dannywayoflife Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 Hi gents, as usual I'm thinking about new rifles! And perfect calibers. Do any of you have any experience of the 17 k hornet? It looks interesting and I thought it could probably be a more flexable caliber than the hmr. What do you guys think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cleaner4hire Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 im going to have one built next year probably, well, either an 17 ackley hornet or a 17 bee. As long as you are happy with reloading and forming cases I cant see why you wouldnt like one of these small 17's. 20gr vmax at 3500 makes a handy tool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannywayoflife Posted April 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 That's what I thought cheap to reload for and more versatile than hmr. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casts_by_fly Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 Forget about a 17 k-hornet. It is a 17 Ackley hornet that you'll find reamers and dies for. I have one on an encore frame and I really like it. Mine has a really short barrel (about 17 or 18") as I wanted it to replace my HMR short gun. It is perfect for that. Mine is pushing 20 gr v-max bullets at roughly 3400, maybe 3500. I need to run it over a chrony on a sunny day. My starting loads are around 3250. Case forming is time consuming if you need a lot of them. It is a 2-step process to form initially to where you can load and go fireform. Then you go shoot them all and load normally. There are also the usual steps of pocket cleaning (do before you neck down), trimming, etc. If you don't mind the extra work in reloading, then it is a great little cartridge. A 20 gr vmax at 3600 is perfect for rabbits, crows, and fox out to 200 yards or even more. It will shoot +/- 1" out to about 225, so no holdover or under on normal ranges. If it were a factory load, it might be the perfect load for most average shooters and pest controllers in the UK (beyond the 22LR). I'm using a touch over 12 grains of powder, so just under 600 rounds per pound of powder. I could get 700 out of a pound of Vihtavouri, but I haven't tried it yet. Thanks Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannywayoflife Posted April 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 Thanks for the reply rick! That's very informative. I think that wen funds allow I may have one of these put together! Probably on a hw 66 platform if possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njc110381 Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 I had a .17AH for a while. As far as calibre goes it's stunning. Flat as you like out to sensible ranges and hits with a mean punch when it gets there. I think the AH is probably the most efficient .17 available and it can be reloaded for next to noting. It's also extremely quiet when moderated If you can be bothered to load for it then go for it. I gave mine up mainly because I needed the money tied up in it, but a bit because I found the loading quite frustrating too. I split a lot of forming rounds which isn't a big expense as cases are cheap, but it annoyed me. Mine was built on a CZ action by Precision Rifle Services up north. I can highly recommend his work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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