Reloading the 17 Hornet

[Bills Shed]

I have read about the Lil gun powder but have never seen it on the shelves at any of the LGS in my area. Thanks for the heads up. I run the Australian made powders as is easy to get hold of and it works very well.
As for the Horady brass, it seams that it has been a issue from the start but I do not think it is a show stopper. The brass that I first bought , and still using, did have concave case heads. As to primer pockets being .022" out, that is a long way! I did uniform all the pockets with a Sinclair SR primer pocket cutter. I did find one case that the cutter did not clean up as the pocket was way too deep. After the usual prep the brass was fine and has done great service.
Next time I will fire form my own from new Win brass.

Bill

[Norton]

Have you squashed a finger yet during bullet seating with your press..?? Way back first time reloading .204R I found those little 26gr bullets a little fiddly to sit on top of the case neck without falling off before entering the seating die.

I've done a little .223 reloading and couldn't keep my fingers out of the thing

Juggling the rigby bullets is much easier

[Bills Shed]

Jacket stages for a .172" , 17 gn at .526" long

image.jpeg (1.57 MiB) Viewed 11552 times

image.jpeg (793.18 KiB) Viewed 11552 times

Just an update on the 17 Hornet, have successfull built a 17 gn projectile that is .526" long. Shoots very well at 3650f/s, with four shots going into .188" and the fifth pushing it out to over .600". The jacket was not annealed so that it would retain its strength and point form well. Not to bad for a scrap piece of brass! Please note the pic with the group size should read .526" long.
Bill

[Harper]

That looks pro mate.

You'd think it was out of a box if you didn't know.

[BRNO_Bigot]

Sorry to do this, but I am just starting to reload this wonderful little calibre.

CZ 527 American

What can you guys tell me since 2014?


Incidentally - thanks for everything.

[Bills Shed]

Another thing I learnt is that the 17H has really bad terminal ballistics at less than 1400F/S. Go fast or not at all.
A jacket with no core, (6gn) will not hit anything at 50m,
A 15gn projectile is about the lightest projectile that flys straight but it is very short and a bugger to handle when reloading.
22gn does not seem to group as well as a 25 but the 20gn seems to be just about perfect out of the CZ527.
I have yet to push a projectile fast enough out of the 17H that it disintegrates, so do not worry about going to fast. Leave that to the big cases.
It kicks the 17WSM ass!
Concentricity when seating the projectile is very important, so do not go bending the depriming pin/ expander ball rod like I did. That makes crappy ammo!

Bill

[Timboon]

HI fellas,

The 17 hornet was one of the most fun fox taking rifles i can remember using. From memory the rifle we were using ( my mates dads ) was a brno...

A question - Obviously firstly you need to find a 22 hornet but i'm curious what barrels you guys are using to convert...

I dont mean to hijack this thread but if you guys were to build a 17 hornet, what components would you look to seek to build a really accurate reasonably priced rifle?

Brings back good memories you fellas talking about the 17 hornet and how accurate and efficient they are!

[Bills Shed]

We may have a mix up here. Are you talking about the 17 Rem ( which has been around for quite a while) or the 17 Hornet which has been in Aust for less than 10 years.
I would not build a 17 Hornet but buy it off the shelf. My 527 shoots well enough without putting another barrel on it or modifying it for very little gain. I have no ambition to a rifle up.
Factory ammo is pricey compared to others but reloading is cheap if you buy projectiles in bulk. I did build my brass from 22 Hornet brass but new factory brass is easily found.

Bill

[Timboon]

I'm talking about the necked down 22 Hornet in 17. Was relatively uncommon 20 years ago.
I actually forgot they've now released factory ammo and sell rifles off the shelf.

