17 hornet or 17 Remington?

BobbyH

BobbyH

New member
Ok I'm fairly new to the forum and I need some advice. My 204 is doing too much damage to the small foxes I normally shoot. I'm looking for a 17 caliber to hopefully not tear them up as bad, but I can't decide on which caliber. I like the cz 17 hornet but found and ar upper for about the same price in 17 Remington. I have shots from 30 yards to 150 max most of the time. So I need someone more experienced to give me some advice. Thanks
 
If it's only fox you're after, the Hornet will do fine. If you also after coyotes, the Remington would be better. You could also consider the .17 Fireball which gives you ballistics between the two.
 
In your neck of the woods, I believe the 17 hornet would be fine. I told another poster earlier that it would perhaps not be if shots were to exceed 150 yards. In my opinion, there really aren't enough coyotes in Tom Green to justify considering them in your choice. But, a 17 remington is pretty much worse than a 204 for grays unless you have some of the discontinued berger 25 hp bullets. I'm positive, bad memories.

I have only shot coyotes by opportunity late in cat stands with my 17 Hornet, and only 6 of them, ranging from 15 to 210 yards. At 210, the small male coyote didn't run off, but he didn't go right down either.

3 of them were headshot with no exit and of course didn't do any jazzercising after impact.
 
We don't hunt Tom green county but there are no coyotes where we hunt so foxes and an occasional bobcat are all I'm after. Thanks for the replies, I was pretty much set on the hornet anyway.
 
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By the way the 17 hornet thumps the heck out of a coyote too. The boy has one he uses on calm days and shoots them out to 250 yards, flat out kills them...
 
My 17 Remington is a drop-dead performer on coyotes, fox too, but it is too much of a good thing for fox.

As I see it, you have two options - either get a 17 Remington and load it down to a lower velocity, or just get the Hornet.

 
If I reloaded I would definitely get the Remington, but at this time I dont. So it looks like it'll be the hornet if I can find one. Thanks for the help
 
If you are talking greys I'd say the 17 Rem is going to have too much steam. Haven't shot the hornet, but it sounds just right. I would think the 22 mag would also be perfect for grey fox.
 
Talked to another local guy who shoots the 204 and is having good luck with the 45 gr soft points. So I ordered a couple boxes, I'm gonna see how they do before I give up on it.
 
There are a lot west of here, but I don't have land to hunt on in that area. I wish I did, I've never gotten a yote.
 
At those ranges you may also want to consider a .17 WSM rimfire. There are 17, 20 and 25 grain bullets with construction and velocities that should be fur friendly and properly placed should easily handle your smaller bodied coyotes.
 
I like using the .204 for my all around gun. I've been shooting some Hornady .32 grain and it's kind of hit or miss whether it messes up the hide or not. Nice to see another San Angeloan on here! Know of any fur buyers coming around here?
 
There was one at the weigh in for the last wtbbc, other than that I don't know of any. I've been shooting the 40gr and it's the same way, if I get a chest shot it's fine but if they're broad side it makes a mess. I'm gonna give the 45gr soft points a try and probably go ahead and order a cz 17 hornet. I handled one of the 17 wsm's and I wasn't impressed. The bolt was real loose and when it was down my thumb hit it when I gripped the gun.
 
Had to order the new 17 hornet, couldn't find one locally. Went with the cz527 American, should get to pick it up saturday.
 
Got to pick it up today, and couldn't be happier. Hopefully it will stop raining and I can go get it sighted in tomorrow. Mounted a leupold vxII 4/12x50 on it, and I'm going to wrap it to protect and camo it. Thanks for all the input

 
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