17 Hornet

[toxo 160]

Bringing this from another thread Where Tremo said;

 

"I use 25 grain pills these days and shoot anything from rabbits to foxes with it. Obviously, correct shot placement is critical, especially with rabbits! . Don't expect to see much left unless you do head shots.

 

I haven't tried the lighter TB loads, but I will when I get time. At the moment I'm using 12.0 grains of Lovex D063 with the 25 grainers. I'm getting a MV of around 3400fps."

 

My "normal" 17 hornet load is 9gr Lilgun behind a 17grain Vmax for around 3623fps. My buddy has some D063 coming which I believe is taking over from 1680. When it gets here I'll try to replace the Lilgun.

 

Using this load I shot a rabbit at around 70yds. He flew up in the air two or three times and I was thinking to shoot again if it stayed still for long enough but all went quiet, Shortly afterward my pal went to retrieve the rabbit and he said "I don't believe what I'm seeing". He held up the rabbit and there was no head at all. Just one ear and two strings hanging down with eyeballs on the end of them. I'll never believe a moving rabbit isn't dead again.

 

Using Trail Boss for lighter loads has pros and cons. On the one hand, because of it's donut shape it fills more of the case. On the other hand, because of it's shape, it bounces in the weighing tray when coming out of the powder measure no matter how close I try to hold it. It can even bounce from the trickler. Of course this wouldn't matter with a larger case/load but there are not many kernels in around 2.5grains. One of these days I'll count em because they are countable.

 

So far I'm at 2.3gr TB behind a 17gr Vmax and 2.6gr TB behind a 20Gr Vmax. Don't know speeds yet but no keyholing at 100yds and quieter than hmr. More testing to follow but only getting out once a week at the moment.

 

 

[Cliff Ray 185]

If you sever the spinal column or destroy the brain a rabbit can spasm for around 30 seconds which can look a lot like it is trying to jump away. I have had this with a lot of head shots with a 17HMR, but it is clearly brain dead when there is clearly no brain left.

[Tremo 138]

Yes, D063 is marketed are the AA1680 replacement. I can't confirm the direct relationship though.

 

With 20 grain Nolsler Varmageddons I could get a MV of around 3700fps with the D062. I did try the Lil Gun, but my results were not as good as when I used the Lovex. Also, I did find it quite unpredictable, even on 0.1 grain increments.

 

I've never used 17 grain projectiles out of this calibre. Worth a try one day though I guess.

[toxo 160]

Not tried Nosler yet. Testing 17/20/25gr Vmax and some 30gr Berger HP but for economy I'm concentrating on the 17gr;

 

http://www.henrykrank.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=164_165_1120

 

For the distances I'm shooting, especially at night, I don't think the wind factor is as bad as some make out. The 17gr from HK is boat tailed which makes it a bit easier to load. Not sure where they come from. Some say ex HMR some say ex Mach2. I don't care as long as I can find accuracy and consistency I at least will be a happy bunny.

A 9 ounce bottle of Trail Boss IIRC amounts to around 4600 grains. I'm using around 2.6gr. You do the math

And a big plus is the life of the brass. I do check every case but it gets boring. No signs at all. Even with the 9gr of Lilgun the only problem has been some stretched primer pockets but only on Hornady brass. 22 hornet brass is easy and cheap to form so all in all it's a round I'm not scared to shoot lots of and not too loud either.

[Tremo 138]

Boat-tailed eh? That's good. Most of the 17 cal bullets that I've tried are FB. I'll have to give them a try next summer. No good now though. The Welsh Winter starts in September and last until at least April the next year. Wind and rain. Living the dream eh?? . That's why I've opted for the 25 grain.

 

Yeah, that's the problem that I found with the Hornady brass. The pockets stretched that much I could push the primer in by hand. Some even fell when the brass was inverted. . Not good. I tried the .22 Hornet brass conversion but I found it quite a ball-ache. If you want to form me 100 I'll make it worth your while. ;)

[toxo 160]

I found the forming quite easy. I bought a three foot length of the same studding the dies are made of. After cutting a lump off I drilled one hole, then made the entrance conical and polished it. I was quite amazed when after just one pass I was able to trim to length and go straight to the full length sizing die. I found I could load the result just the same as a normal case for fireforming and hunt with it.

[Tremo 138]

That is spot on mate. Fair play.

 

I found it too much of a palaver. Mind you, at that period I didn't have a great deal of spare time that I could contribute. This could have helped me establish my negativity towards the activity.

 

Loading some Hornady 25gr HP at the moment. The jackets seem quite soft, so I am expecting some good results. I'll let you know.

[toxo 160]

I forgot to say re; those Henry Krank bullets. They are labelling them as soft point but they are 17 grain boat tailed Vmax.

[Tremo 138]

Good to know. . I'll give them a whirl when I get the chance.

[17hornet 188]

How interesting to find discussion on my favourite cartridge.

Yep the Hornady brass is soft, RWS softer again.

I have found that the scale from hard to soft is Rem, Win, Hornady, RWS, and there are case dimensions that vary too.

Never used the TB in 17H (mine is 17Ackley Hornet) as far as I know ADI that make the TB have not recommended it for use in smaller cartridges,

mind you when they first brought it out it was not recommended for use in Bottle Necked Cartridges either.

 

I make all my own 17H brass from .22H, but I have a forming die that does the neck, rare to find now that there is the 17Hornady Hornet.

Split necks and stretched primer pockets are just par for the course, the Hornet case was never designed for the 17 pressures, I get 10% fails when forming with RWS and Win.

Performance is just great with the older 25gn Hornady projectiles that are harder to get, I stocked up when I built my gun, about 1800 to go.

Amazing on mild steel plate doing a test against .223 and .222.

 

How long have you guys been using TB in those tiny cases ?

Usually I use it in 308 and 303 for light loads so my kids can shoot them, are you dropping velocity to preserve meat ?

[toxo 160]

I'ved acquired a few cases now. Mostly Hornady and PPU with a few Wins and a few CBE? Hornady defo the worst with primers taking little effort to seat sometimes. The only other pressure signs are slightly flattened primers but not often. I've even given up on marking once fired, twice fired etc although I do examine every fired case.

 

Some I formed from 22 Hornet using a small length of the same studding that dies are made from. I drilled the appropriate hole and chamfered the entrance and it worked a treat, going from 22 hornet - tween die - to full length 17 Hornet resizer. Not had one split case as long as I anneal before fireforming.

 

If I can use full loads great but there are times when I would like a quiet load, doesn't have to be subsonic but obviously must be accurate and consistent for when I'm around horses or sheep etc.

 

We had to stop zeroing on Saturday because the owners of the land next to our favourite zeroing place decided to put horses in there and asked us to stop because it was frightening the horses.

 

Take a look on ABBS also.

[17hornet 188]

Hi toxo, please excuse my ignorance but where or what is ABBS, just not familiar with the abbreviation.

[toxo 160]

http://www.airgunbbs.com/forum/general/rimfire-centrefire-shotguns-fac-air/732385-17-hornet-owners

https://thefiringline.com/forums/search.php?searchid=10023139

http://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums?a=search&reqWords=17+hornet&use_forum_scope=on&forum_scope=2511043

 

http://www.saubier.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=8

 

https://www.handloadersbench.com/

[17hornet 188]

Thanks toxo, I'll bookmark the links and go over them when I dont have kids climbing over me.

Cheers