Hornady .17 Hornet Factory Load

[Gunsgobang88]

Earlier this month Hornady announced production of the .17 Hornet in two 20gr factory loads to give 'over 3,600 fps' at the muzzle. Many people will say 'so what' but Hornady have a knack of successfully spotting niches in the market and filling them. Savage have launched a lightweight varminter in this chambering and presumably other makers such as Ruger will follow. Factory ballistics indicate a trajectory almost identical to a 55gr .223 Rem. out to 400 yards.

 

The cartridge is the same OAL as the parent .22 Hornet. Think of those old .22 Hornets out there just begging to be rebarrelled and turned into cute 'walking varminters'. If factory rifles and ammo costs are reasonable this round could prove to be popular in the UK,

 

Alan

[6mmBR]

I suppose Hornady want a further slice of tha action on the back of the success of the HMR and also because Remington have done well with the Fireball.

Cheers

Dave

[Barrelsniffer]

I imagine this being a nice sweet little round..i currently also use a 22 hornet but would love to get it re-chambered for 17 so will keep my eye open for these.

 

Mick

[Guest richness]

Lovely - what a cool cal. It all depends on the availability and price of the factory ammo, of course

[TonyH]

Interesting round indeed. Seems to be a regularised version of .17 Ackley Hornet? I wonder if brass is or will be available, chamber reamers, and so on. It would be even better if they got rid of that rim! If I wanted something even smaller than Fireball (which is on my shopping list for future acquisition) there's a great little round developed in the US called .17 VHA (for Varmint Hunters Association), based on a very small case designed (I think) for a H&K sub-gun - even smaller capacity than Hornet, and rimless too! Apparently dies and brass are available...

Tony