Need suggested .17 Rem 20g V-max load data for Rem 700 BDL

Fitch

Fitch

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I picked up this 24" barrel Remington 700 BDL in .17 Remington

17Remingtonwith8-32x40scope-1-C-RS.jpg


to hunt groung hogs in rocky farm fields and pastures. (The scope in the picture is a Bushnell 8-32x40 that I put on it for load development purposes - I'll probably hunt with a 3-9x40 to avoid the complication of an AO.)

I'm planning to use the 20g V-Max because of it is very frangible. I want to use really frangible, but accurate, bullets. If there is a better bullet for my purposes, please say so.

My shots will be 250 yards or less nearly all the time. The fields are longer but there are places to set up so I can avoid longer shots. I need to work the ridge tops shooting into the low areas.

I have the rifle and bullets, brass and dies will be here from midway early next week. Question is, what powder and primer to use. I've looked at the Hornady manual, played with the cartridge in QuickLoad, but there is nothing as good as having shot it when it comes to picking a powder and primer. With the PA senior doe season over I'll probably have one or two good days at the range to do ammo testing before the weather gets unsuitable.

I have CCI400 and Winchester small rifle primers but I'm willing to beat the bushes to find some Rem 7-1/2 if I absolutely have to. I have access to a pretty good selection of Hodgdon, IMR, and Alliant powders at the local small town rifle store when I bought this rifle.

I haven't done anything to the rifle yet. It was previously owned but near as I can tell, never fired and never had a scope mounted on it. It's box stock but has a fantastic trigger on it.

Thanks
Fitch
 
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Varget,Benchmark and VV135 have all worked well in mine. I have only used Rem 7 1/2 primers and I recommend that you use those or the CCI BR4's as they have the thicker cups.Oh and IMR 4320 and H4895 are two other powders I have used with good luck as well. I am using VV135 right now until I use my current supply up.
 
You may want to try the 25g V Max, you won't get much of a bounce from any bullet in the 25g range.

I shot the barrels out of several of these rifles on p.dogs and ground squirrels. I figured about 1800 rounds a barrel the way we shot.

If you keep the velocity below 3900 fps, copper fouling will be greatly deminished. For that purpose, I used a load of 22-23g of AA2230 with a 25g Berger Match HP at 3850. I could shoot strings of 80 shots+.

For a full bore load, I loaded 24.0g of IMR 4320 with the 25 with a velocity of 4100 fps...I had to clean my rifles every 25 shots with this load due to copper fouling.

Good brushes and copper solvent are a must for this caliber. Bronze bristle Brushes available from www.sinclairintl.com are the best(use them 80 strokes max and discard), JB cleaning compound, and Montana Extreme Copper killer.

I waxed my bullets later and was able to get strings of 125 rounds before the bullets started disappearing. The SPL wax is available from Todd Kindler, great stuff that also stabalizes the Standard Deviation on velocity also.

Thick cup primers are a must, stay away from 205, Win, and CCI 400's; Rem 7 1/2's, CCI*BR-4's, CCI 41's, and CCI 450's are the primers to use in this extremely high pressure cartridge.

I have several of the scopes that you have pictured on the rifle, I would not put a 3-9 on that rig for love nor money.
Set the parallax adjustment on the 8-32 on 150 yards and it will = the parallax that is factory set on the 3-9 at 150 yards. You will appreciate the additional power on the stronger scope because a ground hog with his head stuck out of a hole at 200 yards looks like a pen head in a 3-9 where as you could aim for his left eye ball with the 8-32.

Good luck!
 
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Congrats on your new rig. Looks like we will soon have another .17 junkie before long!

I have been shooting .17 Rems for about 30 years now. Back when I started shooting them about the only bullet that could be found was the Hornady 25 grain HP and the identical Remington one. Now there are lots more choices, but a few years ago I settled on the 20 grain Vmax pushed along by around 23 or 23.5 grains of Varget with the CCI BR cap. This round is dead nuts accurate in my last two .17 guns, and just flat out amazed me how destructive that it is on critters up to the size of prairie dogs. I have a picture of one pasture pooch that was just blown in half. Once the ranges get out there a bit the blowup factor goes down somewhat, natch, but have cleanly taken prairie dogs clear out to 400 yards with this combo. I think that is pretty impressive for such a tiny little bullet.

Anyway, I hope that you enjoy yours. Chance are that you will, I think.
 
I have the same rifle. Mine currently wears a Lepould 36X for the load development Project I just finished. I have launched a lot of bullets in search of a good load. I actually have 2 .17 Remingtons and both of them are primer sensitive. Both rifles like 23.5 Grains of IMR 4320 with a 25 grain bullet. Both rifles prefer a different primer and bullet. Both rifles have Remington BDL actions, one is a custom rifle, the othe is a stock BDL except for the trigger (Timney). Other powders I tried are Varget, Benchmark, 748, and H380. All groups shot around an inch, until I found the right combination.
 
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