Heavy .17 cal bullet powders

Acronin

Acronin

New member
I'm having trouble finding load data for 32gr .17 caliber bullets. I think I could use 30gr bullet data. Does anybody have experience with loading this heavy of a bullet?

I have a ton of powders that I could try; Varget, 8208XBR, 4320, CFE-223, H4895, H335 and H332, 4064, w748, 3031, etc...

Any help would be appreciated.
 
I still have some 30 grain bullets I bought quite a years ago. Got them on Ebay from a guy that made them himself. They were pretty inconsistent with some weighing as little as 28 grains and some weighing as much as 32 or 33 grains. I separated them by weight but used the same power charge for them all which was 22 grains of Varget. They shot well but they lacked the explosiveness of the 20 and 25 grain Vmaxes that I so very much enjoyed when shooting ground squirrels.

Oh- almost forgot. I shot these in my CZ 527 .17 Remington.
 
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Same rifle I'm shooting. People have told me the 25gr Hornady HP will do a nice job on coyotes, but thought a bullet that was a little larger and have a .301 BC will give me more dance and energy if I can get them to shoot.

I have Varget and my CZ loves Varget for 25gr Vmaxs. Maybe it will love it with 32grRreds...

Thanks!!

Here's the bullets...


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Wow but those are good looking bullets! I have never seen any .17 cals before with a stepped heel.I would like to try some of those myself next time I go hunting prairie dogs or Nevada ground squirrels.

Honestly, even the 20 grain Vmax is fine for critters the size of prairie dogs if if you dont push the range too far. I have killed them DRT at 400 yards with it but not much trauma to the animal at that range. Push the distance to 450 yards and they are trying to get to the hole before they expire. I swapped to the 25 grain and that did better but I bet those 32 grainers would really do better yet.

And yes, I have shot more Varget though my .17 Rem than any other powder. I load the 20 grains bullet around 4000 fps and get great accuracy and case life too. And wow will it make a ground squirrel explode. A sight to behold.
 
Rusty, I have shot 20gr Midway dog town HPs, 20gr Nosler Varmagedon BT, 25gr Vmax and 25gr HOs at prairie dogs and by far the most damaging bullet was the 25gr Vmax. I'm like you, 4000fps with some Varget and they split a pdogs open pretty good. The 25gr HP's put a smack on them but acted more like a deer bullet.

I'm hoping these will be an accurate longer range 250-350 yd coyote bullet. They have a listed BC of .301. I think I can get between 3700-3800 fps.

If you want to try some I'd send you some just to try.
 
Todd Kindler had load data for 37 grain bullets that you might take a look at. I've been loading his 30 gr to 3750 but I'm away from home and can't remember the load data. Its either 8208 or 4895. I'm using this load for coyote and similar size critters. Works great on Rock chucks.
 
I use Ramshot Big Game and Varget in my 17-204 with the old 30gr Berger BT match and 30gr Kindler Golds both powders work very well in my gun
 
Big Game and N540 are the only two I ever tried with 30's in my .17 Predator. And actually, the 540 was a fireforming load, Big Game is the only powder I tried for full house loads. Liked it and never bothered to try anything else. The .17P is about halfway between the Rem. and the '204 for capacity.

Varget, 4320, 760, RL-15, Big Game, 550, any of them could/should work. Bunch more possibilities too. I'd lean towards the slower/full case end, but something faster might be better. Never know without seeing for yourself.

- DAA
 
I'm also looking for 30gr data. I appreciate the powder suggestions fellas but we need some more info. Specifically we need charge weights to start at and work up from.
 
Originally Posted By: DAAJust back off from 30 gr. data and work it up.

- DAA

That's the problem....I haven't found and 30gr data to back off from. Hodgdon has some but none of the powders they list seem to be very popular with what people post they are using.

Hornady has no 30gr data. Sierra no 17 at all. Nosler only has 20 gr.

Is there a manual out there I should buy?
 
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There's not any published data for hardly anything I load.

If that Hogdon data is what I had to start with, I'd just compare burn rates on the Hogdon stuff to whatever I wanted to use, build in a safety factor and work it up.

I wouldn't and don't trust independent internet sources (like me) so I'm always going to work it up myself anyway.

Maybe somebody with QL can give you a good guess for starting points. But this is really simple stuff.

- DAA
 
Add on...

I never liked heavier than 25's in the .17 Rem. myself, so I don't have any old 30 gr. data to share. You'd be wise not to trust it much even if I did though.

But I just pulled Kindler's .17 manual off the shelf. He has a couple 30 gr. loads listed for the .17 Rem. Todd's loads are notoriously warm, he never pressure tested anything. So, you'd be wise not to trust these too much either, but they are "published data", I guess.

These are from Kindler's manual, for the .17 Rem. with 30 gr. Bergers.

AA2700
24.7 3597 fps
25.4 3642 fps

And he goes up to 26.8 gr. of AA2700, but everything above 25.4 he has a note "Caution!". Considering the source, I'd take that seriously
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.

N135
22.4 3663 fps
22.6 3760 fps

My note - 100 fps with .2 gr. is a hint... He goes on:

23.1 3874 fps Approach carefully! (Todd's note, not mine)

Couple more from Todd:

760
26.5 3800 fps

4895
22.5 3800 fps


Along with the Hogdon data you already found, that's more than plenty to figure out a safe starting point for any powder you want to try.

- DAA
 
Oh, wait, missed some of the Kindler data, here's more, I'm just going to list his max loads (all of which should be approached VERY cautiously!). Notes are Todd's not mine:

4320
24.0 3906 Approach with caution - be careful!

RL15
25.0 3930 fps

Note from me - those velocities should be a hint...

- DAA
 
See now that's the info I was after. Mine is a 17-223 so I will in fact have to extrapolate data and I already have but like yourself, I approach this type of thing cautiously and with as much of an educated guess as I can.

I do have a fella running some quick load as well but like you mentioned, I don't trust any one source for crossing similar cartridges data or similar burn rates. I gather as much info as I can and proceed from there.
 
I am using h414 (same as w760) with the 29-30 gr bullets in my 17 rem. I have a 26 inch Lilja barrel and 3950 is no problem with no high pressure signs.
 
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