H110 in the .17 Hornet

Rustydust

Rustydust

Active member
Hey Guys

I figured that I would start a new thread for this one.

So far my new CZ 527 has been just a dream. Factory loads and all handloads less than 1/2" at 100 yards. Five shots at that. Until today my handloads have been with either AA1680 or CFE BLK. Happy with both but getting a bit more speed with the CFE BLK. The only bullets that I have tried have been the Vmax, and the Nosler and Berger hollow points. All were 20 grainers. Nothing shot bad but the Vmax and the Berger did better than the Nosler.

Ackleyman sent me a message urging me to try some H110 as that had worked well for him in his .17 Ackley Hornet. I told him that I would but I was not expecting great things. I assumed that the 1680 or the CFE was going to be my powder of choice. Now, I am not too sure.

Using a Remington 7 1/2 primer and 8.7 grains of H110, I shot a 5 shot .237" group with the Berger, and then I shot two more groups with the Vmax and four shots for one group were .212 with a single flying causing it to open up to around 3/8". The next group had four shots in .192" again with a flyer spoiling things a bit. Speeds were a bit over 3300 FPS but I'm wondering if there is any reason to try and get bit more speed out of that or stop right there. I took a picture of the 5 shot group with my phone and sent it to Keith (Ackleyman) and he said that perhaps other than trying a different primer next time, like the CCI BR4, to call it good and stop right there.

Since better than 95% of my shooting with this will be our local ground squirrels, what do you guys think? I'm pretty happy with this. How about the rest of you?
 
Sounds like you got a shooter on your hands. You can always try for a little more and if the groups open up you can always fall back on the loads you know work. I'm not sure how hard you can push your little Hornet but I bet it will tell you when it don't like it.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong but you were getting .5 groups with 1680 and CFE BLK at 3700ish and 3750ish FPS, yes?

For me and what I use my 17 Hornet for, I'll take 3700-3750fps and .5 over the .2 and only 3300fps load. Giving up over 400fps would be more than I'd want to give up, but that's just me. It'll be interesting to see what others have to say.
 
Originally Posted By: B23Correct me if I'm wrong but you were getting .5 groups with 1680 and CFE BLK at 3700ish and 3750ish FPS, yes?

For me and what I use my 17 Hornet for, I'll take 3700-3750fps and .5 over the .2 and only 3300fps load. Giving up over 400fps would be more than I'd want to give up, but that's just me. It'll be interesting to see what others have to say.


Thats' correct. But according to Keith my brass life will way more than double and I will rarely even need to clean my barrel. That is a big plus for me.

I do have a .17 Remington if I want some real speeds. It dont take much to kill our local whistlepigs.
 
Originally Posted By: Rustydust
I do have a .17 Remington if I want some real speeds. It dont take much to kill our local whistlepigs.

Ya, well see, this is why you're a nicer person than me because I don't want to just kill them, I want to see them EXPLODE!!!
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Originally Posted By: B23
Ya, well see, this is why you're a nicer person than me because I don't want to just kill them, I want to see them EXPLODE!!!
thumbup.gif


Oh sure enough the .17 Remmy will red mist them. I used to load those 20 grain Vmaxes to 4400 FPS but not anymore. I have shot out two .17 Rem barrels and going to get a lot longer life out of the Lilja I got on now. Know why? Because I am going to be slaying more of them with that .17 Hornet that's why!

Yes, it's all about the toss. No doubt about it. But it's not necessary to shoot them at mach 4 speeds to get some very impressive launches.
 
I just picked up a CZ 17 Hornet as well. So I will also be making this decision soon. My load requirements will go in this order. First accuracy, those little ground squirrels are tiny. Second brass life, I shoot 500-1000 rounds per weekend in squirrel season, so the brass needs to last as long as possible. Lastly velocity, I was hoping to get around 3500 fps without hurting the brass, but if 3300 gets you the accuracy and brass life you are looking for the choice seems easy.
Thanks for sharing all this load development data Rustydust! It will surely help minimize the time I spend getting my new rifle shooting well.
 
Originally Posted By: Dirty Hippie
Thanks for sharing all this load development data Rustydust! It will surely help minimize the time I spend getting my new rifle shooting well.

You're sure welcome. But all the loads that I have tried so far have been loads suggested by one of more of folks here on PM so really, someone else tried them before I did and they worked well for them and passed on their results which is all that I did.

