Hornady .17 Hornet

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Ryan_B

Bearcat
Joined
Feb 5, 2007
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71
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Nebraska
Hey Guy's
I saw a blurb in G&A that says Hornady is coming out with a .17 Hornet!!Given the past relationship with Ruger I would expect them to chamber it in 77/22. and hopefully No.1. Any body know any thing else on the matter?

Ryan
 

Rocdoc

Buckeye
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Aug 23, 2008
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N. Texas
Always wanted a 22 hornet, 17 hornet just dosn't appeal to me at present. The hornet is long obsolete, but cool because of it's heritage, so maybe it will gain a following, but suspect not? Curious to see more news.
 

rugerjunkie

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Mar 15, 2005
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I don't get it. I'd just get a 17 Fireball if I wanted a 17. Modern case and better velocities. I can't see ever getting a 22 hornet after shooting the 221 Fireball all these years no matter how nostalgic the hornet is.
 

mattsbox99

Hunter
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Crazy talk! :)

The Hornet is awesome! I don't know about a .17 Hornet though, the .22H suits me just fine. Both of the Fireballs are impressive, but I can't get them in a Ruger.
 

rugerjunkie

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mattsbox99 said:
Crazy talk! :)

The Hornet is awesome! I don't know about a .17 Hornet though, the .22H suits me just fine. Both of the Fireballs are impressive, but I can't get them in a Ruger.

I can't get a fireball in a Ruger either so I settled for a Rem. LVSF in a 221 to get what I feel is a better cartridge. I wish I still had my old XP-100 in 221...most accurate firearm PERIOD that I have ever owned and me being "not too bright" on occasions went and sold it!! DOH!! lol. It would put 3 shots into 1 hole that you could not tell more than one bullet made without a magnifying glass! The 700 isn't as accurate but its close...

I never hear tales of outsranding accuracy from hornets. I would like to see some targets to show me otherwise if anyone has them.
 

hammie

Single-Sixer
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Apr 27, 2010
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Belton, TX
If the hornet is obsolete, then it is news to me. I have a browning low wall and a ruger 77/22 VT chambered in .22 hornet and I find it a very useful cartridge. Quiet and economical to reload. But that's not to detract from the often overlooked .221 fireball. Each has its place.

Of the sub-calibers, what I would love to see is a ruger chambered for 5mm remington. Unfortunately, I'd probably be the only one to buy it.
 

mattsbox99

Hunter
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My hornet is one hole accurate, until I shoot a second time. To be honest though, I really don't shoot a lot of paper. I shoot steel silhouettes from 50-500 yards and its plenty accurate for me to shoot out to 200 yards off hand with it.
 

picketpin

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Owyhee County, ID, USA
I would think the 17 HOrnet, a very old wildcat is under consideration because it fits the already existing platform made by Ruger and as long as they keep the pressures down it'll work.

I owned and fired nearly every .17 caliber wildcat and the few factory oferings in the last 30 years,

Frankly I can't see the 17 Hornet in some variant making it commercially.

The 17 K Hornet is a slightly better case and stretches less. The recent sales of .17s have been the the rimfires that don't require relaoding and you can just shoot. I don't think there are enough dedicated .17 caliber CF shooters/reloaders out there to sell enough to make it work. Geez, they've already fallen on their face with the RMCs.

I've shot the 17 Mach IV, essentually the 17 Fireball with a slightly longer neck and a slightly sharper shoulder than the FB for 30+ years and it's a great cartridge and can be loaded DOWN to 17 Hornet or 17 Bee velocities BUT it can also reach significantly higher velocities as can the 17 FB.

Unless it's simply so it can be chambered in the small Hornet 77 it really doesn't fill any niche not met by the rimfires especially if the pressures have to be kept at Hornet pressures.

Ross

Oh, the 221 FB makes into a really nice #1 "AH"
 

mike7mm08

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Milwaukee Wisconsin
The 17 hornet is intriguing as a handloader. You could download it to 17 HMR levels or run it full power. Full power loads would be cheaper than 17 HMR once you had cases. Some quick figuring comes to around 20 to 24 cents a round. So the same or slightly less than the cheapest 17HMR ammo for the full power loads and and bit cheaper for 17 HMR level loads. But I already have a 17 HMR and about 6000 rounds of ammo I bought super cheap when it came out. I paid an average of 6 bucks a box. If I was just getting into a 17 caliber I would lean heavily towards the 17 hornet.
 

