Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles 17 Hornet max effective range?

For sage rats prairie dogs and the like. What would you say what a fair max range would be?

Based on this what would you scope a sporter walking rifle with ...... power wise?

You haven't played with that thing yet?

At the range only.....

my take is, about 300 yds. Maybe more when perfectly calm, less with wind. I gots a 4.5-14 on mine.....

great! Thanks bud!

That's my experience as well, using 20-grain plastic tips.

The accuracy of the rifle somewhat will affect how far you can hit a little prairie dog. I was lucky , my new CZ 527 Varmint 17 Hornet rifle shot sub 1/2 inch groups at 100 yards using Hornady 20 grain bullet factory ammo when shooting off a bench rest. With that accuracy I expect a high hit ratio at 300 yards. That is when the wind is low. Beyond 300 yards the rate of bullet drop and rang estimation will make shots iffy for me. I have only shot a few p dogs with my new rifle in the 100 - 150 yard range. I have nine boxes of factory ammo left which I ll use when the p dog pups come out mid to late May. After I have 100 empty cases I ll start developing reloads first using 20 grain bullets. I plan on using a 17 HMR rifle for shots out to 150 yards and using the 17 Hornet for shots between 150 and 300 yards. Beyond 300 yards I like using my accurate 204 Ruger varmint rifle.

the pups are already out here....

I know...but they poisoned my places. Gotta find new spots to shoot them.