And if not for those of you that were getting such great accuracy out of their own .17 Hornets I doubt that I would have been tempted to buy one. For sure, I have not been disappointed so far. Just wish that I would have got one sooner!
 
You might try backing off the 1680 a bit, the reason I did was for some re-formed 22 hornet brass which is thinner than the 17. I didn't see much difference in accuracy or effect on target of choice.
 
Russ I think you have a shooter. The only thing that I see is the flyers,if you can't get them worked out. You can send the rifle to me and I'll be happy to work on it for 2 or 3 years until it gets broke-in. Oh you don't have to thank me
. That's what friends are for.

YOUR GOOD FRIEND FOR AZIZONA

JOE
 
Russ, you should probably consider Joe's offer. He seems like a really fair guy. I mean, I'm not sure if you should be satisfied with a group like this
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Seems like your new CZ likes the H110.
 
Originally Posted By: dan158Have you played with seating depth much with those other loads?? Dan

Not all all. I have seated them all to factory length. I want to make sure that they will work though my magazine.
 
Matthew, you and Joe can kiss it! Never will I part with my new Hornet! You hear? NEVAH!!

But feel free to ask me again in, oh, about twenty years.
 
Originally Posted By: Rustydust Never will I part with my new Hornet! You hear? NEVAH!!

Ok, ok, geez, we get it Mr Greedy Pants, but what about this, what if you just loan it to use for sayyyyy, 1-5 years each???

I get to go first since it was my idea.
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I had several custom 17 Ackley hornets with Shilen select match SS barrels on them. I was shooting tons of p. dogs and ground squirrels at that point and this guns were my main battle short range rifles.

I had a load of 11.6g of AA1680 with a 20g berger with a velocity of 3550, and another load of 10.4g of H110 at 3400, and another load of 12g of N120 at 3800.

A 17 bbl will foul out quicker than most, as they are very finicky to a lot of carbon and copper fouling in the barrel.

CZ barrels are not as slick as Shilen Select Match barrels, so your particular use and how often you are able to clean is an issue.

I could shoot about 60 rounds of the 3800 fps loads through my rifle before groups opened up, and could shoot 400+ of the 3550 fps rounds, and 600 + of the 3400 fps rounds.

For ground squirrels, I like to shoot and shoot and shoot. Sure, I like to see the blow ups as good as anybody, but I really hate cleaning after the gun has lost accuracy due to fouling.

I usually had a 223, a 223 AI, and a 6 BR in the truck, they launched everything just fine. Something about shooting 10g of powder, rarely cleaning the rifle, and killing everything that I pointed at just had some appeal to me. That 17 AH with the 10.4g of H110 shot the 20's at 1/2" at 200 yards, I had an old 12x-32x Baush and Lomb on the rifles and could head/shoulder shoot out to 250 yds with ease. I put 6000 rounds on one Shilen barrel and the leade had only grown .006 from brand new...lots of AA1680 and H110 that is realy easy on throat wear. I never wore out primer pockets with H110 or AA1680, but the N120 loads wrecked brass in a hurry. I usually kept a five or so of the 3800 fps rounds around for Badgers, and just threw that brass away when I shot it.

There used to be some custom bullet makers making a 25g Low Drag bullet on a long jacket, this load would get you to 400 yards on a calm day at 3450fps with aa1680.

I was wondering if anyone has tried the 25g HP using cfe black on coyotes?
 
Thanks for some more load data, Keith.

From what you sent me in your emails and here I think that it is safe to say that I am super close to finding a permanent load for my .17 HH. I would sure like a bit more speed than 3300 fps, but at the expense of much shorter brass life and more fouling? Not so sure.

After almost four decades of shooting a .17 Remington at its 4000+ speeds 33-3400 fps sure does sound anemic in comparison. But I will be gladly trade off a bit of speed for increased accuracy. Especially when this also means much longer brass (and barrel) life, less cleaning and milder report. Not that the .17 Hornet has much noise associated with it as it is.
 
You are welcome.. I got 2200 here but never tried it for the 17HH..I bought it for the intended use in the 17hh cause couple years back I have read that 2200 was getting the speeds of the 17hh factory ammo without the pressure signs as the lil gun was giving some users at 10 grains.. Our CZs, american and varmint did not show pressure signs and shot very well.. Dan
 


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