CZ527 Varmint, 17Hornet-pet loads?

[Groundhogger]

Hey guys-haven't done any reloading in a long time, as my two main varmint guns both shoot factory ammo sub-MOA...and a busy day groundhog hunting represents about 8-10 shots taken. Most days honestly-half that. Incentive really wasn't there.

However, I also just bought a box of factory Hornady 20gr. 17 Hornet and well...maybe I should find some inspiration. lol

I know there are 17 Hornet shooters here, and CZ fans as well. Any of you care to share your best/pet load if you're running a 527 Varmint?

I did a little load testing a few years back but am having trouble finding my targets/notes. I DO remember 20gr Hornady V-Max being the best bullet, and I stocked-up a bit at the time. Have a decent selection of powder, and use CCI BR4 primers as a rule.

Appreciate anyone willing to chime-in. More than happy to report back on the results. Still lots of snow on the ground, but want to be ready when things dry up a bit.

Thanks guys!

[Big bore dinosaur]

25 and 30 gr bergers group and preform well
CFE.BLK was the powder for my rifle..
Magazine lenght for my 527 VARMINT, and CCI primers

[Faststeel]

Its important to weigh each piece of your brass. old original brass is much lighter than new brass and has a better powder capacity and weighs between 52 and 55gr. Newer brass is over 60gr, and has less capacity.

My best groups have all been with 25gr Vmax bullets, and for me best powder is H335.my older lightweight brass can handle 13gr.....FS

[elkhunter11]

I had good luck with both Lil Gun and CFE BLK, but the CFE BLK is far less sensitive with changing temperatures. The 20gr V-max does well with either powder.

[southernman]

I run CFE blackout in my .17 hornets, 12.5 g is my load for the 20gr (3600), and 11.2 g for a 25gr, (3150)fps
Have spent considerable time with 3 different .17 hornets and found N120 the most accurate powder for me, but Blackout is very close, with 250FPS more speed,

[Groundhogger]

Hey guys-thanks for the input so far. Haven't really gotten a sense that it's CZ527s people are referring to, but maybe? I've never owned/tried N120, but have an unopened 1-pounder of CFE BLK. I'll see if my LGS has N120. worth a go!

Originally Posted by southernman

I run CFE blackout in my .17 hornets, 12.5 g is my load for the 20gr (3600), and 11.2 g for a 25gr, (3150)fps
Have spent considerable time with 3 different .17 hornets and found N120 the most accurate powder for me, but Blackout is very close, with 250FPS more speed,

^thanks southernman, appreciate the powder charge info.

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by Groundhogger

Hey guys-thanks for the input so far. Haven't really gotten a sense that it's CZ527s people are referring to, but maybe? I've never owned/tried N120, but have an unopened 1-pounder of CFE BLK. I'll see if my LGS has N120. worth a go!



^thanks southernman, appreciate the powder charge info.

I have had three different rifles in 17 hornet, a Ruger, a 527, and now a Cooper. I did try N120 as well, but in my rifles Lil Gun and CFE BLK were at least as accurate, at over 200fps more. I settled on 12.4gr of CFE BLK with the 20gr V- max.

[Groundhogger]

I settled on 12.4gr of CFE BLK with the 20gr V- max

^I'll whittle that up first! Thanks for the input elkhunter11! I should be living/working in S. AB so I could test these loads on gophers!

[aardvaark]

I found lil gun to be very volatile, unpredictable. This is due, partly, bc of how small the cartridge is. CFE BLK was def my choice, 12.3 shot the best at .010 off the lands. Vmax 20 gr as well. CCI primers

The only way my CZ will shoot well is with the bullet really close to the lands, the only thing consistent with this gun is it shot everything poorly, until it got close to the lands. Which renders the mag useless, and this thing is a pain to single shot. I have whined about this gun on here a few times now. I know, a lot of people rave about their CZ’s, but I’m not one of them. Pretty sure mine was the last gun made on a Fri before the long weekend.

Remember that this is a tiny cartridge, so when you change anything, always make your changes RELATIVE to the size ofThe cartridge; in other words make your changes small too.

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by aardvaark

I found lil gun to be very volatile, unpredictable. This is due, partly, bc of how small the cartridge is. CFE BLK was def my choice, 12.3 shot the best at .010 off the lands. Vmax 20 gr as well.

