I was originally contemplating acquiring a 22WMR but the poor accuracy reputation and the price of the ammo convinced me to ditch that idea. So now I am looking at the 17 Hornet to supplement my gopher slaying arsenal, specifically a CZ 527 Varmint. Welcome any and all input , educate me on this cartridge.
17 Hornet
- Thread starter Bad Bob
- Start date
WilliamWallace
CGN Regular
- Location
- SW Manitoba
I have .17 hornet chambered in a Ruger 77. It's a fantastic rifle. Last year shot a gopher at 250 yards (6x24 scope). Got it for those far away shots and the ability to reload. I have the dies and L'il Gun powder but really haven't accumulated enough brass to start working up loads.
I haven't heard enough about 17WSM to say the Hornet is better/worse. Gun and cleaning the bore often in these sub cals makes more of a difference methinks.
I haven't heard enough about 17WSM to say the Hornet is better/worse. Gun and cleaning the bore often in these sub cals makes more of a difference methinks.
I have all winter to reload ( been reloading for almost 50 years). 17HMR and 22WMR costs 52 cents a round with tax here, right now I load .222 Rem for 30 cents a round using stuff I "stock piled" years back. The .222 is a serious gopher killing machine with no problem in the wind, unlike the 17HMR. So I was thinking that as the Hornet uses only 12 grains vs the .222s 21 grains of powder & is quieter it should be a perfect mid-range gopher killer. My understanding also is that as you say, accuracy is plenty acceptable and I have had CZ 527s before and they are proven performers with great triggers. Now to find one?
I've had two , both the CZ varmint and American, fantastic small game/varmint rifles, shot several thousand, rounds threw them, the American, was sold to a mate in New Zealand, after I loaned it to him, for a few Rabbits. ive chopped the Varmint down to 20" barrel, its my main walking varmint rifle, I have a Sako .17 fireball, that I tend to use for low volume, long range Varminting.
I reload, N120, 4227 and CFE blackout, being the most accurate powders, Blackout giving the best for speed and a touch less accuracy than N120, I am shooting the 20gr v-max into 1/2" five shot groups at 100m, with Hornardy brass, cci 400 and 12.5gr blackout for 3650fps.
I doubt, you will be disappointed, with a CZ in .17 Hornet.
I reload, N120, 4227 and CFE blackout, being the most accurate powders, Blackout giving the best for speed and a touch less accuracy than N120, I am shooting the 20gr v-max into 1/2" five shot groups at 100m, with Hornardy brass, cci 400 and 12.5gr blackout for 3650fps.
I doubt, you will be disappointed, with a CZ in .17 Hornet.
Get the 17 Hornet. You won’t regret it. I have all the 17s in rimfire and centerfire except the 17 Remington (maybe some day!). For gophers the 17 Hornet is my favourite for most of my fields. But you’ll need to reload as factory is expensive.
I had the CZ Varmint but sold it to get an American. Just personal preference. I also have a Savage 25. I load 400 rounds for the CZ and 2 or 300 for the Savage during the winter. Keeps me going for a while.
I had the CZ Varmint but sold it to get an American. Just personal preference. I also have a Savage 25. I load 400 rounds for the CZ and 2 or 300 for the Savage during the winter. Keeps me going for a while.
I have owned three 17 hornet rifles, a Ruger 77, a CZ 527, and my current rifle, a Cooper. The Ruger had accuracy issues that took bedding work to resolve, and it still was only a 3/4 moa rifle. The 527 Varmint was a 1/2moa rifle, and gave me no issues. The Cooper is slightly more accurate, and does well with both Lil Gun and CFE-BLK. The Lil Gun is more temperature sensitive, and my go to load is actually less than the Hodgdons starting load, but the velocity is slightly more than the max load in the Hodgdon data. I have some experience with a few 17wsm rifles, and none were as accurate as my CZ or Cooper rifles in 17 hornet. I was fortunate to purchase over 2200 20gr bullets, three lbs of powder, and three thousand Remington 7-1/2 primers for a great price off of the EE, and until I use up those components, I am loading for about $23 per 100 loads.
Appreciate the input guys. I have been reloading for approx 50 years, into the .204 Ruger, .222 Rem. & .223 Rem. big time these days ( as well as other stuff). Pretty much done with the big game thing now and primary focus is gophers, crows, coyotes and targets. Varmint barrels, high magnification scopes,small groups, most shooting done off portable tables & bi-pods. Load in the winter then shoot all spring/summer, load 1000 at a time for each gun. Anyway .22L.Rs & .222 Rem are the main "gopher guns" but I`m thinking that a 17 Hornet would even be better than .222 , quieter, cheaper (12 grains of powder vs 21 gr.), won`t lose sight picture on high magnification, less heat, etc. should be the ultimate gopher killer. I am not a Ruger fan, have never had one that impressed me so don`t shoot them anymore, would love to try a Cooper but not today, prefer a CZ but probably won`t find one so may have to try a Savage 25 as that`s about all that is left. Have had several Savages in the past and although they are a little "rough" they seemed to shoot reasonably well ( always better than the Rugers). Cost is a no brainer, 52 cents a round here for 17HMR vs around 30 cents a round to reload 17 Hornet. Yes, I have to "have" a 17 Hornet.
