.17 Hornet or .22 Hornet....

Bull's-Eye

Bull's-Eye

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Looking to get a small varmint shooter and having trouble picking between the two. Biggest thing I will be shooting are gophers. I like the zippy .17 on one hand, however the .22 Hornet has more punch. Is the .17 Hornet here to stay? Are reloading components as easy to find as the .22 Hornet?
Does anyone have experience with both and can give me the pro's and con's of each?
Thanks for reading.
 
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I built two .17H's, shot them for a couple months and then sold them and went back to my K-Hornet's... I prefer the KH's with .22 caliber pills...
 
I already have a 22 Hornet, and considered the 17 Hornet, but went with the 20Vartarg instead. It shoots flatter than either Hornet, and hits hard enough, yet still offers great barrel life.
 
I would go with the .22 it is way more commercially available ammo
I have a .22 hornet and I have just got into reloading so I haven't been looking long. I have found bullets and primers easy to find because they share some with .223. I have kept my brass so I haven't been looking.
 
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Well I have two .17 hornets and have used a .22 hornet quite a bit.
Really like the .17 hornet, such a fun little round, fiddly to load, and I wish the pojectials weren't all flat base, as every now and then I crush the neck, been looking for a rcbs fireball gold die as it can be loaded threw the side.
Ammo is a bit scarce and likely your biggest problem, (Buy ammo when you see it,) components plenty around now, maybe not so much in mid summer.
17 hornet has been around for a long time as a wildcat, think your pretty safe,
Witch is best? depends, but if I had a .204 or any .22 centerfire's, I would go for a .17 hornet. if not .22 hornet, (even better K hornet)
Don't get the savage, it an insult to firearms craftsmen everywere, (I have one 25 varmint) biggest jamming, stiff bolt, not ejecting and scope mounts off center, piece of junk ever. I am tempted to run it threw the chop saw, and huck in in the scrap steel bin, I am so pissed off with it.
However a new CZ American, has now arrived.
The CZ 527 is much nicer. And will actually load from the mag every time you try.
 
southernman said:
Well I have two .17 hornets and have used a .22 hornet quite a bit.
Really like the .17 hornet, such a fun little round, fiddly to load, and I wish the pojectials weren't all flat base, as every now and then I crush the neck, been looking for a rcbs fireball gold die as it can be loaded threw the side.
Ammo is a bit scarce and likely your biggest problem, (Buy ammo when you see it,) components plenty around now, maybe not so much in mid summer.
17 hornet has been around for a long time as a wildcat, think your pretty safe,
Witch is best? depends, but if I had a .204 or any .22 centerfire's, I would go for a .17 hornet. if not .22 hornet, (even better K hornet)
Don't get the savage, it an insult to firearms craftsmen everywere, (I have one 25 varmint) biggest jamming, stiff bolt, not ejecting and scope mounts off center, piece of junk ever. I am tempted to run it threw the chop saw, and huck in in the scrap steel bin, I am so pissed off with it.
However a new CZ American, has now arrived.
The CZ 527 is much nicer. And will actually load from the mag every time you try.
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Thanks Everyone.
Southern Man, I don't own a centre fire yet so, I'd go with the .22 Hornet. Currently have 2 . 17 HMR's.
LOL, don't worry, id never go for the savage. I'm thinking Cooper, Luxus or Dakota (really like their Model 10)
 
I have a new cz 527american in 17 hornady hornet.
its a very nice rifle and shoots very well.I bought a set of hornady's dies at the same time as the rifle.
brass is non existent right now.but if you buy a few boxes of factory loads then you have some Brass to work with
overall I'm very happy with the rifle.
Z
 
At my lgs the other day I noticed they had some 22 hornet (Winchester grey box) for about $48 a box. I was surprised it was so expensive. Is that the norm or are their prices out to lunch?
 
WIN Hornet is generally $40/box of 50... I reload my K-Hornets because they are so inexpensive to load... kind of the best bang for your buck in centerfires... .223 would be next.
 
As a hand loader I much prefer any of the 17's for gopher shooting... and I have had them from 17HM2, 17 Ackley Hornet, 17-222, 17 Rem, 17 Rem AI... the first one in 1966 and I had to make my own bullets...

Rimmed cases limit the accuracy potential, all other things being equal, rimless will be more accurate.
 
If gophers are your biggest target get yourself a 17HMR excellent 200 yard gopher gun even on the windy prairies best is a box of 50 bullets is still under $14.00.
 
Camp Cook said:
If gophers are your biggest target get yourself a 17HMR excellent 200 yard gopher gun even on the windy prairies best is a box of 50 bullets is still under $14.00.
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Thanks CC but I got that covered x 2. Looking for something with a little more punch to produce some areal acrobatics :)


 
Thoughts, not experience, so take it for what it's worth.

The biggest problem I see with a .22 Hornet these days is the archaic specs that SAMMI (SAAMI?) has stuck the commercial makers with. Huge gaps between minimum chamber, max cartridge size. Makes brass get worked hard every time it runs through the dies. Not a big deal for them rich enough to be running only factory ammo, but...:)

If a fella were to closely match his chamber to the dies, and minimize the differences he would have a pretty sweet , mild, round, with fairly long brass life.

Of course, this runs the costs up a fair bit, having to deal with either a reamer made to match the chamber, or two reamers, one for a set of reloading dis to match the reamer for the chamber. Ouch.

I have been lusting after a .17 Ackley for a few years too. The arrival of the Hornady Hornet, has offered us the availability of factory ammo, brass and inexpensive dies made to modern type specs (as opposed to the old Hornet industry specs). Kinda sucks that the 17HH brass cannot readily be converted to 17AH. Dunno if that was by design or accident, but it does kinda result in the 17AH being a rather more expensive project. Really am considering the HH as an option now.

I have been in the gathering together stages of a Hornet based small Martini for a while. I have an action, a couple barrels (one a .17) and am sort planning a rig that I can try both out on. Project 42 or thereabouts.
One of the benefits of the .22H is that I can cast for it. With Small Pistol Primers,light powder charges, and cast bullets, it is almost as cheap to reload as a .22 rimfire is to shoot.

I think a guy needs one of each, to be sure! :D

Cheers
Trev
 
guntech said:
As a hand loader I much prefer any of the 17's for gopher shooting... and I have had them from 17HM2, 17 Ackley Hornet, 17-222, 17 Rem, 17 Rem AI... the first one in 1966 and I had to make my own bullets...

Rimmed cases limit the accuracy potential, all other things being equal, rimless will be more accurate.
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We are talking Minute of Gopher here, down where the wind is fairly brisk most days of the year. I have has both the 17 HH and the 22, as well as the 22K and the 19 Calhoon. 19 Calhoon blows them all away. FS
 
trevj said:
The biggest problem I see with a .22 Hornet these days is the archaic specs that SAMMI (SAAMI?) has stuck the commercial makers with. Huge gaps between minimum chamber, max cartridge size. Makes brass get worked hard every time it runs through the dies. Not a big deal for them rich enough to be running only factory ammo, but...:)

If a fella were to closely match his chamber to the dies, and minimize the differences he would have a pretty sweet , mild, round, with fairly long brass life... Cheers
Trev
Click to expand...

My K-Hornets were reamed with a PTG reamer and matched with dies... there is very little brass flow on FL sizing, but I mostly just work necks... another benefit of using the same reamer on four guns.
 
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