17 Hornet rifle questions??

[Sniper66]

I'm considering buying a 17 Hornet rifle and asking you guys to provide useful insight as you always do. I ran into a guy at my rifle range last week and he had some impressive rifles in 17 Hornet caliber that ignited my rifle buying fever. I had a 22 Hornet, a very good rifle, but sold it when a too good to pass up offer came along. One YouTube video I watched showed the 17 Hornet to be significantly better than the 22 Hornet. I tried to replace the 22 Hornet in the prairie dog field with 17 HMR and for the most part that worked out well...no reloading needed, etc. I stiil have 3 great 17HMRs. BUT, the 17HMR cannot compete with the 17 Hornet for accuracy at longer range or killing power. I have really great .204 and .223 rifles. It seems to me that the 17 Hornet will fill the niche between the 17 HMR and the .204.

I'm interested in the Savage Model .25 Walking Varminter 17 Hornet with laminate stock, which is the one I had in 22 Hornet and it was excellent.

One concern is the availability of 17 Hornet brass and bullets and it looks like I'll have to buy factory ammo to accumulate reloadable brass. Bullets? Looks like all that are available are Hornady. So, I also have questions about your reloading experience vs factory ammo. As always I will appreciate your help.

 

[ECVMatt]

Years ago, I bought a Ruger 77/17 Hornet and used it on prairie dogs, varmints, and jack rabbits. The rifle was exceptionally accurate and was pleasant to shoot. It does a great job of bridging the gap between the rimfire magnums and something like the .204 or .223.

I had the intention of reloading until an online retailer had a great deal on 17 Hornet and I acquired a pretty good supply of ammo. While I shot it quite a bit, I found that it was lacking on the bigger coyotes and the wind played havoc on it. I will also admit that I was not looking forward to reloading this cartridge. The case is tiny and the neck is thin. Eventually, the rifle went down the line when Ruger discounted them and a buddy in Colorado just had to have it.

Having said that, I really enjoyed the rifle, and for fun and accuracy it was hard to beat. I have heard nothing but great things about the Model 25 and it has almost sucked me back into the 17 Hornet a couple of times.

There appears to be no concern about components, so I would say give it a go!

 

[Sniper66]

Years ago, I bought a Ruger 77/17 Hornet and used it on prairie dogs, varmints, and jack rabbits. The rifle was exceptionally accurate and was pleasant to shoot. It does a great job of bridging the gap between the rimfire magnums and something like the .204 or .223.

I had the intention of reloading until an online retailer had a great deal on 17 Hornet and I acquired a pretty good supply of ammo. While I shot it quite a bit, I found that it was lacking on the bigger coyotes and the wind played havoc on it. I will also admit that I was not looking forward to reloading this cartridge. The case is tiny and the neck is thin. Eventually, the rifle went down the line when Ruger discounted them and a buddy in Colorado just had to have it.

Having said that, I really enjoyed the rifle, and for fun and accuracy it was hard to beat. I have heard nothing but great things about the Model 25 and it has almost sucked me back into the 17 Hornet a couple of times.

There appears to be no concern about components, so I would say give it a go!

Thanks for the note...really helpful

 

[Weflyfast]

Loading those thin needle bullets can be challenging - but worth it- I have the CZ in 17 Hornet and it pretty much shoots one hole groups to 100 yards .... Past that the wind will play with you a bit-
Very fun to shoot.....