Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles 17 Remington Bullets

So now that we have moved to PA, my son is tearing through my 17 Remington ammo killing groundhogs. It's time to replenish. I won't be shooting coyotes (on purpose) with these so I think the 20 grain is okay, mostly groundhogs.

I have used the 20 grain Hornady VMAX and am content with the performance so far. Should I stick with those? I also see Varmageddon HPFB and plastic tipped versions. I'm not ready to try one of the small producers yet, I don't have time to play around with load development. Should I go to the 25 grain VMAX?

Of course I would grab 500-1000 of the 25 grain HPs if I came across them.

For groundhogs I'd use whatever you're content with. If the20 Vmax is working, no need to fix it!

I’m new to the 17rem and am only shooting the 25g HP, I was able to scrounge up 600 of them so no plans to change, but I have used the varmageddon in 22cal and I think the varmageddons are much more explosive than the Vmax.

So if that’s something that’s important to you. Might give them a go.

If you can get the Noslers to shoot for you, you can usually get seconds from Shooters Supply about twice a year at a pretty good discount. For groundhogs and paper either the Nosler or Vmax work just fine. I use my 17 Remington primarily for coyotes so I stick with the Berger 25 gr. They are worth the premium price in my mind.

Thanks for the replies, you kind of confirmed what I was thinking. Since I already have the Vmax load and it's working, I'll stick with it.

When I lived out west and shot mostly coyotes, the Hornady 25g HP was my favorite fur bullet. After I posted this I looked around and found a lot still for sale, I may just lay in a thousand or two and call it good. Too many decisions and too much idle time on my hands...