. I am excited to get my suppressor so I can shoot this bad boy suppressed, which if you have never shot a suppressed gun of any caliber, it sure is a fun treat! Overall, for the price point you can't go wrong with this lightweight yet durable and fun shooting rifle!