I bought a Ruger 77/22 that was rebarreled to 17 K Hornet by Tooley custom rifles. I bought a box of 17 hornet ammo to shoot and fire form to 17 k hornet. As I understood, it would create a sharper shoulder and I’d be good to reload the brass. I was wrong. The 17 hornet ammo won’t chamber fully. I’m at a loss…


I am going to try to call Tooley Custom Rifles tomorrow if I can find them. Other than that I don’t know what to do.

I suspect a gunsmith can sniff out the issue. Do you have one you normally use?

I have a couple 17 Ackley Hornets and I don’t think 17 Hornet brass can be formed by simply fireforming. The 17 K Hornet is very similar to the Ackley Hornet and I believe it is the same issue. Do you have dies for the 17 K hornet yet? Layne Simpson says the 17 Hornet can be run through 17 Ackley dies and then fireformed. Never tried it, I form them from straight 22 Hornet brass.

https://www.rifleshootermag.com/editorial/the-sweet-17s/361287

$.99 and 6 seconds,will reliably resolve exactly WTF. Hint...............

Yeah, I messed up on that one. I don’t have dies yet. I’m guessing I’ll have to just make 17 K-Hornet brass from unfired 22 hornet brass. I may just pull the bullets and reuse the brass and bullets. I don’t have any other yes for 17 hornet ammo.

This one went over my head, not sure what you’re suggesting.

I can tell you that the shoulder on the 17 Hornet is bigger than a 17 Ackley I have. I have sized 17 Hornet brass in a 17 Ackley die and fireform just because I had some. Can't say on the 17 K-Hornet.

Photo of fireformed 17 Ackley and a 17 Hornet sized to fit Ackley chamber before fireforming.
I only had a few 17 Hornet cases so I didn't bother to form a false shoulder on the 17 Hornet cases before fireforming.

It’s alright, Big Slit loves to try to sound/act smarter than everyone.

Big Slit, are sharpies really .99 in Alaska?? I heard it’s expensive up there!! 😂😂

Tom, he's suggesting to mark up a case, chamber it (or try) and inspect the witness marks to see where it's hitting to get an idea of what's going on.

Thanks for dumbing it down for me! I will give it a try.

Thanks for the picture, that was very helpful.

The 17 hornet ammo you have is the hornady version of the improved hornet. It is different from the 17 k hornet case and will not chamber as you have found out. Cases have to be made from 22 hornet cases necked down to 17 cal. then loaded and fire formed in your chamber. There are several versions of the improved 17 hornet so make sure when you order dies to get the 17 k hornet version.

That's weird...you'd of thought someone would have posted a pic of Hornet Virgins and a means of marking same. Hint.

Fhuqking LAUGHING!...............

Tom in VT,

The .17 Ackley Hornet and .17 Hornady Hornet have different dimensions. I know this due to owning rifles in each.

They both have just about exactly the same powder capacity, but the Hornady version has a straight-bodied case and wider shoulder that's set back a little from the more tapered AI case. This is why the Hornady Hornet cases won't chamber in your rifle. If you run the Hornady cases through an Ackley sizing die they'll probably work.

Thanks! I tried researching, but being such an oddball there wasn’t much info at all.

Thank you! I sent you a pm.

https://i359.photobucket.com/albums...ngs/hornetcasecomparison_zpsac66964b.gif

Not the K, but shows the problem.

I’m sure they designed this on purpose that way so you couldn’t use the modern ammo in
Old guns. A liability concern

Partly--but another reason was the .17 Ackley is too long for most "standard" .22 Hornet magazines to use plastic-tipped bullets, which provide a MAJOR improvement in down-range performance over typical hollow-point bullets, both in trajectory and expansion.

The Hornady version is enough shorter than using plastic-tips such is easy in the standard-length magazine.