[Timboon]

My mates old man built his from a 22 Hornet chassis and put a sprinter 17 barrel on it. Two stage hair trigger with a Khales 8x56 with fine cross hairs. Unlike most centrefires you actually enjoyed the challenge of trying to not even blink and watching everything unfold with bugger all recoil. Both the 17 Hornet he had and the Rem 17 were to this day two of the most accurate rifles I've used

[marksman]

I'm talking about the necked down 22 Hornet in 17. Was relatively uncommon 20 years ago.
I actually forgot they've now released factory ammo and sell rifles off the shelf.

your talking about the 17 ackley hornet Tim
the 17 hornady hornet is a copy of it, it is 2mm shorter

[marksman]

HI fellas,

The 17 hornet was one of the most fun fox taking rifles i can remember using. From memory the rifle we were using ( my mates dads ) was a brno...

A question - Obviously firstly you need to find a 22 hornet but i'm curious what barrels you guys are using to convert...

I dont mean to hijack this thread but if you guys were to build a 17 hornet, what components would you look to seek to build a really accurate reasonably priced rifle?

Brings back good memories you fellas talking about the 17 hornet and how accurate and efficient they are!

I use shilen match grade barrels and the rifle closest is my boys that cost

$400 rifle
$350 barrel (it was a while ago, kevin rudd was in at that time ) the same barrel off brownells au is $600
$400 gunsmith



sh!t I made a mistake that is mine not the boys this rifle cost $500 everything else is the same

[Timboon]

Arghhh technicality!

I prefer option A!

I've never liked impostors

[gunnnie]

Well actually the 17 Ackley Hornet was quite common 20+yrs ago. Certainly more so than it is these days.

[SCJ429]

Well actually the 17 Ackley Hornet was quite common 20+yrs ago. Certainly more so than it is these days.

I thought that Hornady brought out the 17 Hornet in 2010. Before that the 17 Hornet AI was a rare thing to see. Anything shooting a 17 cal was uncommon bar the occasional fox shooter. Perhaps my memory has steered me wrong.

[Bill]

Ruger 77 17 Hornet at Magnum Sports if ya quick $1100

[marksman]

Well actually the 17 Ackley Hornet was quite common 20+yrs ago. Certainly more so than it is these days.

I thought that Hornady brought out the 17 Hornet in 2010. Before that the 17 Hornet AI was a rare thing to see. Anything shooting a 17 cal was uncommon bar the occasional fox shooter. Perhaps my memory has steered me wrong.

the 17 ackley was one of the main fox shooting rounds when fox pelts were worth some coin,
shoot a fox in the chest, it feels like broken egg shells inside the fox, never an exit and you have to skin it to find the entry wound
my 17 ackley hornet paid for a house when skins were worth selling, they are very capable out to 250 and very cheap to run
very precise to shoot

[SCJ429]

I saw fox shooters with 17 Remington in the 80s but I assume the 17 Hornet was strictly a wildcat. I would have thought that anyone buying 17 projectiles owned a Remington 700 fitted with a factory barrel back then. Even then any sort of 17 was uncommon in my neck of the woods.

[marksman]

fox shooters with 17 rem's had to back them off to around 3600fps to stop the damage to skins, the 22-250 had the same problem of blowing out the backs of skins
the 17 mach 4 was another fox round that was very popular back then, way more efficient than the 17 rem
but you are right the 17 ackley is still a wildcat, and so is the mach 4 but the 17 hornady hornet is not

[marksman]

your a pretty clever fella Bills Shed just had another look at the projectiles you made and I am amazed
I wish I could make them

[gunnnie]

Well actually the 17 Ackley Hornet was quite common 20+yrs ago. Certainly more so than it is these days.

I thought that Hornady brought out the 17 Hornet in 2010. Before that the 17 Hornet AI was a rare thing to see. Anything shooting a 17 cal was uncommon bar the occasional fox shooter. Perhaps my memory has steered me wrong.

