17 Hornet Reloading~it's own thread!

[lclund1946]

Originally Posted by southernman

I've got two CZ .17 hornets a varmint, now chopped and suppressed to 20", and a American.
Have tried the following powders, H110, H4198, Littlegun, 4227, N120. And CFE blackout,
N120 gave best accuracy, in both rifles, at 3300fps for 10.5 gr
H110 was vet slow, 3100 fps, 4227 a bit faster 3200 good accuracy with both.
Littlegun was very erratic, and I experienced the odd blowed primer.
H4198 very accurate and at 3350,
Blackout gave just slight less accuracy that the best powder N120, and much higher speeds. 3700fps

blackout with a 20gr v-max. Wsr primer. /Cci 400, Hornardy or Ppu brass.

I got 12g -3470fps x5 shots avg
12.3 -3566fps x5 shots avg
12.5 -3700fps x5 shots avg
12.6- 3738fps x5 shots
12-8-3779fps x3 shots.
Shot in a CZ American and a mangospeed crony.
My CZ varmint 20" barrel is with in 25fps of the American. Very good performance, from such a small case.
Hard on rabbits, got head shot them, or no eating left.
I have settled on 12.5 gr Blackout with 20 v-max, wsr or Cci, for my main varmint load.
I tried 11.2 gr blackout with a 25 gr hornardy HP, for 3187 fps. Sub half inch.

Hope this help those looking for info.

Thanks for your input. I saw your post on a NZ site and hoped you would chime in as I have found no better information. It looks like you had a pressure spike either between 12.3 and 12.4 gr or between 12.4 and 12.5 grains. Did you try 12.4 gr? If not you may have missed the best accuracy node which may be at about 3675, which is still very good for the 17H, and may prove more stable. Let us know what you find should you decide to try this or if you already tried it and found 12.5 gr to be more accurate as it in the middle of the node.

Would also be great to know if you were using new brass or fired brass from early or new lot factory ammo that was FL or neck sized.