The only way my CZ will shoot well is with the bullet really close to the lands, the only thing consistent with this gun is it shot everything poorly, until it got close to the lands. Which renders the mag useless, and this thing is a pain to single shot. I have whined about this gun on here a few times now. I know, a lot of people rave about their CZ’s, but I’m not one of them. Pretty sure mine was the last gun made on a Fri before the long weekend.

Remember that this is a tiny cartridge, so when you change anything, always make your changes RELATIVE to the size ofThe cartridge; in other words make your changes small too.

My issue with Lil Gun is when we go out for ground squirrels, we usually set up portable benches, and stay put for an hour or two, and the ammunition sits on the bench, and on a hot day Lil Gun can be finicky.
I had a Ruger first, and it was a huge disappointment, the trigger was poor, and even after replacing it, the accuracy still was not good, so I spent time bedding, and eventually got it to shoot fairly decent, but not great. The CZ was much more accurate, and had a much better trigger, but feeding was so-so, and the best accuracy was with the bullet closer to lands than the magazine will allow. My Cooper is more accurate yet, and being a single shot, I just load for best accuracy, and a single shot isn't a real handicap for our style of shooting.

[Dean2]

I had a 17 H in CZ 527. I bedded the action, cleaned up the barrel channel so it was evenly free floated, and tuned the trigger a little, With the set trigger it had a very light break, and even without using the set, I got the standard trigger to be very good. I always shot it using a Calhoon made single shot follower, which makes single loading a snap. Not using the magazine meant I wasn't hunting for brass, and I could set the bullets where I wanted them. The gun would shoot in the .5" to .7" range at 200 yards, which is plenty accurate for gophers.

i started out trying to use Hornady brass from fired factory ammo, but it was so inconsistent I switched to Privi 22 Hornet that I resized for use in the 17HH. It was a lot more consistent in weight and volume. My favourite load was the Hornady 20 grain Vmax, with Lil"Gun and a CCI BR400 primer, COAL of 1.725, which actually fits in the magazine if you want to use it. My max load was way under the published max. Start with the min published load and work up. Guys that have issues with Lil'Gun often load below published min loads, and that is not a god idea with fast burning Nitro based powders. No load of 4198 would group with 20 or 25 grain bullets. With 25 grain bullets I used Lil'Gun and H322. Both were very accurate and close to the same velocity.

If you check out a forum called Saubier you will find a ton of detailed info on the 17 HH. Loads, brass forming, accuracy tips etc.

[Groundhogger]

Hey Dean2 (and all who replied)-thanks for posting! I wasn't going to bring-up the Calhoon topic again, as I have one and it never worked right. lol In fact, when I got it...it wouldn't even seat in the rifle, I have that remedied. Sits perfectly flush. Issue is, the tip of the bullet collides with the top/rear of the chamber and jams. Back when I first posted about this, I was offered some written descriptions of how to remedy it, but they didn't really make sense to me. (my limitations, I'm sure) Nicely made pc of kit, but sitting in a ziploc bag pinned to the wall above my cleaning bench.

If memory serves, when I did work up some loads for the gun..I simply copied the O/A length of the finished, factory ammo. When I've loaded for other calibers other than 204, I've seated .010" off the lands.

Originally Posted by Dean2

I had a 17 H in CZ 527. I bedded the action, cleaned up the barrel channel so it was evenly free floated, and tuned the trigger a little, With the set trigger it had a very light break, and even without using the set, I got the standard trigger to be very good. I always shot it using a Calhoon made single shot follower, which makes single loading a snap. Not using the magazine meant I wasn't hunting for brass, and I could set the bullets where I wanted them. The gun would shoot in the .5" to .7" range at 200 yards, which is plenty accurate for gophers.

i started out trying to use Hornady brass from fired factory ammo, but it was so inconsistent I switched to Privi 22 Hornet that I resized for use in the 17HH. It was a lot more consistent in weight and volume. My favourite load was the Hornady 20 grain Vmax, with Lil"Gun and a CCI BR400 primer, COAL of 1.725, which actually fits in the magazine if you want to use it. My max load was way under the published max. Start with the min published load and work up. Guys that have issues with Lil'Gun often load below published min loads, and that is not a god idea with fast burning Nitro based powders. No load of 4198 would group with 20 or 25 grain bullets. With 25 grain bullets I used Lil'Gun and H322. Both were very accurate and close to the same velocity.

If you check out a forum called Saubier you will find a ton of detailed info on the 17 HH. Loads, brass forming, accuracy tips etc.