.17 Hornet coming my way

Rustydust

Active member
Hey all

I ordered me a CZ 527 Varmint yesterday in .17 Hornet. Ordered me 250 rounds of Hornady ammo, and set of dies, shell holders for my Rock Chucker and my Lee Autoprime. After I start shooting some of that ammo up I will want to reload it. So I was just wondering what loads any of you personally have found to work well. These do not have to be sizzling hot loads as I have a .17 Remington for speed if I need it. I just want something adaquate for up to 300 yards ground squirrels and maybe a trip to the prairie dog fields once or twice.

I have found some loads online but like to try those that have worked for my friends here on PM too. This is a brand new caliber for me to load (1st time in many years) so I'm hoping for a winner right of the bat.
 
No load data to share with you, but very cool Russ
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Can't wait to see how it shoots.
 
I use 1680 powder and prefer the 20 grain bullets. I believe Hornady lists 12.4 as max, I have went as high as 12.2 and they were fine, I have since backed off to 11.1 which should be around 3400 and like it real well. 17 Hornet brass is thicker than 22 Hornet in case you want to reform some.
 
Originally Posted By: MatlockNo load data to share with you, but very cool Russ
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Can't wait to see how it shoots.

Hey! Who said that I am going to let the likes of you shoot it??
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Ah....OK. You play your cards right and I grudgingly will let you. Next time you come to the range after it cools off some. If it ever cools off that is. Over 100 degrees again today. Too hot for this old man.
 
I have the exact same CZ that you just purchased and I'm certain, you are going to love it!!! As you are probably already aware of the biggest complaint with them is the feeding, mine didn't feed all that well out of the box so I took the magazine apart and lightly sanded then polished the bejesus out of the feed lips. I wouldn't call it perfect but it is at least 80% better than it was.

As was already mentioned, 1680 is one of the "go to" powders to use in the 17 Hornet and that is what I use as well. I load 12.4gr of 1680 with 20gr Vmax and it's launching them right at 3700fps. I'm a little on the impatient side so I started with 12gr and worked up from there. It really started grouping well at 12.2gr but I kept going and stopped at 12.4gr. In my gun, which is now 21.5in. and threaded, shot the 12.2gr and 12.4gr load about the same but the 12.4 just shoots a little faster so that's what I've stuck with so far but I haven't really reloaded a lot for it yet because I'm still mostly shooting factory Hornady Superformance 20gr Vmax & 15.5gr Vmax ammo and until I get all of that stuff shot up I likely won't be reloading much for it.

Awhile back I came across a shop that was going out of business and they were selling the 15.5gr Superformance ammo for $10 a box so I bought a few thousand rounds of that stuff so I have quite a bit of factory ammo to shoot up. In my gun, the Hornady Superformance 20gr stuff shoots extremely well, every bit as good as the stuff I've reloaded, but it does shoot a good 100fps slower. I can't recall if I've ever chronographed any of the 15.5 stuff so I don't know what the actual velocity of that is but it shoots very well, not quite as good as the 20 grainers, but easily good enough to shoot rats with.

Also, these things are sooooo much fun to shoot suppressed and if I recall, you told me you have a 223 size suppressor so I would definitely get it threaded. Shooting these little 17 Hornets suppressed just makes me giggle like a little girl every time I pull the trigger because they are so darn quiet.

The trigger in these things is outstanding and can be adjusted down into the ounces. I bought a spring from James Calhoon for all of $2 and mine is set at 10oz. but it'll go lower. I don't even mess with the set trigger anymore.
 
Originally Posted By: Blackhawk43I use 1680 powder and prefer the 20 grain bullets. I believe Hornady lists 12.4 as max, I have went as high as 12.2 and they were fine, I have since backed off to 11.1 which should be around 3400 and like it real well.

Thanks for that. And I have some 1680 on the shelf too I think. I like to try loads that have worked well for others more so that just what I find out of published reloading data.
 
1680 works great in mine too. 2200 and lil gun are right there with 1680.

i will look at my notes later and give bullet and powder weights.

i find the 17hh is not picky and gets great accuracy with several combinations. but mine is a savage.
 
Originally Posted By: B23I have the exact same CZ that you just purchased and I'm certain, you are going to love it!!!

Wow, Bryan! Thanks for all the good info there, buddy! That took you some time for all that. Much appreciated for sure.

My other 527's have been .17 Rem, .221 FB, and .223 so this will be my first one with a rimmed case. Hopefully by now they have got the feeding issues resolved but if not I certainly will try what you suggested. It bothers me that any gun should have to be tinkered with in order to get it to function they way that it should right out of the box but if this is the only bugaboo with my new gun I can live with that. I will find out in a few days I hope.

I have been putting off buying one of these cuties because I have a .17 HMR as well as my Shilen barreled M700 in .17 Remington. But you know.....the Hornet just fills in that gap ever so nicely, doesn't it? I mean sure- I can load down the .17 Rem to Hornet speeds easy. Easy peasey. But why? Just keep that one as a .17 Remington and shoot it as such. The .17 Hornet will be murder on our local ground squirrels so that is why I wanted it. Did I need it? Nope. Wanted it? Oh yeah.

One of the other members on this post is giving me a 30mm tubed 4.5-15X Burris scope to put on it (thanks again, Jim!) and I think that will be a fine choice for the gun.