Well, yes you are right in saying the 17 Hornady Hornet was released in 2010, where as PO Ackley bought out the 17 Ackley Hornet in the 50's. Granted it wasn't as common as say a 222 or a 22Hornet for that matter, but with the excellant BRNO ZKW465 rifles around, the die was struck. The ZKW mini-Mauser action was a perfect candidate for re-barrelling to the 17 wildcat Hornet.

I remember reading articles from shooting mags back in the 60's & 70's about the benefits of this new wonder 17 cartridge. The Martini custom 17AH I have was made in the late 70's, early 80's so the original owner was telling me. He also had a BRNO made up in one and preferred the bolt action, so the Martini sat in the safe until I bought it off him in '98.

Yes a lot of fox shooters ran the 17Rem also, especially when skins were very good money. A mate's F-i-L was a rabbit shooter in northern SA & I remember him telling me that he run a 17AH made up on a Sportco Hornet bolt action, as a fox rifle while using a BRNO Mod2 in 22rf for rabbits. He said a lot of the blokes in his area used 17AH's as fox guns back round 1960-70.

As has been mentioned the 17Rem was a tad destructive on the skin if you didn't plant the pill smack in the chest front on. The slower 17AH wasn't anywhere near as bad, plus it had the benefit of almost no recoil & minimal report compared to the bigger 17. Hornet brass was readily available, Simplex were producing dies, formers etc to make the rounds & with the popular release of the 17Rem, a great projectile. The Remington 25gn Core-lokt projectile was the ducks nuts in the little wildcat.

[SCJ429]

Fans of the 17 Hornet owe a debt of gratitude to Hornady and Savage to breath life into the case and make it available as a factory chambering. Today with the powders and projectiles available have made the Hornet a real capable varmint cartridge. Back in the 80s I could not find a cleaning rod for a 17.

We are spoilt for choice today and 20 cals are some of the best varmint rounds for me. Thank goodness for Ruger and the 204.

[Bills Shed]

your a pretty clever fella Bills Shed just had another look at the projectiles you made and I am amazed
I wish I could make them

Maybe not so clever. I import my dies from the USA. One day I will make my own dies. ....maybe. All other equipment I tend to build myself.
The 17 ca projectile has been fun to build but I am happy that I made .224 before I went to .17 cal.
The cartridge is just fun.

[ratpaker]

Interesting reading from everyone, thanks for the info!
I should pick up my savage model 25 17 hornet this week, a mate and I are getting 2 x identical rifles as fox night vision units.
I had read that Hodgdon lilgun was the go to powder for this calibre and picked up 3 x 1lb tins in preparation for loading after we shoot some factory ammo and obtain some brass.
I hope Ive bought the right stuff, looks like you guys are having success with 2205?
Anyway, I have 2 mates who already shoot the model 25, both rifles get under MOA with factory ammo so we figure reloading we can improve on that a bit hopefully.
My mate David uses his to good effect with a dedicated night vision on it so I will be building mine the same except Im using a thumbhole stock version (hes a left hander so couldn't )

[gunnnie]

Fans of the 17 Hornet owe a debt of gratitude to Hornady and Savage to breath life into the case and make it available as a factory chambering. Today with the powders and projectiles available have made the Hornet a real capable varmint cartridge. Back in the 80s I could not find a cleaning rod for a 17.

We are spoilt for choice today and 20 cals are some of the best varmint rounds for me. Thank goodness for Ruger and the 204.

We certainly are spolit for choice.
Another good aspect of the smaller cartridges is the cost of reloading. When you look at the cost of projectiles in the 224 & smaller range, compared to the bigger cals, it can be a lot cheaper.
I have begun shooting more of the small cal rifles than the big stuff of late. Unless the big cal is shooting a cast reload it doesn't see as much range time.

Have another small cal on the way in the form of a 20-222Rimmed. Should be another cheap shooter.