Looking again, it now says out of stock. I would look long and hard before settling for the Savage. Southernman had one, and it was extremely poorly made.
^that statement is correct Bad Bob.
My story is very similar to yours...minus the fact that I never was into big game hunting at all. I can't resist an awesome caliber like 45/70 mind you...
**WARNING~gooey photos below**
Anyhow, FOR varmint guns...I've taken advice from experienced guys who's opinions I valued, even though the advice itself didn't jive with my own sensibilities 100%. Namely, bigger=better. That had me up to .243 Win. for groundhogs here in S. Ontario. While I can appreciate 243 (and many others) I get a FAR bigger kick out of using "enough" power for the job without going nuts. My own path to groundhog-slaying greatness went like this; 17HMR, 22WMR, 223, 204, 243, 17 Hornet. I've shot them with 20ga, 12ga, 270 and probably others...but those were the varmint rifles. 22WMR worked WAY better than 17HMR. 223 (hand loads) brought more distance/accuracy to the table. 204 was about the same as 223 but even easier/flatter-shooting. 243 was excessive in every way, and never shot quite as accurately as .223 anyway. Sold the 204~didn't like the bullet weight/type it shot best (blew clear through). 243 was too loud, couldn't see the impact. Still loved 204, but had always been curious about 22 Hornet/17 Hornet. Tried finding a CZ in 22 Hornet but instead, came across some conversations on 17 Hornet. Tracked one of those down new about a year and half ago. 527 Varmint in 17 Hornet!
Determined to hand load, I bought dies...a pile of once-fired brass, CFE BLK powder, 20gr and 25gr bullets...and both of those bullet types loaded into Hornady factory ammo as well. I always use factory ammo as the first rounds through a gun (not sure why) but I figure it'll get me trying the gun faster, and extra brass is never bad. Found an OK scope/rings to put on it (planning to upgrade when $ allowed) and took it to the range. Didn't like the 25gr, but the 20gr factory ammo shot just under 3/4" MOA on a windy, cold, crappy day when I quite literally couldn't feel my fingers. This is a photo from the first outing.
I worked-up some loads using the 20gr bullets but before I got to try them, I took it out again in nicer weather and ran more of the factory ammo through it. First group was a hair over 1/2" @ 100 yards. Got me thinking that the dies/bullets/brass might not have been required!
Groundhog hunting isn't a high-volume game like gophers. That said, ask me which I'd prefer to have? lol I travel west to shoot gophers every other year. Would be EVERY year if I could swing it. Anyhow, load testing went on semi-permanent hold..and I've been running factory ammo through it since. I will go back to load development as I'd like to shoot this gun for fun as well (not just varmints). I've had it out for groundhogs maybe 7-8 times now, and they do nothing but die when hit. Longest shot so far was 198 yards, and a mature groundhog at that. (=big) got me thinking about photos I've been shown of 17 Hornets beside full-sized coyotes that were killed with them. I very much started to believe the hype, and have since said a number of times "17 Hornet performs like people claim 17HMR does". lol Handles/carries/shoots like a big rimfire...but the results are anything but. Here are a couple of photos from last summer I think;
Will leave it with this~my 15 year old son just got his hunting license this spring and was eager to go out for groundhogs. I contemplated the .223 (he'd shot it plenty of times, and well) but since I was planning on selling that rifle to finance a 204, I decided to bring the 17 Hornet instead. Wasn't ideal conditions, but almost 2 hours in, I spot one on a compromised corner fence post...trying to get to a higher spot to watch us I think. The groundhog had caused that post to tip over (another reason farmers have no time for them) and well...seeing us better meant the opposite was true as well. We were about 110 yards away, guessing...but since it was so out in the open, I let jr. have a crack at it. It was a very good-sized groundhog, but as you can see in the second photo below...17 Hornet has power to spare.
To put that second photo in perspective, it toppled over instantly when hit...and dumped that in less than 1 second.
Anyhow, I bought mine thinking "cool, maybe it'll measure up"...but I've been more impressed with it on every outing. So Bad Bob...not sure if this was the kind of input you were after, but it's about 30 degrees out and very humid here right now...so rambling about this rifle in an air conditioned house sort of held more appeal than the yard work I have to get started on. lol
Hope it helps!
The 17 Hornet is one I have never owned ( shot pretty much everything else from 22LR to 243 Win - speaking strictly varmint shooting here) Anyway, I really would love to get a 17 Hornet even though the .222 Rem pretty much is the perfect long range gopher killer I think the 17 Hornet may be even more suited, as previously stated: quieter, cheaper, less muzzle jump ( yes a .222 on Harris bi-pod and 16-20 magnification will hop enough to momentarily lose the sight picture). Problem is it looks like a CZ 17 Hornet is almost like a unicorn and there really isn`t anything else.
Hey Bob~my suggestion would be to contact whoever has the best selection of CZ stuff in your area...and ask them to sniff around for you on a distributor level. Sort of how I found mine, but a WTB ad and $ waiting in the wings usually works in the EE. I'll send a note to the shop that found me mine 2 falls ago...and see if they can find one. I'll PM you if it turns anything up.