You sure did get a deal on that ammo didn't you? Wow. Super deal and yes I would have bought all he had too. Smart move there. I have heard Good Things about the Hornady Superformance 20gr stuff and I will be trying some in my gun I know. I'm getting antsyer by the minute I am.

And I had not decided if to use my can on this one or not but I guess that will change. I do love a quiet gun. And since you have had good luck with yours suppressed I may as well also. I already have seven other barrels threaded for it so may as well, eh? You talked me into it looks like.

And thanks for the info on the trigger spring too. More good to know stuff. One reason why I love PM so much I guess.

Thanks again, Bryan. You a good guy. We will have to shoot a few together some day soon.
 
Originally Posted By: SlickerThanSnot1680 works great in mine too. 2200 and lil gun are right there with 1680.

i will look at my notes later and give bullet and powder weights.

i find the 17hh is not picky and gets great accuracy with several combinations. but mine is a savage.

Great to know. I have Lil Gun power too but I dont have any 2200 powder. Is that made by Accurate? Might have to pick up some of that as well.
 
For what it's worth, I've talked to many CZ 17 Hornet shooters that their "go to" load with 20gr Vmax was 12.2 grains of 1680.
 
My bet is that the little hornet may become your favorite rat killin tool without much effort, especially if you go ahead and get er threaded and suppressed. What I love about mine is that it is darn hard to get the barrel hot.
I tried lil gun and 1680. My gun seems to prefer lil gun. My load is 9.5 gr. of lil gun under the 20 gr. V-max with Rem. 7 1/2 primers.
I didn't cut my barrel down any, just had it threaded. It just puts a smile on my face when shooting prairie dogs.
I sold my hmr after I got my hornet. Seemed like to me the hornet out performs the hmr greatly and can be shot cheaper.
 
Originally Posted By: B23For what it's worth, I've talked to many CZ 17 Hornet shooters that their "go to" load with 20gr Vmax was 12.2 grains of 1680.

Then I for sure will give that a try. At least for starters anyway.

Thanks again, Bryan.
 
Originally Posted By: songdogMy bet is that the little hornet may become your favorite rat killin tool without much effort, especially if you go ahead and get er threaded and suppressed. What I love about mine is that it is darn hard to get the barrel hot.
I tried lil gun and 1680. My gun seems to prefer lil gun. My load is 9.5 gr. of lil gun under the 20 gr. V-max with Rem. 7 1/2 primers.
I didn't cut my barrel down any, just had it threaded. It just puts a smile on my face when shooting prairie dogs.
I sold my hmr after I got my hornet. Seemed like to me the hornet out performs the hmr greatly and can be shot cheaper.

And a thank you too. I know my .221 'Furball' just adores Lil Gun so for sure I am going to try it in the .17 Hornet as well. And what an economical round it is to shoot powder wise. At 10 grains per load that is 700 shots per lb of powder. What a deal that is!

I doubt that I peddle off my Volquartsen barrelled .17 HMR Ruger anytime soon but I bet it will get shot less now. I have several hundred rounds of ammo for the Hummer and it's going to take me while to shoot that up. Now with the .17 Hornet it's going to take a while longer to shoot it up. Oh well! I will make that sacrifice!!
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Originally Posted By: DAANo help here. I'm just looking for the Jealous button?

- (jealous) DAA

Oh get real, Dave!
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I have been watching your videos for years with you dispatching all sorts of critters with all sorts of cool calibers. Seems to me like something along the lines of a .17 Hornet would be a bit miniscule for your kind of shooting. Unless of course you have gotten into shooting field mice and the occasional hamster!
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Originally Posted By: DAANo help here. I'm just looking for the Jealous button?

- (jealous) DAA

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That's like every time I go shooting with Russ. I have one measly centerfire and he has an armada. Sure is nice to know him though
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Aw! You guys!
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Look, I keep telling you and I keep telling you and I am tired of telling you, OK? Now listen this time! Are you listening?

I am NOT putting either one of you in my will, got it? No matter what I am still leaving everything that I own to those poor unfortunate girls in all my favorite videos that cannot afford to even buy clothes!!

Gee! How many times do I have to tell you? tsk tks tsk tsk.
 
I think LilGun is one of, if not, the top performer when it comes to velocity but I've also heard it's a little sneaky with how it shows pressure and gives very little warning but if you are already familiar with its characteristics from using it in another cartridge, it very well could be a top performer for you.

Hodgdon CFE BLK is a new powder that came out not to long ago and I've been hearing good things about it in the 17 Hornet as well. It's a bit slower than 1680 so it will probably take a bit more of it, compared to 1680, to get the same velocity.

As I mentioned earlier, I've got a few thousand rounds of factory ammo to go through before I get to serious about trying different powders and even when I do get to that point, since 1680 was so darn easy to find an accurate load with, I don't know that I'll spend much time working up loads with different powders.

For some reason they are real proud of the brass for these things and loaded ammo hardly cost much more than new unfired brass, which is another reason I stocked up on so much factory ammo. But, if you are looking for some once fired 17 (Hornady) Hornet brass, I've seen some listed for sale on different forums and would be happy to pass that info along to you, if you're interested, if not no big deal either way.
 
I am just starting to reload for my Savage. I am using the 20 gr Zmax and CFE BLK powder. Had one load that showed great results. I have loaded more and need to get to the range again to make sure they work. I was shooting factory ammo to get the brass and the factory stuff varies a lot. Some shoot good and the next box shoots like crap.
 
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