17 hornet reloading

[JimmyLenz]

I figured id share this
 I had high hopes for this round .. so much as i decided to reload it .
 being a hornady round i decided I would also by a single stage press and dies in Hornady .
 well got the press but my dies went on a 2 month back order .. so since i also have a rcbs progressive and the 17s were avail in rcbs so  i went with them . (left the hornady on back order.. and im glad i did )
 well... the nightmare begun....  I made the mistake of reading on line about the round and other people that were reloading this round .. ( Ill call bs on most of emm ) 
 first came the primers ..many will tell you that load 22 hornet that the use cci small pistol.. and many said that use can also use them for the 17 as its not near the same pressure load .. I weighed that stats .. went with small pistol primers ... FAIL!!!!!    my pin went thru 8 out of 50 .   major flyers on paper .. I knew better and was looking for the answer i wanted to hear as i had a few 1000 small pistol primers .
 I corrected and moved to remington 6.5 small rifle primers .... problem solved primer wise ...
I still had really crappy accuracy . .. which upset me as im not all that new to reloading.. when it comes to hunting rounds im as matched grade as you can get .   
 I will should also note .. I wanted to reload this round because It served my use for fur hunting and the factory rounds just didnt hold the repetitive grouping like my hmr .
 moving on .. shot the next batch of 50 ... pitiful at best .   no better then when i had punched primers .
 I checked my scales .. re measured case length . .. pulled bullets i had left from the batch and rechecked powder charge .. ... this is where i figured it out ... I pulled bullets ... first with a hammer puller .. then with my hand ... i noticed they pulled really easy with the puller so i took a round and grabbed the bullet and pulled it out with my fingers with little force ?  why is there no neck tension ?   I put the remainder thru a few times and spun  them like you need to do with the 22 hornet .. no difference .  at this point im beyond mad !  I cant adjust the die anymore as its bottomed out on the case holder.. why isnt it crimping ohhhhh .. because theres no crimp!!!!!! no taper !!!! no nothing !!!! I walked away 
 the next day my backordered dies showed up.   set emm up and rocked on !!!   hit the range .. back on paper!! the grouping is still not on par but ill blame that on the gun ..  the savage 25 walking v is also junk .. they should be ashamed to put there name on it .. 
  moral of my rant .... to reload go with hornady ... to pull the trigger go with ruger or cz . . only savage 17 thats a tack driver is there hmr !!!
 

[nortpete]

I have a savage 17 hornet and can put all rounds in an inch and a quarter size diameter at 100 yards. Mine is very accurate and consistent. I have shot over 300 rounds through it and I am shooting only reloads now with the same accuracy.

[JimmyLenz]

i really wish i could say the same .. I cant put factory loads in a half dollar at 100 bench rested in a lead sled at 100.     I can wack a dime with the hmr free hand over and over and over ..   apparently somtehing is very wrong with my 25 savage

[nortpete]

I would try to get in touch with savage. I have heard of them being good with fixing issues for people.

[Misterjake23]

   I have the Savage Walking Varmiter also.....I can put 3 rounds within a dime at 100 yards.   I also have the 17 hornet in CZ.  It also is a tack driver at 100 yards.   The CZ seems to be much heavier.  I use the Savage for killing fox and ground hogs...no problems at all.  I wacked a hog this summer at 220 yards....he never took a step.  And thats with factory ammo.

[xusnordy45]

You all just knew I would reply...lol

All the issues I had with my Savage 17 Hornet did not include accuracy.....it is a tack driver with factory ammo for me and really smacked down some G'Hogs for me. The issues were feeding and extracting. Savage did "something" to it when I sent it in. Still have the failure to feed now and then when chambering the top round. Accuracy changed slightly....but still a killer at 200yds.....when it works.

I have heard a million complaints about the M25 Walking Varminter......but accuracy was never one of them.

But yes....a Ruger is on the wish list because I do love the round.

[Bowman66]

I'm shooting the CZ and it is a bit heavier than the savage but on the bipod while set up its a tack driver just like the savage and have had no feed or ejecting problems so far myself. Very smooth gun to work!
I hope you get her figured out soon jimmy and can start dropping some fur!

[JimmyLenz]

I really  Appreciate the replies !     It is apparent that there's something drastically wrong with it if no one has an accuracy issue .   As for feed and ejection problem .   Yea .   Had that .  I found the edges on the paws were very sharp .  Causing a lot of brass shards which would get stuck everywhere.   I softened the edges and that went away .   Normally I would say its me with accuracy but I locked this in a sled and it was all over place. .    Needless to say its going back. .  I'm gonna run my savage hmr till then as I know I can knock emm down with it within normal range of 100-70 .    I'm still very disappointed in the build quality tho .   When I get it back and if it performs as it should I'll **** my trap   as in the end all that matters is dogs down .