Ryan_B

Bearcat
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Feb 5, 2007
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Nebraska
I think it would be great. I had a .17 AH Encore that i sold to have a 77/22 hornet converted to 17 AH. I will have one. If they make it in a 77 great But I would love to have on in a #1 or low wall Browning.
 

mattsbox99

Hunter
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The only 17 I have is a 17MachII, its in a Charger pistol. I like it, its got a lot of potential, hopefully ammo doesn't get discontinued for it.
 

mike7mm08

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The 17 mach II is a great cartridge. But I think they went the wrong direction. Should of offered it before the magnum. How much market would there be for 38 special if it was introduced after the 357? As for ammo if I owned a 17 mach II I would stock up on ammo when ever it is cheap and any time I shot a box I would replace it with two more.
 

roofinspector

Single-Sixer
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Jan 20, 2009
Messages
282
I suspect that they are really going to try a 17 Hornet in a factory loaded cartridge. If I had to guess, I would think Savage might jump on the rifle wagon.............just a wild guess.

The 17 Hornet has been around for a long time, probably the two most known are the Kilbourn and the Ackley versions. Pretty close, little different shoulder, straight body, etc.

The Hornet case is not as stout as the 223 variant cases, my opinion only. The 17 hornet is a fairly quiet shooter, probably best known with prairie dog, ground squirrel types. The new Vmax 20gr and lighter weight bullets(17 gr), have some shine with reloaders. Some are known to hot rod the case as well, speeds that would amaze, then others like myself tend to stay a bit lower because of said case and loose pockets when hotrodding.

The cost of the rimfire 17 ammo keeps me out of that line of goods, but I do enjoy the 17 KHornet and the 17 Bumble Bee in a single shot rifle; usually a No.1 or martini. The folks that favor the little 17's already have them now, so not too sure how a factory offering will do. The guys that shoot these already have the special tight spec'd chamber reamers, and make up their own rifles. Typically the factory chambers are fairly loose for various reasons. The hornet case near the rim has gotten smaller in brass over the years it seems.

I like the little 17's but not sure what the market will bear commercially in a factory offering, other than to acquaint people that these things exist and have for some time. The smaller 17's might be a bit easier to clean the barrel than the old 17 Remington types. Bullets/barrels have come a long ways in the last couple of decades in the smallish bore types. Always wanted a 14 Walker, but not yet.

time will tell.

Roof
 

langenc

Single-Sixer
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Aug 22, 2007
Messages
471
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Lewiston, MI USA
My hornet is one hole accurate, until I shoot a second time. Quoted from above--

All my guns are that way. My Savage 7# trigger 22H was that way.

I once was awatching some groundhog holes along a small river-steep bank. On top the bank, back a ways was a farm house. One of the hens came down the bank and was taking a drink. The sun was such that I got a perfect reflection of the white hen on the water. I lined her up and shot the reflection.

Who said chickens-fat ones- cant flY?? That one flew back to the henhouse at the top of the hill.

Sold that gun a few yrs ago. Could be looking for a replacement.
 

Fred M

Bearcat
Joined
Feb 11, 2007
Messages
84
Location
Calgary Canada
The 17HMR rim fire is my all time favorite varmint rifle. I have 6x47 that shoots 55gr bullets into one hole at 3500 ft. But since I got that 17 rimfire that 6x47 collects dust. I don't like hand loading these little cases and bullets.

That low wall 17HMR is just the ticket, of course it has less range, but also makes less noise and I can shoot it in places where the 6x47 is tabu.

The price of loaded 17 ammo is not all that bad when you consider all the comonents for the 6mm. A 100 Sieera 55gr Blitz kings are $35 here in Canada.
Not exactly cheap either.
 

picketpin

Buckeye
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Jun 29, 2006
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Owyhee County, ID, USA
Gee, I read it as FPS initially.

The existence of the very good .17 caliber rimfire .17s argues strongly AGAINST the exspense and trouble of the small capacity .17 Caliber CFs. The 17 Hornet, 17 K-Hornet 17 Bee etc were never my favorites, though I've owned several over the years. With the introduction of the rimfires I can't see the point of an .17 CF much smaller than the 17 Fire Ball.

But hey, different strokes for different folks.

Ross
 
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