best 17 bullet?

kaniac

New member
Alright my shiny new (to me) 17 hornet just showed up, It's a ruger 77/17 stainless, 1-9 twist, I've got a couple boxes of Hornady factory stuff to try out for the time being, but I'm wondering what you guys like for a 17 bullet? It'll primarily be a coyote and bobcat rifle, under 150 yards, I was thinking hornady 25 grain v-max, or maybe the 20 grain nosler varmageddons? I still got my 22/250 in the truck if I'm in mostly looking for coyotes or shooting a long ways, but if theres a few fox and bobcat around I'll be carrying that 17, but it'll still probably be shooting more coyotes than anything.
 
Hornady released their excellent 25gr hollow point loaded in the 17 Hornet. Part #83006, I paid about $30.00 for 50 rounds through Buds Gun Shop. 3375 FPS at the muzzle.
 
Last edited:
do you reload??
if so, try Chan Nagel's 25's.
smile.gif
 
Yeah, sorry I didn't specify, I'm looking for bullets to reload. something thats hopefully not gonna pass through a bobcat but still kill a coyote,....... if such a thing exists....
 
Originally Posted By: kaniacYeah, sorry I didn't specify, I'm looking for bullets to reload. something thats hopefully not gonna pass through a bobcat but still kill a coyote,....... if such a thing exists....

Then I think you need to give the 20 grain Vmax bullet a try. I use them in my .17 Remington for ground squirrel and prairie dog. I have killed prairie dogs as far as 450 yards with them but it has pretty much run out of serious steam by then. I only load them to about 4000 FPS even though I can get 4400 out of them if I wanted.
 
First place to start-the twist rate of your barrel. That will dictate what weight bullet your barrel will stabilize. Only then, can you determine what your choices are. Almost surely you can shoot the 20's and 25's. The 29's and 30's, maybe. Got an AR barrel from a well known source in 1-9 specifically for the 30's. Turned out to be a 1-10. The 30 Kindler Gold's I hoped to shoot hit the target sideways.
 
Last edited:
That happened to a buddy with a Lilja. They replaced it with a 9 twist.

I personally wouldn't use 30's with the Hornet regardless though. But that's just me.

- DAA
 
Originally Posted By: DAA

I personally wouldn't use 30's with the Hornet regardless though. But that's just me.

- DAA

But those 30 grainers work mighty well in your .17 Predator now dont they Dave? NOW you got some power for those bullets! Took some 300 yard rock chucks with yours I seem to remember. Unless it was even farther than that.
 
Yes Sir
smile.gif
. Stretched it to 400 on just a couple chucks but only a couple. Have dumped a couple handfuls of coyote at 400 with it though. Actually haven't shot anything except predators with it since it was fairly new. It's accounted for 63 coyotes carried back to the truck this winter so far, about 425 total
smile.gif
.

- DAA
 
Originally Posted By: DAA It's accounted for 63 coyotes carried back to the truck this winter so far, about 425 total
smile.gif
.
- DAA

Oh shoot. Well you must be pretty dang disgusted with that thing by now then if it's that sorry of a performer. Tell you want- send me a PM and I will see what I can do to lessen you of that burden. I think that have a couple hundred bucks around here that I can part with.

thumbup.gif

 
I was pretty disappointed. I do have a bolt action 1-9 .17 Fireball that shoots them very well, but wanted to use them in the AR platform. The barrel maker did me right when all was said and done $$ wise.
 
I was on Kindlers page earlier, all that did was make me want to build a 20 tactical, lol! He does seem to be on the cutting edge of 17's though. Not very familiar with Nagels, not a lot of info on the web. Except a couple forums like these.
 
Kind of wondering about the cost of the premium bullets too, I'm probably gonna shoot that thing a lot, I sighted it in today and with the Hornady 15.5 and 20 grain stuff and it honest to got shot nothing but 1/2 -5/8" groups at 100 yards, rested on a jacket on the hood of my truck, I was as tickled as could be, I'll probably worry about something more than my vx-1 3x9 before I worry about smaller groups. There was a bit of a breeze that opened things up to 2 1/2" by the time I shot at 200, but hey its a 17, I would like to see what those higher b.c. bullets would do at 300 though....
 
Originally Posted By: sl john
Jay, what twist is that Mach IV?

Mine is a 10 twist. It works with the 29's but not the 30's. The 30gr is a different profile and needs a faster twist.
 
Back
Top