[marksman]

Interesting reading from everyone, thanks for the info!
I should pick up my savage model 25 17 hornet this week, a mate and I are getting 2 x identical rifles as fox night vision units.
I had read that Hodgdon lilgun was the go to powder for this calibre and picked up 3 x 1lb tins in preparation for loading after we shoot some factory ammo and obtain some brass.
I hope Ive bought the right stuff, looks like you guys are having success with 2205?
Anyway, I have 2 mates who already shoot the model 25, both rifles get under MOA with factory ammo so we figure reloading we can improve on that a bit hopefully.
My mate David uses his to good effect with a dedicated night vision on it so I will be building mine the same except Im using a thumbhole stock version (hes a left hander so couldn't )

2205 is a quicker powder that I have used but I think the go to powder for the 17 ackley or 17 hornet is 2207
currently I use 9gr of 2205 for fireforming cases and 11 gr of IMR4227 (old stock) for formed cases, when its gone l will be using 2207
lucky for me I use the exact same loads for both my 17 ackleys, very accurate
I am having thoughts about building another because if 2 is good 3 is better

I have heard of problems using lilgun being too hot for the 17 burning throats out quicker than should, but l cant say that is gospel

[Stix]

]
2205 is a quicker powder that I have used but I think the go to powder for the 17 ackley or 17 hornet is 2207
currently I use 9gr of 2205 for fireforming cases and 11 gr of IMR4227 (old stock) for formed cases, when its gone l will be using 2207
lucky for me I use the exact same loads for both my 17 ackleys, very accurate
I am having thoughts about building another because if 2 is good 3 is better
:

Hey Marksman...
I think you're right...3 is better...!!!

But...

i cant help but respectfully volunteer some advice coming from my genuine want of good will everywhere...

You see, having more than two 17 hornets will be much like guide dog puppies...once weened but still at a young age, you'll need to foster them out to good loving foster carer's, who are willing to give them the time, training, & most of all, the love they so rightly deserve...

And dont be fooled by any false propositiins that may follow here, that are fake & lack the genuine volumes of good natured gun-loving-ness that-foster'ers such as my self clearly have...

[ratpaker]

Have done a bit of internet searching regarding the claims of hodgdon lilgun running a bit hot.
General feeling is that in revolvers and semi auto pistols it may be a problem as shots can be rapidly fired one after another.
I'm going to be using it in a bolt action so hopefully that won't be any problem.

[ratpaker]

So we have tried the hodgdon lil gun, only with the 20 grain z-max projectiles and to be honest, results are disappointing, velocity was higher than the recommended amounts of powder in the loading data stated although this could have been due to using magnum primers.
Anyway, accuracy wasn't great, tried every powder weight in the scale and adjusting by .05 of a grain in a ladder test.
So, my question is, we have some 25 grain v-max projectiles to try and also every type of ADI powder listed to be suitable for 17 hornet (my mate is a loading fanatic and loads a lot of different calibres so has a wide variety of powder on hand).
With 25 grain projectiles the data on the ADI website lists 2219 has a viable powder but is anyone getting better results using 2205 or 2207?
Looking for sub MOA accuracy in savage model 25s, with factory loaded hornady 25 grain ammo we get that easily enough but unfortunately that ammunition and projectile is discontinued from hornady.
Another alternative is the berger 25 grain projectiles, hard to obtain in Aus but some seem to swear by them, also they are about 52 cents each so not cheap.
We only use these rifles for hunting, foxes specifically so I don't mind if ammo isn't super cheap, I'm not using a lot of it.
Thanks in advance for any tips!

[marksman]

for the use of the adi powders my recommendation is 2205 for 20gr bullets and 2207 for 25gr bullets, they work for the 17 ackley anyway

l came across some old 25gr hornady hollow points a few weeks ago that l have shot for years using adi 2207, rem 7.5 primers in winchester cases
these bullets are on a different level as killers compared to the z-max and v-max bullets, chest shoot the fox, you have to skin it to find the entry hole, still no exit and feels like broken egg shells inside the fox body when you pick them up, l would like to hear how the bergers go if you try them