Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles Powder/bullet suggestions for the 17 Hornet?

After a search, I just want to now pose the question to see if there are any new thoughts on the powder/bullet combo.

I guess it really didn't catch on as a viable cartridge................

I'd consult Don, Huntsman22...

Not only a campfire member, but I wouldn't be surprised if he hasn't killed more vermin with a 17 Hornet than any other guy currently alive...

If I was shooting one, he'd be the first guy I'd talk with and whatever he was loading, is exactly what I'd be loading...

seafire, he asked for 'new thoughts'. I only run the same tired, old 20vmax/lilgun load. It seems he wants something other than that. Hence no chime in.....

Caught on with me. quality of brass available now is the best yet. otherwise just a boring sub MOA round that packs way more punch than you might expect. Favorite loads for me are with 20-HP & 25-gr HP over Accurate 2200. Nothing New really other than availability of quality firearms Ammo, brass and bullets has improved substantially in the last 6 months.
CZ and Ruger still have the Best rifle options out there IMHO.

Ok, I like "tired" because I have a fresh bottle of LG. Must decide tomorrow to buy the CZ or the Ruger 77V.

Buy the CZ!

Have a CZ Varmint in the mail I'm looking forward to. Loaded 20 V-Max and some brass came in this weekend.

Loaded some test rounds of H4198 and Lilgun to see what the rifle seems to like. Those two powders looked like a good place to start.

Congratulations guys. Ammo is in good supply now. Hope this round doesn't go the way of the 17 Mach II or the 17 Fireball. if you like the round you may wish to stock up on brass or ammo. Hard to do better than this.

http://www.munireusa.com/17-hornet-hornady-v-max-20-gr-25-rd-bx/

like that huntsman dude, I found lil-gun to be my most accurate powder so far in my CZ. I didn't try too many load variations, but I found excellent accuracy with plenty of velocity using 1/2 gr. less than Don is using the 20 gr. v-max.

i shoot the .17H, factory ammo shoots pretty well. i tried the usual hornet powders ; H110, 296, 1680, and lil gun...had pretty good accuracy from both lil gun and 1680.

last time out i tried Accurate 2200 and found a winner with it and the 20gr V-Max, most accurate combo i tried so far in my rifle, and AA2200 has been fairly plentiful in this area.

Short of some recent options for NTX bullets most everything has been ran through the ringer in the 17 Hornet, 17 Ackley Hornet.

the most over looked options include heavier bullets 25 grain arguably may offer the best performance in terms of knock down power. H322 Has been my favorite propellant for the 25-grain bullets for higher velocity, lower pressure longer brass life.

Reduced loads for quieter target or hunting sessions. IMR Trail Boss reduced loads are worth a look in the 17 Hornet and most any other caliber out there.

Again this has been out there a while now; If you are reloading a 17 may i suggest you do yourself a favor and give a RCBS 16249 Gold Medal seat die a serious look. If you have a birthday coming up you may wish to put this on your midway shopping list.

http://ads.midwayusa.com/product/97...bushing-seater-die-17-remington-fireball

you are able to use the gold medal Fireball die to seat 17 hornets ?

Have been doing exactly that for some time now. You will need the 22 Hornet extended shell holder. see link below.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/15...-hornet-22-k-hornet?cm_vc=ProductFinding

Wouldn't the fireball seating die kind of leave the base of the hornet to be pretty much where it wanted to be? As in a bit on the loose side. I realize the neck would be about same but the hornet base would be about .070 smaller......

Hello 6.5 x 54

If I understand you correctly you may be comparing the RCBS Gold Medal system to say a redding competition seater.

To some extent there is a very real point comparing say, a redding competition seating die to the RCBS GOLD. The redding die may be a bit more accurate for reasons eluded to in differences in how the brass is aligned with a specific cartridge sleeve while seating the bullet.

In the example we started off with 17 FB to 17 HH. We are using two different extended shell holders specific, to the cartridge base we are dealing with.

From my perspective The RCBS Gold Medal seater is a lot less anal in terms of aligning the brass. The Gold Medal seater is relying more on the shell holder like most other standard seaters out there along with the neck. Where the RCBS set up shines based on my experience is the top loading bullet alignment sleeve.

Again from my perspective what I gain with the RCBS GOLD MEDAL seating die is convenience and accuracy with the top loading sleeve. An added bonus is versatility, being able to change out shell holders to use the same seating die on additional cartridges using the same bullet diameter.

When handling these small 17 cal bullets with my large hands, being able to load from the top makes a big diffrence in terms of the finesse required by the operator to feed the bullet.

My experience and understanding is when our brass starts off with a straight neck and we start the bullet reasonably straight, we will experience very little bullet run out.

From what I have read and what stands to reason for me, If our brass is for any reason has a crooked neck after sizing; No bullet seater will correct the crooked neck.
Thus yielding more bullet runout. On the other hand if the neck consistently starts straight and our bullets start reasonably straight our bullet runout tends to be very little consistently.

I believe the only way to fully appreciate the top loading feature through the side window is to try it in a "17" or 20 cal application.