#1
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17 Remington Troubles be gone.........
I know I'm "preaching to the choir" to many of you seasoned .17 remington shooters. This post, is not for you, but for those like me, who are new to this exact cartridge.
With that said, hopefully some of the old timers will still enjoy and relate (maybe say, "I told you so"). Anyway, I've had a CZ 527 Varmint in 17 remington for a year now. I've got so many irons in the fire when It comes to guns, I haven't really spent a ton of time shooting it. However, I did play with Win 748 because I have several pounds of it. Found a decent load at 24.0gr but didn't like the lack of consistent groups with it. Shot OK, 3/4 MOA on average with 25gr V max. Well, I just got around to trying a few more powders in it. Tried Varget the other day with dismal results, 3/4-1" MOA or worse. This is with "upper end" loads as I feel what's the point of having a .17 remington if you're gonna load it down to .17 hornet speeds. Anyway, I've read about the old MAGICAL IMR 4320. I've just never used it and didn't have any on hand. Well, getting fed up with this lackluster accuracy I'd been experiencing, I wen't uptown and bought a lbs of 4320. Just shot it today with both the 25gr V max and 25gr Hornady HP with very good results. So moral of the story is, sometimes the "Legends" are just that for a reason. LONG LIVE THE IMR 4320 in 17 remington! The same thing happened with my 221 Fireball and RL-7 powder. Tried 5 different powders including IMR 4198, AA2015, and AA1680.......1680 was pretty darn good, but RL-7 was AMAZING. (again, a powder i'd never used until I finally caved and wasn't happy with 1/2 MOA that 1680 was giving). Anyway here are some pics from todays shoot. It's awesome that I've got a good accuracy node at 23.7gr and 24.0gr.........24.2 opened up to an inch. Didn't try anything lower than 23.7gr..........again, I'm shooting a .17 remington here for a reason, I don't want crawling speeds. I've got a .17 hornet for that. Today was 35 degrees, shooting at 100 yards off the bench, started with a clean barrel, Weaver "re-designed" Grand Slam 5-20x50mm Varmint EBX reticle scope in burris rings. CZ 527 Varmint .17 remington in HS Precision Kevlar stock. Was shooting in LC reformed brass from "Highplainsbrass.com"..........Great Brass. I've got 6 loadings without issues so far on some of it.........annealed initially and again annealed at 5 firings. Bullets are seated touching the rifling. Both Bullets shot 23.7gr and 24.0gr Very well in my opinion. I settled on 23.7gr to give me some room for spring time temperatures rising as I don't want over pressure and 24.2gr Opened up to inch groups anyhow. Anybody having mediocre results with loading the .17 remington................try IMR 4320 if you haven't already. First two pics are with 25gr Hornady V max..........OAL 2.250" Second two pics are 25gr Hornady HP................OAL 2.230" |
#2
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A few pics of the rifle setup.............Anybody struggling with Too Short of length of pull on these little rifles.......an Allen Recoil Eraser $11 from Amazon in size small fits a treat.
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#3
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I have been loading for the 17 Remington for since about 1980....currently, and since 2001, shooting CZ's. 24.5gr Varget with the 25 or the 30 gr Berger, moly coated, gives consistent sub 1/4" groups off the bench at 100 yds in our CZ 17 Rems. Actually, the average groups for our guns runs just a tiny bit over 1/8" at 100 yds. YMMV
Steve ps, probably should add that we are using Zeiss 6x20 optics, and triggers modified to break at 6 ounces. Last edited by fosters; 12-29-2017 at 03:31 AM. |
#4
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Quote:
Awesome! My trigger is 2.25lbs and I'm shooting $17 per hundred "mass produced" varmint bullets. Great to hear about how well these 17 rems shoot with premium bullets. I'd like to try some 30 grainers some day..........but for my uses, these 25gr V maxes are shooting just fine. They will see some Rock Chucks come spring. The 25hr Hornady HPs are for Coyotes and I think they'll do...........I hope to put them to the test soon.........and I've got several thousand of them left, that I bought for dirt cheap 15 years ago for my .17-222 IMP contender carbine. Funny how different rifles like different powders sometimes. I tried up to 24.3gr of Varget and got just over 3/4" groups........pretty sad as I love varget in other rifles......22-250, 243, 308, etc. Nothing else was changed in my testing either, just powder........same seating depth, cases, primers, etc. Just powder change. Anyway, sounds like you've got your CZ 17 rems dialed in. I heard great things about varget in this cartridge.........just not in my rifle evidently (with the two bullets I've tried). Last edited by Screaminweasil; 12-29-2017 at 04:16 AM. |
#5
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Thanks for sharing your results. Proof once again every rifle will tell you what it likes if we are just willing to listen. Heard a lot about good old IMr4320. For my Tikka, it preferred a lighter dose of W748 (22.5 gr) with the Hornady 25 hp.
