Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints Afield With The "New" 17 Hornet

During respits in the snow the last five days myself and several out of state Gopher Hunters have been thinning out the Ground Squirrels a bit.
One of the stand out firearms/cartridges along on these Hunts was a Ruger 77/17 Hornet heavy barrel (now referred to as Model #7212 by the folks at Ruger) owned by my friend from Illinois.
This Rifle was scoped with a Weaver 4x16 variable with fine crosshair and fine dot reticle.
Last year at this time when my friend was bidding up this Rifle on Gunbroker, he asked me what scope I would put on it and he took my advice.
He did not get this Rifle in time to set it up for last years Hunt so this was its "maiden" Hunt.
I did not get to shoot this Rifle at the range but shot it on several occassions in the Varmint fields - what a cool and efficient Rifle it is!
My friend brought along 600 rounds of loaded ammunition - about half handloads and half factory stuff, he has been collecting/gathering this stuff for over a year now.
I shot the Hornady factory 20 grain V-Max ammo.
It literally "juiced" the Ground Squirrels!
The trajectory out to distances we chose to shoot (250 yards or so) at made for easy hits on these diminutive Varmints.
And at those times when the snow had not yet melted, the Ground Squirrels stood out like tiny black bowling pins on a white background - with this Rifle/cartridge combination it was almost NOT fair.
The highlight of the week with this Rifle was a one shot kill on a big Badger that I spotted for my friend. Him being from Illinois he had never killt a Badger before so he got the honors.
He set up his 17 Hornet and as the Badger was facing us I told him to aim for the Badgers ""Adams Apple" - one shot at 138 Leica lasered yards and that Badger was dead right there.
My friend was so proud and rightfully so - the Badger was still well furred and is in my freezer awaiting the return of my taxidermist from a spring Bear Hunt.
No exit hole or pelt damage was evident at all.
For some reason my friend wanted to install an "improved" Brownells trigger ($80.00) and accompanying spring in his Rifle.
He does not have a trigger gauge so's I put mine to work on his factory trigger and it repeated at 3 pounds 10 ounces - and I thought it was fairly crisp and no creep.
Anyway on the evening he got here we installed and then filed away on the new Brownell set-up to get it to function.
This adjustable Brownells trigger came out at an ultra-crisp 1 pound 10 ounces and we decided to leave it right there with no further adjustments tried.
This light trigger pull was in fact a help on those many occassions during the week when our fingers were cold and numb!
Function & reliability of the 77/17 Hornet were flawless and the rotary magazine is without equal in the magazine world.
The magazine held 6 rounds and with one round in the chamber those 7 round strings kept us "in the game".
The magazine also fits flush to the bottom of the laminated Ruger stock.
I have been on and off over the last year myself in acquiring one of these Ruger 77/17 Hornets and in fact had acquired 4 of the rotary magzines in a years worth of searching (in anticipation of finding a Rifle). I sold two of them to my friend from Illinois and still have two left.
I have been unable to find ANY 17 Hornet brass over the past year but did buy a few boxes of the Hornady factory ammo to supplement my friends supply.
My friend gets 3,700 F.P.S. with his 20 grain V-Max handloads - this is amazing performance from such a small cartridge case!
No word yet on brass life as this Rifle is just to new to my friend.
The bolt on his 77/17 Model 7212 was pretty smooth and just felt strong to me.
I much prefer the Ruger to the "other" 17 Hornet factory Rifle I looked over.
The "hots" have re-entered my body for one of these Ruger 77/17 Hornets.
I just wish brass or next in line "factory ammo" were more readily available (available at all!).
I give this Ruger Rifle (as now set up) and the 17 Hornet cartridge a solid 95 on a scale of 1 to 100!
I'll be glad when this "ammo/component" situation gets over with (IF it ever does?).
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Nice report.. Glad there are some gophers left somewhere in the west.. Keep shooting..

The Cooper 17 Akley Hornet I've killed woodchucks with has always amazed me as it uses so little powder and yet anchors the tuff NJ/NY chucks in their tracks. It's not my gun and I can't afford a Cooper so it's good to know I have a cheaper alternative in the Ruger. My last Ruger 22 Hornet shot beyond terrible. Here we need a quieter report with the population of gun haters. Nice report.

I have a Savage 25 and enjoy it very much. It is deadly.
Steve

Sounds like fun!

I had ten boxes of 17 Hornet ammo and box of brass . Uses one box to site in my new CZ 527 Varmint rifle and to shoot a few prairie dogs. While siting in the rifle I got sub 1/2 inch 100 yard groups with the 20 grain bullet factory ammo. Come the first nice day my Cooper 17 HMR and the CZ 17 Hornet will be out picking on the prairie dogs.

Bracer: Wow!
1/2" groups with the 17 Hornet!
That is a great selling point/endorsement of both the 17 Hornet cartridge and the CZ Rifle.
Have fun when the weather "stabilizes".
Cap'a couple for me.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Dusty246: I had one of "those" Ruger 77/22 Hornets and I had the same results you did.
Cool gun - just did not shoot well at all.
Dittoes that with a half dozen other 22 Hornet Rifles of various models and manufacturers I have tried over the decades.
I have always wanted a Cooper of my own - I get tired of begging my shooting partners to shoot theirs.
Someday.
Thanks for the kind words.
Keep after'em.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

My CZ .17 Hornet averages about 1/2" for 5-shot groups with factory ammo, and with several handloads with bullets from 20-30 grains as well. In fact, so far it has always shot under an inch with ANY handload. The set trigger breaks very cleanly at 1-1/4 pounds when set, a little over 3 when unset. That's right out of the box.

One thing I've found is H4198 works more consistently in hot weather than some other powders. It may not get quite the zip of A1680 or Li'l Gun, but I'll gladly give up 100 fps for consistent velocity and accuracy in warmer temps, plus longer lasting brass.

Mule Deer: I am probably NOT telling you anything new, but for a factory Rifle shooting Varmint style bullets to shoot as well as yours does says something about the "inherent" accuracy of both the 17 Hornet and CZ Rifles!
I have copied your powder suggestion for my loading log and for my FUTURE 17 Hornet load development!
I am getting revved up again for a 17 Hornet - as soon as I buy some 17 Hornet brass I am gonna take the plunge!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy