Loading for 17HH, things to know, avoid?

[inKYfromSD]

The CZ 527V 17 Hornet is in the house! I'm moving a scope and rings from my .204 to this rifle and will mount the new rings & scope (Vortex from GovX) on the .204 when they get here.

I've never loaded for a Hornet or rimmed cartridge before. I've loaded various handgun and rifle since 1972ish. I've loaded for a 20 VarTarg, my only "wildcat". I've loaded belted magnums, 7MM, .300 Win, 240 Weatherby.

The Dies and brass are here, thanks Spook1!! I had most of the recommended powders on hand and bought the two I didn't have - CFE BLK, H4198, H335, Lil Gun, IMR4227, H110, Win296. Plenty of Rem 7 1/2 primers in the cabinet. I also have a box of factory Hornady 20gr VMax in case I don't have time to load my own before I need to shoot it.

Is there anything unique that I should be aware of when loading for the 17HH? Things I should avoid?

Thanks,
Brian

[fat cat]

1680 H110 are excellent powders! Stay away from lil gun know matter what you see or hear! WSR primer and then have fun!

[wally bennett]

On any rimmed case head/rim space is critical the case needs to touch the shoulder and bolt face when loaded if not the firing pin forces the case forward and the pressure expands the front thinner part of case to contact and grip the chamber wall before the rear thicker part of the case which is then forced back to contact the bolt head and stretches the case giving you the classic hornet curse a bright ring on the case wall that is the start of separation
best way to avoid this is with nil head/rim space that is difercult to sort cause the sami spec says a rim depth in the bolt head is 0/065"+0.007" so you could have a rim depth of 0.072" i use WW/R&P/PPU/HORNADY cases and my thickest ever rim thickness has been 0.062" with most of them 0.059" to 0.061" so to start with i could have 0.013" head/rim space and thats a case wrecker Iam lucky to have a Ruger so i have shimmed the bold and machined the head (big file ) and now get NIL rime space i only re-size with a adjusted FL die to only resize the amount of neck that the bullet needs for grip under no instance do you knock back the shoulder i have had over 15 reloads from my cases and still counting i have a 17A/H but this applies to the 17HH as well i use 120 powder CCI 400 primers

[georgeld]

Ahh come on Brian, just buy another scope and
stop wasting all the time and effort swapping them around!
Ha! Hey, it's only YOUR money, you need help spending it!

[JSH]

Brian, I read and studied a fair bit before I ever loaded a round of 17HH. I saw to big of a swing of results with some powders. One guy would swear it was the best and the next guy would swear it was the worst.
I ended up going for accuracy over speed. 4198 a case full and am still not up to what Hornady list and that is using a 18"drop tube.

Keep an eye on prices of loaded ammo compared to brass and bullets. I was at local cabelas, they had Hornady 17HH on a clearance of some sort. I gave a few cents over the price of brass for loaded ammo!
Jeff

[moorepower]

I would get A1680 and possibly A2200. I use a under max book load of A1680 for 3650 with the 20 grain Vmax. CFEBLK would be my first choice of what you have. Many have found you can have your cake and eat it too with A1680. I use 205M primers and they work very well. Factory 20 grain shoots very well. But whatever is cheaper Hornady or Federal, as it all comes out of the Hormady plant.

[Alycidon]

N120 is the powder of choice, BR4 or 205 primers, work up VERY slow as this is a very small case. 20gr Vmax is usually the bullet of choice.

Enjoy,

A

[Bills Shed]

As stated work up slowly. I can not get most of the powders mentioned here and so run Australian made powder AR2205. Quite fast. Accuracy over speed works but have found that the faster end of the scale were more accurate. I mostly shoot under a light and building 17gn, long projectiles, they work for me but are not to good in wind, which is not a issue where I live.
Build your round for the purpose that you are going to use it for.

Bill

[inKYfromSD]

Originally Posted by georgeld

Ahh come on Brian, just buy another scope and
stop wasting all the time and effort swapping them around!
Ha! Hey, it's only YOUR money, you need help spending it!

I did, sort of. It'll be here Friday. I moved the 4-16 HS-T to the Hornet. The new 6-24 will go on the .204.

I had the rifle out of the safe last night, just so it can used to being held, and noticed something - it doesn't like to be fed single-shot. The extractor won't snap over the rim easily. Are you guys using a Calhoon adapter to load single rounds or did you work on the extractor?

Still looking for 1680 locally. Also looking for a way to decap the brass without using a sizing die.