17 Hornet coming home

[Lookn4Fur]

Hey Darin, where were those fox hit?  Head, chest or elsewhere?

[Bowman66]

Tim, they were shot in the chest when they sat faceing us, behind the shoulder when broadside and even dropped one running straight away through the ass cheek.
I have been surprised with the performance of the 20 grain round to say the least. We even shot a bunch of ground hogs this summer and every one I checked had one hole in and nothing came out.

[xusnordy45]

So I got her to the range......UGH! The bolt still locked after firing twice. It double fed several times. It failed to extract several times. With that said....it is better (operationally) than when I sent it back to Savage. Before I sent it back I was getting better than 1 MOA. Now I was lucky to get a best group of 2.5....UGH....but I think that was the ammo. I had a couple that didn't sound right....weak report. Those bullets were far from the group, like 5 inches far. I heard there were bad rounds out there in 17 Hornet but that's the first I experienced it.

SO...I took her out Ghog shooting tonight. Only one hog that the laser showed at 293 yds. I held about 5 inches high. Miss. Still there. Miss. Still there. Miss........3 misses before it wobbled away under a log and down a hole. BUT.....all three rounds cycles without a hitch....that was the bright side I guess......well no, the bachelor group of bucks we came upon was the bright side! big boys munching beans together.....all wider than ears...mostly 8 pts but one sweet azz 10 with mega brow tines was the stud in the group!

[Misterjake23]

    It sounds as if you held way to high.  At 300 yards, I would have only held just above his head slightsly.  I think there is a 6 in drop at 300 using the Hornady 20 gr.

[xusnordy45]

I held in thirds like good government dollars taught me a few moons ago.....lol

Wish I had my M1A w/NM iron sights or my "Mutt" AR15 w/Gov 16A2 profile barrel. He'd been toast.....but they are the EVIL semi types we can't use to hunt..LOL

Still think something is up with this LOT # of Hornady ammo. I have two other LOTs. Going to try each for consistency.

[Misterjake23]

Dan....Did you get your feed issues worked out with your Savage 17 Hornet?  Another possibility is a magizine issue.  Often if the magizine doesn't insert just right, it can cause the alignment to be off just enough to cause major issues......

     Just a thot trying to trouble shoot the issue.

[xusnordy45]

Jake when I got it back from Savage it was better but still a bit rough. I went out Ghog popping last week and it seemed to do ok. I cycled four rounds through without a FTF or FTE. Maybe it just needs to smooth out a bit.

I swear they replaced that bolt though......

[Misterjake23]

Dan,  You jinxed me!   I had my gun Ceracoated (so it wouldn't rust) and had the bolt bent down so it didn't catch and eject my chambered round all the time.

     I put the magizine in with a few rounds to see how it would cycle my ammo......it didn't!  It worked fine before.

     Some of the rounds wouldn't feed, some would feed but but stuck 3/4 of the way in the chamber.  I looked at my brass,  and it got all scratched up!

     I took it back to the gunsmith who did my work, and showed him my problems.  He didn't think it was any thing major to fix, and acted like it was no big deal and he'd get it back to me in a day or so.

     I'll keep you posted.

     Tim, if you're reading this....buy the CZ !!!

[xusnordy45]

Sounds familiar as mine did that often....the bolt bent down? or the bolt handle bent down? I can't imagine having the bolt's path changed in any way as that would corrupt the angle of the bolt face when it picks up a round from the magazine. The rim would not be seated and be pushed (without) guidance to the chamber.....not to mention to change the angle of the bolt you would have to make changes to the receiver/action.

Not sure I totally follow you on this?...but wish you luck for a quick fix and competent gunsmith to provide it.

I think the 17HH's are cursed......

[Lookn4Fur]

Yeah.  You guys are scaring me with your story's.  CZ it will be.

[xusnordy45]

Probably a smart move......if I was to do it over again I would hold off until the Ruger was more available and price dropped. Only wish I knew of the issues with the Savage before I bought it.....not much was known at the time.

[Misterjake23]

My correction....The bolt HANDLE was bent down so it wasn't sticking straight out as much......I thot that may have been common sense....LOL   

[predator77]

I wanted the Ruger myself but was was to impatient. I read a little on the Savage and most of the complaints I heard was from the synthetic stock option. I did have the ejector pin come out on my when I was cleaning the bolt and the occasional spent cartridge not ejecting is common with this caliber (or atleast the Savage).

[Misterjake23]

I have the bugs worked out of mine.  I have no extraction problems or feeding problems.  A a  matter of fact, I shot mine this weekend and at 100 yards put 2 rounds so close side by side it almost looked like the same hole....i quit at 2, not wanting to ruin the target with a third shot!!   

[Seeking_Coyotes]

I truly like 17 calibers... Hope the  17 Hornet works out for all of you that own one... I too will have to get one in the Encore configuration of course.. I will would like to try Midway USA 20 Grain Dog town HP in that caliber...
I suppose right now all you can get in the  17 Hornet is the VMAX factory round?  Please give us all your feed back come fox season when you use the 17 Hornet VMAX or reloads...Might be that the VMAX might be a good fox bullet  in the  17 Hornet... I know when I use the  22 Hornet I use a 45 grain Soft Point...

NRA Riflemen mag just had an article on the new  17 WSM rim fire... what was nice they compared it to all of the predator rounds..  the 22 WMR and the 22 Hornet... Seems like those to 22 calibers the author just felt they just didn't have the energy. Also that they had quite a bit of wind drift out to past 100 yards..
the author had all kinds of stats on the 17 center fires too...Point of  impact at different yards and wind drift and energy.. If you can get your hands on the article in the American rifleman magazine it's worth looking at..
What sounds good about the 17 Hornet is that it does have the FPS (Energy)  like the  223.  Now that should be good!!!
I'm looking forward to shooting the  17 WSM rim fire and the  17 Hornet!!!

Jim,

Can you please send me a copy or pm me the issue of the article.

Thanks,

Mike