Good shooting and a nice rifle there!! |
#6
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improving groups on 17 Remingtons
You can see dramatic differences in groups when you start neckturning brass for the 17 Remington, especially when you can touch the lands with your Loaded ammo...tiny, tiny groups are the result.
Inconsistent neck tension really messes with a 17, Mach IV also. Also, when you start getting over 3850 fps, copper fouling may just ruin your groups in a hurry. So, with ~24g of IMR 4320, you are building up copper fast, de copper your barrel thoroughly. For shooting colony varmints where long shot strings were the norm, we shot 21.2-22.5g of H322 25g Bergers(J4 Jackets) 3850 fps we could go 125 rounds inbetween cleanings, but we cleaned with good brushes and JB when we did clean. On our new Sako Vixen 17's, we could go 20 rounds max inbetween cleanings with 24g of IMR 4320 and 25g Hornady's. 25g Hornadys seem to copper foul a tad more than our J4 Jacket bullets(this is an understatement). Last edited by ackleyman; 12-29-2017 at 01:02 PM. Reason: additional information added |
#7
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I too have shot the 17 Remington for a lot of years dating back to the early 1970's when it was born. In all that time, I have found that two old school powders provide excellent accuracy in 17 Rem rifles. They are the already mentioned IMR 4320 and IMR 4198.
I've tried a lot of powders over the years and always migrate back to IMR 4198 as a consistent performer with the Hornady 25 grain HP for coyotes. They work extremely well together. And that conclusion is arrived at after trying a lot of different bullets and powders that come along as the new Holy Grail. I still have a good stache of the old 25 grain Remington plated HP bullet, and it too is a good coyote bullet. I've not had good luck with the fast opening polymer tipped bullets designed for small colony varmints if hides are worth saving. As for accuracy, neck turning and light triggers will improve just about any cartridge if BR accuracy is your goal. They both work for the 17 Rem as well. If consistent hunting accuracy in the range of ~ +/-.25"-.5" is possible with just the rifle and tuned ammo, I wouldn't bother with neck turning to get a bit extra out of the rifle for hunting purposes. And for hunting purposes, a 2.5 pound trigger that breaks smoothly is a much better choice than a 6 ounce "target trigger" is for field use. Especially for cold weather hunting purposes. I currently own four 17 Remington rifles, and I'd buy another in a NY Minute if a good deal popped up unexpectedly. Over the years, if my memory is correct, I've owned at best count 17 or 18 of them (one I sold and bought back). This is the latest from just a few weeks ago. It's a bit heavy for my usual likes in a small caliber walking coyote rifle, but it shoots extremely well and should make for a very good PD rifle later this year (in 2018). It's a 1990's vintage Sako S491. As for barrel fouling, I've never owned a 17 Remington rifle that I couldn't get 125-150 shots out of it before accuracy went south but still with easy barrel clean-up.. That includes some custom barrels as well as some plain-jane factory barrels. The vaunted J-4 bullet jackets? They are still consistent in form, but the really good ones ended metalurgically speaking in the pre and early Spiveco days, and long before Berger got involved. Their reputation today gets promulgated on the internet. Hint: A Lock-Ease coated clean barrel will significantly reduce fouling in any rifle, and it works extremely well with small caliber barrels. JMO - BCB
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I miss mean Tweets, competence, and $1.79 per gallon gasoline. Yo no creo en santos que orinan. Women and cats will do as they please. Men and dogs should relax and just get used to the idea. Going keyboard postal over something that you read on the internet is like seeing a pile of dog crap on the sidewalk and choosing to step in it rather than stepping around it. If You're Afraid To Offend, You Can't Be Honest - Thomas Paine Last edited by Bayou City Boy; 12-29-2017 at 05:20 PM. Reason: additional information added............. |
#8
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17 Remington troubles be gone....
Old school here also, shot the 17-223 in a Sako L461, way back ( the mid 60's early 70's) ) and started with and used 4198 and found it worked so well, I never tried or changed.
Maybe I should have done so, but that round and powder killed so many squeeks, varmints and even a deer or two, WHY ? Bill K |
#9
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Well done. It is amazing (& frustrating) how much room there is between bullet holes in a 1/2" group with a .17.
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Daryl |
#10
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I use 760 in my 17 Remington. It shoots about 3/8”.
Now the 17 FB is a different story. |
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